US Newspapers and Wires

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Forum: Sanders is right -- don't trust Clinton on gay rights New Haven Register November 5, 2015 Thursday
1 of 49 DOCUMENTS
New Haven Register
November 5, 2015 Thursday
Forum: Sanders is right -- don't trust Clinton on gay rights

BYLINE: Gregory T Angelo, By Gregory T. Angelo
SECTION: COLUMNS
LENGTH: 658 words
I never thought I'd say this: I agree with Bernie Sanders.
The Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate is rightly challenging Hillary Clinton's credibility
and consistency as an advocate of LGBT equality, and because of his sharp criticism, Clinton's unflattering
record on gay rights is finally receiving the scrutiny it deserves.
Log Cabin Republicans has long stated that voters look closely at Hillary Clinton's spotty past on issues
related to LGBT equality, but it took a self-avowed socialist surging in the primary to finally get the left to
break out the magnifying glass.
Consider that a majority of Democratic voters (51 percent) supported marriage equality in 2004. In June of
the same year, Clinton made an assertive speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate defending the
"fundamental bedrock principle" of marriage as "a sacred bond between a man and a woman."
It took Clinton nearly a decade to catch up with the rest of her own party: Her 2013 declaration of personal
support for marriage equality came after a majority of Americans had already indicated their approval -- and
even then she qualified that she supported it as "a matter left to the states" to decide.
The reaction from the gay left was an exasperated deep-dive to find proof that Clinton has privately longsupported LGBT rights even if her professional resume indicates otherwise.
The U.S. State Department in July, for example, released emails in which Clinton expressed concern for
gross human rights violations abroad, including the sexually-based violence committed against gay men in
Iraq, incidents she called "sad and terrible."
Headlines in liberal media outlets seized the exchange as "Proof Hillary Clinton Is (and Has Been) ProLGBT." But an empathetic response to egregious abuse is proportionate and appropriate, not exceptional.
Clinton was, by contrast, much less concerned when her Clinton Health Initiative, an affiliate of her
foundation, received millions of dollars from a Baptist Church in Cameroon that equates gay people with
"devils."
Supporters of Clinton frequently rebuke efforts to call attention to that red flag -- and many others -- that
plague her record on equality. They argue that the strength of Clinton's pro-gay positions in the present
negates an occasionally anti-gay past.
But this line of defense was dismantled when Clinton recently suggested -- with a straight face -- that
passing a federal ban on marriage equality was somehow a political favor to gay and lesbian Americans.
During an interview on Oct. 23, Clinton defended the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act signed into law by
her husband. She told MNBC's Rachel Maddow that his decision was a "defensive action" to stave off
growing momentum for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Only in the topsy-turvy world of Clintonland can passing a federal ban on marriage equality be spun as a
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Forum: Sanders is right -- don't trust Clinton on gay rights New Haven Register November 5, 2015 Thursday
good thing for the LGBT community -- and go unchallenged by arguably the most high- profile lesbian media
personality today.
Sanders didn't buy it. Accusing Clinton of historical revision, Sanders said the "evidence is very, very clear
that that legislation was anti-gay legislation, it was playing off fears of a lot of Americans."
Rewriting the narrative of the Defense of Marriage Act, a period in national history with enormous political
and cultural value, is reductive and condescending. Doing so is insulting to the gay and lesbian men and
women who suffered under the discriminatory policy.
Clinton supporters have long argued that on equality, the candidate's inconsistent past has no bearing on
the present. But this latest episode of revision makes clear that Clinton's positions on gay rights are
determined by pride, politics, and polling -- not principle.
On this point (and this point alone) I agree with Bernie Sanders.
Gregory T. Angelo is the president of Log Cabin Republicans, the nation's organization representing LGBT
conservatives and allies.
LOAD-DATE: November 6, 2015
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
DOCUMENT-TYPE: News
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
JOURNAL-CODE: NHRG
Copyright 2015 ProQuest Information and Learning
All Rights Reserved
ProQuest SuperText
Copyright 2015 Journal Register Co.
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So how hasIran changed? Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee) November 6, 2015 Friday
2 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
November 6, 2015 Friday
So how hasIran changed?

BYLINE: Clint Cooper
SECTION: EDITORIAL-FREE PRESS
LENGTH: 298 words
Thank goodness the nuclear deal the United States and other Western nations signed with Iran this summer
has caused a complete shift in relations against the country the Middle East nation once termed The Great
Satan.
Oh, that's right, it hasn't.
In fact, earlier this week on the 36th anniversary of the 1979 seizure of 52 American hostages at the U.S.
embassy in Tehran, thousands of Iranians demonstrated in front of the former embassy, burned U.S. flags
and shouted "Death to America."
Not only has there not been a shift in relations since the U.S. and other nations agreed to lift economic
sanctions against Iran in exchange for what is supposed to be a small limiting of the country's nuclear
program, but Iran has violated the agreement by both launching a medium-range ballistic missile and
arresting Lebanese citizen Nizar Zakka who holds permanent resident status in the U.S.
The "I-told-you-sos" must be ringing through Republican members of Congress, who opposed the deal, and
through the minds of the American people, who also were against it.
It cannot be said Secretary of State John Kerry and President Obama weren't warned. Iran Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said before the deal was ever signed that the country wouldn't change, wouldn't
follow tenets of the agreement and had no thoughts of detente. But the agreement was signed.
With the 2016 presidential election now less than one year away, Americans also should not forget that
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton endorsed the Iran deal and, in her waning months as secretary of
state, helped open the door toward allowing the country to maintain at least some of its capacity to produce
nuclear fuel if talks were held. The Obama administration had originally said Iran would have to end its
nuclear program.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 2015 Chattanooga Publishing Company
All Rights Reserved
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Ben Carson's Stories News Release Wire November 7, 2015 Saturday
3 of 49 DOCUMENTS
News Release Wire
November 7, 2015 Saturday
Ben Carson's Stories

LENGTH: 2014 words
The prevailing political foofaraw right now involves Ben Carson's account, in his 1990 autobiography,
regarding a phantom "offer- to attend West Point. Before some analysis, a word or two..
Ben Carson has no business running for President. His supporters are irresponsible and deluded. I was just
on WGAN (Maine) on Arthur King's show, and Carson was discussed. A Carson supporting caller took issue
with my statement that he was flat out unqualified for office whatever had been said to him about West Point,
and protested that he was a brilliant surgeon, and successfully managed his surgical team. We ran out of
time, and I didn't get to say, "So what?- Is Ned Yost a potential President because he successfully managed
a baseball team to a World Series victory? Yost's training and experience have as much correlation to
political leadership as Carson's, and arguably more. Carson has no qualifications for high office. He is easily
the least qualified candidate in either field, with no management experience, no political talents, weak
speaking skills, negligible presence, irrelevant education and training, and terrible political instincts. You
could throw a rutabaga into a crowd and have a good chance of hitting someone who would be a more
promising President.
Wrote J. Christian Adams succinctly about the current controversy,
"[T]he incident reveals a recurring and perhaps unrecoverable trait of candidate Carson. He just doesn't
seem to know what he is talking about, whether it be Cuba, the Voting Rights Act, or how West Point works.Yes, and that too.
So if this typical example of the news media blowing a relatively minor incident out of proportion because a
Republican poses a threat to Democratic domination should result in Carson's demise, good. Something has
to. It is wrong, another example the double standard we are all used to; and the news media should be called
on it hard. Still, if it ends the embarrassing distraction that is Ben Carson, I'm not weeping. The ends don't
justify unethical means, but that doesn't mean that we can't enjoy the ends anyway.
Let us pretend that Carson is a competent, qualified and deserving candidate for President, just to try to strip
the bias away. How significant and serious are Carson's various misrepresentations?
These all arise from what Carson wrote about his youth and early years in 1990, 25 years ago, when running
for President wasn't a twinkle in his eye. He-heck, we can't pretend, because a competent candidate would
be smart and experienced enough to say,
"You know, I didn't expect anyone to read the book, I wrote most of it off the top of my head, my memory was
faulty, I didn't check the facts and I should have. The West Point story is typical. To me, it sounded like I was
being told that I could get into West Point if I wanted to, and that I wouldn't have to pay tuition, which to me
meant a scholarship. I wasn't trying to fool anybody then or now. I'm sorry. I've learned a lot in 25 years. I
know most of our personal memories are distorted over time, and cannot be relied upon; mistakes like these
turn up to varying degrees in all personal accounts. Bill Clinton says he remembered lots of church burning
in Arkansas when he was growing up. Hillary Clinton said she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, who
didn't become famous for climbing Mount Everest until six years after was born. The difference between my
memory flawa and theirs was that mine can't be attributed to political dissembling. Next question.If he had said that, then his other statements that didn't check out could be explained the same way, and
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reasonably so. Instead, Carson and his defenders are denying, accusing, double-talking and parsing words
like the Clintons. This is foolish because
I) Carson's not as practiced at it as the Clintons,
2) -The truth is always better, and,
3) Unlike when the Clintons lie, most of the news media are looking for justifications to destroy him as it did
Herman Cain. Reporters do not want to not be fair or reasonable with Carson, and certainly not complicit in
deception as regularly is for Hillary.
Now the news media is going through "Gifted Hands- like it is the Rosetta Stone-"something, by the way,
they never did with Barack Obama's books in 2008. This is not to say they shouldn't be checking Carson's
book out now; not at all. It is to point out, yet again, that Obama got a free ride from the press in 2008. For
example, Obama's reefer past was not widely discussed until his re-election campaign, nor was his taste for
dog, if you believe that anecdote.
So now the floodgates are open for Carson. He claimed in his book that he met General Westmoreland in
conjunction with the episode that led to the "offer- of a West Point "scholarship,- and Westmoreland's
schedule doesn't match Carson's account. Was Carson lying? I don't know, and at this point, maybe Carson
doesn't either. Our memories shuffle and combine disparate events. Maybe he met Westmoreland at some
other time. Maybe he met a general whose name he's forgotten and who became Westmoreland in his mind
over time. This happens to normal, honest people, and it easily could be the explanation for some, most, or
all of these discrepancies.
I'm editing my father's memoirs. Several of the accounts in his book don't match up with dates, and some are
at odds with the versions of the same stories I heard growing up. My Dad was very self-deprecating in his
book; the original title was "Tales of A Timid Commando.- I doubt he was lying-"-he never lied, in my
experience, a Boy Scout to the end-" and since won't be running for President, being dead, and since most of
the stories can't be checked, it makes no difference. It's how he remembered what happened.
We also have this story from Carson:
"The day before I'd been informed that the final examination papers in a psychology class, Perceptions 301, were inadvertently burned'-.So I, with about 150 other students, went to the designated auditorium for the
repeat exam-.[The questions] were incredibly difficult-.Soon half the class was gone, and the exodus
continued. Not one person turned in the examination before leaving-..Suddenly the door of the classroom
opened-.The professor came toward me. With her was a photographer for the Yale Daily News who paused
and snapped my picture. - What's going on?' I asked. - A hoax,' the teacher said. - We wanted to see who
was the most honest student in the class.' She smiled again. - And that's you.' "
The Wall Street Journal checked the story, and reported that "no photo identifying Mr. Carson as a student
ever ran, according to the Yale Daily News archives, and no stories from that era mention a class called
Perceptions 301. Yale Librarian Claryn Spies said Friday there was no psychology course by that name or
class number during any of Mr. Carson's years at Yale.- What does this prove? It proves that Carson got the
story wrong, that's all. Maybe he made it up whole-cloth, but that would be strange: Carson hardly needs to
make up fanciful tales to impress people.
I could easily see this kind of discrepancy happening to me. When I was in law school, I was known as the
student who started and ran the student theater organization, a rarity in a graduate school. (The company is
still operating, and, as it likes to say, "the only theater company with its own law school.-) The Dean had told
me I was doing a service to the school, and by my third year I was treated like a star student athlete, given all
sorts of leeway and assistance to ensure that the show would go on. That year I took Antitrust Law while I
was directing the production, and the course was personal disaster. The show was a huge success, but
when I took the exam a month later I was sure-"am sure-"that I flunked it. When the grade sheet was
posted, there was a mysterious "p- by my name among all the other D's and F's. That meant "pass,- but I
hadn't taken the course pass/fail. Puzzled, I went to the registrar and asked what "p- meant. "Don't ask,- she
said. "It means you passed.Later I learned that that course didn't allow pass/fail.
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I've been telling that story for years, but I could imagine ways in which an investigation would call it into
question. The registrar, the professor and the Dean are dead; maybe someone later caught the weird letter
and said, "-This can't be right,- then changed it to a "D.- Something happened that Carson remembered as
he told the story in his book. Even if the facts don't check out decades later, he was not necessarily lying.
Conservative blogger and lawyer John Hindraker concludes:
In the history of "fabrications- by candidates for office, this is very small beer. Nor, I think, can it plausibly be
claimed to be important because it sheds light on Carson's character. (Hillary Clinton's lie about being
named after Sir Edmund Hillary might be an example of an otherwise insignificant fib that betrays a flawed
character.) No one can seriously claim that Carson makes a habit of exaggerating his academic or
professional accomplishments. He has had a brilliant career, of which he is justifiably proud, but about which
he is quite modest. I have discussed his career with him, and can attest that in person, that is exactly how he
comes across when he talks about his years as a surgeon. The West Point episode is so minor in the context
of Carson's accomplishments that I don't see how much significance can be attributed to it.
Nonetheless, conservatives and Republicans are foolish to indulge in the same kind of excuses and
rationalizing to defend Carson that the liberal media allows Hillary Clinton's team of enablers to get away
with, month after month, week after week, day after day. All that does is make their job easier. Of course it's
true that what Ben Carson wrote in the memoirs of a neurosurgeon 25 years ago isn't within a mile of being
as significant as the whoppers Clinton tells constantly; as the whoppers she told during the Presidential
candidates' debate to accolades from the same journalists attacking Carson now.
Just recently, Hillary revised history by claiming that she and Bill were always gay rights supporters, and he
only signed the Defense of Marriage Act as a "defensive action- to block an anti-gay Constitutional
Amendment that might have passed. This is epic Clinton bullshit; even Slate's gay blogger, Mark Joseph
Stern, gives it no credibility at all. At worst it was a naked and cynical political move by Bill. At best, and Bill
Clinton said this in an interview (but what does that mean?) he believed in DOMA when he signed it, but like
most Americans, changed his mind about gay rights over time. Furthermore, nobody except pro-gay rights
hysterics (like Slate's Stern today) and anti-gay rights fanatics thought that a Constitutional amendment had
a chance of passing.
So Hillary lies daily, and occasionally it's a one-day story in the "conservative press,- as in "Faux News.Carson messes up tales from his teens and twenties in a 25 year old book, and it's a front page
thunderclap: want to read all about it? Here: MSNBC,New York Times, Telegraph, Business Insider,
PoliticusUSA, addictinginfo.org, The Hinterland Gazette, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week,
Drudge Retort, The Moderate Voice, Lawyers, Guns & Money , Balloon Juice,PoliticusUSA, Latest from
Crooks and Liars, ThinkProgress, Guardian, New York Times, CNNMoney, Business Insider, CNN, Fox
News Insider, and The Washington Post, and here as well.-just for starters.
Yes, it's good for everyone, Republicans, the nation, even Carson, if this excessive media mugging kills his
campaign. And if the news media becomes embarrassed about its shameful double standard and even a few
respectable journalists measure the leading Democratic candidate's long, long trail of lies against Carson's
flawed memories-"thus becoming more respectable in the process-"Carson will not have been mugged in
vain.
______________________________
Sources: memeorandum, , Detroit News, PJ Media, WSJ, Powerline, Mother Jones, Bloomberg
http://www.Newsreleasewire.com/74747
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Reference
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Copyright 2015 Broadcast Interview Source, Inc.

All Rights Reserved
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Star-News (Wilmington, NC) November 6, 2015 Friday
4 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Star-News (Wilmington, NC)
NC Wilmington Edition
BYLINE: NC Vance Merton; CQ-Roll Call
SECTION: 1,A; GateHouse Media GM9; Pg. 9
LENGTH: 750 words
WASHINGTON Boehner Inc. begins.
It took former Speaker John A. Boehner less than a week after leaving Congress to start assembling a team
of power players to help him cash in.
His advisers will field lucrative gigs that could include publishing deals, seats on corporate boards and paid
speeches if he chooses to go that route. The team that includes superlawyer Robert Barnett also may help
the Ohio Republican sift through seven-figure job offers from K Street and Wall Street, should he want to
pursue a time-honored path of former lawmakers.
Well, obviously, since he s gotten Barnett, he s not just going to Florida and retiring, said James Thurber,
director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University.
Less than a fortnight from his 66th birthday, Boehner s future is beginning to take shape.
Many decisions lie ahead for him, said Boehner spokesman Dave Schnittger, a senior policy adviser with
Squire Patton Boggs. Getting a team in place to help sort through his options and manage the fundamentals
is step one in what will be a gradual process that will unfold over time.
Though Boehner had said before leaving office that he intended to spend more time on the golf course, his
emerging team reveals far bigger possibilities.
Barnett is best known for helping former government officials, including Bill Clinton and ex-Secretary of
State James Baker, ink multimillion-dollar book deals and private-sector gigs. Barnett also helped Hillary
Rodham Clinton negotiate an $8 million deal for her Living History memoir in 2003.
Barnett s partner Deneen Howell will also advise Boehner, who has signed with the Harry Walker Agency to
book paid speeches, Schnittger confirmed.
We are likely to see him with a portfolio where he has several different initiatives going on at the same time,
said Bill O Leary, a corporate headhunter who is not advising Boehner. Giving speeches can be lucrative. He
can be a media commentator, do a book deal. Then there s consulting or lobbying or business development
roles.
Speeches to big lobbying associations, such as the National Association of Realtors or the National
Restaurant Association, can pay handsomely from $50,000 to $200,000, said Leonard Pfeiffer, who runs a
recruiting firm in Washington.
That s not bad pay on a per-hour basis for a 45-minute speech, Pfeiffer said. Plus, once you get used to it,
you can take your basic speech and twist it and revise it for the audience.
Major corporate boards can pay as much as $400,000 each, plus stock options. O Leary said former elected
and government officials often sit on three to five boards at a time.
Part of the value he s offering is insider knowledge, Tim LaPira, a political science professor at James
Madison University, said about Boehner. That s valuable information to have it s valuable to corporate
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Star-News (Wilmington, NC) November 6, 2015 Friday
boards or on K Street or Wall Street.

Boehner is under a one-year ban from lobbying Congress, but numerous former congressional leaders have
gone on to strategic advisory roles. Many ultimately end up as registered lobbyists, including former Senate
Majority Leaders Tom Daschle and Bob Dole and former Speaker J. Dennis Hastert.
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., is a senior adviser at an international law firm and also runs Gingrich
Productions, through which he books speaking engagements.
Though Dole, a former presidential candidate, appeared in ads for Viagra and other products, such gigs are
limited for former lawmakers, experts say. I personally would be surprised to see (Boehner) on TV selling
reverse mortgages, LaPira said, referring to commercials starring the late Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn.
Boehner isn t giving up on politics, either. Schnittger noted that former Boehner aide John Criscuolo will head
up the ex-speaker s political affairs.
Boehner, a prolific fundraiser while in office, may donate money from his joint leadership committee and his
campaign committee to other political committees, candidates for office and charity. Boehner, who has long
been cozy with K Street, collected more than $53 million for his leadership PAC and his campaign committee
during his tenure as speaker.
He may also donate funds from his leadership PAC, the Freedom Project PAC, which raised $1.3 million this
year, or he could transfer that money for his personal use. Schnittger, who serves as Boehner s postcongressional spokesman, did not respond to questions about Boehner s decisions regarding his existing
political money.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 2015 Star-News, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
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Sanders Files For New Hampshire Democratic Primary Ballot Without Incident The Frontrunner November 6,
2015 Friday
5 of 49 DOCUMENTS
The Frontrunner
Sanders Files For New Hampshire Democratic Primary Ballot Without

Incident
SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS
LENGTH: 530 words
John DiStaso reports on the WMUR-TV Manchester, NH (11/5, 190K) website that Sen. Bernie Sanders "filed
as a Democrat for the New Hampshire primary on Thursday without incident and with no drama, but with lots
of excitement." There had been questions raised about a possible challenge when Sanders "filled out the
necessary filing form declaring that he is a 'registered Democrat.'" Vermont does not have registration by
party, and Sanders "twice rejected Democratic Party nominations for the U.S. Senate, choosing instead to
run as an independent." New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner said "he had no evidence or basis
on which to issue a challenge" to Sanders' eligibility, but said "anyone can visit his office with information he
or she believes shows that Sanders was ineligible to file as a Democrat through the end of the filing period,
at 5 p.m. on Nov. 20."
In an editorial, the New Hampshire Union Leader (11/6, 127K) says Sanders "declared himself a Democrat
when filing his paperwork, and that was good enough" for Gardner. "We welcome Bernie Sanders to New
Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary."
Sanders Says If Black Voters Decided Democratic Nominee, He Would Lose.
The Hill (11/5, Byrnes, 654K) reports Sanders said in an interview with NPR "that if African-American voters
decided who becomes the Democratic presidential nominee, he would lose." But he "went on to say he
believes there is a 'real path to winning the support of the African-American community.'" He said he needs to
become better-known among black voters, and he added, "The African-American community and the Latino
community are struggling in a nation in which our middle class is struggling."
Sanders Launching Spanish-Language Radio Ads In Nevada.
The AP (11/6) reports the Sanders campaign is launching Spanish-language radio ads in Nevada "ahead of
his visit this weekend aimed at Latino voters." The ads will tell the story of Sanders' immigrant father.
Campaign officials "also said they're planning a major expansion of their efforts in Nevada within the next two
weeks."
Sanders Campaign Signs Joint Fundraising Agreement With DNC.
Politico (11/5, Debenedetti, 1.19M) reports the Sanders campaign has signed a joint fundraising agreement
with the Democratic National Committee. The agreement "will allow Sanders' team to raise up to $33,400 for
the committee as well as $2,700 for the campaign from individual donors at events." Hillary Clinton's
campaign signed a similar agreement in August.
WPost Examines Comedians' Affection For "Humorless" Sanders.
The Washington Post (11/6, Terris, 7.78M) reports that there have been a "handful of events put on by
comics around the" US, with the proceeds benefiting Sanders' presidential campaign. The Post says that
while Sanders "rarely has an inclination for humor himself," a number of "comedians love him." Asking "why
exactly are some of the funniest people in the country supporting the most humorless" presidential
contender, the Post says that Paul Tompkins, "host of the political comedy show 'No, You Shut Up!', thinks
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Sanders Files For New Hampshire Democratic Primary Ballot Without Incident The Frontrunner November 6,
2015 Friday
comics can relate to Sanders as a guy with a strong point of view who paid his dues for years on the small
stage."
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire
Copyright 2015 Bulletin News Network, Inc.
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Iowa activists demand war on climate change Des Moines Register November 6, 2015 Friday
6 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Des Moines Register
1 Edition
Iowa activists demand war on climate change

BYLINE: By, William Petroski
SECTION: A; Pg. 5
LENGTH: 483 words
Demanding that Iowa caucus presidential candidates declare war on climate change, about 30 political
activists waved banners and rallied outside the Neal Smith Federal Building in downtown Des Moines on
Thursday.
None of the current crop of Democratic or Republican presidential candidates has made a commitment so far
to sign a climate mobilization pledge, said activist Ed Fallon of Des Moines, a rally organizer who led a
3,000-mile march across the United States last year to create awareness about climate change.
Fallon said he has talked repeatedly with Democrats Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley about the climate
change issue, and with Democratic Hillary Clinton and Republican Lindsay Graham once each.
"It's really important that we pay attention to science. Science says we need to mobilize immediately at the
scale of our response to World War II. That was the defining crisis of the last century and climate change is
the defining crisis of this century," Fallon said.
Fallon, a former Iowa legislator, is flying on Sunday to France, where on Nov. 11 he will begin a 17-day-long
walk from Omaha Beach in Normandy to Paris, where a United Nations Climate Summit will be held.
During Thursday's rally in Des Moines, the climate mobilization pledged was signed by Des Moines Mayor
Frank Cownie, along with state Sen. Robert Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, who is seeking the Democratic
nomination for Iowa's 2016 U.S. Senate race; and state Rep. Dan Kelley, D-Newton. Six of Iowa's state and
local elected officials had signed the document previously.
The pledge is championed by a national grassroots campaign called "The Climate Mobilization," which is
supporting similar initiatives in San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, Iowa City, as well as Jefferson City, Mo.,
and Athens, Ga.
"The science is clear - we must urgently act to safeguard our people and our property from the dangers of
climate change," Hogg said. "The good news is that we have many solutions that work for our businesses,
our workers, our farmers, and our health. Every presidential candidate should put forward plans that address
climate change and explain how effective they will be in limiting future damage from climate change."
Hogg has scheduled a "Climate Solutions Tour" around Iowa from Nov. 9 through Nov. 15 with stops in Des
Moines, Cedar Rapids, Pella, Coon Rapids, Carroll, Ames, Decorah and Charles City. He says the solutions
include solar and wind energy, plus biofuels; green buildings and electric and fuel-efficient vehicles.
The Des Moines event will be held at 3 p.m. Nov. 15 at Plymouth Congregational Church's Waveland Hall at
4126 Ingersoll Ave. Hogg will discuss Cownie's upcoming trip to the international climate talks in Paris and
will watch the movie, "Merchants of Doubt," a documentary alleging that some scientists have tried to
obscure the truth about issues such as tobacco smoke and climate change.
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Iowa activists demand war on climate change Des Moines Register November 6, 2015 Friday

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
JOURNAL-CODE: des
Copyright 2015 Des Moines Register
All Rights Reserved
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Details of controversial Pacific trade deal are released Associated Press Online November 5, 2015 Thursday
10:47 AM GMT
7 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Associated Press Online
November 5, 2015 Thursday 10:47 AM GMT
Details of controversial Pacific trade deal are released

BYLINE: By PAUL WISEMAN and ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press
SECTION: WASHINGTON DATELINE
LENGTH: 784 words
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON (AP) - Details of a sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal released Thursday set the stage for a
raucous debate in the U.S. Congress but also may provide reassurances to those who worried the
agreement could gut protections for the environment, public health and labor.
The text of the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement between the U.S. and 11 other countries including Japan
and Mexico runs to 30 chapters and hundreds of pages. It is mind-boggling in its detail, laying out plans for
the handling of trade in everything from zinc dust to railway sleepers and live eels.
Governments of the 12 member countries released the complete text online Thursday, making public the
specifics of an agreement that critics complain was forged in secrecy.
The documents show the pact reached Oct. 5 in Atlanta after several years of talks is chock full of good
intentions. Negotiators agreed to promote environmental sustainability, respect the rights and needs of
indigenous peoples, and temper protections for drug patents with safeguards for public health and access to
medicines.
It also emphasizes the intention of the trading bloc to abide by earlier commitments made under the World
Trade Organization and other international treaties.
That's no guarantee the pact won't raise hackles with U.S. lawmakers who have questioned whether it will
help U.S. exports and create jobs or just expose more American workers to low-wage competition, giving
multinational corporations excessive power.
Under a trade law passed earlier this year, President Barack Obama must give the public time to review the
text before he signs the agreement and turns it over to Congress for approval. Lawmakers can't nitpick the
deal with amendments. They must simply vote yes or no. Congress is likely to take up the issue next year in
the heat of the presidential election campaign.
Obama faces fierce resistance to the deal from within his own Democratic Party. Hillary Rodham Clinton,
who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, has said she's against it. Her opposition may
make it harder for Obama to round up votes.
If all 12 countries have not ratified the agreement within two years, provisions allow for it to take effect if six
countries comprising 85 percent of the GDP of the bloc have signed. That means U.S. ratification as the
world's biggest economy is essential.
Apart from the U.S., Japan and Mexico, countries in the trade pact are New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Peru,
Canada, Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia.
The White House says the deal eliminates more than 18,000 taxes that countries impose on U.S. exports.
The agreement also calls for labor protections such as ensuring that workers in member countries have the
Page 22
Details of controversial Pacific trade deal are released Associated Press Online November 5, 2015 Thursday
10:47 AM GMT
right to form unions.
Those opposed to the deal contend it will force American workers to compete even more directly than they
do now with workers in low-wage countries such as Vietnam.
They also complain that the agreement goes beyond traditional trade issues such as tariffs and import
quotas and includes giveaways to powerful business lobbies.
The input from big businesses, such as pharmaceutical companies, recording studios, agribusinesses and
other multinationals is evident in the myriad details laid out in the document. But negotiators reflected an
awareness of those concerns with meticulous references to the rights of each country to protect its own
sovereign powers and best interests.
In response to U.S. pressure, TPP countries agreed to give drug companies about eight years of protection
from cheaper competitors for biologics, which are ultra-expensive medicines produced in living cells. The
industry had sought 12 years protection.
The agreement stresses that its provisions on patents for medicines "do not and should not prevent a Party
(country) from taking measures to protect public health."
The agreement says it "should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of each Party's right
to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all."
While the deal allows multinational companies to challenge laws and regulations in private tribunals on the
grounds they amount to unfair barriers to trade, it also includes safeguards against abusive claims and
guarantees governments the right to enforce health, labor, safety and environmental regulations in the public
interest.
Countering worries that companies might be able to overturn local anti-smoking laws, countries can
specifically ban tobacco companies from using the tribunals to challenge health regulations - likely to the
consternation of U.S. lawmakers from tobacco-producing states.
___
Kurtenbach reported from Tokyo. Martin Crutsinger in Washington contributed.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Spot Development
Copyright 2015 Associated Press
All Rights Reserved
Page 23
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Details of controversial Pacific trade deal are released The Associated Press November 5, 2015 Thursday
10:47 AM GMT
8 of 49 DOCUMENTS
The Associated Press

SECTION: BUSINESS NEWS
LENGTH: 784 words
medicines.
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Details of controversial Pacific trade deal are released The Associated Press November 5, 2015 Thursday
10:47 AM GMT
interest.
___
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
All Rights Reserved
Page 26
Page 27
Details of controversial Pacific trade deal are released Associated Press Financial Wire November 5, 2015
Thursday 10:46 AM GMT
9 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Associated Press Financial Wire

LENGTH: 784 words
medicines.
Page 28
Details of controversial Pacific trade deal are released Associated Press Financial Wire November 5, 2015
Thursday 10:46 AM GMT
interest.
___
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
All Rights Reserved
Page 29
Page 30
Sanders, Clinton jockey for key voters in South Carolina Associated Press Online November 8, 2015 Sunday
2:21 AM GMT
10 of 49 DOCUMENTS
November 8, 2015 Sunday 2:21 AM GMT
Sanders, Clinton jockey for key voters in South Carolina

BYLINE: By BILL BARROW and LISA LERER, Associated Press
SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS
LENGTH: 824 words
DATELINE: COLUMBIA, S.C.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Rodham Clinton jockeyed
Saturday for the support of key South Carolina Democratic voting blocs that anchored President Barack
Obama's twice-victorious national coalition.
Yet by the conclusion of a day that put the Vermont senator and the former secretary of state in front of the
state's Democratic women, African-Americans and gay rights activists, the two leading Democratic
contenders ended up jousting over the legalization of marijuana.
Clinton called for relaxing regulation of the drug at the federal level, but she stopped short of advocating
decriminalization, as Sanders has done. Sanders suggested Clinton was following his lead.
Aside from the pot issue, Sanders focused on tailoring his message of economic and social inclusion to
women and minorities. Polls in South Carolina suggest Clinton has wide advantage among both groups,
which will be crucial players in the South's first primary given that white men across the Deep South have
largely abandoned Democrats.
Speaking to the Democratic Women's Council, Sanders highlighted his support for gender pay equity, paid
family leave and access to abortion and birth control. "Make no mistake about it, the right wing in this country
is continuing its war on women," he said.
Sanders didn't direct his arguments on women against Clinton, focusing instead on Republicans and
decrying the GOP's "horrific attacks" on Planned Parenthood.
"Women have been front and center in every one of our progressive victories," he said, telling the group's
members they are critical to withstand the GOP's "counter-revolution."
Clinton vowed at a town hall in heavily African-American Orangeburg to tackle problems important to black
voters, from improving historically black colleges and universities to curing sickle cell anemia, an inherited
blood disease that disproportionately affects blacks. The event continued her focus on minority voters, as
calls to combat gun violence, enact immigration legislation and reform criminal justice laws have emerged as
central themes of her campaign.
Earlier this week, Clinton met with the families of young black people killed by police officers, including the
mother of Michael Brown, whose death in Ferguson, Missouri, led to nationwide protests.
Still, she has struggled to win over some young activists who have provided much of the energy behind the
renewed interest in civil rights issues after the spate of police killings of young minorities. In Atlanta last
week, a handful of Black Lives Matter protesters tried to drown Clinton out as she discussed her criminal
justice plan.
On Saturday, Clinton praised the activists for their energy but urged them to take a closer look at her
Page 31
Sanders, Clinton jockey for key voters in South Carolina Associated Press Online November 8, 2015 Sunday
2:21 AM GMT
proposals. "They are impatient and they deserve to be impatient," she said. "I wish they had listened."
Later in the evening, Clinton wooed gay voters- the demographic has emerged as a political and financial
force in the Democratic Party- with promises "not to forget how much work still lies ahead" to protect their
rights even after the Supreme Court's watershed same-sex marriage decision. Before her speech, Sanders
reminded reporters that he voted against the "homophobic" Defense of Marriage Act that Clinton's husband,
Bill Clinton, signed as president in 1996.
The two candidates also touted competing endorsements. Former North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan declared
her support for Clinton following Sanders' speech at the Women's Council. Sanders came to the capital city
of Columbia to accept plaudits from black community leaders, including some state lawmakers. At an
evening rally in Aiken, he was introduced by Rashad Gains, president of the black caucus of the national
Young Democrats.
Sanders has had trouble nationally putting a dent in Clinton's advantage among African-Americans, a
dynamic that could pave the way for her nomination given black voters' strong influence in South Carolina
and other Southern primaries that dominate the opening stretch of the 2016 primary calendar.
Still, Clinton and Sanders' angling for female and black voters doesn't involve many wide policy differences,
as they put on display over marijuana.
Clinton said the drug should be reclassified by the government from a Schedule 1 substance to a Schedule
2, a designation that would allow for federally sponsored research into its effects. She has not endorsed
federal legalization for either medical or recreational use, saying she wants to see the outcome of statewide
efforts in Colorado and Washington before crafting a national policy.
"What I do want is for us to support research into medical marijuana because a lot more states have passed
medical marijuana than have legalized marijuana," she said in Orangeburg, "so we have got two different
experiences or even experiments going on right now."
___
Follow Barrow and Lerer on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BillBarrowAP and https://twitter.com/llerer
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
All Rights Reserved
Page 32
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Sanders, Clinton jockey for key voters in South Carolina The Associated Press November 8, 2015 Sunday
2:21 AM GMT
11 of 49 DOCUMENTS

LENGTH: 824 words
justice plan.
Page 34
Sanders, Clinton jockey for key voters in South Carolina The Associated Press November 8, 2015 Sunday
2:21 AM GMT
Young Democrats.
___
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
All Rights Reserved
Page 35
Page 36
Sanders, Clinton jockey for key voters in South Carolina Associated Press State & Local November 8, 2015
Sunday 2:21 AM GMT
12 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Associated Press State & Local

LENGTH: 824 words
justice plan.
Page 37
Sanders, Clinton jockey for key voters in South Carolina Associated Press State & Local November 8, 2015
Sunday 2:21 AM GMT
Young Democrats.
___
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
All Rights Reserved
Page 38
Page 39
'Turn Around' and look The Californian (Salinas, California) November 6, 2015 Friday
13 of 49 DOCUMENTS
The Californian (Salinas, California)
1 Edition
'Turn Around' and look

BYLINE: By, Tom Leyde
SECTION: C; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 742 words
Jonny Lang was still in high school when his music career skyrocketed
The 34-year-old singer-guitarist-songwriter was considered a blues-guitar prodigy at 14. And in 1997, at age
16, his first blues album, 1997's "Lie to Me," went platinum and hit No. 1 on Billboard's New Artist chart. The
following year, at 17, his second album, "Wander This World," was nominated for a Grammy award.
He won the Grammy eight years later, in 2006, for his album "Turn Around," a gospel-influenced collection of
songs.
These days, Lang, a Fargo, North Dakota, native, continues to wow crowds with his music. While he still has
a bluesy voice, his music style varies from song to song, he said in a telephone interview from Madison,
Wisconsin.
You can experience Jonny Lang and his band when they play Monterey's Golden Stage Theatre, 417
Alvarado St., at 8 p.m. Nov. 6. Tickets range from $37 to $65. They are available at 831-649-1070 or at
goldenstatetheatre.com.
He and his wife, actress Jaylie Johnson, make their home in Southern California. They are the parents of
four children, including twins (a boy and a girl). Lang tours a lot, usually spending two-week stretches on the
road.
"It seems like I've been most everywhere," he said. "Our last record ("Fight For My Soul") came out a couple
of years ago. It just seems like we never stop touring."
Lang was bitten by the blues bug at age 12 when his father, a farmer, took him to a gig by the Bad Medicine
Blues Band. At 13 his father gave him his first guitar, and a member of the Bad Medicine Blues Band gave
him lessons. He became so adept at the guitar that he soon joined the group as frontman.
It was two years later that he was spotted by A&M records at a showcase in Minneapolis. The label signed
him at age 14.
He wound up touring with the Rolling Stones, Buddy Guy, Aerosmith, B.B. King, Blues Traveler, Jeff Beck
and Sting. He performed at the White House for then-President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton in 1999 and
also performed at former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura's inaugural ball. He performs regularly as part of the
Jimi Hendrix Tour.
Lang said starting out in the music business at such a young age was a double-edged experience.
"I got an early start playing with ... actual musicians and doing that all the time and getting honed what it is I
do," he said. "At the same time, you're a little kid in an adult world, so you can imagine all the problems that
can create."
Along his musical journey he had a spiritual epiphany that changed his life.
Page 40
"I had sort of a bad taste in my mouth for Christianity and going to church as a kid," he said. "Despite that, I
had an encounter with Jesus and it changed my life forever. After that point, I was like, wow, if I didn't change
my life, allow my life to be changed, I would be lying to myself. As the years have gone by, it's never let me
down," Lang said. "The relationship has gotten better as time has gone by."
At the time Lang had his spiritual awakening, he said he had been doing drugs and drinking alcohol daily.
"I really liked it ...," he said. "I wasn't at the point where I felt, 'I've got to stop this. ... When this happened, I
had no desire to return to anything. ... It was like an overnight transformation. It was a miracle. ... Pretty
cool."
Lang said his songwriting is pretty spontaneous, although he will sometimes schedule time to write. He
carries a small recorder with him to keep track of ideas so that he can come back to them later and sort out
the good from the bad.
He said his songs vary from soul to rock to folk to country. "Sometimes I wish there was a little more
consistency, but I can't help it," he said.
His main guitars are a Fender Telecaster and a Gibson Les Paul, which he plays in standard tuning. "I never
got into different tunings," he said.
For Lang, life is joyful and fulfilling these days.
"I love what I do for a living, and I can hardly characterize it as a job ...," He said. "It's wonderful to see what
music can do for people. It's pretty amazing to be a part of that. It's no small thing for me," he said. "I'm
happy to be doing it and making a living at it. I'll never take it for granted."
Tom Leyde is a free lance writer and former Californian staff member living in Salinas. Contact him at
thomasthomas9330@sbcglobal.net
To go
What: Jonny Lang in concert; 831-649-1070 or at goldenstatetheatre.com.
Where: Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado St., Monterey,
When: 8 p.m., Friday, Nov. 6
Tickets: $37 to $65
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
JOURNAL-CODE: sns
Copyright 2015 The Californian
All Rights Reserved
Page 41
Page 42
14 of 49 DOCUMENTS
The Californian (Salinas, California)
1 Edition
'Turn Around' and look

BYLINE: By, Tom Leyde
SECTION: C; Pg. 7
LENGTH: 742 words
Jonny Lang was still in high school when his music career skyrocketed
The 34-year-old singer-guitarist-songwriter was considered a blues-guitar prodigy at 14. And in 1997, at age
16, his first blues album, 1997's "Lie to Me," went platinum and hit No. 1 on Billboard's New Artist chart. The
following year, at 17, his second album, "Wander This World," was nominated for a Grammy award.
He won the Grammy eight years later, in 2006, for his album "Turn Around," a gospel-influenced collection of
songs.
These days, Lang, a Fargo, North Dakota, native, continues to wow crowds with his music. While he still has
a bluesy voice, his music style varies from song to song, he said in a telephone interview from Madison,
Wisconsin.
You can experience Jonny Lang and his band when they play Monterey's Golden Stage Theatre, 417
Alvarado St., at 8 p.m. Nov. 6. Tickets range from $37 to $65. They are available at 831-649-1070 or at
goldenstatetheatre.com.
He and his wife, actress Jaylie Johnson, make their home in Southern California. They are the parents of
four children, including twins (a boy and a girl). Lang tours a lot, usually spending two-week stretches on the
road.
"It seems like I've been most everywhere," he said. "Our last record ("Fight For My Soul") came out a couple
of years ago. It just seems like we never stop touring."
Lang was bitten by the blues bug at age 12 when his father, a farmer, took him to a gig by the Bad Medicine
Blues Band. At 13 his father gave him his first guitar, and a member of the Bad Medicine Blues Band gave
him lessons. He became so adept at the guitar that he soon joined the group as frontman.
It was two years later that he was spotted by A&M records at a showcase in Minneapolis. The label signed
him at age 14.
He wound up touring with the Rolling Stones, Buddy Guy, Aerosmith, B.B. King, Blues Traveler, Jeff Beck
and Sting. He performed at the White House for then-President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton in 1999 and
also performed at former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura's inaugural ball. He performs regularly as part of the
Jimi Hendrix Tour.
Lang said starting out in the music business at such a young age was a double-edged experience.
"I got an early start playing with ... actual musicians and doing that all the time and getting honed what it is I
do," he said. "At the same time, you're a little kid in an adult world, so you can imagine all the problems that
can create."
Along his musical journey he had a spiritual epiphany that changed his life.
Page 43
"I had sort of a bad taste in my mouth for Christianity and going to church as a kid," he said. "Despite that, I
had an encounter with Jesus and it changed my life forever. After that point, I was like, wow, if I didn't change
my life, allow my life to be changed, I would be lying to myself. As the years have gone by, it's never let me
down," Lang said. "The relationship has gotten better as time has gone by."
At the time Lang had his spiritual awakening, he said he had been doing drugs and drinking alcohol daily.
"I really liked it ...," he said. "I wasn't at the point where I felt, 'I've got to stop this. ... When this happened, I
had no desire to return to anything. ... It was like an overnight transformation. It was a miracle. ... Pretty
cool."
Lang said his songwriting is pretty spontaneous, although he will sometimes schedule time to write. He
carries a small recorder with him to keep track of ideas so that he can come back to them later and sort out
the good from the bad.
He said his songs vary from soul to rock to folk to country. "Sometimes I wish there was a little more
consistency, but I can't help it," he said.
His main guitars are a Fender Telecaster and a Gibson Les Paul, which he plays in standard tuning. "I never
got into different tunings," he said.
For Lang, life is joyful and fulfilling these days.
"I love what I do for a living, and I can hardly characterize it as a job ...," He said. "It's wonderful to see what
music can do for people. It's pretty amazing to be a part of that. It's no small thing for me," he said. "I'm
happy to be doing it and making a living at it. I'll never take it for granted."
Tom Leyde is a free lance writer and former Californian staff member living in Salinas. Contact him at
thomasthomas9330@sbcglobal.net
To go
What: Jonny Lang in concert; 831-649-1070 or at goldenstatetheatre.com.
Where: Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado St., Monterey,
When: 8 p.m., Friday, Nov. 6
Tickets: $37 to $65
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
JOURNAL-CODE: sns
Copyright 2015 The Californian
All Rights Reserved
Page 44
Page 45
Opinion: Trust in economists The Tech: Massachusetts Institute of Technology November 5, 2015 Thursday
15 of 49 DOCUMENTS
The Tech: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Opinion: Trust in economists

BYLINE: Daniel Perry
SECTION: OPINION; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 950 words
November 5, 2015
Since economic policies shape the lives of each and every one of us, it seems right to discuss them in the
public space. But in this space, an important component is often left out - a base in economic realities. Nonexperts need not and should not approach economics as an empty canvas when thinking about public policy.
Instead, the general public should treat economics like other professional fields, such as medicine, and apply
their values to options laid out by economists as feasible.
It takes minimal effort to find members of the general public with baseless economic beliefs. A recent study
conducted by Duke University tested how the general public's views aligned with the consensus opinions of
economists on five issues ranging from the gold standard to high-skill immigration. Disconcertingly, the study
found that the majority of members of the general public who expressed opinions disagreed with the
consensus on every single issue presented.
This problem is amplified through politics, since the general public elects the members of Congress who draft
the legislation to address these issues and the executives who implement the legislation. Even if those
politicians are knowledgeable, they have an obligation to cater to the mistaken beliefs of their constituencies.
One of the most current examples of this political dynamic concerns free trade, for which economic
consensus is clearly in favor. A University of Chicago poll showed that 91 percent of economists believed
"past major trade deals have benefited most Americans." Despite the fact these agreements lead to massive
economic gains for all nations involved, the currently-debated Trans-Pacific Partnership might not pass
through Congress. Political figures from Senator Elizabeth Warren to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton,
who helped craft the deal as secretary of state, have voiced opposition to it. It does not matter that the very
people most vehemently opposed to the deal, American factory workers, have the most to gain from it (due to
increased exports), or that every single chair of the president's Council of Economic Advisers since the Ford
administration signed an open letter in support of the agreement. Since the weakly informed general public
opposes the deal, it is not gaining widespread political support.
One might argue that if the case for free trade were so compelling, then it could be explained to the public.
Although education schemes are certainly laudable, they would not address the underlying issue:
engagement between economists and the public is fundamentally flawed.
As with any professional field, a significant amount of education and time is required to form well-grounded
opinions on economic issues. However, unlike in many other such fields, the public is often disinclined to
accept the opinions of professional economists. For example, many people recognize the harm that may
come from a baseless belief in the medical sciences, such as the measles epidemic that has broken out from
the scientifically unfounded conviction that vaccines cause autism. In contrast, many will accept the opinion
of a member of the general public who argues against free trade, and they will not recognize the harm that
could come from accepting such a belief: the loss of hundreds of billions of dollars in economic value.
Page 46
Opinion: Trust in economists The Tech: Massachusetts Institute of Technology November 5, 2015 Thursday
A change in the nature of the public's relationship with economics needs to occur. Society must treat
economics more like other professional fields and recognize that expert consensus opinions deserve much
more weight in policymaking. This is not to say that members of the public should be excluded from
engagement with economic issues. After all, economic policy affects the general public in profound ways, just
as a medical procedure can profoundly affect the life of a patient. Both deserve a say. However, the general
public should be using its values not to create new economic "theory," just as it is not productive for people
without medical training to propose new medical procedures. Rather, members of the public can most
effectively use their values to choose among the often-difficult choices that economic realities present. This
same maxim applies to politicians as well. Rather than espousing claims that align with popular beliefs, such
as the common claim among some conservatives like Rand Paul that a gold standard will increase monetary
stability, politicians should focus on serious solutions to real economic problems. For example, economists
may conclude that there is a trade-off between income equality and growth. After accepting this fact,
members of the public and the politicians that represent them could use their value systems to determine
what they believe is the most appropriate trade-off.
Bringing about this change in the relationship between economists and the general public will require
substantial effort in both the political and public sphere. The general public has only limited trust in
economists. The aforementioned Duke paper showed that less than 1 percent of the general public trust
economists "a great deal" and a mere 59 percent express any confidence in them at all. This compares to a
Pew study showing that 17 percent of the public trusts the medical establishment "a great deal" and that 97
percent of the public has at least some confidence in it. Economics affects individuals personally and often
dramatically, yet it too is a professional discipline. Treating it as such, and thoughtfully applying our personal
values to options laid out by experts, is the only way to reach policy that accounts for all who have a stake.
Daniel Perry is a member of the Class of 2019.Post a comment on this article
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
University Wire
Copyright 2015 UWIRE via U-Wire
All Rights Reserved
Page 47
Page 48
Feel the Bern! Sanders tops Clinton in straw vote The Villager (New York) November 5, 2015
16 of 49 DOCUMENTS
The Villager (New York)
November 5, 2015
Feel the Bern! Sanders tops Clinton in straw vote

SECTION: NEWS
LENGTH: 1678 words
While national polls put Hillary Clinton far ahead of her two remaining rivals in the race for the Democratic
Party's presidential nomination, self-described socialist Bernie Sanders won a straw poll taken last Sunday in
Chelsea, surging past the former first lady, New York senator and secretary of state by 30 votes.
The informal sampling of public opinion was conducted in a darkened auditorium with a call for raised hands
to signify choices to occupy the Oval Office following a two-hour Democratic presidential forum at the SVA
Theatre, at 333 W. 23rd St. Sanders, the 74-year-old senator from Vermont, garnered 89 straw votes
compared to 59 for Clinton, according to a count of hands.
Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley inspired 54 straw votes, trailing only five behind Clinton.
Nearly a dozen local Democratic clubs sponsored the event, including Village Independent Democrats,
Downtown Independent Democrats, Village Reform Democratic Club, Chelsea Reform Democratic Club,
Gramercy Stuyvesant Independent Democrats, Coalition for a District Alternative, Jim Owles Liberal
Democratic Club, Samuel Tilden Democratic Club, Lexington Democratic Club, Eleanor Roosevelt
Democratic Club, 504 Democratic Club and Manhattan Young Democrats.
O'Malley's was a surprisingly strong showing for an uber-liberal whose national numbers were only at 4
percent when he headed into the first Democratic debate in Las Vegas last month, according to a
Washington Post-University of Maryland poll. But on Oct. 27, his campaign announced he had picked up 26
new endorsements in Iowa, including a state senator, two mayors and several activists who had previously
supported Vice President Joe Biden.
"He's starting to get noticed, starting to get some buzz in the nominating process and with groups like this,"
said Adam Stolz, an articulate aide with the Martin O'Malley for President organization who represented his
often media-ignored man of the people on the dais.
Stolz was joined on the dais by two other local surrogates: longtime Harlem Assemblymember Keith Wright,
the New York County Democratic chairperson, representing Clinton (he is also a member of the powerful
Hillary for New York Leadership Council); and Sean Patrick Murphy, a Sanders campaign organizer with
Team Bernie NY. None of the actual contenders were present.
The forum was moderated by former City Councilmember Ronnie Eldridge, who gave the men three minutes
each to explain in opening remarks why they were endorsing their candidates before an audience of about
250 people.
Attendees included several local elected officials, among them Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer
and state Senator Brad Hoylman.
The first to speak was Wright, who made it plain he believes Hillary Clinton has the right stuff in his
rulebook to lead the nation after President Barack Obama exits the White House.
"I think Hillary Rodham Clinton is battle-tested. She's a person who is cool, cool, cool under fire and can
take a hit," he said. "She has the intellectual capacity and the political acumen. Let's not forget, she was our
senator from 2000 to 2008. She's been talking about criminal justice, jobs and healthcare. She speaks to me
Page 49
as the father of two boys. She doesn't think young people should be saddled with student loans and
astronomical usurious rates. She's talking to me and she's talking about future generations. I'm proud to
support Hillary Clinton."
Stolz detailed O'Malley's cred as a progressive with an ability to get "big things done," noting he had helped
Maryland come out of the 2008 recession, "and he led the fight for marriage equality in 2011."
"He's fought for the Dream Act for young, undocumented immigrants," Stolz added, later recounting that
O'Malley "stood up" for immigrant children illegally entering the country in 2014. Clinton, he said, did not. His
remarks drew applause.
But many in the audience were clearly "feeling the Bern" when 30-year-old Murphy, a former Peace Corps
volunteer, touted Sanders's purist leftie persona and the outpouring of support he has received from small
donors to his campaign.
"He's raised more individual contributions than any candidate in history," Murphy contended. He said that
Sanders refuses to take any super-PAC money.
"He also has refused any form of special-interest money," he added.
Murphy cited the Brooklyn-born senator's "impressive progressive" report card spanning 34 years as a
public servant, stating he has received a "100 percent civil rights record from the NAACP" and a "100 percent
[record] on women's rights from Planned Parenthood," among other liberal endorsements.
Eldridge, who hosts Eldridge & Co., on CUNY TV, attempted to differentiate the candidates on such hotbutton topics as campaign finance reform, trade deals, climate change, gun control, racism in education and
the prison system. She began by asking where they stood on wealth and income inequality.
"This is Bernie's issue," Murphy insisted. "He has been the candidate going after banks and Wall St. ever
since 2008. He's stood up for workers' rights his entire career."
He later said that Sanders believes that the "billionaire class has taken over the reins of the financial system
and the election structure."
Income equality is the "centerpiece" of O'Malley's campaign, Stolz said of his candidate.
"We need more cops on the beat" scrutinizing Wall St., he said, adding, "When a bank repeatedly breaks the
law, they should know they're getting closer to going out of business."
Both Sanders and O'Malley have proposed reviving the Depression- era Glass-Steagall Act to break up big
banks. Clinton would allow regulators to do that job but hasn't called for resurrecting Glass-Steagall. Her
husband, former President Bill Clinton, signed legislation in 1999 that repealed the legislation.
Wright candidly stated that he was "not intimately involved" with Clinton's campaign, but claimed she has a
plan to "go further than Glass-Steagall and see to it that the big banks don't take advantage of the American
people." He could not provide specifics when asked by Eldridge. But he claimed Clinton has "fought for
women's rights and income equality since law school," and added that progressive Mayor Bill de Blasio
recently endorsed her "on this issue."
And so it went. While discussing gun laws in the U.S., Stolz swiped at Sanders for getting support from the
National Rifle Association in 1990 when he was running for Congress as the hippie ex-mayor of Burlington,
Vermont. Stolz also faulted the senator for failing to back the 1993 Brady Bill that mandated federal
background checks on purchasers of firearms and imposed a five-day waiting period (a provision later
supplanted by the National Instant Criminal Background Check system launched by the F.B.I. in 1998).
Murphy replied that Sanders now has a near "flunking" report card from the NRA.
In another exchange between the surrogates, Stolz jabbed at Clinton for supporting the death penalty in
certain cases. That disclosure appeared to disturb Wright, who, prodded by Eldridge, declared, "I have
emphatically opposed the death penalty and authored a bill to end the death penalty in New York!"
As for O'Malley, Stolz said he "does not believe the state should be in the business of killing people" and
noted that O'Malley has called for "abolition of the federal death penalty. We Democrats have to be more
Page 50
careful about principles," he observed pointedly.

Eldridge suddenly turned to the crowd, asking if anyone in the audience supported the death penalty. No
one voiced an opinion or raised a hand.
"Assemblyman," she said, addressing Wright, "would you take this measure of the audience back to your
candidate?"
Wright said with a smile that he would do that.
Over all, the forum was notable for its civility, with only a few testy interactions and not many raised voices
during the question-and-answer period from the audience. For example, the surrogates, when asked, said
their candidates all support Obama's Iran deal. Clinton, however, known for hawkishness, was the only one
among them to support a no-fly zone over Syria.
But there were some highly charged moments, especially when a young white activist apparently involved
with the notorious Lyndon LaRouche movement started shouting questions to the surrogates on stage, such
as: "What are you going to do to stop the drones from killing people and the World War III instigator and
mass-murdering dictator Obama?"
That one seemed to surprise and fluster Eldridge a bit. She turned to the panel and asked: "Do you want to
answer the question -- quickly?"
Tony Hoffmann, from the Village Independent Democrats club who had welcomed the audience from the
outset with fellow V.I.D.'er Marti Speranza, could be heard saying that the activist's question "doesn't deserve
an answer."
Nevertheless, Wright gave it a try.
"Let's not forget that George Bush got us into this war. Let me finish, thank you very much," he added
sardonically as other angry voices intruded. "One of the first things I learned in school was that when we get
into wars, the economy is supposed to get better. Well, George Bush got us into two wars and the economy
got worse. Whether you disagree with how our president is handling this -- that's your opinion."
Eldridge ended that discussion after Wright's comments.
"I think that's enough. All of the other members on the dais approve of most of the things in the Obama
administration," she said, as several people in the audience clapped.
Then the straw poll began. When it concluded, people began filing out of the auditorium and into the street
from an exit door near the stage. Several lingered to talk to the panel, among them the aforementioned
activist, who carried a placard showing an image of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The words on it
said: "We Need FDR!"
Separately, on Oct. 24, V.I.D. conducted a "bean poll" of residents, on Astor Place, that saw Clinton
narrowly edge out Sanders. Of 292 respondents, 142 backed Clinton and 139 supported Sanders, while
only 11 went for O'Malley.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: Photo by Mary ReinholzRepresenting the candidates, from left, Keith Wright (for Hillary Clinton),
Adam Stolz (for Martin O'Malley) and Sean Patrick Murphy (for Bernie Sanders), with moderator Ronnie
Eldridge.
Copyright 2015 Community Media LLC
Distributed by Newsbank, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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Presidential debates: They're (kinda) important The Vantage: Newman University November 5, 2015
Thursday
17 of 49 DOCUMENTS
The Vantage: Newman University
Presidential debates: They're (kinda) important

BYLINE: Wesley Williams
SECTION: OPINIONS; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 632 words
Photo Courtesy of Fortune.com
Wesley Williams - Williams 2032
For most people, presidential debates can be a bit of a bore, but for me they are something I look forward to.
For me, watching the debates trump everything else (pun intended).
Why?
Partly because I'm weird and I like to watch old white guys - here's looking to you Mr. Sanders - with a small
mix of young bloods, women, and even a minority or two squawk back and forth for an hour or two.
But, regardless of the bad rep that they have, debates serve a very important role in shaping the political
landscape of the United States. On the campaign trail you can hear candidates like Ben Carson, Rand Paul,
Martin O'Malley, and Hillary Clinton propose ideas that they would like to see happen if they win the White
House. But the debates give the chance for these ideas to be challenged, and for the candidates to be
challenged themselves.
"Marco, when you signed up for this, this was a six-year term, and you should be showing up to work,"
Republican candidate Jeb Bush said, referencing Senator Marco Rubio's record in the Senate during the
latest GOP debate. "You can campaign, or just resign and let someone else take the job."
This was a blatant attack on Rubio who has been ahead of Bush in recent national polls, and one of the first
shots fired at such a level. But unlike on his campaign trail, Bush opened up the opportunity for immediate
retaliation from the freshman Senator from Florida.
"The only reason why you're doing it now is because we're running for the same position," Rubio said
countering Bush's attacks. "Someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you."
In one way these debates can really help a candidate. This is the only environment where all of the
candidates (well, at least the ones who are polling well) are side-by-side and able to fully interact with each
other. Voters can compare the candidates and their ideas easily and see who they like the most with one
convenient televised broadcast.
Debates can also help those candidates who may not be doing as hot as the Sanders, Clintons, Bushes,
and Trumps of the presidential race. With the strong bases and lack of ability to make the waves of the "toptier" runners, candidates like Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, and Rick Santorum can get national attention.
Their campaigns won't gain much traction unless their debate, which has always been shown prior to each
prime time debate, get views and is well-received.
Carly Fiorina is a prime example of this phenomenon. Prior to the Fox Republican Debate, the first of the
election season back in July, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard was in the basement of the polls. After a
strong performance in the warm up debate, however, her stock rose and she was quickly considered a
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Presidential debates: They're (kinda) important The Vantage: Newman University November 5, 2015
Thursday
serious contender for the Republican candidacy.
On the other hand, debates can hurt candidates' chances at winning the presidency. As an article from a
2012 issue of the "New York Times" put it, debates "are the one time when the major candidates appear
together side by side under conditions they do not control." It is this lack of control that can unravel one's
plans for the rest of the campaigning season.
These heated exchanges can serve a purpose other than just putting some audience members to sleep and
giving material for a Saturday Night Live skit. You can learn more about a certain candidate and how they
handle themselves under pressure.
So watch the debates. You may just find that you support a candidate that you may not have even heard of
prior to the evening. You may find an issue that you feel passionate about. Worst case, you'll be able to crack
a joke or two around the water cooler (or water fountain nowadays) the next day.
This story first appeared in the November 5th, 2015 issue of The Vantage
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
University Wire
Copyright 2015 UWIRE via U-Wire
All Rights Reserved
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Ben and Hillary could be lurking anywhere!; Ben and Hillary could be lurking anywhere! The San Francisco
Chronicle (California) November 5, 2015 Thursday
18 of 49 DOCUMENTS
The San Francisco Chronicle (California)

Ben and Hillary could be lurking anywhere!;

Ben and Hillary could be lurking anywhere!
BYLINE: By Jon Carroll
SECTION: Datebook; Pg. E15
LENGTH: 801 words
It's been exciting around my place. Of course, I'm used to getting little personal notes from famous people.
"Dear Jon, your radiance illuminates my life," signed Elton - that sort of thing. As part of my nightly duties as
a newspaper columnist, I go clubbing with lovely young hand models, and the rich and famous are all over
me. I get used to the constant demands of ego-driven celebrities.
Still, Wednesday, Oct. 28, was a red-letter day - we got notes from both Hillary Rodham Clinton and Ben
Carson. They're so busy campaigning just now; I'm amazed they even had time to think of us. And these
weren't just form letters either; they included thoughtful personal notes.
Hillary typed right on the outside of the envelope, "Tracy, this is our moment ... are you with me?" It's funny,
Tracy can't remember actually meeting Hillary in person, but Hillary's memory is probably better than
Tracy's. As a companion to a club-hopping newspaper columnist, she's used to being ignored, although she
makes sure that the lovely young hand models know who she is.
Ben was even nicer - he hand-wrote a missive to me on the outside of the envelope: "Jonathan, I want you to
have what's inside ... AND a limited edition copy of my book, 'My Life.'" Yes, he sent me a present. Several
presents, actually - but more on that in a minute.
Hillary was interested in talking to Tracy - at some length, actually - about income equality and women's
rights. It may be that Hillary was emphasizing the women's rights thing because Tracy is, well, a woman,
and she's probably interested in having rights.
And it's true - my wife is all about women's rights. She believes, for instance, that women should have the
right to drive in carpool lanes even if they are unaccompanied. She's not sure where Hillary stands on that
issue, but I imagine if Tracy were to give generously, she might bring some attention to her fight. Heck,
enough money and it could become a campaign issue. It could be a platform plank. Really, with enough
money, Hillary would come to her and sit earnestly on our couch, the good one, and join hands with Tracy
and cut their palms and together they would bleed all over Tracy's copy of "Shooting the Boh One Woman's
Voyage Down the Wildest River in Borneo" - still available wherever better paperbacks are sold.
The other thing that Hillary hates is Republicans. They have gallons of bad juju. And they are rich, oh so
rich. And it's only with the help of people like Tracy that Hillary can hope to defeat these fat cats. "We won't
win without you beside us," says Hillary. Such a lovely thought.
Ben, as you might expect, is a little more down to earth. Starts off with a bang: "This is the single most
important question I'll ever ask you." What can it be? Something about immigration boo, birth control boo,
bladder control yay!? Nope: "May I please have your support today in my campaign to become president of
the United States?"
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Ben and Hillary could be lurking anywhere!; Ben and Hillary could be lurking anywhere! The San Francisco
Chronicle (California) November 5, 2015 Thursday
If I had not met Ben personally, I would be forced to believe that he got my name from some list of old white
guys, believing that even those in Oakland representative: Barbara Lee might be susceptible to his
blandishments.
"Here's what I'm asking you to do, Jonathan. Take the three postcards I've given you and mail them to three
people. Display the bumper sticker and decal I've enclosed for you. Invest as much as your heart will allow in
this campaign."
First come, first served on the postcards.
"I believe in you, Jonathan. In your power. In your goodness." So few people recognize that. My power is, in
fact, outdone only by my goodness. I wonder if Ben could talk to my wife about the whole hand-model thing.
Because, really, it happened just once. A party for some glove company, if memory serves, with one mirrored
ball and a Bee Gees tribute group in a convention center in Anaheim. But still, resentments linger. And I think
if someone like Carson, with his invincible integrity, would put in a few good words for me ...
"Jonathan, you have inspired me to travel the country, town-by-town, and listen to the worries and hopes of
our fellow Americans." Ben, I'm glad you're doing that, because I'm not. There I'd be, going town by town,
and it would be February in Austin, Nev., and everybody would be indoors hoping only that things warm up,
so not great conditions for a listening tour.
But I do appreciate the shout-out. Ben asks for my prayers, which - no can do, big Ben. But if money is all
you need, heck, not a problem. As soon as my suit against the neurosurgeon who ruined Jimmy's life forever
gets resolved, I'll be rolling in it. Maybe you could come to my house to discuss matters of interest to former
newspaper columnists.
Hillary's already been here, Ben. Better get cracking.
"I ve been in this game a long time, and I think they want money. Just a guess."
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 2015 San Francisco Chronicle
All Rights Reserved
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Text of Pacific trade deal released Critics begin to pore over 30 chapters, hundreds of pages Huntsville
Times (Alabama) November 6, 2015 Friday
19 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Huntsville Times (Alabama)
Text of Pacific trade deal released Critics begin to pore over 30

chapters, hundreds of pages
BYLINE: Associated press
SECTION: LOCAL NEWS; Pg. 011A
LENGTH: 541 words
Details of a sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal released Thursday set the stage for a raucous debate in the
U.S. Congress but also may provide reassurances to those who worried the agreement could gut protections
for the environment, public health and labor.
Governments of the 12 member countries released the complete text online -- you can read it for yourself at
ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/trans-pacific-partnership/tpp-full-text -- making public the
The documents show the pact reached last month after several years of talks is chock full of good intentions.
Negotiators agreed to promote environmental sustainability, respect the rights and needs of indigenous
peoples, and temper protections for drug patents with safeguards for public health and access to medicines.
That's no guarantee the pact won't raise hackles with U.S. lawmakers -- both on the Tea Party right and on
the Hillary Clinton-Bernie Sanders left -- who have questioned whether it will help U.S. exports and create
jobs or just expose more American workers to low-wage competition, giving multinational corporations
excessive power.
Clinton's opposition may make it harder for Obama to round up votes.
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Text of Pacific trade deal released Critics begin to pore over 30 chapters, hundreds of pages Huntsville
Times (Alabama) November 6, 2015 Friday
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
JOURNAL-CODE: hut
Copyright 2015 The Huntsville Times Co., Inc.
All Rights Reserved
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Text of Pacific trade deal is released Critics begin to pore over 30 chapters, hundreds of pages Mobile
Register (Alabama) November 6, 2015 Friday
20 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Mobile Register (Alabama)
MOBILE EDITION
Text of Pacific trade deal is released Critics begin to pore over 30

chapters, hundreds of pages
BYLINE: Associated press
SECTION: A; Pg. 009A
LENGTH: 541 words
Details of a sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal released Thursday set the stage for a raucous debate in the
U.S. Congress but also may provide reassurances to those who worried the agreement could gut protections
for the environment, public health and labor.
Governments of the 12 member countries released the complete text online -- you can read it for yourself at
ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/trans-pacific-partnership/tpp-full-text -- making public the
The documents show the pact reached last month after several years of talks is chock full of good intentions.
Negotiators agreed to promote environmental sustainability, respect the rights and needs of indigenous
peoples, and temper protections for drug patents with safeguards for public health and access to medicines.
That's no guarantee the pact won't raise hackles with U.S. lawmakers -- both on the Tea Party right and on
the Hillary Clinton-Bernie Sanders left -- who have questioned whether it will help U.S. exports and create
jobs or just expose more American workers to low-wage competition, giving multinational corporations
excessive power.
Clinton's opposition may make it harder for Obama to round up votes.
Page 62
Text of Pacific trade deal is released Critics begin to pore over 30 chapters, hundreds of pages Mobile
Register (Alabama) November 6, 2015 Friday
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
JOURNAL-CODE: mbr
Copyright 2015 The Mobile Press Register Inc.
All Rights Reserved
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Details of controversial deal are released; Pacific Rim trade agreement stirs up debate in Congress Citrus
County Chronicle (Florida) November 5, 2015 Thursday
21 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Citrus County Chronicle (Florida)
Details of controversial deal are released;

Pacific Rim trade agreement stirs up debate in Congress
BYLINE: AP
SECTION: TODAY'S NEWS
LENGTH: 773 words
WASHINGTON -- Details of a sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal released Thursday set the stage for a raucous
debate in the U.S. Congress but also may provide reassurances to those who worried the agreement could
gut protections for the environment, public health and labor.
medicines.
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Details of controversial deal are released; Pacific Rim trade agreement stirs up debate in Congress Citrus
County Chronicle (Florida) November 5, 2015 Thursday
interest.
specifically ban tobacco companies from using the tribunals to challenge health regulations -- likely to the
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: In this Oct. 13 file photo, White House press secretary Josh Earnest uses a graphic to discuss
the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington. Officials
released details of a sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal Thursday.
Copyright 2015 Citrus County Chronicle, Landmark Community Newspapers LLC (LCNI)
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As Warren sits out, her views stand out Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) November 8, 2015 Sunday
22 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
November 8, 2015 Sunday
Broward Metro Edition
As Warren sits out, her views stand out

BYLINE: Noah Bierman, Tribune Newspapers
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 15A {ZONE} SB
LENGTH: 893 words
-- When her fans sold Elizabeth Warren baby onesies and donned "Warren for President" hats earlier this
year and last, the Massachusetts senator insisted she would not run. But with those demurrals came a
promise to use her clout to push Democrats to the left as the de facto leader of her party's populist wing.
Five months after her most zealous backers officially moved on to other candidates, the Democratic Party's
issues in 2016 are largely Warren's issues: college affordability, Wall Street accountability, Social Security
without compromise, skepticism about a Pacific trade deal.
"The goal we've had all year is to make sure that 2016 is fought over Warren-wing ideas," said Adam Green,
co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a political group that has tried to align itself
with her brand. "And that's absolutely come true."
Even Warren's allies concede she can't take full credit for the party's shift. Rising anger at institutional elites
and the emergence of Sen. Bernie Sanders -- whose focus on a financial system "rigged" for the wealthy
overlaps with Warren's rhetoric -- have played major roles in pushing both the Democratic campaign debate
and the party's front-runner, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, leftward.
Yet Warren has clearly had a major impact. The question now is whether she can maintain her cudgel as
Clinton solidifies her strength and the party appears to be coalescing around her as its front-runner.
One by one, some of Warren's strongest allies have come aboard the Clinton bandwagon. Late last month,
Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio officially endorsed her.
Warren has kept her counsel, maintaining the leverage that her endorsement could represent.
"Look, everybody's out there getting their issues out," is all she would say when asked whether it was time to
line up behind Clinton.
As she bides her time, centrists within Democratic ranks are warning Clinton to resist pressure to move still
further to the left. If she goes too far, they say, she could become unelectable in the same way some
Republican analysts believe the pressure to move right in GOP primaries in 2012 helped doom former
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Much of the rhetoric of economic populism involves an effort "to blame, make somebody a victim, blame
somebody who's been successful, blame business, or blame the government," said William Daley, a financial
industry veteran and former chief of staff to President Barack Obama.
Warren has a history with Clinton that goes back longer than her involvement with elective politics. In a 2003
book Warren co-wrote with her daughter that helped make her a nationally known consumer advocate, she
highlighted what she described as waffling by Clinton -- then a senator from New York -- on a bankruptcy bill
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As Warren sits out, her views stand out Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) November 8, 2015 Sunday
that Warren opposed. Clinton's positions were an example of the way financial industry donations exerted a
baleful influence on the Democratic Party, Warren wrote.
The two have since met and appear to at least have a working political relationship.
But as leader of the party's left, Warren has made clear her willingness to rally opposition to her party's
leaders, as she did in fighting Obama over the Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact and helping to derail
nominations of people she deemed too close to the financial industry, most notably Lawrence Summers, the
former treasury secretary whom Obama wanted to nominate to head the Federal Reserve Board.
On the same day last month that Vice President Joe Biden took himself out of the presidential race, Warren
was at work on a speech urging regulators to require corporations to reveal their political contributions.
Though she did not mention Clinton, the topic is a reminder that many on the left want Warren to keep
pushing Clinton to resist being co-opted by big donors, particularly those on Wall Street.
Unlike many of her counterparts who have spent a career in politics and enjoy campaigning, Warren entered
the Senate in her 60s, after a bitter race in 2012 that she did not seem to enjoy.
"Why do you think she didn't run for president?" said Barney Frank, a former Massachusetts congressman
and Clinton supporter who worked with Warren when he crafted the 2010 overhaul of the nation's financial
rules that bears his name. "Because she understood that her chances of winning would be very, very slight."
Instead, Frank said, she has maximized her influence as a minority senator by narrowly targeting her issues,
refusing to dilute her message.
A recent defense of Planned Parenthood delivered on the Senate floor was typical, with versions of the
speech attracting more than 18 million online views, according to her office.
Clinton has not adopted Warren's manner of speech, which, with its relentless attacks on banks and the
revolving door between government and the financial industry, can sound overly combative to Wall Street
donors and other moderate elements of the party. Clinton has also not signed on to Warren's call to break
up big banks by renewing the Glass-Steagall Act that was undone during Bill Clinton's presidency.
But on many other issues, Clinton has courted Warren's followers.
"If you look at the normal tension between political figures," Frank said, "the striking story today is how little
specific disagreement there is between Clinton and Warren."
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: Photo(s)
Photo: Warren
Copyright 2015 Sun-Sentinel Company
All Rights Reserved
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Martin O'Malley DEMOCRAT Dayton Daily News (Ohio) November 8, 2015 Sunday
23 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Dayton Daily News (Ohio)
Martin O'Malley DEMOCRAT

SECTION: ; Pg. SF13
LENGTH: 1123 words
About him
Martin O'Malley was born on Jan. 18, 1963, in Washington, D.C. His father, a World War II veteran, was a
lawyer and assistant U.S. attorney. His mother has worked as a receptionist for Maryland Sen. Barbara
Mikulski for more than 25 years
O'Malley graduated from the Catholic University of America in 1985. He earned his law degree from the
University of Maryland. He was mayor of Baltimore from December 1999 until he assumed the office of
Maryland governor in January 2007. He served two terms as governor.
He also has a side career: Since he was in his 20s, he's been the frontman for O'Malley's March, a Celtic
rock band.
He and his wife have four children.
His stand
O'Malley launched his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination May 30 in the heart of
Baltimore, the city he once led. But Baltimore today confronts an image far different from the one O'Malley
left behind when his term as mayor ended eight years ago.
The city has been rocked by killings and riots and has become a national symbol of urban turmoil and
despair.
O'Malley, 52, confronted the controversy as he has since parts of West Baltimore erupted in protest in April
over the death of Freddie Gray, an African-American man who died in police custody.
Critics charged that his anti-crime policies alienated that constituency. O'Malley vigorously disagreed, and
spent much of his announcement speech addressing the concerns.
"For all of us who have given so much of our energies to making our city a safer, fairer, more just and more
prosperous place, it was a heartbreaking night in the life of our city," he said. "But there is something to be
learned from that night, and there is something to be offered to our country from those flames."
Baltimore's agony, O'Malley told an audience of about 600, was "not only about race; not only about policing
in America. It's about everything it is supposed to mean to be an American."
He talked about income inequality, poverty and how too many people have too little hope. He said he would
be their champion, beholden not to Wall Street but to working-class people.
"Tell me how it is you can get pulled over for a broken taillight in our country, but if you wreck the nation's
economy you are untouchable," he said.
O'Malley remains a long-shot, barely visible in Democratic presidential polls behind front-runner Hillary
Rodham Clinton, and he does not appear to have the passionate liberal following of Sen. Bernie Sanders of
Vermont.
Page 71
O'Malley devoted much of his speech to his record as mayor of Baltimore and governor of Maryland, but took
one swipe at Clinton.
"The presidency is not a crown to be passed back and forth between two royal families, " he said, also a
reference to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is seeking the Republican nomination.
His support
He has positioned himself as a populist for the Democratic Party against the status quo campaign of Clinton.
However, Sanders also has taken up that mantle. Both Sanders and O'Malley back a $15-an-hour minimum
wage and support expanding paid family leave and overtime rules.
He has highlighted his executive experience as a mayor and governor. He notes his efforts to raise the
minimum wage and improve education in Maryland.
In his home state, O'Malley pushed for and got passed gun control, tuition help for immigrants who did not
have residency status and the legalization of same-sex marriages. As his supporters point out, his success
on the state level for those issues bode well for his agenda on the national level.
At a Democratic forum in late October in Iowa, he stressed his experience - as a way to criticize his rivals - in
the party when he said, "not all of us actually have a record of getting things done."
O'Malley, a Roman Catholic, has liberal leanings that many Democrats support, such as his stand against
capital punishment. While governor, he signed into law a repeal of the death penalty for future offenders.
"The death penalty is racially biased, ineffective deterrent to crime, and we must abolish it," O'Malley has
said in a statement.
Immigration reform is among his top issues. Railing against what he described as a broken immigration
system that tears families apart and stifles economic growth, at a campaign appearance in July he said he
would use aggressive executive action to limit deportations if elected to the White House.
"As Americans, we are good people. And we can do better than this backward, broken immigration process
that rips families apart," O'Malley said.
He vowed to close detention facilities and press Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform that
would include a pathway to citizenship for millions who entered the country illegally. He also vowed to
expand health care for immigrants and create an independent agency that would work to refine immigration
policy.
The moves, he said, would go further than President Barack Obama, who has put into place a series of
executive actions aimed at deferring deportations for millions of immigrants in the country illegally, including
those who arrived in the United States as young children.
His critics
His tough stance on crime turned into a liability in some voters' minds. The good news was that murders,
which annually topped 300 in Baltimore for years, and violent crime overall declined in O'Malley's years as
mayor. But in that time, a grand jury concluded that too many arrests were being made in black
neighborhoods without merit. And the city settled a lawsuit from people who said they were wrongly arrested
for minor offenses.
Some think this year's riots erupted, in part, from years of frustration among residents who felt unfairly
targeted.
As Des Moines Register columnist Rekha Basu wrote earlier this year: "(O'Malley) is blamed by community
leaders for 15 years ago implementing a zero-tolerance policy for crime. That has disproportionately hurt
young black men, according to Lawrence Bell, the former Baltimore City Council president. It has led to
arrests for minor offenses, and helped fuel distrust of law enforcement. After enough indignities and enough
deprivations of rights and resources, you might start to believe the rules are different for you than for other
people. You might come to see that as its own kind of warfare."
And for taxpayers who already feel overburdened, he's been an easy target.
Page 72
His critics say he turned Maryland into an overtaxed state. He raised taxes on multiple occasions - on higher
earners, sales of goods, vehicle titles, gasoline, cigarettes, sewer services and more. Republican critics
branded him as a tax-and-spend liberal and the GOP defeated O'Malley's hand-picked successor in 2014.
Tribune News Service, Cox Media
Group staff reports, New York
Times,Associated Press, Des
Moines Register
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 2015 Dayton Newspapers, Inc.
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Job creator or job killer? A look at the Pacific trade deal. Associated Press Online November 5, 2015
Thursday 9:46 PM GMT
24 of 49 DOCUMENTS
November 5, 2015 Thursday 9:46 PM GMT
Job creator or job killer? A look at the Pacific trade deal.

BYLINE: By PAUL WISEMAN and MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writers
LENGTH: 933 words
WASHINGTON (AP) - The sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal now being debated would cover everything from
Vietnamese labor unions to copyright protections to trade in sockeye salmon. With the details having been
released Thursday, a furious dispute is expected in the United States and some of the 11 other countries that
negotiated it.
Supporters say the Trans Pacific Partnership would promote economic growth and provide protections for
workers on both sides of the Pacific. Critics say it contains giveaways to drug manufacturers and other
multinational companies and exposes American workers to unfair competition with low-wage labor in
countries like Vietnam.
Some questions and answers:
___
WHAT IS THE TPP?
It's an ambitious and labyrinth trade agreement involving the United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile,
Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Those countries account for nearly
40 percent of global economic output.
The pact would erase most tariffs and other trade barriers between the countries, whose trade ministers
agreed to the deal a month ago. And it would clarify and standardize trade rules, making it easier to sell
goods and services across the Pacific Rim.
___
CHINA ISN'T MENTIONED; WHY?
That's right. China, the world's No. 2 economy, is conspicuously missing. In fact, the deal was designed in
part to counter China's influence in the Pacific Rim. U.S. Trade Rep. Michael Froman says it was critical for
the United States, not China, to write "the rules of the road for trade in the Asia-Pacific region ... After all, this
isn't everyone's approach to trade. Other countries, such as China, are already moving forward with deals
that don't reflect our interests and our values."
Still, China could eventually join the TPP.
___
HOW DOES THIS DEAL COMPARE WITH OTHERS, LIKE NAFTA?
The Pacific deal was negotiated in the shadow of 1994's North American Free Trade Agreement. That deal,
among the United States, Mexico and Canada, failed to deliver the big job gains its supporters predicted and
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was blamed by critics for wiping out many U.S. factory jobs.
In statement Thursday, President Barack Obama conceded "that past trade agreements haven't always lived
up to the hype."
But the president added that "the TPP includes the strongest labor standards in history, from requiring a
minimum wage and worker safety regulations to prohibiting child labor and forced labor."
The TPP would require even authoritarian Vietnam to allow independent labor unions.
___
SO WHAT'S THE CASE AGAINST IT?
To start with, critics are unconvinced of the labor standards Obama was eager to tout.
Vietnam, for instance, will get five years to update its labor policies. John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for
Human Rights Watch, told reporters Thursday that Vietnam might change its labor laws, but "we are
concerned that Vietnam will not change its practices. They will continue to lock up union dissidents and
punish people who challenge the government."
Sifton said he doubted the United States would "have the desire and the will to enforce the terms of the
agreement."
Opponents also complain that the agreement includes giveaways to business lobbies. For instance, the deal
gives drug companies about eight years of protection from cheaper competitors for biologics, which are ultraexpensive medicines produced in living cells.
The deal also stresses each country's "right to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to
medicines for all." But critics say that provision would keep drug prices too high.
"The TPP will keep affordable medicines out of the reach of millions around the world," said Judit Rius
Sanjuan, an adviser to Doctors Without Borders.
___
WHAT'S THE LIKELY ECONOMIC IMPACT?
For the United States, it probably wouldn't wipe out as many jobs as critics fear or create as many as
supporters predict. Peter Petri, professor of international finance at Brandeis University, has estimated that
the impact on U.S. jobs would probably be minimal: Jobs created by expanded access to Asia-Pacific
markets would likely be offset by jobs lost to increased competition.
Rajiv Biswas, Asia Pacific chief economist for IHS Global Insight, says Vietnam would be a big winner as
tariffs on garment exports to the United States would disappear. Malaysian manufacturers would also benefit
from easier access to the U.S. and Canadian markets.
___
WHAT'S NEXT?
On Thursday, Obama formally announced his intention to sign the deal. He now must wait at least 90 days
before he can do so: Once the U.S. and other countries have signed on, their legislatures must ratify the
agreement, which isn't guaranteed.
The debate is expected to be especially contentious in the United States. Obama faces resistance within his
own Democratic Party from union supporters who fear that foreign competition would kill jobs and depress
wages.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, has said she's against
it. Her opposition may make it harder for Obama to round up votes. The deal has more support among probusiness Republicans.
Under a trade law passed earlier this year, Obama must give the public time to review the text before he
signs the agreement and turns it over to Congress for approval. U.S. lawmakers can't nitpick the deal with
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amendments. They must simply vote yes or no. Congress will likely take up the issue next year in the heat of
the presidential election campaign.
___
Elaine Kurtenbach in Tokyo and Kelvin Chan in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
___
Follow Paul Wiseman on Twitter at https://twitter.com/PaulWisemanAP
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
All Rights Reserved
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Job creator or job killer? A look at the Pacific trade deal. The Associated Press November 5, 2015 Thursday
9:46 PM GMT
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negotiated it.
___
WHAT IS THE TPP?
___
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9:46 PM GMT
up to the hype."
___
agreement."
___
___
WHAT'S NEXT?
wages.
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9:46 PM GMT
___
___
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
All Rights Reserved
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Associated Press Financial Wire

LENGTH: 933 words
negotiated it.
___
WHAT IS THE TPP?
___
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up to the hype."
___
agreement."
___
___
WHAT'S NEXT?
wages.
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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
All Rights Reserved
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DEMOCRATS NOT IN THE RUNNING Dayton Daily News (Ohio) November 8, 2015 Sunday
27 of 49 DOCUMENTS
DEMOCRATS NOT IN THE RUNNING

SECTION: ; Pg. SF20
LENGTH: 735 words
JOE BIDEN
After publicly agonizing for months, Vice President Joe Biden said Oct. 21 he will not run for president next
year, solidifying the Democratic contest as a two-person race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
Appearing at the White House with President Barack Obama, Biden said nearly five months after the death
of his son Beau, his family is ready to handle a national campaign, but the window to run one had closed.
"Unfortunately, I believe we're out of time, the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the
nomination," Biden said before offering a glimpse of what his emotional run would have looked like.
"But while I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent," the vice president said. "I intend to speak out clearly
and forcefully to influence as much as I can where we stand as a party and where we need to go as a
nation."
- COX MEDIA GROUP
STAFF REPORTS
LINCOLN CHAFEE
Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee announced Oct. 23 that he would end his quixotic Democratic
presidential campaign after failing to gain traction.
He said in his announcement at a women's forum held by the Democratic National Committee: "But I would
like to take this opportunity one last time to advocate for a chance be given to peace."
The 62-year-old former senator was the lone Republican in 2002 to vote against going to war in Iraq. He was
elected governor in 2010 as an independent and joined the Democrats in 2013.
Chafee delivered a widely panned debate performance earlier in the month and struggled to raise money and
generate enthusiasm.
He surprised many when he formed a presidential exploratory committee last spring and raised eyebrows
when he called for the U.S. to switch to the metric system during a formal campaign kickoff in Virginia in
June.
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
LARRY LESSIG
Harvard law professor Larry Lessig ended his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in an online
video released on Nov. 2. The underdog blamed the demise of his nearly three-month campaign on the
Democratic Party, which he says leaves him "just shut out" of the primary debates. He struggled to hit 1
percent in national polls.
Lessig focused his campaign on a single issue: Curbing influence of big money in politics. His platform
centered on passing sweeping "Citizens Equality Act," a bill that would address campaign finance reform,
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DEMOCRATS NOT IN THE RUNNING Dayton Daily News (Ohio) November 8, 2015 Sunday
enhance voting rights and end gerrymandering of electoral districts.

Initially, the 54-year-old South Dakota native promised to resign and let his vice president take over after he
signed the legislation in to law. He later promised to serve a full-term, saying the resignation "weakened the
credibility of the campaign."
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
ELIZABETH WARREN
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in a widely reported Fortune interview in January that she would
not pursue the Democratic nomination for president. Then she said it again and again after that interview
when reporters continued to press her about whether she was really not running.
Warren is seen as a populist champion. The legal scholar's scholarship on consumer protection and her role
as a White House adviser led to the conception and establishment of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau.
She remains an outspoken advocate in that area, criticizing big banks. In making the rounds in May to
promote her new book, "A Fighting Chance," she was still dispelling speculation about a presidential bid in
2016 - but also continued to make a case for greater government intervention in the financial sector.
- NEW YORK TIMES, COX MEDIA
GROUP STAFF REPORTS
JIM WEBB
Former Virginia U.S. Sen. Jim Webb announced Oct. 20 that he was dropping out of the Democratic race,
but his campaign said he was pondering running as an independent.
Webb shared his intentions to end his campaign at a news conference at the National Press Club in
Washington. His plans, first reported by Fox News, came as Webb's standing in Democratic polls hovered
near zero and his fundraising efforts produced paltry results compared with his rivals. At his news conference
he said that his views were no longer in line with the mainstream Democratic Party.
A military veteran and a former Republican, Webb kicked off his campaign in July with little fanfare.
In the weeks before his departure, speculation about his intentions arose because he was rarely spotted on
the campaign trail.
- COX MEDIA GROUP STAFF
REPORTS, NEW YORK TIMES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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As Warren sits out, her views stand out; Although senator didn't launch 2016 bid, the issues she champions
are key in Dem campaign Chicago Tribune November 8, 2015 Sunday
28 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Chicago Tribune
Final Edition
As Warren sits out, her views stand out;

Although senator didn't launch 2016 bid, the issues she champions are
key in Dem campaign
BYLINE: By Noah Bierman, Tribune Newspapers
SECTION: NEWS ; ZONE C; Pg. 34
LENGTH: 1072 words
When her fans sold Elizabeth Warren baby onesies and donned "Warren for President" hats earlier this year
and last, the Massachusetts senator insisted she would not run. But with those demurrals came a promise to
use her clout to push Democrats to the left as the de facto leader of her party's populist wing.
Five months after her most zealous backers officially moved on to other candidates, the Democratic Party's
issues in 2016 are largely Warren's issues: college affordability, Wall Street accountability, Social Security
without compromise, skepticism about a Pacific trade deal.
"The goal we've had all year is to make sure that 2016 is fought over Warren-wing ideas," said Adam Green,
co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a political group that has tried to align itself
with her brand. "And that's absolutely come true."
Even Warren's allies concede she can't take full credit for the party's shift. Rising anger at institutional elites
and the emergence of Sen. Bernie Sanders -- whose focus on a financial system "rigged" for the wealthy
overlaps with Warren's rhetoric -- have played major roles in pushing both the Democratic campaign debate
and the party's front-runner, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, leftward.
Yet Warren has clearly had a major impact. The question now is whether she can maintain her cudgel as
Clinton solidifies her strength and the party appears to be coalescing around her as its front-runner.
One by one, some of Warren's strongest allies have come aboard the Clinton bandwagon. Late last month,
Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio officially endorsed her.
Warren has kept her counsel, maintaining the leverage that her endorsement could represent.
"Look, everybody's out there getting their issues out," is all she would say when asked whether it was time to
line up behind Clinton.
As she bides her time, centrists within Democratic ranks are warning Clinton to resist pressure to move still
further to the left. If she goes too far, they say, she could become unelectable in the same way some
Republican analysts believe the pressure to move right in GOP primaries in 2012 helped doom former
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Much of the rhetoric of economic populism involves an effort "to blame, make somebody a victim, blame
somebody who's been successful, blame business, or blame the government," said William Daley, a financial
industry veteran and former chief of staff to President Barack Obama.
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"Those who believe this is the opportunity to pull her way, way (toward) their ideas," Daley said, are
proposing "a bad model for a general election." Daley made his comments during a recent event hosted by
Third Way, a centrist think tank in Washington, D.C.
Warren has a history with Clinton that goes back longer than her involvement with elective politics. In a 2003
book Warren co-wrote with her daughter that helped make her a nationally known consumer advocate, she
highlighted what she described as waffling by Clinton -- then a senator from New York -- on a bankruptcy bill
that Warren opposed. Clinton's positions were an example of the way financial industry donations exerted a
baleful influence on the Democratic Party, Warren wrote.
The two have since met and appear to at least have a working political relationship.
But as leader of the party's left, Warren has made clear her willingness to rally opposition to her party's
leaders, as she did in fighting Obama over the Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact and helping to derail
nominations of people she deemed too close to the financial industry, most notably Lawrence Summers, the
former treasury secretary whom Obama wanted to nominate to head the Federal Reserve Board.
On the same day last month that Vice President Joe Biden took himself out of the presidential race, Warren
was at work on a speech urging regulators to require corporations to reveal their political contributions.
Though she did not mention Clinton, the topic is a reminder that many on the left want Warren to keep
pushing Clinton to resist being co-opted by big donors, particularly those on Wall Street.
Serving as the leader of a party faction rather than a candidate for president appears to suit Warren.
Unlike many of her counterparts who have spent a career in politics and enjoy campaigning, Warren entered
the Senate in her 60s, after a bitter race in 2012 that she did not seem to enjoy.
Had she run for president, her campaign would almost certainly have raised huge amounts of money from
grass-roots donors and built a passionate base -- perhaps larger than Sanders'. But it would have been
difficult for her to wrest front-runner status from Clinton. The Democratic primary has not shaped up like the
GOP's, with a wide spectrum of candidates dividing niches of support.
"Why do you think she didn't run for president?" said Barney Frank, a former Massachusetts congressman
and Clinton supporter who worked with Warren when he crafted the 2010 overhaul of the nation's financial
rules that bears his name. "Because she understood that her chances of winning would be very, very slight."
Instead, Frank said, she has maximized her influence as a minority senator by narrowly targeting her issues,
refusing to dilute her message.
When she decides to launch a shot, she can stir the hearts of core Democrats in a way that Clinton may
never achieve. A recent defense of Planned Parenthood delivered on the Senate floor was typical, with
versions of the speech attracting more than 18 million online views, according to her office.
Clinton has not adopted Warren's manner of speech, which, with its relentless attacks on banks and the
revolving door between government and the financial industry, can sound overly combative to Wall Street
donors and other moderate elements of the party. Clinton has also not signed on to Warren's call to break
up big banks by renewing the Glass-Steagall Act that was undone during Bill Clinton's presidency.
But on many other issues, including a newfound skepticism of trade deals and a Wall Street plan that
includes more criminal prosecutions for rule-breakers in the financial industry, Clinton has courted Warren's
followers.
"If you look at the normal tension between political figures," Frank said, "the striking story today is how little
specific disagreement there is between Clinton and Warren."
nbierman@tribpub.com
ct15 0186 151108 N S 0000000000 00010726
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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NOTES: Nation & World

GRAPHIC: Photo: With a targeted message, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has stirred the hearts of
Democrats in ways others haven't. DAVE ROBACK/THE REPUBLICAN
Photo: With a targeted message, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has stirred the hearts of Democrats in
ways others couldn't. THOS ROBINSON/GETTY (News section, Early edition, Page 34)
Photo(s)
Copyright 2015 Chicago Tribune Company
All Rights Reserved
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Letters to the Editor The Highlander (Marble Falls, Texas) November 6, 2015
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The Highlander (Marble Falls, Texas)
November 6, 2015
Letters to the Editor

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 775 words
Have you had enough?
The Uinited States has the highest cost for drugs in the world. We are supposed to be one of the most
intelligent and forward-thinking nations in the civilized countries. Our research is rated Number 1. So, how do
we rank with the rest of the nations?
We are ranked the first in costly drugs. Italy is ranked 18th in lower cost, Belgium is 19th, Poland is 20th,
Great Britain is 23rd, etc. American consumers pay more than twice as much for the same prescription drugs
as people living in the wealthiest 34 countries!
Perhaps this may explain the reason. The CEO of Turin Pharmaceuticals, Martin Shkreli, jacked up the price
of life-saving drug Daraprim from less than $14 per pill to $750. His greed was slammed as outrageous even by Donald Trump.
But, here is an even bigger outrage: the United States is the only industrialized country in the world where
this could happen, the only advanced country that allows drug companies to set the price of prescription
drugs. Medicare is prohibited from negotiating discounts for prescription drugs. It pays significantly more than
Medicaid or the VA for the same drugs.
Until citizens voice their objections to our government, we will continue to be used and abused. It seems
everyone complains but does nothing about it.
Signed, Dolores Guinn
Marble Falls, Texas
Dear Editor,
Can you hear "It"? It has begun
again. It's drumbeat is growing louder. "It's for the children" is the mantra. What is It? Does It mean that
schooling is a business -you know, jobs with salaries, healthcare and the all-important retirement packages?
Does It refer to the excess property taxes paid by the parents and everybody else? Do the "stakeholders"
know they are being double taxed? Every time one purchases anything, there is a property tax component
built into the price one pays plus the sales tax on top.
Or, does It refer to a progressive school system as the MFISD Superintendent dejure said in the Highlander
8-25-15. Progressive is another feel good word that's been around since before the early 1900s. Hillary
Clinton is also a self-pro-claimed Progressive. So, when Progressives, Liberals, Democrats call for sacrifice,
"It's" to sacrifice yourself to the altar of Socialism which has never worked. Most Socialists either are or are in
training for even worse social disorders.
What are the 10 things the Progressive manifesto requires to transform society to Paradise? Controlling
education is one.
Coincidently, the Progressives have been at war with America for over 100 years. They don't mediate or
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Letters to the Editor The Highlander (Marble Falls, Texas) November 6, 2015
compromise or meet halfway. "It's" either their way or the highway. Review the works of Stalin, Hitler, Mao,
Castro, Pelosi, Reid and of course the master negotiator of all time, Team Obama.
All government personnel, elected or not, are employees of the "state" and you work for them (so don't run
out of money.)
The 21st century is passing us by. Hey, don't forget "Mustangs Forever."
"Your silence gives consent." - Plato.
Signed, Nick Soika
Burnet, Texas
Dear Editor,
We have been engaged militarily
somewhere since 9/11 on a massive scale, just short of bringing back the draft (which, frankly, I think we
should since I believe in spreading the misery over all Americans not just the poor or minorities.)
I read somewhere only one percent of America is engaged in military service. I don't think that's good for the
country. Nevertheless, we are creating a vast number of veterans whose needs are to be met by the
Department of Veteran Affairs.
Every once in awhile, I read a story about a young vet who, upon turning to the VA for help for some reason
or another, received none and, as a result, a terrible tragedy occurs. Usually the story is told by the survivors
because, if you don't know, the situation is usually desperate when these men and women go for mental
health issues for the first time. And desperate people do desperate things.
I saw a situation occur last week while waiting for an appointment at the VA clinic in Austin, Texas. A young
vet came in with a young son in tow. He was arguing with the clerks. It got loud so this is what I heard, "I
need to see someone today" to which the clerks replied "We can make you an appointment." The end result
was the vet turned away and left without care and no appointment.
I felt this was important enough to bring to the attention of Congressman Roger Williams' staffer. Her reply to
me was beyond belief but it must be the government position. She said that VA clinics are not set up to
handle crisis situations. On the positive side, she gave me a list of phone numbers to call.
Signed, Darrel Mahon
Marble Falls Texas
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 2015 The Highlander
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Political Notes The White House Bulletin November 6, 2015 Friday
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The White House Bulletin
Political Notes
SECTION: IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND AROUND TOWN
LENGTH: 2277 words
President: Poll Roundup. CNN reports a CNN/ORC poll finds that among 548 likely GOP caucus-goers (+/- 4
points), Donald Trump (R) leads with 25%, followed by Ben Carson (R) at 23%, Marco Rubio (R) at 13%, and
Ted Cruz (R) at 11%. On the Democratic side, among the 498 likely Democratic caucus-goers (+/- 4.5
points), 55% would vote for Hillary Clinton (D); 37% would vote for Bernie Sanders (I); and 3% would vote
for Martin O'Malley (D). The Hill reported an Elon University survey of 466 North Carolina Republican and
Republican-leaning voters (+/- 4.5 points), taken Oct. 29-Nov. 2, shows Carson leading with 31%, followed by
Trump with 19%, Ted Cruz (R) and Rubio each with 10%, and Jeb Bush (R) with 5%. Among 514 Democratic
or Democratic-leaning voters (+/- 4.3 points), Clinton leads Sanders 57%-24%, with O'Malley at 3%. The
Detroit Free Press reports an EPIC-MRA survey of 600 Michigan likely voters, taken Oct. 25-31, shows
Carson leads Clinton, 46%-40%, and Sanders, 45%-36%. Clinton leads Trump, 46%-38%, while Sanders
leads Trump, 45%-36%. The Hill reported a Gallup nationwide survey of 7,128 adults, taken Oct.
19-Nov. 1, shows that Carson "is the best-liked 2016 presidential candidate from either political party."
Ben Carson.
NBC Nightly News reported Ben Carson is "sticking to a story that contradicts what school children around
the world are taught - that Egyptians built the pyramids as burial tombs for their pharaohs." NBC showed a
clip of Carson delivering a speech, in which he said, "My own personal theory is that Joseph built the
pyramids in order to store grain." Jansing said, "Carson first made that claim about the Old Testament's
Joseph 17 years ago." ABC World News reported Carson is "doubling down on a controversial theory about
the Egyptian pyramids." Additional coverage ran in the AP and Politico. CNN also reported Carson "said
Thursday that the names of two people he has previously identified as victims of his childhood violence are
'fictitious.'" Politico reported in "a major swipe at...Carson," Donald Trump on Thursday picked "up on
reporting suggesting that the retired neurosurgeon fabricated anecdotes about his violent past in order to
create a narrative of personal redemption." Additional coverage ran in The Hill, the Christian Science Monitor,
McClatchy, and Politico. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reported while Carson has "surged to the top of
polls in Iowa and nationally, largely with the support of evangelicals," it remains to be seen "whether he can
sustain his popularity until the first votes are cast" next year. The New York Times reports seeking "to solidify
his lead in the" GOP presidential contest, Carson's "campaign is eyeing a group of voters who are
traditionally scarce in Republican primaries but who could give him added support the other candidates are
unlikely to draw: African-Americans." Politico reported, "In an appeal to younger black voters in urban
markets," Carson "will run a 60-second ad featuring the rap stylings of Aspiring Mogul, his campaign" said.
The AP also reports the story. The Washington Post reports on Carson's role in the fight over a 1992
Maryland "ballot measure to loosen state restrictions on abortion," saying, "Abortion opponents had a
powerful new ally: the daring neurosurgeon." Carson appeared in a TV ad, but "after the ad had run for 10
days," Carson appeared "at a news conference, organized by abortion-rights activists," where he denounced
the spot, saying the he didn't realize it would appear in a political campaign.
Donald Trump.
The Los Angeles Times reports while "Latino advocacy groups continue to pressure NBC to" disinvite Donald
Page 97
Trump (R) from hosting this weekend's episode of "Saturday Night Live," a "reversal by" the network and
program "at this late stage would be virtually unprecedented." USA Today reported Trump's "campaign is
hitting the airwaves," launching a $300,000 buy "scheduled to run through the end of November" in Iowa,
New Hampshire and South Carolina that emphasizes his business savvy. The Washington Times reports that
during an appearance yesterday on MSNBC, Trump said "that he's spoken with casino magnate and GOP
mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, but that he doesn't want his money."
Marco Rubio.
Bloomberg Politics reports Marco Rubio (R) "seems to be deftly swatting away attacks from rivals Donald
Trump and Jeb Bush, but the barrage coming his way over missed Senate votes, immigration reform and
mismanagement of personal finances have prompted him to quietly fine-tune his campaign" even as he
gains traction. ABC World News reported Trump is "in a heated war of words with" Rubio over his personal
finances and Rubio's use of a Florida GOP "charge card for personal use." In response Rubio said, "I find it
ironic that the only person running for president that's ever declared a bankruptcy four times in the last 25
years is attacking anyone on finances." The Hill reported, "It's Rubio's most direct barb at" Trump. CNN
reported former Florida state Rep. Mike Fasano (R) "says he was alarmed by" Rubio's "spending habits
when he was in the Florida legislature - and is now calling on him to release...the complete record of the
American Express charge card Rubio once held that was paid primarily by the Florida" GOP. Rubio is also
taking a tougher line on immigration to combat what The Hill called "a conservative media problem." The
Washington Post reports Rubio said at a New Hampshire stop yesterday that "the nation's security is being
compromised by Washington's 'outdated political establishment' and that he would be a nimble commander
in chief." The New York Times says in an analysis that with Rubio, the GOP establishment seems "near a
turning point."
Jeb Bush.
The AP reports Jeb Bush (R) "is trying to reboot" his presidential campaign, and "as he pounded across New
Hampshire this week," he "has been working even harder at something beyond a zestier stage presence."
The Boston Globe reports Bush "reflected on the dismal downturn that his campaign has taken - and his
hopes that, as the message plastered all over his new campaign bus says, 'Jeb Can Fix It.'" Politico adds
that in a Wednesday interview with New Hampshire's WMUR-TV, Bush said he will win the state's primary.
The Wall Street Journal says a key moment for Bush will come during Tuesday's GOP debate in Milwaukee
as he tries to stop the surge of his one time prot?g? Sen. Marco Rubio. But Politico says that Bush's
"decision to attack old friend and new rival...is backfiring." Meanwhile, former President George H.W. Bush's
new biography includes criticism of former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld's performance as advisers to his son when George W. Bush was president. Reporting including more than six minutes on the three network news broadcasts - characterizes the elder Bush's
comments as showing a rare public divide in the Bush family. Coverage ran in the AP, USA Today, the New
York Times, the Washington Post, and the Huffington Post. The Washington Post reports Jeb Bush (R)
defended his brother in an MSNBC interview saying he is "a big boy" and "His administration was shaped by
his thinking, his reaction to the attack on 9/11." Politico reported Jeb Bush said his brother "would say this
was under my watch, I was commander in chief, I was the leader and I accept personal responsibility for
what happened, both the good and the bad."
Chris Christie.
The New York Times reports in its "First Draft" blog that a video posted by the Huffington Post last week of
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) "speaking about his mother's addiction to cigarettes and his friend's
death from addiction became one of the most watched videos on the news website's Facebook account."
The Hill says the video has been viewed nearly six million times on the Huffington Post's Facebook page.
GOP Debate.
Mike Huckabee (R) and Gov. Chris Christie (R) were bumped from the prime time Republican presidential
debate in Milwaukee next week after failing to meet the threshold set by debate host Fox business Network
of at least 2.5 percent support in an average of the four most recent national polls though Nov. 4. The New
York Times covers the story. The Washington Post says that with the removal of Christie and Huckabee,
eight candidates - Donald Trump (R), Ben Carson (R), Sen. Marco Rubio (R), Sen. Ted Cruz (R), Jeb Bush
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(R), Carly Fiorina (R), Gov. John Kasich (R), and Sen. Rand Paul (R) - will appear on the main stage,
marking "the fewest Republican contenders to appear on one debate platform so far." Additional coverage
ran in the AP, the Washington Times, Politico, and The Hill.
Bernie Sanders.
John DiStaso reports on the WMUR-TV Manchester, NH website that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) "filed as a
Democrat for the New Hampshire primary on Thursday without incident and with no drama, but with lots of
excitement." New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner said "he had no evidence or basis on which to
issue a challenge" to Sanders' eligibility, but said "anyone can visit his office with information he or she
believes shows that Sanders was ineligible to file as a Democrat through the end of the filing period, at 5
p.m. on Nov. 20." The New Hampshire Union Leader says Sanders "declared himself a Democrat when filing
his paperwork, and that was good enough" for Gardner. The Hill reports Sanders said in an interview with
NPR "that if African-American voters decided who becomes the Democratic presidential nominee, he would
lose." The AP reports Sanders campaign is launching Spanish-language radio ads in Nevada "ahead of his
visit this weekend aimed at Latino voters." Politico reports Sanders campaign has signed a joint fundraising
agreement with the Democratic National Committee.
Hillary Clinton.
Politico reported Bill Clinton "is already occupying a more significant private role as a strategic adviser" to
Hillary Clinton's (D) current campaign "than he did in 2008 when his deployment was as a public
surrogate." McClatchy reports, "It looks like the Clinton Foundation is trying to quietly distance itself from its
global health project, which has" been facing "scrutiny over its federal tax returns." The AP reports Clinton
"makes her first appearance in a negative advertisement funded by the wealthy Republican donors tied to"
the Koch brothers on Friday, with a 30-second online backed by Concerned Veterans for America.
Governors.
The AP reports unsuccessful Louisiana gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne (R) endorsed state
Rep. John Bel Edwards (D) over Sen. David Vitter (R) in the Nov. 21. runoff election. The Baton Rouge (LA)
Advocate's Stephanie Grace says had Dardenne sought "to make the case that Vitter would be a good
governor so soon after having called him 'ineffective,' 'vicious,' and 'lying,' and having described his
prostitution scandal as a 'stain' on Louisiana, well, nobody would have listened. They might well listen now."
Additional coverage ran in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Roll
Call, and The Hill. ? The New Hampshire Union Leader reports businessman Mark Connolly (D) announced
his New Hampshire gubernatorial candidacy. ? The Hill reported former "Saturday Night Live" member Joe
Piscopo says he may seek to succeed Gov. Chris Christie (R) in 2017. ? The Oregonian reports oncologist
Bud Pierce (R), who is challenging Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) in 2016, "has unveiled the first" Internet ad
"of a young campaign season - part of an effort to raise his profile."
Senate.
The Hill reported in a memo, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee touts "its fundraising edge,
strong recruitment class and Senate dysfunction as proof that" Democrats can retake the Senate in 2016. ?
Roll Call reported that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Thursday "endorsed" ex-US
Attorney Conner Eldridge's (D) "uphill" 2016 bid to unseat Sen. John Boozman (R). ? Bloomberg News'
Gregory Giroux says the Florida Senate campaign will be key to the 2016 battle for the Senate majority.
Giroux says the GOP "primary will test the clout of political groups aligned with Tea Party activists," as Rep.
Ron DeSantis (R) - "a Freedom Caucus member" - counts among his "donors...the libertarian-leaning group
FreedomWorks" and "the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch." In the Democratic primary, the party
establishment has "lined up behind" Rep. Patrick Murphy (D), who is "facing a challenge from the left from"
Rep. Alan Grayson (D). The Tampa Bay (FL) Times reported the "controversy of the now-shuttered Dade
Medical College and its embattled CEO has seeped into" the "heated Democratic primary," with Grayson
calling on Murphy "to return campaign contributions he'd received from the school's majority owner, Ernesto
Perez and his wife, Sylvia." The Tampa Bay (FL) Times said state CFO Jeff Atwater (R) "has again confirmed
he will not" enter the 2016 Senate race. ? The AP reports Sharron Angle (R) "acknowledged a group is
pushing her to run again for" the now-open Nevada Senate seat, "but she isn't committing to doing so."
House.
Page 99
KPBS-TV San Diego reported Denise Gitsham (R), co-owner of a public relations firm, on Thursday
announced that she will mount a 2016 bid to unseat CA52 Rep. Scott Peters (D). ? Florida Politics said that a
poll of 400 likely FL9 Democratic primary voters, taken Oct. 28-Nov. 1, shows state Sen. Darren Soto (D)
leading the crowded Democratic primary with 25%, followed by former Grayson aide Susannah Randolph (D)
with 6%, biochemist Dr. Dena Minning (D), "currently Grayson's girlfriend," with 3%, and state Rep. Richardo
Rangel with 1%.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 2015 Bulletin News Network, Inc.
Page 100
Page 101
Ventura County Star (California) November 5, 2015 Thursday
31 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Ventura County Star (California)
Full County Edition
SECTION: OPINION; Pg. 5B
LENGTH: 1913 words
Lynne and Clyde Hofflund, Ventura
Ventura's libraries
Re: your Oct. 28 article "Ventura to consider more funding for libraries":
At the Oct. 26 City Council meeting, council members discussed the possibility of increasing funding for
Ventura's libraries after the Library Advisory Commission presented a proposal that the city find ways of
funding them.
Apparently, the public's request for additional services, including a library on the east side of town, has not
diminished since the closing of Wright Library years before.
We were disappointed to read the comment of Councilmember Carl Morehouse, who apparently values his
smartphone much more than an information service that has stood the test of time.
Libraries serve the entire city, including the very young, the very old, those needing employment, our
veterans and those without high-speed Internet access and printers.
The Internet does provide many services we used to have to find a library to access. However, the Internet
also excels at superficial, misleading and biased information. Not all sources of information can be found on
the Internet.
If you need information in depth, historical or specialized texts, you still will need to find a library or its online
databases and e-books. In addition, there you'll find trained library staff who can sort out the best information
no matter how deep your question.
After H.P. Wright Library closed, there were numerous outreach meetings on library services in our city.
However, nothing has come of these meetings. At the very minimum, the City Council should support the
installation of a modern heating/air conditioning unit at Foster Library and review the previous studies that
pertain to re-establishing library services for east Ventura.
Kathleen Q. Sisson, Ventura
Essential services
Re: your Oct. 28 article "$6 million sought for Ventura library branch":
I actually gasped out loud when reading some of the comments made by a couple of City Council members
at the meeting discussing library funding.
Page 102
Councilman Carl Morehouse reportedly said he doesn't use the library anymore and just uses his
smartphone, questioning the need for a new library building. He further stated that young people don't go to
libraries because they "live and die" with their smartphones. Perhaps if parents were better examples this
wouldn't be the case.
Are we to thrive and continue as any semblance of a democracy by depending on 20-second sound bites for
all of our information with no fact-checking, reading and in-depth research? No wonder our country has
slipped so low in the rankings on how our children perform in language and math.
Councilman Mike Tracy weighed in later on libraries: "I don't think it is an essential service or a core service."
At that I think Mr. Andrew Carnegie would be rolling over in his grave. In 1881 he started funding libraries
throughout our country to help others, chiefly by providing educational opportunities.
Libraries have come of age and are part of the digital world, making access to all of their research materials
easier and faster. Computers are available on-site as well as access to e-books. Literacy programs and
G.E.D. programs are available as well as numerous children's programs to enhance a love of reading from
an early age.
I am very uncomfortable with elected officials deciding the fate of our libraries when they know so little about
how many essential services they provide for our communities. Perhaps a required field trip to all of our
libraries by these councilmen and women, before any decisions are made, is in order.
Anthony L. Pecoraro, Westlake Village
No COLA increase
Re: your Oct. 25 article "Social insecurity":
As my household enters the arena of fixed-income senior citizens in the next few months, we are very
saddened to learn the Social Security Administration will provide no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for
2016.
We fully understand and acknowledge that this is based on consumer prices being "down over the past
year." However, this is incorrect data. The basis for "no COLA" is inaccurate in our community:
-- Our homeowner association dues are up 20 percent because of additional special assessments.
-- Both the gas company and Southern California Edison have petitioned for rate increases over the last 18
months.
-- Medical co-pays are increased for 2016.
-- Property tax in Ventura County is up by 1.99 percent.
-- Automobile insurance increases every year.
-- Homeowner insurance increased in 2015-2016.
-- Movie theater tickets, even for seniors, have increased in 2015.
-- Need I mention the increase in food prices?
It is difficult for me to find any good or service that has not increased. The basis for no COLA is not valid in
Page 103
real-life situations for senior citizens in our community.

Furthermore, with no COLA for 2016 millions of Americans dependent on Social Security and Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) are moving closer to poverty in the wealthiest nation on earth due to inflation and the
continued service and goods price increases.
I ask Rep. Julia Brownley to speak with President Obama, taking many of her colleagues with her to the
White House, to seek an executive order by the president.
Rep. Brownley has access to the president. He must see her and hear her concerns. The ordinary senior
citizen has no such access.
We need Rep. Brownley to demand to see the president on this most crucial matter for millions of
Americans.
Henry Paul Valdez, Thousand Oaks
Benghazi panel
Re: your Oct. 23 article "Clinton testifies on Benghazi":
The story telling how Hillary Clinton defended her record in the worst moment as secretary of state clearly
illustrates how she never spoke with Ambassador Stevens but once when he was appointed to the position
that ultimately brought this ambassador to his death.
Six hundred requests for more security -- all denied. Hillary's statement that she had 255 other
ambassadors to deal with washes no blood off her hands.
Her job, regardless of how difficult it may be, should require the decency to speak with each ambassador. If
that is too much, then don't accept the position. What difference does that make? Four lives wouldn't have
been lost!
I fully realize the Hillary supporters will still vote for her despite the fact she proved not only was she the
worst secretary of state in U.S. history, she would never be a real president despite her husband doing an
average job in between his affairs.
Louise Vien, Ventura
Matter of priorities
Re: your Oct. 28 article "$6 million sought for Ventura library branch":
I was very upset to read that Ventura City Council members are "not sure" that libraries are an important
service. To me, they are right up there with schools in importance.
When I visit my daughter in Oregon, I also visit the public library in her city (Tualatin, population 26,879).
This state-of-the-art library is open seven days a week, including evenings, has a teen center, a preschool
area, many computers, a conference room and a beautiful reading area around a fireplace.
How does a small city maintain such a library? I think it is a matter of priorities.
Our Ventura libraries do an admirable job with what they have. Children are tutored after school,
ESL classes are conducted, computers are used, homework is done, various programs and lectures are
given, books are checked out and read. All ages are served.
Page 104
Yes, libraries are an essential city service that no smartphone can replace. Let's make our libraries a priority!
The writer is an ESL tutor with Laubach Literacy of Ventura County. -- Editor
Mike Bigley, Simi Valley
Testimony
Re: your Oct. 23 article "Clinton testifies on Benghazi":
It is obvious that the majority of the news media is biased. I have no personal problem with Mrs. Clinton
stretching the truth to suit her political ambitions as most politicians do.
However, the news media should report the facts and inform the public what really transpired as to the
controversy surrounding Benghazi.
The Benghazi attack occurred Sept. 12, 2012. The Obama administration, specifically Susan Rice, U.S.
ambassador to the United Nations, led the American public to believe it was fueled by an anti-Muslim video.
She continued to repeat this version as late as Sept. 16, 2012.
Mrs. Clinton's email dated Sept. 12, 2012, after a conference call to Egypt's prime minister, stated: "We
know that the attack in Libya had nothing to do with the film. It was a planned attack -- not a protest."
Maybe " biased" is too weak a word. Maybe it should be "omitting the truth"!
Jim Brady, Camarillo
Planet Clinton
On Sept. 11, 2012, two months before national elections, Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others
were killed in an attack on our Libyan embassy.
Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, perhaps with direction from the White House, fabricated a cover
story that the attack had been a spontaneous reaction to an anti-Muslim YouTube video.
She and the Obama administration persisted in this fairy tale for well over two weeks, then subsequently
reverted to the old "fog of war" defense -- all of this presumably in an attempt to blunt the impact this debacle
would have on Barack Obama's re-election chances.
Now, thanks to the release of emails sent by Clinton over her personal, nonsecure server and the diligent
work of the congressional Select Committee on Benghazi, we know without a doubt, that Clinton knew from
Day 1 that this was a well- and long-planned al-Qaida attack.
To wit, on the same evening as the attack, Clinton emailed her daughter, Chelsea: "Two of our officers were
killed in Benghazi by an al-Qaida-like group. It appears that on the anniversary of 9/11 an al-Qaida group
assassinated four Americans."
On the day following the attack, she told the Egyptian prime minister "we know that the attack in Libya had
nothing to do with the film. It was a planned attack, not a protest."
Welcome to Planet Clinton, where truth is only a vague, often bothersome concept always subject to the
needs of the moment.
Delton Lee Johnson, Santa Paula
Page 105
Power plant sites

Re: your Oct. 25 editorial "Rethink tactics on beachfront power plants":
I agree Oxnard should not be burdened with another power plant. Its citizens and councils have spent the
last half century trying to rid themselves of them.
Edison and NRG deserve corporate irresponsibility awards for threatening to just abandon their obsolete,
rusting eyesores along our coast. They now propose an alternative site just downwind of Santa Paula and
Fillmore.
The Limoneira Corp. seems to seek such an award, receiving millions leasing right of way for new power
lines from the Santa Paula location. Limoneira is about to begin a 1,500-home development here, and
informed buyers are likely to find a home just downwind of an approved power plant far less attractive.
This is a health and quality of life issue. Inland sites cause greater air quality problems; emissions become
trapped between valley walls and are held down by a thermal inversion layer. This is the problem in the Los
Angeles basin.
Are you aware of any community lobbying for such a peach? We should protect all people from dirty energy
production by denying proposals for gas-fired power plants in populated areas.
Let's work toward renewable energy systems recently signed into law by Gov. Brown. The California Public
Utilities Commission should require Edison to assist homeowners with rooftop solar to feed into the grid. It's
the right thing to do.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 2015 Ventura County Star
All Rights Reserved
Page 106
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DSU alum to speak on experiences as Benghazi hero The Spectrum (St. George, Utah) November 7, 2015
Saturday
32 of 49 DOCUMENTS
The Spectrum (St. George, Utah)
1 Edition
DSU alum to speak on experiences as Benghazi hero

BYLINE: By, Kevin Jenkins
SECTION: A; Pg. 3
LENGTH: 746 words
Dixie State University will build on its Hollywood profile when it rolls out the red carpet for one of its alumni in
January - a member of the elite security team that held off terrorists at the U.S. State Department compound
in Benghazi, Libya three years ago.
A group of DSU students will participate in a broadcast of "The TODAY Show" at the Four Corners
monument on Monday, but January's event will feature former Dixie receiver Kris Paronto, who played
football in Southern Utah a quarter century ago and now is going to have his story featured on the big
screen.
Paronto, who is known by his nickname "Tanto" among colleagues, has gained renown more recently as one
of the six American security operator "heroes" who fought to repel the attack on the Special Mission
Compound and a nearby CIA station that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others on Sept.
11, 2012.
Paronto's experiences are recounted in the book "13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in
Benghazi" and on Friday members of Dixie's Board of Trustees viewed a trailer for an upcoming movie based
on the book, which will be released nationwide 10 days before Paronto's visit to St. George.
The Benghazi incident has been the locus of controversies surrounding presidential candidate and former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
While the movie is widely expected to shy away from the weightier political trappings of the incident, the two
most recent movie trailers released this week promise action-heavy depictions of the security team's courage
during a real-life tragedy.
Director Michael Bay is best known for the movies "Armageddon," "Pearl Harbor" and the "Transformers"
series.
Dixie State Vice President of Development Brad Last introduced the film clip and said the development office
is working on plans for using Paronto's story as a boost for DSU - possibly through a meet-and-greet with the
public before a VIP dinner reception Jan. 25 - while also help Paronto promote his story.
"We have him for about five hours. ... Of course, we want to make a big deal out of the fact that he's a Dixie
alum," Last said. "He played football here in the (Coach Greg) Croshaw era then went to Mesa (State
College) to finish his last two years."
Last, who is also a legislator representing eastern Washington County's District 71, noted that Jan. 25 is the
same day he will participate in the opening of the legislative session.
Paronto has toured the nation to talk about the book based on his team's experiences, including at least one
stop in Northern Utah.
Page 108
Saturday
Last December, Utah County's Daily Herald reported on his visit, noting at the time that the book's purpose
wasn't only to tell what happened, but "to encourage others to stand up to falsehoods and secrecy
perpetuated by the government."
The report states Paronto attended American Fork Middle School during the 1980s while his mother taught in
Lehi and his father coached linebackers on Brigham Young University's football team.
His publicist didn't respond to a request for further information Friday, but Paronto's website notes that after
completing his bachelor's at Mesa State College, he went on to finish a master's degree at the University of
Nebraska at Omaha and served four years in the Army and four years in the Army National Guard as a
special forces ranger.
Paronto then began contracting with Blackwater Security Consulting and continued on missions with them
until 2013.
He now lives in Nebraska.
At Friday's meeting, DSU's trustees also:
* Approved a revised mission statement and core themes for the school's strategic planning process.
* Approved plans for five new academic programs, including an associate degree in surgical technology,
plans to restructure three others.
The plans will next be presented to the state regents for approval.
* Approved plans to discontinue the automotive technology program. Vice President of Academic Affairs
Carole Grady said Dixie State has signed a memorandum of understanding that will transfer the program to
Dixie Applied Technology College.
One professor will retire and the other will move with the program to DXATC, she said.
* Noted that the Washington County School District has begun construction on a new facility to replace East
Elementary. Sale of the existing elementary to Dixie State will close soon, although transfer of the property
won't take place until the school district moves out next year.
Follow Kevin Jenkins @SpectrumJenkins. Call him at 435-674-6253.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
JOURNAL-CODE: stg
Copyright 2015 The Spectrum
All Rights Reserved
Page 109
Page 110
Saturday
33 of 49 DOCUMENTS
The Spectrum (St. George, Utah)
1 Edition
DSU alum to speak on experiences as Benghazi hero

BYLINE: By, Kevin Jenkins
SECTION: A; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 746 words
Dixie State University will build on its Hollywood profile when it rolls out the red carpet for one of its alumni in
January - a member of the elite security team that held off terrorists at the U.S. State Department compound
in Benghazi, Libya three years ago.
A group of DSU students will participate in a broadcast of "The TODAY Show" at the Four Corners
monument on Monday, but January's event will feature former Dixie receiver Kris Paronto, who played
football in Southern Utah a quarter century ago and now is going to have his story featured on the big
screen.
Paronto, who is known by his nickname "Tanto" among colleagues, has gained renown more recently as one
of the six American security operator "heroes" who fought to repel the attack on the Special Mission
Compound and a nearby CIA station that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others on Sept.
11, 2012.
Paronto's experiences are recounted in the book "13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in
Benghazi" and on Friday members of Dixie's Board of Trustees viewed a trailer for an upcoming movie based
on the book, which will be released nationwide 10 days before Paronto's visit to St. George.
The Benghazi incident has been the locus of controversies surrounding presidential candidate and former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
While the movie is widely expected to shy away from the weightier political trappings of the incident, the two
most recent movie trailers released this week promise action-heavy depictions of the security team's courage
during a real-life tragedy.
Director Michael Bay is best known for the movies "Armageddon," "Pearl Harbor" and the "Transformers"
series.
Dixie State Vice President of Development Brad Last introduced the film clip and said the development office
is working on plans for using Paronto's story as a boost for DSU - possibly through a meet-and-greet with the
public before a VIP dinner reception Jan. 25 - while also help Paronto promote his story.
"We have him for about five hours. ... Of course, we want to make a big deal out of the fact that he's a Dixie
alum," Last said. "He played football here in the (Coach Greg) Croshaw era then went to Mesa (State
College) to finish his last two years."
Last, who is also a legislator representing eastern Washington County's District 71, noted that Jan. 25 is the
same day he will participate in the opening of the legislative session.
Paronto has toured the nation to talk about the book based on his team's experiences, including at least one
stop in Northern Utah.
Page 111
Saturday
Last December, Utah County's Daily Herald reported on his visit, noting at the time that the book's purpose
wasn't only to tell what happened, but "to encourage others to stand up to falsehoods and secrecy
perpetuated by the government."
The report states Paronto attended American Fork Middle School during the 1980s while his mother taught in
Lehi and his father coached linebackers on Brigham Young University's football team.
His publicist didn't respond to a request for further information Friday, but Paronto's website notes that after
completing his bachelor's at Mesa State College, he went on to finish a master's degree at the University of
Nebraska at Omaha and served four years in the Army and four years in the Army National Guard as a
special forces ranger.
Paronto then began contracting with Blackwater Security Consulting and continued on missions with them
until 2013.
He now lives in Nebraska.
At Friday's meeting, DSU's trustees also:
* Approved a revised mission statement and core themes for the school's strategic planning process.
* Approved plans for five new academic programs, including an associate degree in surgical technology,
plans to restructure three others.
The plans will next be presented to the state regents for approval.
* Approved plans to discontinue the automotive technology program. Vice President of Academic Affairs
Carole Grady said Dixie State has signed a memorandum of understanding that will transfer the program to
Dixie Applied Technology College.
One professor will retire and the other will move with the program to DXATC, she said.
* Noted that the Washington County School District has begun construction on a new facility to replace East
Elementary. Sale of the existing elementary to Dixie State will close soon, although transfer of the property
won't take place until the school district moves out next year.
Follow Kevin Jenkins @SpectrumJenkins. Call him at 435-674-6253.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
JOURNAL-CODE: stg
Copyright 2015 The Spectrum
All Rights Reserved
Page 112
Page 113
On 40th Anniversary of Green March, History of and US Support for Morocco's Western Sahara Autonomy
Plan Marketwired November 5, 2015 Thursday 1:36 AM GMT
34 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Marketwired
On 40th Anniversary of Green March, History of and US Support for

Morocco's Western Sahara Autonomy Plan
LENGTH: 1167 words
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, DC; Nov 05, 2015
Friday, November 6 marks the 40th anniversary of the Green March, when some 350,000 Moroccan citizens
and nearly 20,000 unarmed Moroccan troops walked in a peaceful demonstration into what was then known
as Spanish Sahara to take back their southern provinces from Spanish control. The event marked a turning
point in modern Moroccan history and identity, and today the fight for the Sahara remains the top national
and diplomatic priority for the country.
Below is a brief timeline of the conflict, and US support for Morocco's proposed solution:
--
Following the Green March in 1975, the Polisario Front -- a separatist

group backed by Algeria, Cuba, and Libya -- launched a guerilla war
against Morocco that lasted until 1991, when the UN brokered a
ceasefire. Though the ceasefire has held, tens of thousands of refugees
still live under desperate conditions in Polisario Front -- controlled
refugee camps in southwestern Algeria, subsisting entirely on
international humanitarian aid.
--
Since the ceasefire, numerous attempts to resolve the Western Sahara

dispute through negotiations have failed, and starting in 1999, US
policy has been to support a compromise formula based on autonomy for
the Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty.
--
In 2007, Morocco presented a plan that offered such a compromise

formula, which the UN Security Council welcomed as "serious and credible
Moroccan efforts to move the process forward towards resolution." The
Council urged Morocco and the Polisario Front to seek "a just, lasting
and mutually acceptable political solution," which was affirmed by the
US and other UN Security Council members.
--
That same year, four rounds of UN-led negotiations between Morocco and
Page 114
the Polisario Front failed to resolve the conflict, and in 2008, Peter
van Walsum, who mediated the negotiations, concluded that "an
independent Western Sahara is not an attainable goal" and proposed that
the next round of negotiations focus on a negotiated political solution,
such as autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.
--
Since 2008, the current Envoy, US diplomat Christopher Ross, has held
nine rounds of "informal talks" followed by "shuttle diplomacy" to
encourage compromise between the parties so that the fifth round of
negotiations can take place focusing on a compromise political solution,
as van Walsum recommended to the UN Security Council.
--
Meanwhile, since 1990, the US and its international partners have spent
more than $1 billion to support the refugees in the Polisario-controlled
refugee camps, much of which has been diverted to enrich some Polisario
leaders, according to numerous EU and World Food Programme reports.
--
Under the Clinton, Bush, and Obama Administrations, the US has continued
to support a formula of autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. In a Joint
Statement issued on November 22, 2013 following a meeting between
President Obama and King Mohammed VI, the US reiterated that Morocco's
autonomy plan is "serious, realistic, and credible." The two leaders
also affirmed "their shared commitment to the improvement of the lives
of the people of the Western Sahara and agreed to work together to
continue to protect and promote human rights in the territory."
--
The policy -- and support for Morocco's autonomy plan -- has also been
reiterated by bipartisan majorities of both the US House and Senate. In
April 2009, 233 members of the United States House of Representatives
sent a letter to President Obama reaffirming their support for Morocco's
autonomy proposal. The letter built on another letter from 2007 signed
by 173 Members of the House (including the bipartisan House Leadership
Chairman Tom Lantos and Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen) reiterating
Congressional support for the Moroccan plan, and a letter from former
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and other former policy makers. In
March 2010, 54 members of the United States Senate affirmed their
support for Morocco's autonomy plan in a letter addressed to thenSecretary of State Hillary Clinton. Out of concern for growing
instability in North Africa, the letter urged Secretary Clinton to "make
the resolution of the Western Sahara stalemate a U.S. foreign policy
priority for North Africa," and called for "more sustained American
attention to one of the region's most pressing political issues."
Page 115
--
In the meantime, Morocco has continued to develop the southern provinces

and ensure the well-being and security of the population. The economic
and social development of the region is now largely at or above that of
the rest of the country, and to date, Morocco has invested well over
$2.5 billion in the region, and continues to boost investment and
development there.
--
In September of 2015, Morocco held popular elections for local and

regional government posts, which will enjoy expanded power devolved from
the central government -- thus bringing increased political autonomy for
the Western Sahara. The elections demonstrate Morocco's commitment to a
new philosophy of governance and development-advanced regionalization
that devolves most important political, social, cultural, and economic
decision making to the elected officials, business, and civil society
leaders closest to people's everyday lives. It is an intentionally
designed precursor to the even broader autonomy for the territory that
Morocco is trying to negotiate for its citizens. The citizen response to
the elections were resounding -- the three most southerly provinces
averaged 58% turnout, outperforming most other provinces in the country.
"Forty years ago, the Moroccan people took a courageous leap and were overjoyed at the liberation of their
southern provinces from Spain. And Morocco took just as courageous a step some 30 years later in offering
autonomy to the region. The US has supported that vision since the beginning, and it needs to do everything
it can to help make it a reality," said former US Ambassador to Morocco Edward M. Gabriel.
The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to
inform opinion makers, government officials, and interested publics in the United States about political and
social developments in Morocco and the role being played by the Kingdom of Morocco in broader strategic
developments in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.
This material is distributed by the Moroccan American Center for Policy on behalf of the Government of
Morocco. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.
CONTACT:
Jordana Merran 202.470.2049jmerran@moroccanamericancenter.com
SOURCE: Moroccan American Center for Policy

CONTACT:
Jordana Merran
202.470.2049
jmerran@moroccanamericancenter.com
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Page 116
Copyright 2015 Marketwire, L.P.
All Rights Reserved
Page 117
Page 118
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SAYS NO TO KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE; President says project doesn't serve
USA's national interests as six-year review comes to a close Dayton Daily News (Ohio) November 7, 2015
Saturday
35 of 49 DOCUMENTS
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SAYS NO TO KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE;

President says project doesn't serve USA's national interests as sixyear review comes to a close
BYLINE: Gregory and David Korte Jackson
SECTION: ; Pg. Z1
LENGTH: 673 words
WASHINGTON President Obama announced Friday that his administration has rejected the Keystone XL
Pipeline project after more than six years of review.
"The State Department has decided that the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the national interest of the
United States," Obama said in a 10-minute announcement at the White House with Secretary of State John
Kerry and Vice President Biden. "I agree with that decision."
But even as he rejected it, Obama downplayed the importance of the decision, saying the project had an
"over-inflated role in our political discourse." The pipeline, he said, was neither a "silver bullet for the
economy" nor "the express lane to climate disaster."
Obama combined his statement on the Keystone rejection with a comment on Friday's positive jobs report,
saying the latter proves that the economy is expanding and that the pipeline would make little difference.
"So while our politics have been consumed by debate over whether or not this pipeline would create jobs and
lower gas prices, we have gone ahead and created jobs and lowered gas prices," he said.
Obama said he spoke Friday morning to Justin Trudeau, the newly elected Canadian Prime Minister who had
supported the project. "While he expressed his disappointment, given Canada's position on this issue, we
both agreed that our close friendship on a whole range of issues, including energy and climate change,
should provide the basis for even closer coordination between our countries going forward."
He also confirmed publicly for the first time that he will attend the international climate conference in Paris in
three weeks and said the United States must lead by example.
The final determination on Keystone comes 2,604 days after Transcanada first applied for State Department
approval to build the 1,179-mile cross-border pipeline from Alberta or Nebraska.
Earlier this week, the State Department rejected the company's request to delay a final determination.
The State Department had received more than 5 million comments on the proposal. Under an executive
order signed by President George W. Bush, the application triggered reviews by the departments of State,
Defense, Justice, Interior, Commerce, Transportation, Energy, Homeland Security and the Environmental
Protection Agency. The final decision rests with the Secretary of State unless any agency disagreed, in which
case the final determination is made by the president.
Most agencies had no objections, with the Interior Department and the EPA expressing the strongest
concerns. In the end, Kerry said all eight agencies consulted on the State Department determination agreed.
Kerry's determination was signed Tuesday but announced Friday.
As those reviews dragged on, Congress passed a bill in February that would have short-circuited that review
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OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SAYS NO TO KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE; President says project doesn't serve
USA's national interests as six-year review comes to a close Dayton Daily News (Ohio) November 7, 2015
Saturday
and approved the pipeline. Obama vetoed that bill, saying it undercut the established procedure and didn't
allow for a thorough determination of whether the pipeline is in the national interest.
Transcanada said it remains "absolutely committed" to the project.
But while lauded by environmentalists, labor unions called the decision "shameful."
"President Obama today demonstrated that he cares more about kowtowing to green-collar elitists than he
does about creating desperately needed, family-supporting, blue-collar jobs," said Terry O'Sullivan, general
president of the the Laborers' International Union of North America.
Republicans touted the project as a job creator, often making claims it would create as many as 42,000 jobs.
But the vast majority of those jobs were temporary or supplier jobs. Once built over two years, the pipeline
was expected to employ less than 50 people.
The decision sets up what could be a key issue in the 2016 campaign, as Republicans tie the decision to
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of State who began the review and
opposes the project.
As Obama spoke, Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio vowed to re-instate the pipeline if he wins
the White House.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS CHIEF POLITICAL ANCHOR: The politics of the Russian plane disaster. Egypt
and Russia try to downplay what they call speculation in the West -- that a terrorist bomb was responsible.
This is the SPECIAL REPORT.
Good evening. Welcome to Washington. I'm Bret Baier.
We begin again tonight with the growing opinion and sense of dread, that Saturday's in-flight destruction of a
Russian airliner was no accident. President Obama said this in a radio interview just moments ago.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think there is a possibility that there was a
bomb on board. And we're taking that very seriously.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BAIER: Also Britain's prime minister says it was more likely a bomb than not. But Russia and Egypt, which
have huge financial stakes in the outcome, are pushing back.
Senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot has tonight's top story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GREG PALKOT, FOX NEWS SENIOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: U.K. officials stepped up
their charges, saying there was a significant possibility that the crash of the Russian plane Saturday in Sinai
was caused by a bomb and a regional ISIS affiliate could be responsible. The British saying there's so much
at risk, they couldn't wait.
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We cannot be certain that the Russian airliner was brought
down by a terrorist bomb. But it looks increasingly likely that that was the case. And so I act on the
intelligence, I act on the advice of experts.
PALKOT: That action includes suspending British flights coming and going from Sharm el-Sheikh airport
where the doomed plane left. Emergency flights to get some of the 20,000 Brits there back start tomorrow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The security is minimal to say the very least. And it does need to be tightened, in
fairness.
PALKOT: Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al Sisi was in London today on a pre-planned visit. Sisi said the
investigation into the crash was not concluded and he promised transparency when it was.
Outside of St. Petersburg, the first of 224 victims of the crash was buried; a Kremlin spokesman calling the
U.K. and U.S. terror comments shocking and premature. In fact an intelligence source telling Fox News
today, there's still no conclusive evidence a bomb brought down the plane. So far, no traces of bomb residue
have been found at the site. The White House reflected that caution today.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: At this point the United States has not made our
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own determination about the cause of the incident. However, we can't rule anything out including the
possibility of terrorist involvement.
PALKOT: Still, there's been enough official comments from D.C. leaning towards terror to make others see it
as a wake-up call.
REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): I think that we need to step up this war on terror against is because if it's a
Russian airline today it could be an American airline tomorrow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PALKOT: In fact, in the last half hour, we have been watching reputable British media sources give clues as
to why U.K. went so far forward on this terror claim. One saying it was based on a specific piece of
intelligence. Another saying it was chatter between ISIS terrorists plotting a major attack in the region. A third
saying the bomb could have been in a piece of luggage. More to come, to be confirmed.
Back to you.
BAIER: Greg Palkot, live in London. Greg -- thank you. We'll be talking to the chairman of the House Armed
Services Committee live here on SPECIAL REPORT in a bit.
Bernie Sanders seems to be revoking that free pass he gave Hillary Clinton over her e-mail scandal. It
comes as Sanders joins several Republicans in filing paperwork to get on the primary ballot in New
Hampshire.
Chief political correspondent Carl Cameron is on the scene tonight in Londonderry, New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARL CAMERON, FOX NEWS CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: With growing crowds of
enthusiastic supporters, Marco Rubio paid his thousand dollars to New Hampshire's secretary of state in
order to appear on the nation's first primary ballot in February.
He then fired back at Donald Trump for questioning his personal finances and use of a Florida Republican
Party credit card years for what some say were lavish personal expenses.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I find it ironic that the only person running for
president that's ever declared bankruptcy four times in the last 25 years is attacking anyone on finances. The
bottom line is I didn't inherit any money from my parents. I've worked very hard throughout our life. I had to
borrow money to go to school.
CAMERON: The billionaire developer called into the "Today" show to make his now familiar argument that
he's seldom had to use corporate bankruptcy laws.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We used the laws of the land. I've had 500 companies
of different kinds and over the years I've used it three or four times.
CAMERON: Trump and Ben Carson have both been authorized to receive Secret Service protection by the
Department of Homeland Security. Carson released a new radio ad today targeting urban voters with rap
music.
BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm Ben Carson and I approve this message.
CAMERON: Former tech CEO Carly Fiorina brought a raucous crowd to the state house to file her New
Hampshire candidacy papers and slammed the media for biased questions voters don't care about.
CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The media asked me about my treatment or others'
treatment. The media asked me about other candidates. Voters never ask me about any one of those things.
Voters always ask me about what's going on in their lives.
CAMERON: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie held a town hall meeting in Nashua. At 2 percent in the
latest polls, he may be in jeopardy of not qualifying for the top tier primetime debate next week on Fox
Business which is set to announce the line up at 7:00 p.m. tonight.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think the performance I put on in the first
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three debates merit me being on that stage. But I'll be on some stage, one way or the other. And no matter
where I'm debating, I'll make an impression. You want to throw a podium out here on the lawn and we'll go
and start debating with folks out here. I'm happy to do that, too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMERON: Christie and Ohio Governor John Kasich who has a town hall meeting scheduled here in
another hour or so will both file for their candidacies tomorrow in Concord.
Next week the remaining candidates have five days to get their names on the ballot. And they will include,
among others, Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush -- Bret.
BAIER: Carl -- that debt clock over your shoulders is disconcerting.
But on the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders suddenly changing his tune about Hillary Clinton's e-mail
server scandal -- what can you tell us about that?
CAMERON: Sure. Well, the Vermont senator quite famously in the last Democratic debate said that he was
sick and tired of hearing about Hillary Clinton's e-mail issues and essentially gave her a political pass. He
has since reversed himself on that and said that, in fact, there are some questions the federal investigation of
the e-mails he said is legitimate.
So down in the polls, watching himself failing to get any traction. There was a while he was surging and it
was thought that Hillary might be more vulnerable to him. He's now going back on those things and saying
it's an issue. Welcome back to the primaries.
BAIER: Yes. Carl -- thank you.
Several candidates have recently focused in on addiction sharing personal stories of struggles involving
friends or loved ones. Chief legal correspondent Shannon Bream tonight on the practical and political
implications.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FIORINA: Drug addiction is an epidemic and it is taking too many of our young people. I know this sadly,
from personal experience.
SHANNON BREAM, FOX NEWS CHIEF LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Carly Fiorina was the first 2016 GOP
contender to share her personal grief over dealing with a loved one who battled an ongoing drug addiction.
Her step-daughter, Lori, eventually lost that fight.
And in an interview with the Huffington Post, Jeb Bush is now speaking about his daughter's struggles and
fighting to get her to where she is today, drug-free.
JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She went through hell, so did her mom and so did her dad.
BREAM: The topic is especially relevant in a critical early state on the 2016 path to the White House -- New
Hampshire -- where a new poll shows residents now say drugs are the state's most important problem.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse says a key factor is the skyrocketing use of prescription painkillers by
Americans. According to the institute many users eventually develop a tolerance. And even if they can no
longer get the drug via a legal description, some will turn to the black market or transition to a drug like
heroin, which is often cheaper and easier to obtain.
Chris Christie recently shared the story of a law school friend, who started out taking painkillers for a back
injury and wound up on a nearly decade-long battle with addiction that ended in his death.
CHRISTIE: And when I sat there as the governor of New Jersey at his funeral and looked across the pew at
his three daughters sobbing because their dad is gone. There but for the grace of God go I.
It's one topic on which Christie, Bush and Fiorina share common ground with the Democratic frontrunner,
Hillary Clinton, who says the issue should be tackled by treating, not jailing those who are addicted.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Only one out of ten people are getting it because we
don't have enough places for people to go to get the kind of support they need to get off of drugs, get off of
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alcohol, whatever it might be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BREAM: Late today, Ted Cruz also spoke out about his sister, Miriam's decades-long battle with drugs that
apparently led to her death in 2011 ruled an accidental overdose -- Bret.
BAIER: Shannon -- thank you.
Up next, we go live to Spain for exclusive Fox News access into the massive NATO war games designed to
send Vladimir Putin a message.
First here's what some of our Fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight.
Fox 6 in Birmingham with the arrest of a father accused of abducting his child and taking him out of Alabama
13 years ago. Julian Hernandez is now 18. His efforts to get into college tipped off authorities who found him
in Cleveland, Ohio.
Fox 2 in Detroit with a woman who started a massive apartment fire when she was trying to kill bed bugs.
She said she turned up the heat, which worked before, then doused her floors with alcohol. Her oven was on,
ignited the fumes and you know the rest. She is sorry and thankful that no one was killed.
And this is a live look at San Francisco. Nice sunset out there from Fox 2. The big story there tonight, police
identified the man who attacked four people with a knife yesterday at the University of California Merced
campus. 18-year-old Faisal Mohammad was a freshman at the school. He was shot and killed by police. A
construction worker is being credited with distracting Mohammad and saving the life of one of the victims.
That's tonight's live look outside the Beltway from SPECIAL REPORT. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: The charity that runs the Afghan hospital bombed by U.S. forces last month says it was treating
wounded Taliban fighters. But there were no armed men in the area at the time. Doctors without Borders
says American forces had the exact coordinates of the clinic before launching the assault that left 30 people
dead.
The U.S. has called the air strike a mistake. President Obama has apologized. Numerous investigations are
now ongoing.
Four men with ties to Ohio are facing federal terrorism charges tonight. The two sets of brothers were
indicted for conspiring to provide thousands of dollars of financial support for jihad activities against U.S.
military personnel. The Justice Department says one of the suspects went to Yemen in order to meet with
then-al Qaeda terror leader, Anwar al Awlaki, and give him $22,000.
NATO's secretary-general is sounding the alarm over Russian expansionism. Jan Stoltenberg says Russia
may be trying to limit the access of the U.S. and its allies to certain regions of Europe. The comments come
during a massive military exercise, intended to get Russia's undivided attention.
Correspondent Mike Tobin was granted exclusive access to the war games and reports tonight from Spain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE TOBIN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Parachuting into Zaragoza, Spain these paratroopers with
the 82nd Airborne are working with NATO allies, reaffirming a commitment to them. Mindful of destabilization
in parts of the world and aggressive moves by Russia, this is a reminder that the U.S. can send a fighting
force anywhere.
MAJ. GEN. STEPHEN TOWNSEND, 18TH AIRBORNE CORPS: We're sending a message to our friends
and partners in the region that the United States is there to support them. And can go to war, will go to war
with them. And also, a message to potential adversaries -- whoever they might be.
TOBIN: Working together and leaving from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the Army and Air Force called their
part of the exercise "Ultimate Reach". Seven Air Force C-17s picked up more than 500 paratroopers. The
paratroopers consider themselves the core of a global response force. To them the exercise is about keeping
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the bayonets sharp, maintaining the skills to take the fight anywhere in the world.
SGT. IAN HARRISON, RIFLEMAN: And they're perishable skills, if we're not practicing these all the time, the
bayonet will dull and it's not going to be as useful or effective. We have to be ready at any time especially in
the 82nd.
TOBIN: They rig midflight and after ten hours arrive at the drop zone.
There is perhaps no moment in which a soldier more clearly demonstrates faith in his training, trust in the
gear and commitment to the operation as this one when he jumps out of an aircraft a thousand feet above a
target.
PFC COREY TODD, RIFLEMAN: It's a commitment thing, if you're going to -- if you're not going to go 100
percent and do it you're going to have a bad time.
TOBIN: So they demonstrated troops can arrive on a battlefield in short notice. Political will -- the choice to
send them belongs to someone else.
TOWNSEND: Political will is not my charter. My charter is to execute the orders we get from America's
leaders. And that's what these paratroopers do for a living. So when the commander-in-chief says go, they
go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TOBIN: At any given time, 900 paratroopers with the 82nd are on a two-hour recall. That means if the call
comes, they've got to be at the base, gear at the ready within two hours possibly in the air within 18 hours -Bret back to you.
BAIER: Mike Tobin, live in Spain. Mike -- thank you.
Still ahead, from Spain we take to you Cuba. For a look at the prospects for American business as relations
improve with the communist nation.
First, we talk live with the head of the House Armed Services Committee about that investigation into the
possible bombing of a Russian airliner and what it all means for the U.S.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: Today the House approved a revamped Defense Bill. The President vetoed the original measure
over a spending issue which has been since resolved.
Let's get more on that and the investigation into that Russian airliner disaster. Chairman of the house armed
services committee, Texas Congressman Mac Thornberry is with us tonight. Mr. Chairman -- thanks for being
here.
REP. MAC THORNBERRY (R), TEXAS: Thanks for having me.
BAIER: I want to start with that investigation. You're the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
What can you tell us? What do you know?
THORNBERRY: I think the different intelligence organizations of various countries are trying to pull together
the threads of intelligence and put them together to figure out what happened. And you want to be pretty sure
before you reach a conclusion. My guess is once they have the threads together they'll find that there was an
explosion on this plane and then, the challenge is to find who did it. And go from there.
BAIER: You -- we have not heard of any specific evidence of this explosion. Have you?
THORNBERRY: Well, the plane was going at a relatively high altitude. Something catastrophic happened to
cause it to descend quickly and hit the ground. So I think that as I say, different intelligence organizations,
pulling together pieces to find out ok, can we see an explosion? What happened? Is there signals
intelligence? Imagery? Various kinds of things that we can pull together and put this picture together. Now
obviously -BAIER: But as far as the briefing you're getting about bomb residue or anything like that or --
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THORNBERRY: Yes. I think they're still working on that. So you're right. I mean that's the way to confirm is to
take the wreckage and see if you can have explosive residue and that sort of thing. That's in process.
BAIER: Ok and as far as terrorists, if it was a bomb, who may be responsible?
THORNBERRY: Yes. It's a number of suspects. We know there's a significant amount of terrorism in Egypt.
We know that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Yemen has really been focused on airplane bombs
throughout their history. And actually, if you step back to 9/11, we have had the Shoe Bomber, the Underwear
Bomber, the Print Cartridge bomb -- a series of adaptable threats to airliners, because the terrorists are
always trying to change, to innovate, to get around our security measures. But they continue to be focused
on airliners and bringing them down because they know what that means to the world, to disrupt air travel
and to cause the worry and concern. So it's a major object of -- for them.
BAIER: A couple more things. The British seem much more confident about this. They had "The Telegraph"
reported tonight that terrorist chatter led to their determination about what they're doing. And "The Times of
London" said there was a specific bag on the plane. Either of those things match up with what you're
hearing?
THORNBERRY: Well, I don't know about specific bag. As I say, I think that various countries' intelligence
organizations are monitoring the chatter to see if that lines up. Of course the British have a huge number of
tourists who go to this region, and so they're trying to be better safe than sorry, I think. So they're a little
ahead of us in reaching conclusions. But I can understand that.
BAIER: All right.
The National Defense Authorization Act passed 370-58 today. What about this maneuver back and forth with
the White House? Now it moves on to the Senate, likely to get through there. What do you think the
President is going to do?
THORNBERRY: Well I don't know for sure. What I do know is that this has been -- two weeks ago was the
first time in history that a president has vetoed a Defense Authorization Bill, not because of something that's
in it primarily but to use it as leverage to force Congress to increase spending in other areas. And so, in
effect, using support for our troops as a bargaining chip.
Now will he continue to try to maneuver around and worry about his campaign promises and so forth? I don't
know. But I think what you saw today was a huge bipartisan vote probably the largest in several years partly
as a reaction to the President's maneuver. But even more concern about what's happening in the world.
Mr. Chairman, the language about Guantanamo Bay is exactly the same, is that right?
THORNBERRY: That's right.
BAIER: This is what the White House said about closing Gitmo today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EARNEST: We continue to believe that Congress should remove the obstacles that they have imposed, that
have prevented us from successfully closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay. It doesn't make fiscal sense to
keep spending large sums of money to detain these individuals, at the prison at Guantanamo Bay when it
can be much more, done in a much more cost-effective fashion elsewhere. And it doesn't make sense to
make an argument that somehow this poses an undue risk to the American public. The fact is, there are
many convicted terrorists who are serving time on American soil right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: What about that argument, Mr. Chairman?
THORNBERRY: Well, Senator McCain among others has been pressing the White House to send us a plan
for six years, about how you would close to Guantanamo and what you would do with the people and to see
whether that can get the support of the American people and Congress. They haven't done that for six years.
Now there's another -- new fresh set of rumors that they're about to send a plan up.
So these restrictions are the same ones we've had in law every year for the past five years. They only last
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another year. So if they can come up with a plan and everybody thinks oh, that makes sense, then the
restrictions go away.
BAIER: But you're convinced that's a goal, to go back to that promise, that campaign promise from 2008?
THORNBERRY: Absolutely. There's no question. And again, they're not willing, though, to put the details
down to say exactly where they want to go and how they're going to safeguard the American people and the
neighborhoods where these people would be sent.
BAIER: Mr. Chairman -- thanks for the time today.
THORNBERRY: Thanks for having me.
BAIER: A look at life in Cuba and the American businesses that are moving in when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: Stocks were off today as the markets await the October jobs report tomorrow. The Dow lost 4, the
S&P 500 was down 2, the Nasdaq gave back 15.
The House has passed a transportation bill that authorizes programs for the next six years but pays for only
three. The bill does not bump up spending. Critics say it fails to adequately deal with the nation's roads,
bridges, and transit systems that are falling apart.
Let the political games begin over the president's legacy trade deal. We know now what's in it after five years
of speculation. And a lot of the president's own supporters are not very happy. Correspondent Kevin Corke
tells us about the coming fight from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEVIN CORKE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: For the White House, today's release of the text of the
Trans-Pacific Partnership was less a culmination of hard work than it was the beginning of another bruising
battle with Congressional lawmakers whose thorough, months-long review could still derail the agreement.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Careful consideration is necessary. We want
people to take a look carefully at the details. But there's no reason that it should take a year to get that done.
CORKE: At stake is the president's signature trade pact. We learned in details today that it has 30 chapters
and is thousands of pages long. The 12-nation deal sets common standards for workers' rights, intellectual
property protection, and is aimed at freeing up commerce in 40 percent of the world's economy. President
Obama told the website Medium, quote, "I know that past trade agreements haven't always lived up to the
hype. That's what makes this trade agreement so different and so important."
But while the president hailed the merits of the agreement online, many from his own party vehemently
oppose it.
REP. MARCY KAPTUR, (D) OHIO: It's time to defeat TPP dead on arrival and develop a new trade model for
this country that opens markets, creates jobs, and builds the middle class.
REP. ROSA DELAURO, (D) CONNECTICUT: The agreement appears to be not strong enough to prevent
abuses, and it will cost Americans their jobs, and depress their wages.
CORKE: Even fellow Democrat and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who had at one point backed
the deal, is now against it, as is leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. But the president
may have an unlikely ally in newly minted Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. While he said he's still unsure if
he would support the measure, he did say it's worth a fair hearing.
REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: I'm pleased with the process
we have before us, open, transparent. People get to see it. Members of Congress get to see it. And then we'll
decide independently after consulting with our constituents and our conscience what our position on anything
like a trade agreement will be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CORKE: As expected the president informed Congress today of his intention to sign the accord. That, Bret,
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begins the 90-day clock after which his signature begins the next phase, and that is final Congressional
approval. Bret?
BAIER: Kevin Corke on the north lawn. Kevin, thank you.
Trade with Cuba is a big topic because of the renewal of relations between Washington and Havana. Tonight
correspondent Rich Edson has the first of two reports from Cuba on what to expect and what is still standing
in the way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICH EDSON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Martina Ferrier has never logged on to the Internet until
this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via translator): It's very difficult to connect because it seems like the whole world is
trying to get on the Internet. Sometimes you connect, but it is slow.
EDSON: That may soon change. The Obama administration has eased some of the U.S. embargo against
Cuba and now U.S. cellular carrier Sprint has just signed a texting and roaming agreement with Cuba's
government-run carrier.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I look at it as this is the first baby step of what I hope will be a long-lasting
relationship with this great country.
EDSON: This week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce led what it describes as the largest ever American
business delegation to Cuba including executives from more than 30 companies like Caterpillar, American
Airlines, and Boeing. And they're learning of Cuba's challenges.
MYRON BRILLIANT, U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: There are still a lot of impediments to doing
business in Cuba. There are legal and questions about the investment climate, questions about labor
flexibility, questions about currency.
EDSON: Meanwhile, small business is also looking to expand. This is Alexander Gonzalez' house. To legally
open a private restaurant here in Cuba, thousands of entrepreneurs like him expand their homes to look like
this.
ALEXANDER GONZALEZ, RESTAURANT OWNER (via translator): I think we're going to flourish. Why?
Because we will have a lot more work than we have right now. Because once they open the door to this type
of market, we will flourish. There is a future. It seems like we're in a good moment in time and we should
appreciate it.
EDSON: Gonzalez' restaurant and some of America's most successful businesses continue to face an
economic embargo here, a centrally planned communist economy, a population with an average take-home
salary of $20 a month, and extremely limited access to the Internet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
EDSON: This is like any street in the United States, people obsessively checking their phones, reading news,
video chatting with friends. In Cuba you have to come here, this is a government Wi-Fi spot. Either purchase
an access card in a store or you buy it on the black market. But if you want to talk to friends, you've got to
come here. If not -- forget about it. Bret?
BAIER: Rich Edson in Havana. Rich, thank you.
So was it a bomb? The speculation, the evidence, and the pushback. We'll talk about it all with the panel,
when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe a bomb brought down that plane?
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think we know yet. You know,
whenever you've got a plane crash, first of all, you've got the tragedy. You've got the making sure that there's
Page 129
an investigation onsite. I think there is a possibility that there was a bomb on board. And we're taking that
very seriously. You know, we know that the procedures we have here in the United States are different than
some of the procedures that existed for outbound and inbound flights there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: The president on a radio show late this afternoon talking about that investigation to the Russian
airliner. Let's start there with our panel. Let's bring in Judge Andrew Napolitano, Fox News senior judicial
analyst, Charles Lane, opinion writer for the "Washington Post," and syndicated columnist Charles
Krauthammer. Charles, obviously Russia and Egypt pushing back most significantly about what they call the
speculation in the west. But there is growing, at least people talking behind the scenes that they believe it
was in fact a bomb.
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: The Egyptians and the Russians are deathly
afraid of such a verdict. The Egyptians for two reasons -- number one, they depend hugely on tourism to get
their foreign exchange. Sharm el-Sheikh is one of their number one tourist destinations. The only way to get
there is by airplane. You shut down the airports, it dies.
The second is that the Egyptian regime is in a death struggle with radical Islam in the country, also in Sinai.
Sinai is crawling with jihadists. They have attacked government forces. They have actually attacked an
Egyptian naval vessel with a missile. And now if they're able to bring down airplanes it shows the prestige of
the regime in sort of winning the battle against the jihadist has really diminished.
As for the Russians, the Russians have had a decades-long struggle with radical Islam in the Caucasus and
in Chechnya, but they have a reputation of being utterly ruthless. You don't want to mess with Boris. If this
turns out to be an attack on a Russian airliner, either their deterrent is going to be diminished or they're going
to have to have a furious response, which could incidentally help us because it would be against ISIS.
BAIER: And it would step up their troop deployment in Syria.
Chuck, you know, we're hearing that there's no evidence bomb residue, at least not yet. And the specific
evidence that it was a bomb, by now one would think we would have some indication.
CHARLES LANE, OPINION WRITER, "WASHINGTON POST": I don't know personally enough about the
details of those investigations. But what you have is David Cameron sticking his neck out pretty far, without
definitively saying it was a bomb, saying more likely than not it was a bomb.
There are these emanations from our intelligence community about chatter. And don't forget, an ISIS group
on Sinai has claimed credit through social media for this. Now, we know this could just be propaganda, but
they've repeated that. And they've not only repeated it. They said in a few days we're going to come out with
the evidence of how we put this on.
It's entirely possible that there was some mechanical failure on this plane. But at the same time you have to
reckon with the fact that the Sharm el-Sheikh airport is a joke as far as security goes. That was why the
British apparently were working there weeks ahead of time, because of the danger to their tourists, anyway.
And it wouldn't be that hard, I would think, for terrorist organization to infiltrate the place and slide something
on board.
BAIER: Judge?
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO, FOX NEWS SENIOR JUDICIAL ANALYST: I agree fully with both of my
colleagues. I had the following observations. This is potentially devastating for Putin as the iron man in
Russia and the same for el-Sisi as the iron man in Egypt, el-Sisi for the reasons Charles has mentioned. If
you cut Egypt's tourism in half the economy in Egypt will collapse.
Putin's problems are far more serious. He now knows that ISIS can go, from Afghanistan to Russia and back
unmolested by Russian troops. He's getting a lot less money for the sale of oil and gas and he's spending
more money on military. And that is also going to bring him economic problems.
I think that the government already knows it's a bomb. I think they want to spoon-feed it to us because the
definitive determination that it's a bomb will be devastating and will politically, and will change a lot of things.
And I think they want to, as I said, give it to us in baby steps rather than all at once.
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BAIER: It would also affect security around the world. I mean, it will be a different scenario. Not like that's
already in the move as they investigate here.
KRAUTHAMMER: You know, in the U.S., you feel that 90 percent of TSA is a charade. But the 10 percent
probably is effective.
BAIER: And you had a legendary column about -KRAUTHAMMER: Well, yes, about people, yes. It is. It's mostly a joke. It's meant to be a sort of a kabuki so
people have a sense of security. But they do actually have metal detectors. They do actually pat you down. I
know because I get a pat down every time I go through. I carry a lot of metal on me. So there's some of it
that is, that is working. But there are places, obviously we know in the third world in particular, where that is
not the case.
Can I just say one word about the Russian reaction? They twice reduced Chechnya to rubble as a way to
show they will not put up with radical Islam in their own country. So they have that reputation. They once had
a terror attack on their embassy in Beirut and they returned the captured terrorists in pieces. So they have
shown that they are ruthless. A think Putin, as you say, he's got a reputation as a tough guy. He will be forced
to do something major.
BAIER: I want to turn to new FOX News polls and some other polls on Syria, the question being about the
U.S. deployment of troops to Syria. How does the American public react to that? These just out tonight -approve, 54 percent now with the president sending troops to Syria. And if you take a look at the breakdown
in parties, Democrats, Republicans, and it lines up pretty interestingly, Democrats approving, 62 percent of
the president's moves. Going to Quinnipiac. Do you think the United States and its allies are winning or
losing the fight against is? Losing is the big winner there, 66 percent. And who do you blame for the rise of
is? Going to war, which do you blame, going to war or removing troops? And there you see the breakdown.
Judge, anything surprising there?
NAPOLITANO: Yes, I'm surprised at the large number of people that approve. I'm also surprised at the large
number of people that agree with some of the Donald Trump's more controversial statements, which is that it
was the misguided wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that gave us rise to ISIS. A lot of people believe that. But I'm
surprised that the American public number is so large.
I think that the president's drip-drip-drip, 50 troops is going to do nothing. 50 human beings there is going to
do nothing. Is this Vietnam all over again?
BAIER: Don't tell the special ops forces that.
NAPOLITANO: They would say we want more than 50 of us for our own safety.
Unless and until the American public is convinced that the civil war in Syria is a threat to the security of the
United States they're not going to go along with a large land force of American troops there.
BAIER: Chuck?
LANE: Well, I think we may have it come to a head soon enough, because let's not forget what the civil war
in Syria is leading to, which is massive immigration, out of control refugee flows to Europe which are
destabilizing the societies and perhaps the political coalitions of Europe. And once that plays out, that is
bound to have consequences for the United States and might cause people to look at this differently.
BAIER: Today the White House was asked about concern about the 50 U.S. troops and Russian airstrikes,
and the answer was "Based on available information, we know that Russian air strikes are targeting forces
that are threatening the Assad regime. U.S. forces will be partnered with moderate fighters on the ground
targeting ISIL." That's not a comforting answer.
KRAUTHAMMER: It's contradictory, it makes no sense. The forces on the ground are targeting ISIL. They're
also anti-regime elements. The Russians are indiscriminate in attacking all the enemies of the regime, which
means that Americans could very well be in their sights. The administration has no idea what it's doing. The
one thing is that the president is not leading in any way. If there ever is going to be a real intervention, you
said the country has to be convinced. Who does that? The president. In the absence of that you get nothing
or the kind of show behavior that you get now.
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BAIER: Next up, addiction and the 2016 presidential race.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLY FIORINA, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I very much hope that I am the only person on this
stage who can say this but I know there are millions of Americans out there who will say the same thing. My
husband and Frank and I buried a child to drug addiction.
JEB BUSH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Very debilitating when you have a loved one that's struggling
and you can't control it. You've got to love them but you also have to make it clear you can't enable the
behavior that gets them in trouble.
SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A few years ago, Miriam passed away. She had an
overdose which the coroner ruled was accidental overdose. But she went to sleep. She had taken bunch of
pills. I don't know if she had forgotten which ones she had taken, but she went to sleep and never woke up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: These stories of addiction, that was Senator Cruz over his half-sister, and you have heard the others,
Carly Fiorina, Jeb Bush. Chris Christie had a viral video from a town hall in New Hampshire that some five
and a half million people have viewed now. An important issue, and one in New Hampshire, in particular, it's
very important. Take a look at the latest poll from WMUR -- most important problem facing New Hampshire,
drug abuse 25 percent. And you look at the rest there, noting this at the same point last year this answer was
three percent. We're back with the panel. Judge?
NAPOLITANO: I argue that the president has more compelling issues on his plate -- ISIS, the economy,
immigration, the borders, than drug addiction and that it should be a local problem. Just because something
is national doesn't mean it's federal under the constitution.
I also argue that it is about time that people like Governor Christie who is very, very aggressive against drugs
when he was U.S. attorney in New Jersey, has recognized that this is an herb for treatment rather than
punishment, which is a lot less expensive and disruptive.
The drug war has been the greatest federal domestic failure since prohibition. If it takes these terrible stories
of tragedies like Carly Fiorina's and Ted Cruz's to awaken the public to the fact that these people shouldn't be
in jail, that she should be treated as the sick people they are, then good will come from it.
BAIER: Chuck?
LANE: Look, this phenomenon did not begin -- what we are talking here with opioid overdoses, because
drugs were illegal. This began with legal drugs, with prescription medications that were vetted by the FDA,
produced in giant factories, and prescribed by doctors, and profits of billions of dollars going to the
pharmaceutical industry. That's how we got where we are, not because we were waging war on drugs, but
because the entire medical and pharmaceutical establishment of this country was pumping prescription
opioids into the society, claiming that they were not addictive and that people would not get into trouble this
way. That's how we wound up where we are.
And so it is terrific that these folks are talking about this issue and talking about treatment. But if you want to
get at the root of it, you have to prevent it. And the way you prevent it is by cutting dramatically on the overprescription, on the irresponsible prescription, on the ignorant prescription or the misguided prescription of
these opioids.
And there has been tremendous misinformation, much of it promoted by the pharmaceutical industry about
the actual properties of these medications, and fortunately, the federal government, yes, has pushed -NAPOLITANO: We locked up the wrong people.
LANE: We don't lock these people up.
NAPOLITANO: We did. We locked up a generation of people.
LANE: No. Judge, you know as well as I do that the vast majority of people who are imprisoned in this
Page 132
country are not there for using drugs. If they are there for drugs at all it's because of trafficking. It's a myth
that we imprison users.
KRAUTHAMMER: You go into excruciating pain from a bone issue, for example, you want opioids. The idea
that somehow we are going to solve this by eliminating opioids or cutting the supply is ridiculous.
LANE: No, no, it's actually happening now, Charles.
KRAUTHAMMER: So it is you have to reeducate doctors. It's not that the pharmaceuticals are looking for
profits. It is that they are producing a product that you need and it's being misused.
But let me say a word about treating the abusers. Why at the same time, everybody is up in arms about this,
the vast majority of those in jail are not users. They are dealers. If this is the great issue it is, and it is, the
people you want in jail are the dealers. The overwhelming majority of those who are now being released in
the tens of thousands in another wave of fashion, political fashion, all of the sudden we are going to empty
the prisons of the drug abusers, meaning the dealers. Many of them plea bargain and end up in jail as users
when they actually were dealing. You want to attack the problem, you crackdown the dealers.
LANE: That's right.
NAPOLITANO: I have sentenced over 1,000 people in my career on the bench. I would guess -- criminal
cases. I would guess that close to half of them drugs were at the root of it, the use of illegal drugs.
BAIER: I have got to run. But go ahead.
LANE: I wonder if they were convicted of some other crime as opposed to just simple possession of drugs.
And 259 million prescriptions for opioids in 2013, that was enough for one bottle for ever for every adult in
America. That's clearly excessive.
BAIER: That is it for the panel. But stay tuned to find out which state can't catch a break from Mother Nature.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: Finally tonight, these are too bad good to pass up. Local news in California says the golden state is
suffering from severe weather this week. Tuesday we showed you how local reporters handled the wind
advisory with the palm trees and flags. Now one reporter is demonstrating just how bad conditions can be
after a rain shower.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Drivers are using their windshield wipers in traffic certainly slowed. You can see
this rose bush is all wet. And also along the streets here one of the puddles line a lot of the streets out here,
the sidewalks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God, they issued a flash puddle warning. Please beware.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: The leaves, they are all wet. Thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. It's too good. Thanks. This
is SPECIAL REPORT, fair, balanced, and unafraid. Here comes Greta.
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ACC-NO: 66534
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All Rights Reserved
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Donald Trump, the host with the most Chicago Tribune November 5, 2015 Thursday
37 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Chicago Tribune
Final Edition
Donald Trump, the host with the most

SECTION: NEWS ; ZONE C; Pg. 18
LENGTH: 595 words
Live from New York, it's The Donald!
Of course it is. Donald Trump is a walking, talking ratings magnet -- just ask him -- and "Saturday Night Live"
could sure use a bump.
The first three GOP presidential debates, starring Trump, have set records for Fox News (24 million viewers),
CNN (23 million) and CNBC (14 million, despite going head to head with a World Series game).
"SNL" averaged 6.2 million viewers last season.
This week will be Trump's second time hosting "Saturday Night Live." The first was in 2004, when his reality
show, "The Apprentice," was winding up its first season, but his opening monologue
(chicagotribune.com/trumpsnl) could be recycled almost without edits for 2015:
"It's great to be here at 'Saturday Night Live.' But I'll be completely honest, it's better for 'Saturday Night Live'
that I'm here. Nobody's bigger than me, nobody's better than me. I'm a ratings machine!"
Back then, Trump's most famous public utterance was "You're fired." This year there's no telling what Trump
will say (or tweet). He's called his critics liars, losers and worse. He's engaged in a coarse public feud with
Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. This week, he retweeted a photo of rival Jeb Bush next to a swastika. It's
hard to imagine that even Trump believes half the things he says, but he's right about one thing: He is ratings
gold.
This week, as some GOP candidates groused about the moderators in the CNBC debate and demanded
changes in the format for the rest of the schedule, Trump mused modestly on Twitter: "No complaints but
how many people would be watching these really dumb but record setting debates if I wasn't in them?
Interesting question!"
Not everyone is looking forward to watching Trump on the 30 Rock stage. Dozens of Hispanic organizations
protested outside the studio Wednesday, and nearly a half-million people have signed online petitions calling
for NBC to cancel Trump's appearance.
They say Trump disqualified himself with his inflammatory rants against Mexican immigrants, characterizing
them as rapists and drug traffickers. In June, those remarks caused NBC -- home to "Saturday Night Live" -to sever its business ties with Trump, including refusing to air the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.
"Did I miss an apology?" U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Chicago, said after the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
called on NBC to "disinvite" Trump from "SNL." Welcoming him back to the show "legitimizes Trump's hateful
views and rewards his hate speech," the National Hispanic Media Coalition said.
Count us among the many who do not find Trump's remarks about immigrants funny. But Trump himself?
There's so much to lampoon. His hair, his ego, his romantic life. The skit about his Twitter feed practically
writes itself: One of the richest men in the world stares at his iPhone all day, retweeting every kudo and
punching out angry replies to his critics. Moron! Lightweight!
Page 136
Donald Trump, the host with the most Chicago Tribune November 5, 2015 Thursday
Sketch comedy doesn't legitimize its subjects, it skewers them. Ask Sarah Palin. Or Hillary Clinton. Sure,
they came across as good sports for withstanding "SNL's" caustic mockery. But it's hard to see how that
helped their political aspirations.
It did wonders for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, though. Trump could be the best thing that's ever happened to
Taran Killam, whose challenge is to parody the over-the-top candidate. Good luck with that.
Trump knows why he's hosting "SNL" this week and Rand Paul, for example, is not: "It's called ratings."
That's how "Saturday Night Live" picks the people who host the show. Let's not confuse it with how America
picks its president.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
NOTES: Editorials
Copyright 2015 Chicago Tribune Company
All Rights Reserved
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TRUMP IS THE HOST WITH THE MOST Eastern Express Times (Pennsylvania) November 7, 2015
Saturday
38 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Eastern Express Times (Pennsylvania)
TRUMP IS THE HOST WITH THE MOST

SECTION: OPINION; Pg. A4
LENGTH: 599 words
Another Viewpoint / An Editorial from the Chicago Tribune
Of course it is. Donald Trump is a walking, talking ratings magnet - just ask him - and &Saturday Night Live&
The first three GOP presidential debates, starring Trump, have set records for Fox News (24 million viewers),
CNN (23 million) and CNBC (14 million, despite going head to head with a World Series game).
&SNL& averaged 6.2 million viewers last season.
Tonight will be Trump's second time hosting &Saturday Night Live.& The first was in 2004, when his reality
show, &The Apprentice,& was winding up its first season, but his opening monologue could be recycled
almost without edits for 2015:
&It's great to be here at Saturday Night Live.' But I'll be completely honest, it's better for Saturday Night
Live' that I'm here. Nobody's bigger than me, nobody's better than me. I'm a ratings machine!&
Back then, Trump's most famous public utterance was &You're fired.& This year there's no telling what Trump
gold.
changes in the format for the rest of the schedule, Trump mused modestly on Twitter: &No complaints but
Interesting question!&
them as rapists and drug traffickers. In June, those remarks caused NBC - home to &Saturday Night Live& to sever its business ties with Trump, including refusing to air the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.
&Did I miss an apology?& U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said after the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
called on NBC to &disinvite& Trump from &SNL.& Welcoming him back to the show &legitimizes Trump's
hateful views and rewards his hate speech,& the National Hispanic Media Coalition said.
Page 139
TRUMP IS THE HOST WITH THE MOST Eastern Express Times (Pennsylvania) November 7, 2015
Saturday
Sketch comedy doesn't legitimize its subjects; it skewers them. Ask Sarah Palin. Or Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Sure, they came across as good sports for withstanding &SNL's& caustic mockery. But it's hard to see how
that helped their political aspirations.
Trump knows why he's hosting &SNL& tonight and Rand Paul, for example, is not: &It's called ratings.&
That's how &Saturday Night Live& picks the people who host the show. Let's not confuse it with how America
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
JOURNAL-CODE: ete
Copyright 2015 Eastern Express Times
All Rights Reserved
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Jeb Bush REPUBLICAN Dayton Daily News (Ohio) November 8, 2015 Sunday
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Jeb Bush REPUBLICAN

SECTION: ; Pg. SF2
LENGTH: 1125 words
About him
Jeb Bush was born Feb. 11, 1953, in Midland, Texas.
Bush, the former governor of Florida, is the third in his family to seek the presidency, behind his brother and
father, the nation's two most recent Republican presidents. Bush lost his first campaign for governor in 1994,
but won in 1998 and was re-elected in 2002.
Bush, the only Republican to serve two full terms as Florida governor, started in business and later cofounded a South Florida real estate company. He often says while meeting voters that he "signed the front
side of a paycheck," as a way of setting himself apart from rivals who lack private-sector management
experience.
The 62-year-old from Coral Gables, near Miami, moved to Florida after stints as a bank employee in Texas
and bank manager in Venezuela. Before that, the second-oldest of four Bush sons earned a bachelor's
degree in Latin American studies from the University of Texas at Austin.
He and his wife, Columba, have three children.
His stand
Jeb Bush effectively stepped into the Republican race for president on June 4, finally taking his place - after
months of hints and relentless fundraising - amid an unwieldy field of GOP candidates unlike any in recent
memory.
The former Florida governor arrived with the rank of front-runner and the donors to match.
"It's as wide-open a race as we've seen in a long time, " said Republican strategist Kevin Madden, who
described Bush as the "technical front-runner" in a field that, once Bush officially declared his bid, stood at 11
major candidates.
The confirmation from aides that Bush would indeed run was a defining moment for the GOP. The son of
President George H.W. Bush and younger brother of President George
W. Bush, he was considered a favorite of the Republican establishment, the experienced and well-connected
party faithful who showered him with money, staffing talent and encouragement in the months before his
announcement.
Bush's family, and literally his father, put Jeb Bush on the national stage as a young man when his father was
vice president and then ran for president. But Jeb would cut his own national profile as Florida governor, first
overseeing the recount of the Florida vote after the 2000 presidential election when his brother was the
Republican nominee and affirmed the winner by the Supreme Court. Later, Bush opposed the wishes of the
husband of Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman whose 1990 heart attack had left her in a vegetative state.
Schiavo's husband wanted her nutrition tubes removed, as a way of ending her life support. After they were
removed, Bush ordered them reconnected but was overruled by a federal court.
Page 142
Bush has faced comparisons with his brother and father, but he has aggressively worked to define himself as
unique from them. He attended the University of Texas (his father and brother went to Yale) and he's
bilingual.
His decision ensured the possibility of a general election showdown between two political dynasties as
Hillary Rodham Clinton seeks the Democratic nomination.
He formally made his announcement June 15.
"I will campaign as I would serve, going everywhere, speaking to everyone, keeping my word, facing the
issues without flinching," Bush said, opening his campaign at a rally near his South Florida home at Miami
Dade College, where the institution's large and diverse student body symbolizes the nation he seeks to lead.
He addressed the packed college arena in English and Spanish, an unusual twist for a political speech aimed
at a national audience.
"In any language," Bush said, "my message will be an optimistic one because I am certain that we can make
the decades just ahead in America the greatest time ever to be alive in this world."
The family was represented at the event by Jeb Bush's mother and former first lady, Barbara Bush, who once
said that the country didn't need yet another Bush as president, and by his son George P. Bush, recently
elected Texas land commissioner.
Before the event, the Bush campaign came out with a new logo - Jeb! - that conspicuously leaves out the
Bush surname.
Months later, he has not garnered the front-runner status expected by the media and Republican
establishment. In late October, Bush drastically slashed campaign spending, including an across-the-board
pay cut for staff, and focusing more narrowly on early states, as he sought to salvage his bid for the GOP
nomination.
The changes marked a significant setback for a campaign that spent months building a large operation, but
there were no signs that Bush was on the verge of withdrawing from the race.
His support
He gives his party a powerful tool for courting the nation's surging Hispanic population. Bush has been
among the GOP's most outspoken advocates for immigration reform - including a pathway to citizenship for
immigrants who are living in the country illegally.
Bush said his campaign does not have a Hispanic outreach strategy, because "outreach is a term that makes
it sound like it's on the periphery."
"There is no outreach plan here, this is an integral part of my campaign," said Bush, who is fluent in Spanish
and whose wife, Columba, is a Mexican immigrant. "I have Hispanic children. I have Hispanic grandchildren.
I'm part of the community."
Despite the recent campaign cutbacks, when campaign funding reports came out midyear, Bush shattered
political fundraising records with a $114-million haul in the first six months of the year, an extraordinary total
designed to instill a sense of shock and awe into his Republican competitors. However, the signs of support
from the money weren't so clear-cut for his campaign even then.
He helped raise the money, but Bush had no direct control over 90 percent of the haul. The total announced
in July included $103 million raised by Right to Rise, a super PAC supporting Bush in the crowded GOP
contest. The rest, $11.4 million, came into Bush's formal campaign. By law, the super PAC can't take
direction from Bush's Miami-based campaign, and the two operations have limits on how they can
communicate.
His critics
He launched his own Foundation for Excellence in Education in 2008 after he completed two terms as
Florida's governor from 1999-2007. His support of Common Core education standards make him
unacceptable to many in the conservative bloc.
Page 143
Tea party leader Mark Meckler spoke on the day of Bush's presidential announcement, saying the former
governor's positions on education and immigration are "a nonstarter with many conservatives."
"There are two political dynasties eyeing 2016," said Meckler, a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, one of
the movement's largest organizations, and now leader of Citizens for Self-Governance. "And before
conservatives try to beat Hillary, they first need to beat Bush."
Associated Press
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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Donald Trump, the host with the most The Daily Commercial (Leesburg, Florida) November 6, 2015 Friday
40 of 49 DOCUMENTS
The Daily Commercial (Leesburg, Florida)
Donald Trump, the host with the most

SECTION: OPINION; Pg. A9
LENGTH: 585 words
Live from New York, it's The Donald! Of course it is. Donald Trump is a walking, talking ratings magnet -- just
ask him -- and "Saturday Night Live" could sure use a bump. The first three GOP presidential debates,
starring Trump, have set records for Fox News (24 million viewers), CNN (23 million) and CNBC (14 million,
despite going head to head with a World Series game). "SNL" averaged 6.2 million viewers last season.
show, "The Apprentice," was winding up its first season, but his opening monologue could be recycled almost
without edits for 2015: "It's great to be here at 'Saturday Night Live.' But I'll be completely honest, it's better
for 'Saturday Night Live' that I'm here. Nobody's bigger than me, nobody's better than me. I'm a ratings
machine!" Back then, Trump's most famous public utterance was "You're fired." This year there's no telling
what Trump will say (or tweet). He's called his critics liars, losers and worse. He's engaged in a coarse public
feud with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. This week, he retweeted a photo of rival Jeb Bush next to a
swastika. It's hard to imagine that even Trump believes half the things he says, but he's right about one thing:
He is ratings gold. This week, as some GOP candidates groused about the moderators in the CNBC debate
and demanded changes in the format for the rest of the schedule, Trump mused modestly on Twitter: "No
complaints but how many people would be watching these really dumb but record setting debates if I wasn't
in them? Interesting question!" Not everyone is looking forward to watching Trump on the 30 Rock stage.
Dozens of Hispanic organizations protested outside the studio Wednesday, and nearly a half-million people
have signed online petitions calling for NBC to cancel Trump's appearance. They say Trump disqualified
himself with his inflammatory rants against Mexican immigrants, characterizing them as rapists and drug
traffickers. In June, those remarks caused NBC to sever its business ties with Trump, including refusing to air
the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants. "Did I miss an apology?" U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Chicago,
said after the Congressional Hispanic Caucus called on NBC to "disinvite" Trump from "SNL." Welcoming
him back to the show "legitimizes Trump's hateful views and rewards his hate speech," the National Hispanic
Media Coalition said. Count us among the many who do not find Trump's remarks about immigrants funny.
But Trump himself? There's so much to lampoon. His hair, his ego, his romantic life. The skit about his Twitter
feed practically writes itself: One of the richest men in the world stares at his iPhone all day, retweeting every
kudo and punching out angry replies to his critics. Moron! Lightweight! Sketch comedy doesn't legitimize its
subjects, it skewers them. Ask Sarah Palin. Or Hillary Clinton. Sure, they came across as good sports for
withstanding "SNL's" caustic mockery. But it's hard to see how that helped their political aspirations. It did
wonders for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, though. Trump could be the best thing that's ever happened to Taran
Killam, whose challenge is to parody the over-the-top candidate. Good luck with that. Trump knows why he's
hosting "SNL" this week: "It's called ratings." That's how "Saturday Night Live" picks the people who host the
show. Let's not confuse it with how America picks its president. From Tribune News Service.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Page 146
Donald Trump, the host with the most The Daily Commercial (Leesburg, Florida) November 6, 2015 Friday
Copyright 2015 The Daily Commercial (Leesburg, FL)

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Donald Trump, the 'SNL' host with the most Record Searchlight (Redding, California) November 6, 2015
Friday
41 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Record Searchlight (Redding, California)
RCRS Edition
Donald Trump, the 'SNL' host with the most

SECTION: OPINION; Pg. 6A
LENGTH: 601 words
Of course it is. Donald Trump is a walking, talking ratings magnet -- just ask him -- and "Saturday Night Live"
The first three GOP presidential debates, starring Trump, have set records for Fox News (24 million
viewers), CNN (23 million) and CNBC (14 million, despite going head to head with a World Series game).
"SNL" averaged 6.2 million viewers last season.

show, "The Apprentice," was winding up its first season, but his opening monologue could be recycled almost
without edits for 2015:
"It's great to be here at 'Saturday Night Live.' But I'll be completely honest, it's better for 'Saturday Night Live'
that I'm here. Nobody's bigger than me, nobody's better than me. I'm a ratings machine!"
Back then, Trump's most famous public utterance was "You're fired." This year there's no telling what Trump
gold.
changes in the format for the rest of the schedule, Trump mused modestly on Twitter: "No complaints but
Interesting question!"
them as rapists and drug traffickers. In June, those remarks caused NBC -- home to "Saturday Night Live" -to sever its business ties with Trump, including refusing to air the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.
"Did I miss an apology?" U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Chicago, said after the Congressional Hispanic
Caucus called on NBC to "disinvite" Trump from "SNL." Welcoming him back to the show "legitimizes
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Donald Trump, the 'SNL' host with the most Record Searchlight (Redding, California) November 6, 2015
Friday
Trump's hateful views and rewards his hate speech," the National Hispanic Media Coalition said.
Sketch comedy doesn't legitimize its subjects, it skewers them. Ask Sarah Palin. Or Hillary Clinton. Sure,
they came across as good sports for withstanding "SNL's" caustic mockery. But it's hard to see how that
helped their political aspirations.
Trump knows why he's hosting "SNL" this week and Rand Paul, for example, is not: "It's called ratings."
That's how "Saturday Night Live" picks the people who host the show. Let's not confuse it with how America
This editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 2015 Record Searchlight
All Rights Reserved
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'Life is Good' celebrates by going on the road The Boston Globe November 5, 2015 Thursday
42 of 49 DOCUMENTS
The Boston Globe
'Life is Good' celebrates by going on the road

SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. C,4,10
LENGTH: 915 words
ABSTRACT
Bold Types
When Life is Good cofounders John and Bert Jacobs (right) brainstormed about how to celebrate the Boston
apparel retailer's 20th anniversary, only one idea stood out.
Get back in the van.
The two brothers famously got their start selling T-shirts on the road. The old van is gone now, so they
decided to recreate the ethos of their early days by buying an Airstream trailer and, as Bert describes it, "Life
is Good-izing it."
The end result? A two month journey, visiting some 40 places across the country.
The trip was one part book tour, one part charity drive, and one part corporate promotional event. It wrapped
up with what was essentially a tailgate party at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Oct. 25. Along the way,
there were events like a bad dancing contest at the Austin City Limits festival, and a fund-raiser with actress
Bridget Moynahan for a kids' camp in Connecticut.
To augment the tour, Life is Good this week launched a competition to encourage like-minded charities to
raise money. The company is offering cash prizes, including $50,000 for first place.
None of this happened quite in time to mark the anniversary: Life is Good is in its 22nd year. But for the two
brothers who now run a $100 million-a-year-company, it was still a great way to connect with customers.
They even met some fans they've featured in their new book, also called "Life is Good."
"Optimism is not a soft philosophy," John Jacobs says. "It's a pragmatic strategy to accomplish goals." -- JON
CHESTO
Hynes: a windfall in Seaport Square sale
Now that he has helped Morgan Stanley cash out of Seaport Square, John Hynes is moving in.
The veteran developer's firm -- Boston Global Investors -- spent $2.2 million last week to buy a small parcel
along Seaport Boulevard, in the 23-acre complex. It will move its headquarters into a four-story office building
that will be finished late next year.
It's small potatoes in the scheme of the $479 million worth of land deals that Hynes and Morgan Stanley
closed last month with WS Development and Cottonwood Management for more than 15 undeveloped acres
at Seaport Square. It also pales next to the profit Hynes made on the project he spearheaded for nearly a
decade.
Boston Global Investors owned a 10 percent stake in Seaport Square, which BGI and Morgan Stanley
bought from News Corp. in 2006 for $204 million. After permitting and infrastructure work that Hynes
estimated cost about $80 million, the land sold for a combined $665 million.
"It's a good return," Hynes acknowledged in an interview. "Though we spent a lot of money getting there."
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Hynes will keep a hand in the giant project. He has signed on as an adviser with Seaport Square.
Eventually, he plans to live there, too, planning to rent an apartment at One Seaport Square, when it opens in
2017.
"They'll have 830 units. I think we can find room for me somewhere," he said. -- TIM LOGAN
So what did happen to the treasurer?
An old basketball injury forced Governor Charlie Baker onto crutches last month. But it's a little harder to pin
down why Treasurer Deb Goldberg has been hobbling around.
Ask, and she might tell you she tripped over unclaimed property, or that she got injured while chasing a
corporate CEO who refused to give equal pay to women. Or maybe she'll say she dropped a State House
gold bar on her foot.
She might even regale you with a story about how Bernie Sanders missed her kneecaps after he learned that
she endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.
Why all the different excuses? Goldberg herself explained in a Facebook post last month after getting a cast
put on her right foot.
"The rumor is true . . . broken foot in three places. Now who can come up with a good story since the real
one is way too boring. . . . " That prompted 140 likes and dozens of comments. With her foot in a cast for 10
weeks, she has plenty of time to try out excuses.
The true story is truly mundane. Goldberg got out of her car in downtown Boston and stepped into a
construction trench. Her foot got caught, she heard a crunch, and then she fell. The only interesting part of
the story is that she didn't go to the hospital until the next day -- and only because her staff worried about her
swelling foot. -- SHIRLEY LEUNG
CTP fights for Eastern Bank ad account
When a company is embarking on a major new ad campaign, the agency of record usually has the inside
shot.
Not this time -- at least, that's how Grant Pace saw it. Pace, a partner at Boston ad agency Conover Tuttle
Pace, says he thought being Eastern Bank's agency for the past eight years put his firm at a distinct
disadvantage this time.
That's partly because Eastern Bank just hired a new chief marketing officer, Paul Alexander. With a new
marketing chief, Pace says he thought a new ad agency would follow.
But Pace said Alexander promised he would offer a level playing field as it looked to hire a firm for a big
campaign meant to coincide with its 200th anniversary in 2018: "To this guy's credit, he said, . . . 'It's the
shootout, so if you want to be in, join us."'
The campaign will also coincide with a leadership transition at the Boston-based bank: CEO Richard
Holbrook will hand the reins to Bob Rivers, his longtime No. 2.
Pace won't say much about the ad campaign that he's planning, other than to say it's focused on the bank's
mission of social responsibility and not on the typical stuff of bank ads like low loan rates or free checking. -JON CHESTO
Can't keep a secret? Tell us. E-mail Bold Types at boldtypes@globe.com
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 2015 Globe Newspaper Company
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All Rights Reserved
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Editorials from around New England Associated Press State & Local November 7, 2015 Saturday 7:55 PM
GMT
43 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Associated Press State & Local
November 7, 2015 Saturday 7:55 PM GMT
Editorials from around New England

BYLINE: By The Associated Press
SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL
LENGTH: 3180 words
Excerpts of recent editorials of statewide and national interest from New England newspapers:
The (New London) Day (Conn.), Nov. 6, 2015
It's both troubling and encouraging that because of melting sea ice the U.S. Coast Guard and similar entities
from seven other nations have begun planning for increased human activity along the Northern Sea Route.
Mounting scientific evidence on the effects of global warming has conclusively and disturbingly established
that formerly ice-choked seas are rapidly becoming open water, which means there will be more maritime
traffic in areas that were previously inaccessible.
Climate-change deniers who have taken a head-in-the-sand approach to grim reality should finally
acknowledge that warnings about shrinking polar ice caps are not coming just from radical environmentalists.
Last week, in a landmark ceremony at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, officials from the
United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the Russian Federation formally
established the Arctic Coast Guard Forum, designed to help promote cooperation on such issues as
environmental preservation and search-and-rescue missions.
This newspaper supports such forward-thinking initiatives and is especially pleased that the Coast Guard,
which has such strong ties to the region, will play a deservedly pivotal role in safeguarding the Arctic's future.
The Coast Guard is no stranger to the Arctic, having been assigned to patrol its waters after the United
States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867. Over the past century and a half the service has carried out
countless critical missions, including searches and rescues, along with supervising cleanups from
devastating oil spills. Two months ago the Coast Guard Cutter Healy became the first U.S. surface vessel to
reach the North Pole unaccompanied.
Such challenging assignments will become more prevalent as activity in the Arctic expands at a rate
inversely proportional to the shrinking ice, particularly among cruise ships. One such vessel already is
preparing next year to traverse the Northwest Passage, a much-storied sea route connecting the northern
Atlantic and Pacific oceans first navigated by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen in the early 1900s and
previously thought to be impassable.
The newly established forum will be charged with promoting cooperation and sharing of resources among the
eight nations that border the Arctic - including some global adversaries. The United States and Russia may
be at odds over conflicts in the Ukraine, Syria and other regions, but we hope the two will build on mutual
interests in the Arctic just as they have formed partnerships in space missions.
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft said last week he forsees cooperative agreements
between the United States, which has only two active icebreakers, and Russia, which has 40, including some
that are nuclear powered. It was a good sign last week that Adm. Zukunft's Russian counterpart, Adm. Yuri
Alekseyev, attended the ceremony and signed the agreement.
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"Russia has the preponderance of the resources when it comes to the Arctic domain," Zukunft said. "So it's
critical to have them at the table if we're going to have a joint statement that really has some unity."
An anticipated influx of maritime activity also will expose Arctic's fragile environment to potential ecological
degradation, and we encourage forum members to adopt policies that will promote preservation over
commercial exploitation.
For better or worse, the forbidding, once-frozen Arctic some day may be as navigable as the Atlantic, and the
Coast Guard must live up to its motto, Semper Paratus: Always ready.
___
Online:
http://bit.ly/1HzxQzq
The Portland Press Herald (Maine), Nov. 5, 2015
Six years ago, a proposal to compensate physicians for talking to patients about their treatment in their last
days was stripped from the Affordable Care Act after critics made dark predictions about "death panels" and
government rationing of care to senior citizens.
Last week, with little fanfare, the federal government announced that as of Jan. 1, it would begin paying
doctors for these counseling sessions - giving millions the say in their own end-of-life treatment that they
want and deserve.
Nothing is currently stopping physicians from offering end-of-life consultations, of course. Some doctors
provide the service without getting paid for the counseling time, and some private insurers already reimburse
for it.
But because Medicare covers 55 million people, making it the largest insurer at the end of life in the U.S., its
decision to cover advance care planning is significant - and not just because private companies often follow
Medicare's lead.
The move recognizes that people need to be involved in treatment decisions before they become seriously ill
or unable to make their wishes known. Patients aren't getting the care they want, according to a landmark
2014 Institute of Medicine report, "Dying in America": Instead of dying at home, with measures to ease pain,
Americans are receiving unwanted interventions and not enough comfort care.
That said, there are also people who would want doctors to pursue more aggressive steps. And the new
Medicare rule wouldn't keep patients from expressing, in advance, their preference in favor of life-prolonging
procedures.
Encouraging advance care planning discussions is also critical to getting Americans to put their end-of-life
treatment preferences in written form. Only about 30 percent of us have legal documents like advance care
directives or living wills - leaving relatives in the position of deciding what to do next after a parent has had a
stroke or is on life-supporting machines in the hospital.
Fears that the new rule is a slippery slope toward rationed care should be allayed by the fact that advance
care planning is voluntary. It's up to each patient whether or not to have end-of-life discussions with their
physician. So in a society where more of us are living longer, we should welcome physician reimbursement
for advance care planning as a way to help ensure a dignified conclusion to those additional years of life.
___
Online:
http://bit.ly/1Hzyih0
The Lowell Sun (Mass.), Nov. 7, 2015
Perhaps this time President Obama got it right. When Russian President Vladimir Putin flexed his country's
military muscles in Syria by launching an air campaign against rebel forces a month ago, Obama said Russia
would soon find itself entangled in a quagmire of its own doing.
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Putin unleashed his forces in order to prop up Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose army has been unable
to stave off ISIS and other militant extremist groups. Fearing a total collapse of Assad's government, Putin
apparently pounced to save what's left of Russia's only ally in the region.
So what's happened? Well, Russia's precision air campaign hasn't been so precise.
According to the Associated Press, the monthlong Russian bombardment has killed more civilians than ISIS
fighters. That information comes from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the main activist group
tracking this civil war.
The Observatory said it has so far confirmed 185 civilians killed -- including 46 women and 48 children -while the toll of ISIS fighters was 131.
The same group said U.S. air strikes have been far more lethal against ISIS -- killing an average of 250 a
month -- with overall total of 225 civilian deaths.
And now, an airliner carrying predominantly Russian tourists home from an Egyptian resort apparently
explodes in midair, killing all 224 on board.
After first dismissing claims by Islamic groups that the airliner was shot down, Russian investigators haven't
ruled out something beyond mechanical failure or pilot error.
Two officials on Tuesday said U.S. satellite systems detected a heat signature around the passenger jet
before it crashed, and the British government has already declared that an explosive device on board
brought down the airliner.
If true, that's a high price of innocent Russian lives to pay for saving a rotting Assad regime, something that
might not be well received at home.
And now we hear from a Russian foreign ministry spokesman that Assad need not be part of any post-civil
war Syria, only that a functioning government must be in place so that the people could decide Assad's fate.
Moscow has proposed hosting a round of talks between Syrian officials and opposition leaders next week.
We can only speculate on what countries would participate and what possibly could be accomplished,
especially if key parties boycott the talks or aren't invited.
It suggests that developments on the ground and in the air have pushed the Russians to reassess the
military and political situation.
___
Online:
http://bit.ly/1L3i684
The Concord Monitor (N.H.), Nov. 5, 2015
The call by Republican presidential candidates that networks bow to their list of debate demands is the latest
example of the GOP nominating process that has spun out of control. After enduring a CNBC forum that
featured provocative, tough questions, the candidates decided that they didn't like debates after all.
Cue a meeting of most of the campaigns' representatives on Sunday. After talking through their beefs, a draft
letter was created by attorney Ben Ginsberg and circulated on Monday.
In it, the candidates outline their demands. They don't want to be asked yes or no questions without a chance
to elaborate. They want approval over the graphics or biographies shown on the screen. And they want every
candidate to be given equal time.
If that list of fantasies wasn't enough, here are some more. The candidates want a chance for opening and
closing statements. They want to ban lightning rounds. And they don't want the temperature above 67
degrees.
Just imagine Ben Carson pulling out a thermometer onstage to make sure his microclimate is just right.
This letter - and this approach - by the campaigns is beyond insulting. While politicians might not believe it,
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those in the news media represent the people and take that job seriously. Debate moderators are the closest
that most will ever come to directly interacting with all of the presidential candidates at once.
Do we want those moderators to aggressively question the people who might be our nation's leaders? Or do
we simply want them to enable candidates to deliver live versions of their TV commercials?
Take the question asked by CNBC's John Harwood to Donald Trump last week: "Mr. Trump, you've done very
well in this campaign so far by promising to build a wall and make another country pay for it, send 11 million
people out of the country, cut taxes $10 trillion without increasing the deficit, and make Americans better off
because your greatness would replace the stupidity and incompetence of others. Let's be honest. Is this a
comic-book version of a presidential campaign?" It's direct, that's for sure. But shouldn't the grandiose, overthe-top Trump be called upon to answer just such a question?
Yes, there should be a level of decorum at these events, and CNBC's crew was less than respectful at times.
CNN's Anderson Cooper managed the recent Democratic debate far better, while still including pointed
queries.
Thankfully, as this week progressed, several Republican candidates began to back away from the letter's list
of demands. Trump said he would negotiate his own deals. The Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina and
John Kasich campaigns have also said they won't sign a final draft. On Tuesday night, Jeb Bush's campaign
said it wouldn't join the effort either.
Perhaps they came to realize what Christie did. The New Jersey governor was one of the first to criticize the
letter, and if his campaign produces nothing else of note, his words to Fox's Megyn Kelly on the subject will
endure.
Why didn't he sign the letter? she asked him.
"Because it's stupid," Christie said.
Amen, governor.
___
Online:
http://bit.ly/1WFoH4G
The Providence Journal (R.I.), Nov. 5, 2015
While John Boehner's decision to step down as House speaker was lamented by some Democrats, many
Republicans breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
Mr. Boehner's leadership came during a difficult period, and in an age of tweets and sound bites, he seemed
a poor communicator. His questionable handling of the "fiscal cliff" crisis, poor negotiating skills and frequent
tears during interviews on such TV shows as "60 Minutes" did not endear him to GOP members who were
elected to change the direction of Washington - and fear the wrath of voters if they do not. There were
several challenges to Mr. Boehner's leadership, and repeated calls for his resignation.
While some of the party's most hardcore conservatives consider Paul Ryan too pliant, the new speaker
strikes us as a good choice.
The 45-year-old Mr. Ryan has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1998. He was
chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee from 2011 to 2015. He was Mitt Romney's
running mate during the 2012 presidential election.
Mr. Ryan has a reputation as someone willing to delve deeply into policy details and make reasonably bold
proposals for reform, even at the risk of being attacked - such as in an ad that caricatured him as a man in a
suit shoving an elderly woman in a wheelchair off a cliff.
On ABC's "This Week," the Wisconsin representative said the GOP "cannot run on vague platitudes. And
that's why I believe we, as Republicans, must offer people of this nation a better way forward and a very
specific and bold agenda."
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Key issues before Congress include slowing the runaway national debt, reforming entitlement programs,
enacting comprehensive immigration reform and dealing with problems in health care. At the same time, Mr.
Ryan seems to grasp that Congress is supposed to reach compromises and make deals rather than slavishly
serve the political base.
Mr. Ryan struck some critics as a prima donna when he insisted he would not accept the position if it entailed
a heavy fundraising schedule. In modern politics, fundraising is regarded as an essential job of a nationally
known politician. Yet he told "Fox News Sunday": "I'm going to keep living in Janesville, Wis., where I'm from,
where I raised my family. I'm going to keep going back and forth to D.C., and yes Sundays are going to be
family days and Saturdays are family and constituent days."
To most of us outside the Beltway, it seems an act of sanity, rather than a failing, for a leader to break free
from endless fundraising and spend some time with his family and friends.
The new House speaker has apparently learned from his predecessor's mistakes, and wants to do things
differently. While every speaker should be expected to articulate and fight for his or her party's values,
Americans want their elected officials to serve the common good, not pander to campaign contributors with
wall-to-wall partisan bickering. We'll see if Mr. Ryan is any better at that than his predecessors.
___
Online:
http://bit.ly/1HzzWiS
The (Barre-Montpelier) Times Argus (Vt.), Nov. 7, 2015
President Barack Obama's decision to veto construction of the Keystone XL pipeline was important for more
than the pipeline itself. It signals an awakening awareness of the danger of climate change, and it
demonstrates the power that determined people can exercise if they organize and focus their efforts.
Keystone was the pipeline that would have snaked from the Canadian border, across the Plains states and
down to refineries in Texas. It would have carried oil from the tar sands of Alberta, which is considered to be
one of the dirtiest fuels on earth.
The pipeline case demonstrates the truth of the old saying, attributed to Gandhi: "If the people lead, the
leaders will follow."
The leaders in this case included a diverse coalition in Nebraska made up of ranchers, environmentalists,
Native Americans and ordinary Nebraskans who objected to the danger and destruction to the environment
from heavy crude oil piped across the state. They had mounted a well-organized and determined political
and legal battle to oppose it.
The leaders included, notably, Bill McKibben, author, activist and teacher at Middlebury College, who was
among those who led a protest movement at the White House resulting in more than 1,000 arrests.
McKibben has been tireless in calling attention to the catastrophe that awaits us if we don't shut down the
extraction of fossil fuels, in Canada and everywhere else.
Hillary Clinton, as secretary of state, had not exercised significant leadership in questioning the pipeline. It
was the responsibility of the secretary to rule on the pipeline because it was to have crossed an international
border. Before the outcry arose, McKibben and others feared that Clinton was poised to approve the project.
As he became aware of the stakes surrounding the pipeline, Obama delayed a decision on its future. It had
become a highly political issue, with Republicans and labor groups arguing that construction of the pipeline
would create jobs. Republicans continue to claim that developing energy in North America is good for the
nation.
But as the battle over the pipeline gained in symbolic significance, it became more difficult for Obama to
approve it. The international climate change conference to be held in Paris next month will demand from all
nations real, concrete commitments to cut back on carbon emissions. It would have been difficult for Obama
to travel to Paris with a shred of credibility if he had paved the way for Keystone.
Climate scientists had estimated the exploitation of the tar sands oil would be "game over" for the planet.
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That is how massive the effects of burning it would be. Conceivably, the oil companies will find other ways to
transport it, though extraction has slowed because of the low price of oil. The point is to send a message to
the fossil fuel industry and to governments that the people understand that a new carbon-free economy must
be the wave of the future.
Sen. Patrick Leahy issued a statement saying Keystone oil represented the past. "This inherently dirty tar
sands project would be a wasteful diversion from the cleaner and more sustainable energy future and energy
security that we want for ourselves and our children," he said.
Awareness of the world we are creating for our children was reflected in a new series of studies that looked
at 28 extreme weather events from 2014. Scientists who see the larger trend toward a warming climate are
often unable to attribute a specific weather event to human-caused climate change. But the latest analysis
found that in half the events of 2014, it is likely climate change was a cause. A significant conclusion was that
a protracted drought in Syria was connected to climate change. The Syrian civil war was one consequence of
that drought.
Obama, reluctant as usual to stake out an extreme position, said the importance attached to Keystone was
"overinflated." It's true that blocking Keystone won't save the world. But step by step, those symbolic steps
are coalescing into a movement of the people that has caught the attention of their leaders.
___
Online:
http://bit.ly/1Mr7OE6
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
All Rights Reserved
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U.S. Intel: ISIS Likely Planted Bomb on MetroJet; Trump Versus Rubio; Officer Committed 'The Ultimate
Betrayal'. Aired 4:30-5a ET International Wire November 5, 2015 Thursday
44 of 49 DOCUMENTS
International Wire
U.S. Intel: ISIS Likely Planted Bomb on MetroJet; Trump Versus Rubio;
Officer Committed 'The Ultimate Betrayal'. Aired 4:30-5a ET
LENGTH: 3544 words
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, our own Elise Labott is
hearing from her sources that it is possible someone at the airport at Sharm el-Sheikh may have been
involved in trying to get a bomb onboard the aircraft.
[04:30:08] Where it stands now is it's not absolute. It's not a final assessment. But the U.S. intelligence
community increasingly believes it may have been a bomb that brought down the airplane killing all 224 souls
on board. A U.S. official telling me and I quote, "There is a definite feeling it was an explosive device planted
in luggage or somewhere on the plane."
The U.S. has been monitoring ISIS communications. They believe it is possible it was either ISIS or an ISIS
affiliate behind all of this. They had been worried about the security situation in Sinai for months as militants
increasingly moved in. After the attack, they began to see these ISIS online claims, these online
communications that are not part of the public claims of responsibility. Think of it as ISIS chatter, if you will,
that the U.S. intelligence community is monitoring.
We've now seen the U.K., Ireland respond by cutting their air flights to Sharm el-Sheikh. A lot of concern
about security at the airport there. But it must be said that the Egyptian government right now is still saying
that the airport is safe -- John, Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: All right. Barbara, this morning, the possibility that a bomb brought down this flight is creating
special concern in the United Kingdom where Sharm el-Sheikh is a popular tourist destination. There are
approximately 20,000 British subjects in the region right now, so many stranded because Britain and Ireland
have suspended all flights to and from the airport there.
U.K. officials say the report was driven by a report from British experts who found problems with security at
Sharm el-Sheikh airport.
Let's bring in CNN's Max Foster in London.
Max, big day in London today, dealing with this incident. MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL
CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there are going to be, especially all the latest intelligence at a meeting here, an
emergency meeting chair by the prime minister in the coming hours, and President Sisi of Egypt visits here. It
was a longer planned event. It wasn't just sort of planned for today, but it's going to be incredibly awkward,
because the Egyptians feel if the Brits were premature on this. They should have waited for the outcome of
the investigation.
The Brits saying they could not wait for the outcome of the investigation because they felt British lives are at
risk, and it all, as you say, rotates around the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh and whether or not it is secure. What
they are trying to do, they've got a team on the ground, is work and feel comfortable that everything going on
to the planes at Sharm el-Sheikh has been screened properly before the flights to restart. There should have
been three and a half thousand people traveling back from Sharm el-Sheikh to the U.K. today, just sort of
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expresses what a popular tourist it is for Brits, but also how much, how many Brits have been
inconvenienced by this.
But the prime minister would be wanting to hear from the Egyptian president, how he can secure British lives
at the Egyptian airport before he allows those flights to restart. But the foreign did say actually, Christine, that
he wants to get flights up and running by tomorrow. So, it does seem optimistic that they can deal with the
security concerns.
ROMANS: All right. Max Foster, thank you for that.
Egypt is insisting that the airport at Sharm el-Sheikh is still safe this morning. I want to bring now, senior
international correspondent Ben Wedeman. He is live in Cairo.
And, Ben, from your experience, your vast experience in Egypt and region, what is security like at Sharm elSheikh international?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think if you speak to anybody who
has traveled there frequently, they'll say it's relaxed. You don't get the feeling that security is very high unlike
many other airports in this part of the world. It's normally an exclusively tourist destination and many of the
people going there expect things to be relaxed. The searches are not particularly intrusive. There is not much
in the way of questioning of people who are getting on flights.
And in terms of the security measures in place behind the scenes that you would not normally see, it is
difficult to say. There is this British delegation of aviation experts or airport security experts there trying to
determine how safe the airport is. Obviously, now that the eyes of the world are upon that airport, security is
going to be very tight.
But going forward, the question is the worry of the Egyptian officials is that the impact on the tourism industry.
Certainly Sharm el-Sheikh is wholly dependent on tourists from Russia, from the U.K., from elsewhere in
Europe, and news that somehow this airport is not safe. [04:35:01] And certainly, keep in mind that 224
people died in that Russian aircraft for reasons that aren't all together clear, this is going to have an impact
on tourism to Egypt and Egyptian officials are concerned about that -- John.
ROMANS: Absolutely. All right. Ben Wedeman, thank you.
So interesting that Egyptian officials are in the U.K. right now and on a three-day visit and this is happening.
Just remarkable -BERMAN: And you see the competing interests.
And now, also, we have breaking news from Russia. Russia grounding a fleet of airplanes while safety
checks are conducted. Why are they doing this? Does this mean they don't believe it is not a terrorist attack?
We are live with that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: All right. Breaking news this morning: Russia is grounding MetroJet Airbus 321 fleet in the wake of
the crash the airliner, the same model in the Sinai Peninsula.
International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is in St. Petersburg.
Nic, lay out exactly what has been grounded here and why?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, MetroJet has two other A321
aircraft, other than the one that crashed in Egypt. Those have both been grounded now by Russian aviation
authorities. I guess that's going to leave some people, particularly the executives at MetroJet scratching their
heads a little bit.
Earlier this week, those two A321 aircraft were inspected. They were cleared for flight for service again. And
at the same time today, you have Russia announcing that it be sending additional, more sophisticated
ground-to-air missile systems to Syria in case of aircraft being hijacked there.
[04:40:11] So, on the one hand, you have Russia acting as if it perceived an increased terrorist threat in the
Middle East by sending these missile systems to Syria, and on the other hand, you have it sort of pointing in
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the direction of some kind of airline or aircraft or aircraft operation problem of MetroJet.
So, the impression it creates is one where the waters are being muddied rather than clarified. We've heard
absolutely nothing from Russian officials, neither from the Kremlin nor the foreign ministry about the reports
that there's a possibility that a bomb may have been put onboard the aircraft.
What when we continue to hear from officials here, that Egypt leads the investigation and that everyone must
wait for Egypt to conclude that. They have the responsibility in this regard. The Kremlin is on this strangely
silent -- John.
BERMAN: All right. Nic Robertson for us.
Again, there may be competing interests here, to be sure. Egypt wants a sense that Sharm el-Sheikh is safe.
Russia wants a sense that its airlines are safe. We will wait and see what the investigation yields.
ROMANS: All right. Donald Trump back on top of the new poll. But Donald Trump who is lashing out at a new
competitor who is quickly gaining ground. We've got that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:45:08] BERMAN: Candidates both Republican and Democrat now converging on New Hampshire to
officially file for that state's crucial first in the nation's primary. Donald Trump was first in line when the filing
began. He used the time to go after one of his rivals, Marco Rubio, on his personal finances. Senator Rubio
is now moving up in the polls and he's also returning fire.
Let's get more now from CNN's Dana Bash in Nashua.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, it is always busy here in
New Hampshire this time of year in an election year, but especially right now because it is filing time for these
candidates to actually get on the ballot for the first in the nation primary.
Later today, Marco Rubio is going to sign his name and make sure that he is going to be there.
And yesterday, it was Donald Trump. Of course, as he tends to do, came with a lot of fanfare. It was a big
event. And he signed it.
But then he also took a couple of shots at some of the opponents who seem to be giving him more and more
of a run for his money. Marco Rubio is one of them. That is where Trump decided to hit him the hardest on
questions about finances from way back when Marco Rubio was in the statehouse credit card -- credit card
that he used.
Here's what Donald Trump said about that.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Marco Rubio has a disaster on his finances. He has a
disaster on his credit cards. When you check his credit cards, take a look at what he's done with the
Republican Party when he had access. What he had to put back in and whether or not something should
have happened.
BASH: As for Rubio, he insists this is a non-issue, that he is going to release the credit card statements from
back when he was in the statehouse to prove that he did not use the Republican Party's credit card or
money. He paid everything that he spent on his personal expenses himself. And he had this to say to me in
response to Donald Trump. SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's Donald
being Donald. He doesn't -- whenever there is a bad poll, he kind of gets weird and does these sorts of thing.
He doesn't know what he is talking about.
The bottom line, people need to understand is this was an American Express card. If there were personal
expenses on there, I paid them directly to American Express at the time. If there were political, the
Republican Party paid them.
BASH: And there's a pretty good reason for Donald Trump to be setting his sights on Marco Rubio more than
he has in the past, particularly here in New Hampshire because Rubio is climbing pretty big in the polls here.
He went from just 2 percent a couple months ago to 11 percent which puts him third.
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And New Hampshire is such a key place for so many of these players. Donald Trump really wants to remain
on top and continues to push the others down.
It is still a long three or four months until the first in the nation primary here -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Dana, thank you for that, Dana.
A national poll shows Trump and Ben Carson again dominating the Republican field. The FOX News poll has
Trump leading Carson by three points, 26 percent to 23 percent. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are next tied
with 11 percent. Then, there's a drop off to Bush, Kasich, Paul, Huckabee and Fiorina.
And with just 2 percent, Chris Christie. Because of his poor showing at the polls, the New Jersey governor
could be relegated to the undercard during the next GOP debate on Tuesday. The debate sponsor, Fox
Business Network, is expected to announce the lineups tonight.
BERMAN: And another big question is, will Bobby Jindal and George Pataki, will they even make the
undercard debate? So, there could be a reshuffling of debate performance this year and appearances.
Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, she's in a two-day visit to southern California. She is raising money,
appearing on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." That show will air tonight. She is also doing three big fundraisers,
including one hosted by Christine Romans' favorite performer, Christina Aguilera.
Filmmaker Rob Reiner, this is "Final Tap", holds a fundraiser for Clinton at his home today. Also with
"Princess Bride".
ROMANS: That's right.
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: "The American President". ROMANS: Wow. Are you a Rob Reiner fan? Apparently.
BERMAN: I like him up until the "American President". He kind of fell off.
ROMANS: You watch a lot of movies in your spare time?
BERMAN: Some movies.
ROMANS: Former President George H.W. Bush, Bush 41, reportedly blasting some key figures in his son's
administration, specifically Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. The comment is a part of a new biography
being published next week. According to "The New York Time", he says, Cheney as vice president, built his
own empire, asserted too much hard influence in the White House. As for Rumsfeld, the defense secretary,
the elder Bush said he was arrogant and served the president badly.
"The Times" says the book's author Jon Meacham asked of both Cheney and Rumsfeld for comment.
Cheney admitted he was much harder line after 9/11 than before. Rumsfeld declined to comment.
All right. Time for an early start on your money this morning, less than five hours before the opening bell.
Stocks indecisive, too soon to tell.
But Facebook shares climbing to an all-time high before the bell. Facebook's earnings simply wowed Wall
Street. Revenue up 41 percent compared to last year, 1.6 billion people now use Facebook.
[04:50:04] And get this, John, 90 percent of users on Facebook are now on mobile, 80 percent of ad revenue
now comes from mobile. That's a win for a company once criticized for having no mobile strategy. Facebook
shareholders, you will be happy.
Whole Foods, you will not. Shares are down before the bell. The health food giant reported same-store sales
are negative last quarter. Sales shrunk last quarter. The numbers are not expected to look better next year.
You know, it is a tough year for Whole Foods. Mainstream chains are now offering more natural and organic
products and at cheaper prices sometimes. The stock Whole Food shares are down 40 percent this year.
BERMAN: "Stand By Me" is another Rob Reiner film.
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ROMANS: Wow.
BERMAN: Yes, it's a very good one.
All right. The White House says Iran's revolutionary guard has been on a hacking spree in recent weeks,
targeting e-mails and social media accounts of administration. U.S. journalists and academics have also
reportedly been hit. The attacks are believed to be connected to the recent arrest of the Iranian-American
businessman Siamak Namazi. Namazi's friends and associates say the Iranian confiscated his computer
when they raided and ransacked his family's home in Tehran.
ROMANS: All right. Women still make less than men for the same job. Just how big is that gap? Brand new
numbers overnight. I'm going to show you, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:55:16] BERMAN: A stunning twist in the shooting death of a veteran Illinois police officer when the body
of Lieutenant Joe Gliniewicz was found in September, there was a huge manhunt for his alleged killers. But
now, investigators say Gliniewicz pulled off a carefully staged suicide. They're now accusing him of
committing the ultimate betrayal. This story really fascinating and just frankly nuts.
Let's get more from CNN's Rosa Flores.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, Illinois investigators making a shocking
revelation, saying that Lieutenant Gliniewicz was no hometown hero. He was a con artist that lived a secret
life, that he made his suicide look like a homicide to investigators to distract them.
So, how did he do that? Investigators believe that he planted evidence on the scene to distract them. Things
like leaving pepper spray. Then, a few feet away, dropping a baton and then other objects.
And the distraction did work. It took authorities two months to determine this was indeed a suicide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are no winners here. Gliniewicz committed the ultimate betrayal, to the citizens
her served, and the entire law enforcement community. The facts of his actions proved he behaved for years
in a manner completely contrary to the image he portrayed.
FLORES: So, what was the motive here? Investigators believe that authorities were zeroing in on Gliniewicz
for alleged criminal activity that spanned seven years, and that Gliniewicz was using the Explorers Program,
which is a mentorship program for teens, to launder money. Now, those monies were in the thousands of
dollars and were used to pay his mortgage, to access adult web sites among other things.
Now, as for his family, they are asking for privacy and as you know, there was pouring of support emotionally
and financially for that family. And CNN has learned that at least one organization who gave that family
$15,000 is asking for their money back -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Rosa Flores, thanks for that. Let's get an early start on your money this morning. Stocks falling on
comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen. Yellen told Congress a December rate hike is still very much alive. A
live possibility in December where her words.
It's the Fed's last chance this year to hike rates for the first time in almost a decade. Concerns about the
global economy still linger, but Yellen said she sees improvements in the job market and consumer spending,
plus cheap oil prices that had been keeping inflation low are only temporary.
The details of the Trans Pacific Partnership, the TPP, finally out in the open. The big question this morning,
will it actually boost American exports and jobs? The U.S. reached a deal on October 5th, with 11 other
countries. Critics complain about the secrecy surrounding the agreement.
The White House says the deal will increase U.S. exports and protect American workers and add jobs. But
many worry it will be good for businesses, bad for workers. Congress must still approve the agreement.
Kraft Heinz closing several plants in the next two years. About 2,600 workers will lose their jobs in this
Page 167
downsize. The company, the same company, this is the first sort of merger move we've seen of these two
companies put together and use the savings to install, quote, "state of the art production lines" and these
other facilities. A union president in Wisconsin said the news was a surprise to him.
There is no industry where women earn as much as men. That's according to data from pay scale. Married
men with children earn the highest overall salaries and single moms have the lowest. Men's salaries tend to
keep rising until they reach age 50 to 55. Women's salaries plateau much earlier. More education doesn't
mean more equality. In fact, PhD holders have the biggest pay gap among men and women.
Interesting, right?
BERMAN: Interesting. I didn't know that.
ROMANS: Yes, really interesting. I'll put that report out so you can see it, everybody.
BERMAN: Excellent.
EARLY START continues right now.
(MUSIC)
BERMAN: The possibility, even the likelihood of a bomb onboard. U.S. intelligence now believes ISIS likely
brought down a Russian jetliner killing 224 people. This morning, flights shutdown. Thousands stranded. We
have live coverage breaking down all the developments.
Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman. ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is
Thursday, November 5th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.
Breaking overnight, brand new information on the crash of a Russian jet in the Sinai desert. Several U.S.
officials tell CNN new intelligence suggests the plane was most likely was brought down by a bomb planted
by ISIS or one of its affiliates.
[Byline: John Berman, Christine Romans, Barbara Starr, Max Foster, Ben Wedeman, Nic Robertson, Dana
Bash, Rosa Flores] [High: U.S. intelligence now believes ISIS likely brought down a Russian jetliner, killing
224 people onboard. GOP front runner Donald Trump was first in line when the filing period in New
Hampshire begun Wednesday, and Trump used the occasion to go after rival Marco Rubio on his personal
finances. A stunning twist in the shooting death of a veteran Illinois police officer, investigators say Joe
Gliniewicz pulled off a carefully staged suicide.] [Spec: Egypt; ISIS; Russia; Aviation; Disasters; Intelligence;
Terrorism; Transportation; World Affairs; Donald Trump; Marco Rubio; Elections; Government; Politics;
Crime; Police; Suicide]
[Copy: Content and programming copyright 2015 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Prepared by CQ-Roll Call, Inc. No license is granted to the user of this material other than for research. User
may not reproduce or redistribute the material except for user's personal or internal use and, in such case,
only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that
may infringe upon Cable News Network LP, LLLP's copyright or other proprietary rights or interests in the
material; provided, however, that members of the news media may redistribute limited portions (less than 250
words) of this material without a specific license from CNN so long as they provide conspicuous attribution to
CNN as the originator and copyright holder of such material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of
litigation.] [End-Story: U.S. Intel: ISIS Likely Planted Bomb on MetroJet; Trump Versus Rubio; Officer
Committed "The Ultimate Betrayal". Aired 4:30-5a ET]
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ACC-NO: 66534
JOURNAL-CODE: NTRW
Page 168

All Rights Reserved
Copyright 2015 Cable News Network LP, LLLP
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REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., HOUSE MINORITY LEADER, HOLDS A NEWS CONFERENCE Political
Transcript Wire November 6, 2015 Friday
45 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Political Transcript Wire
REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., HOUSE MINORITY LEADER, HOLDS A

NEWS CONFERENCE
LENGTH: 3848 words
REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., HOUSE MINORITY LEADER, HOLDS A NEWS CONFERENCE
NOVEMBER 5, 2015
SPEAKER: REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., HOUSE MINORITY LEADER
[*] PELOSI: Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for your accommodation of being here later. We had the
highway bill on the floor. Very good to be passing a bill and House Democrats are very happy that some of
their priorities are contained in it. The automatic increase in infrastructure investment. If more revenue flows
into the highway trust fund, it would be used for more infrastructure.
Strengthening the buy-America provision to maximize American job creation. Focusing transportation
investments to increase access to jobs in disadvantaged communities is really important. And promoting
women and minority-owned businesses, recruiting and training transit workers from under-represented
populations. This is hopefully a way to bring jobs to communities that would greatly benefit.
I'm very pleased that the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank is in there and that every amendment
was defeated. Every amendment was defeated. That was pretty -- that was a bipartisan effort to defeat every
amendment. Maxine Waters, Steny Hoyer, Denny Heck, working with Congressman Dent.
It was really quite a bipartisan effort, so very proud of that because that is really a job creator that reduces
the deficit, increases our competitiveness abroad by enabling small and moderate size businesses, as well
as large businesses, to have access to markets abroad.
The highway bill is a good bill except it's modest. I would say rather than a robust rollout it's a modest step
forward. We really do have to work to do more because our infrastructure needs are great, and they go
beyond highway and transportation. It's about broadband infrastructure, it's about water infrastructure in our
country.
So we have a big challenge. As you probably know, the American Society of Civil Engineers puts our deficit
into the trillions. Well, we are not going to have that kind of money to spend, but we hopefully will be able to
leverage the money that we do have into getting the most for it. And it goes beyond transportation, it goes
into other infrastructure that we need that I mentioned.
The bill is a six-year bill. It's funded for about three years. So that -- I'd like it to be funded, take that three
years and spend it in two years and then we would have something more robust, but then we would have
four years unfunded. So we have to find a way and work for greater commitment to repair and modernize our
infrastructure, creating good paying jobs, increasing wages, lowering the deficit.
And here we are now with the appropriations. The clock is ticking. We have until December 11, as you know.
Last week, we were really happy with the budget bill. One hundred percent of the Democrats in the House
and the Senate voted for the budget bill, the bipartisan compromise, Democratic and Republican shaped
budget bill, 100 percent of the Democrats voted for it.
Sad to say, 200 Republicans, House and Senate combined, 200 Republicans voted against the bill. Sixtyeight percent of the members of the House Republican conference voted against it, and the remainder
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coming from the Senate side.
What the bill did was to affirm the full faith and credit of the United States of America. What a no vote does is
to default on that. What the bill does is to enhance our ability to invest in our defense and our domestic
agenda by lifting the caps and removing the stranglehold of sequestration.
That's what Democrats voted for, 200 Republicans said no to that. Two hundred Republicans said no to
stopping the drastic increase in Medicare part B payments, 200 Republicans said no to stopping a 20 percent
cut in benefits for people with disabilities under Social Security. It's hard to understand.
But we were able to pass the bill and the budget bill serves as a blueprint for how we go forward now in the
appropriations season. Yesterday I met with our appropriators -- I'm an appropriator, Steny is an appropriator,
Mr. Clyburn is an appropriator, Rosa DeLauro is an appropriator -- much of our leadership are appropriators,
as are Senator Reed and Senator Durbin. So we understand the mentality of appropriators, and that is to try
to work in a bipartisan way to get the job done, with a time fuse there. So we salute their work.
That's what they are doing in preparing for where do we go here, except now we have lifted the caps. There's
more investments to be made and they have to do their 302(b) allocation as to how much they are going to
spend, invest, and what committees it goes to. That would be a Republican decision, and then they'll act in a
bipartisan way to implement it.
We have until December 11 to put that omnibus together. Just remembering that December 30th, in time for
the end of the fiscal year, 151 Republicans voted to keep -- to shut down government, not to support -- and
sadly, they tied to that if this bill came up and did not renew funding for Planned Parenthood, then the
speaker would have to give up his gavel, which he did, sad to say.
We welcome the new speaker, we wish him luck and cooperation. I'm happy that we are moving forward with
a modest transportation bill. I wish it could be bigger, reflecting new technologies and all that is going on out
there.
On another front, yesterday I appointed the members to our select committee. We've renamed it Republican
Select Committee to attack women's health. Our ranking member, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois and
Congresswoman Diana DeGette of the Energy and Commerce Committee, from Judiciary Jerry Nadler and
Suzan DelBene, and from gov reform, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Jackie Speier of California.
Those of the three committees of jurisdiction for this issue where hearings take place. They bring a great
wealth of knowledge, staff, intellectual resources and the rest to this. It's a funny thing -- well, we'll see what
their agenda is as they go forward, but I do believe that hard-working families deserve better than wasting
taxpayer money on select committees that diminish women's health possibilities.
In terms of women's health, tomorrow -- Sunday. Sunday marks the start of the Affordable Care Act's third
open enrollment period. Uninsured Americans across the country will be able to visit the health insurance
marketplace and enroll in quality affordable coverage for them and their families. It's pretty exciting.
It's really exciting to say that, thanks to this historic law, nearly 18 million previously uninsured -- 18 million
previously uninsured Americans now have quality affordable health coverage. Again, young adults can stay
on their parents' health insurance until 26. No longer will insurers be able to turn you away for pre-existing
conditions. No more annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you can receive, and no longer will being a
woman be a pre-existing medical condition. Just a few of the advantages of the law.
As you know, the Republicans have tried scores of times to take it down, but we are very proud of the
number of people who have had access now to affordable, quality healthcare. And at the same time, it is
serving to lower cost of healthcare, not only to families but to our budget, our national budget and to our
economy.
One of the fastest-growing parts of healthcare in our country is the cost of prescription drugs, the fastestgrowing part of health expenditures today. This is really coming to be a crisis. It must be understood, it must
be investigated so we can find ways to rein in the soaring costs.
As you know, Ranking Member Cummings has called on Chairman Chaffetz for an investigation, which so far
has not materialized. Democrats have formed a task force. Maybe some of you were at their presentation
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yesterday. We will have a Steering and Policy Committee hearing on this subject that really hits home with
people.
Part of the whole idea of our investment in basic biomedical research and the National Institutes of Health,
and then coupled with the Affordable Care Act with accessibility, is so that these miraculous cures can be
available to everyone. But the pricing is really becoming almost an immorality.
And while I understand that research and development has to be paid for and that we have some drugs that
are cures that may be worth the money, we cannot stand for what is happening right now. We don't paint all
of our companies with the same brush, but we do have to investigate the practice that some are engaged in.
It's a very big issue across the country. I know some of you do travel across the country and it's a big issue in
many homes, in many doctors offices, and is a very huge issue in hospitals across the country because they
have to bear the costs.
Any questions? Yes, sir.
QUESTION: I saw that the NDA passed today included provisions to block President Obama from
transferring detainees from Gitmo. Do you have any reaction to that? And also, are you disappointed that
President Obama hasn't succeeded in closing Gitmo entirely?
PELOSI: I'm sorry that this is in the bill, but the president has signed this bill before with the signing
statement that relates to Gitmo, but I'm not disappointed in anything in terms of the president. I'm
disappointed that the Republicans have prevented the president from closing Guantanamo, which he said he
was going to do, which he set out to do, and which he had a plan to do and he does have a plan to do now.
As you know, there was a facility built -- to be built in Illinois, where people welcomed the economic
development that it would bring, but the Republicans prevented that from happening. So my disappointment
is that the Republicans should know (inaudible) as most of us did with what the current sheriff did. But I
wouldn't in friendship think that that was a bad night for Democrats because Vicki Hennessy won in San
Francisco. We are all very proud of her. It was a great victory. And her distinction that she made is you look
at each case one at a time.
And I'm pleased that the Senate has rejected some of the ill- conceived notions that were drifting around
there about sanctuary cities.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
Yes, Chad. So Chad , what are we going to do with you now? Your -- your speaker went to your alma mater.
So are you going to be a non-biased reporter?
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: John Boehner has represented the district where (inaudible).
PELOSI: There you go. So, well, goodness. Congratulations (inaudible) Ohio.
QUESTION: President Benjamin Harrison. First speaker and two unsuccessful vice presidents (inaudible)
and Paul Ryan.
But my question is about Paul Ryan. How do you think he has done in this first week? It's right out the gate
here, but how do you think he's done in that first week?
PELOSI: You know, it's -- to become speaker of the House is a very momentous step forward. It's the third
highest position in the country. President, vice president, speaker of the House. So it's a great undertaking.
To do so, (inaudible) to be tossed in right in the middle of a legislative session, in the middle of negotiations
on the budget and the rest is very challenging. And to then have to make your adjustments from a staffing
standpoint and the additional responsibilities that I know the speaker is proud to assume, I think really not -the first week is not the time to judge a speaker.
I think that just getting through the week is an accomplishment, with all the things that barrage a new speaker
and his time.
Page 173
QUESTION: And having been the speaker yourself, not that you would give advice, but you are -- you know,
you were there for that first week, granted you didn't come in in the middle of a Congress. What is kind of a
potential pitfall you could see that, you know, if you were talking to speakers at large, what you'd say, watch
out for this, watch out for that?
PELOSI: Well, you know, now the speaker asks me for some advice, I would share that with him and
perhaps with you.
QUESTION: Have you not had a conversation?
PELOSI: No, we have not. Not in that -- we've had a friendly exchange on the floor, but we have not had that
conversation. But I wish him well. It's a very challenging job.
I don't know if you have anything specific about the appropriations process or anything like that, because
that's what we are engaged in. And my understanding from his press conference, that he said he was going
to have the appropriations bills that had not yet been negotiated by the committee -- the subcommittees, to
be taken up by the full conference of Republicans.
Well, that would be good news to our members because 100 percent of our members said they should all be
on the appropriations committee. And we that should have one committee in the House and that's it so that
everybody makes those decisions.
But the fact is, that's not governing by committee. That's not governing by committee. And so I think that
would be challenging, but it's interesting and it's curious. I wish him well with it, but out of respect as an
appropriator, as I said, out of respect for the knowledge, the expertise that people have in their focus on their
subcommittees, I think that will be an interesting dynamic to see how his appropriators react to his whole
conference weighing in on the bills that his committee, and calling it were respecting the committee system.
Yes, sir?
QUESTION: Among the election results this week was the defeat of a nondiscrimination bill in Houston that
would have protected LGBT people. Why do you think that ordinance failed, and do you think that can
galvanize support for a federal nondiscrimination bill?
PELOSI: It was sad. I spent time last week in Texas. I was invited by the Bush family to speak at the Points
of Light conference there. So I was there for a few -- it was on the weekend and then into Tuesday when I
spoke at the conference and then the convention, and then a salute to the 25-year anniversary of it with
President Bush and Mrs. Bush. It was glorious. So thank you for affording me the opportunity to sing their
praises in terms of volunteerism and hope.
At the time, obviously I was engaged in some political matters while I was there and even with Democrats
along the way, and seeing the ads on TV. That was heartbreaking. It was really heartbreaking because some
significant (inaudible) really mischaracterized what the initiative did.
I think the size -- not only that it lost, the other side won, but the size of the defeat was stunning because I
don't think -- how many other cities in Texas have nondiscrimination? Nine cities of 100,000 or more in Texas
have this nondiscrimination provision, and now they have defeated it in Houston.
What was interesting to me, I talked about the negative ads, but to see the ads with veterans in them, saying
that they supported a hero, because of what it meant to veterans was so beautiful. And the kind of nasty ads,
you know what they were, is disappointing. But it is -- we just have to think of it as a bump in the road.
Of course we have our equality bill that we have introduced in July, introduced by David Cicilline but with
bipartisan -- I mean bicameral support in the Senate and the House we announced it, and that would be an
attempt to end discrimination, expanding the Civil Rights Act to include LGBT equality in there as well.
It's inevitable. It will happen. Maybe inconceivable to some, but it's inevitable to us. We have to shorten the
distance, as I always say, between the inevitable and the inconceivable. We will prevail, but it was
disappointing.
QUESTION: (inaudible) you think that (inaudible) could galvanize movement on that bill during this
Congress?
Page 174
PELOSI: I would hope so. You know, we will see. We have a new speaker and the rest. I would hope so, but I
think that -- I don't want anyone's hopes to be held too high when we see some of the actions taken by
Congress. But this is -- when we had the majority, we passed a hate crime spill that was fully inclusive,
including transgender.
At the time I think you know they told me, if you take transgender out, you can pass this bill in a minute. I
said, if you take transgender out, we're not passing it in 100 million years because we're not doing it. We are
just not doing it.
So we felt we got past that (inaudible) then we went on to don't ask-don't tell repeal, and then the court did
the marriage equality, so we're making great progress, and the momentum is on the side of ending
discrimination. I always consider this an episode and not a trend. We will keep working very hard and build -the way Congress acts if there's public support, and that's what we will continue to do.
Yes, sir?
QUESTION: Back in Kentucky, all the polls got it wrong. Mr. Devin, who ended up winning that race, was
very extreme conservative. But I was listening to some political analysts who said that because of the health
care law that he actively ran against, you sort of see the loss of an entire generation of Democrats in the
South.
You were speaker on the backs of blue dog Democrats. How do Democrats win the South in 2015, 2016?
PELOSI: Well, let me again not subscribe to a characterization. What happened in Kentucky was -- let me
give you an example. Mr. Yarmuth's district, when he ran in an off year -- when he ran in a presidential year,
he had over 200,000 votes. In a nonpresidential year he had 170,000 votes, something like that, over
150,000 votes. That was one year ago. The gubernatorial candidate got 110,000 votes in his district. It was a
turnaround.
The answer to your question, not only in the South, but everywhere is we have to increase turnout. If the
turnout had been bigger, the election would be different. But so what? We don't agonize, we organize. That's
what we have to do, whether in the South, the Midwest, in suburban areas, in rural areas and in the West. In
the entire country.
It's about showing people the connection, as Martin Luther King said, between the ballot, legislation and their
lives, and that just has not been done sufficiently.
QUESTION: President Obama and his team is very talented at that, there's a lot of worry in Democratic
groups that mobilization is just not there to the level that it was in 2012. What can you guys do?
PELOSI: Well, the presidential year is the big year. It's not there as in 2012. A presidential race is the main
event. It has everything. It has glamour, it has money, it has power, it has showbiz. It's an attraction. And off
years are like the lounge act.
(LAUGHTER)
Who goes there, right? Just waiting for the next show.
I'm very optimistic, because as I have said to you before, you have heard us present in a more full way -- in
fact on Tuesday, restoration Tuesday, where Mr. Clyburn and Congresswoman Terri Sewell presented their
agenda for passing a voting rights act, having outreach and engagement with voters about the connection of
winning elections and winning initiatives to improve their lives. We just have to do better at it. But in the
presidential year is an opportune time for us.
Somebody told me that there was a poll after 2012 of people who didn't vote, and in that poll, President
Obama won by 30 points. So we have a challenge, and that affects all the things that we would like to see
happen, including a hero act (ph) that was challenged in Houston.
Yes, sir? And then I'm going to have to go.
QUESTION: There is an argument to be made, and you may quibble with how well it can be made, that the
bipartisan agreement that (inaudible) in the last two weeks over the debt ceiling, sequester deal and now the
transportation bill, was basically let's kick everything until we see who the next president is.
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These are basically sham, gimmicky, paid-for bills whose basic thing is to get it off of the agenda until 2017.
So what does it say about the atmosphere here, that that seems to be the case? PELOSI: I really don't even
know what you are talking about. This is a very substantial decision to lift the caps, to put off sequestration,
yes. But it had nothing to do with who the next president is, whoever she may be.
(LAUGHTER)
Or he. We have wonderful candidates across the board on our side, and that's one place I would disagree
with the distinguished speaker, with all due respect, when he said that any one of the Republican candidates
on the stage would be a better president than Hillary Clinton. Come on.
But anyway, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, I'm so proud of him from Maryland. We
have great candidates.
I don't see that at all. This was of the moment. We had to keep government open. We wanted to do so in a
way -- if anything it wasn't about what comes next. It was about what we have not done, what we were
delinquent in doing. And so now we succeeded in lifting the caps, putting off sequestration, lifting the debt
ceiling in 2017. That was remarkable. Stopping the Medicare prescription increase, stopping the cut in
disability.
No, this was -- I want more. This was a compromise. I wanted more. I wanted the IMF. I had a full agenda,
but it being a compromise, I accept the fact that they have the majority. The president has his signature and
we can uphold whatever the president...
QUESTION: Doesn't the modest scope of these bills basic punting basically mean that the next 14 months
will be substantially policy- free?
PELOSI: Well, is that a bad thing?
(CROSSTALK)
PELOSI: Because we have some -- in other words, when it comes to lifting the debt ceiling, (inaudible) that
we're going to default, that's more certainty for our economy. Just the discussion of it in 2011 lowered our
credit rating. Do you remember that? Some of you were here then. Lowered our credit rating, just the mere
discussion of it.
And when we finally passed it in -- the last time we passed it, 199 Republicans voted no, the full faith and
credit of the United States. Twenty-eight voted yes, including Speaker Boehner. And don't we miss him, I
mean personally? No offense to the new speaker, but personally. What a lovely guy.
So no, it's a very interesting characterization. We are optimists. We're positive. This is a good thing. Let's
see, it's going to create over 350,000 jobs in next year alone. So whatever it is, it's a good thing for job
creation, for increasing paychecks and reducing the deficit. And again, having parity between defense, which
we all want to support, and domestic, which we all want to support in a way that honors a firewall that you
can't take from one or the other to increase the funding.
So it was, I thought, very positive, very bipartisan, and I was willing to accept what I couldn't get in the bill for
what was in it. That's what I would say to members. Try not to judge bills for what isn't in it, but to respect it
for what is in it, and I think it's worthy of respect.
That's why 100 Democrats voted for it. Not because they didn't have their problems with one thing or
another, but because they had a shared commitment, all of them, to working families in our country, creating
good paying jobs, increasing paychecks, and it all comes back to middle class economics versus trickle
down, but we'll save that for another day.
Thank you all very much.
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States News Service
TRANSCRIPT OF PELOSI PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY NOV 6, 2015

BYLINE: States News Service
LENGTH: 4460 words
The following information was released by the office of California Rep. Nancy Pelosi:
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi held her weekly press conference today. Below is a transcript of the press
conference.
Leader Pelosi. Good afternoon, everyone.
Thank you for your accommodation of being here later. We had the Highway Bill on the Floor.
That is very good, to be passing a bill. And House Democrats are very happy that some of their priorities are
contained in it. The automatic increase in infrastructure investments; if more revenue flows into the Highway
Trust Fund, it would be used for more infrastructure strengthening the Buy America provisions to maximize
American job creation, focusing transportation investments to increase access to jobs in disadvantaged
communities this is really important. And promoting women and minority"owned businesses recruit[ing] and
training transit workers from underrepresented populations. So this is, hopefully, a way to bring jobs to
communities that would greatly benefit.
I'm very pleased that reauthorization of the Export"Import Bank is in there and that every amendment was
defeated every amendment was defeated. That was pretty that was a bipartisan effort, to defeat every
amendment: Maxine Waters, Steny Hoyer, Denny Heck, working with Congressmen [Charlie] Dent, [Frank]
Lucas. You know, it was really quite a bipartisan effort, and we're very proud of that, because that is really a
job"creator that reduces the deficit, increases our competitiveness abroad by enabling small and
moderate"size businesses, as well as large businesses, to have access to markets abroad.
The Highway Bill is a good bill, except it's modest. I would say, rather than a robust rollout, it's a modest step
forward. We really do have to work to do more, because our infrastructure needs are great. And they go
beyond highway and transportation. You know, it's about broadband infrastructure, it's about water
infrastructure in our country. And so, we have a big challenge.
As you probably know, the American Society of Civil Engineers puts our deficit into the trillions. Well, we are
not going to have that kind of money to spend, but we, hopefully, will be able to leverage the money that we
do have into getting the most for it. And it goes beyond transportation. It goes into other infrastructure that we
need that I mentioned.
The bill is a 6"year bill that's funded for about 3 years. I'd like it to be funded take that 3 years and spend it in
2 years, and then we'd have something more robust, but then we'd have 4 years unfunded. So, we have to
find a way and work for a greater commitment to repair and modernize our infrastructure, creating
good"paying jobs, increasing wages, lowering the deficit. And here we are now with the appropriations. The
clock is ticking. We have until December 11, as you know.
Last week, we were really happy with the Budget Bill. One hundred percent of the Democrats in the House
and the Senate voted for the Budget Bill. The bipartisan compromise, Democratic and Republican"shaped
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2015 Friday
Budget Bill 100 percent of the Democrats voted for it.
Sad to say, 200 Republicans House and Senate combined 200 Republicans voted against the bill. Sixty"eight
percent of the Members of the House Republican Conference voted against it, and the remainder coming
from the Senate side.
What the bill did was to affirm the full faith and credit of the United States of America. What a 'no' vote does
is to default on that. What the bill does is to enhance our ability to invest in our defense and our domestic
agenda by lifting the caps and removing the stranglehold of sequestration. That's what Democrats voted for.
200 Republicans said no to that. 200 Republicans said 'no' to stopping the drastic increase in Medicare Part
B payments. 200 Republicans said 'no' to stopping a 20"percent cut in benefits for people with disabilities
under Social Security. It's hard to understand, but we were able to pass the bill. And the Budget Bill serves as
a blueprint for how we go forward now in the appropriations season.
Yesterday, I met with our appropriators to the appropriators I'm an appropriator, Steny is an appropriator, Mr.
Carter is an appropriator, Rosa DeLauro is an appropriator, Mr. Israel much of our leadership are
appropriators, as are Senator Reid and Senator Durbin. So, we understand the mentality of appropriators,
and that is to try to work in a bipartisan way to get the job done with a time fuse there.
And so we salute their work. And that is what they are doing and preparing for where we go here, except now
we've lifted the caps. There's more investments to be made, and they have to do their 302(b) allocation as to
how much they're going to spend, invest, and what committees it goes to. That will be a Republican decision,
and then we'll ask in a bipartisan way to implement it.
And we have until December 11 to put that omnibus together, just remembering that September 30, in time
for the end of the fiscal year, 151 Republicans voted to shut down government, not to support the and, sadly,
they tied to that if this bill came up and did not remove funding for Planned Parenthood, then the Speaker
would have to give up his gavel, which he did, sad to say.
We welcome the new Speaker. We wish him luck and cooperation. And I'm happy that we're moving forward
with a modest Transportation Bill. I wish it could be bigger, reflecting new technologies and all that is going
on out there.
On another front, yesterday, I appointed the Members to our select committee. We renamed it the
'Republicans' Select Committee to Attack Women's Health.' Our Ranking Member, Jan Schakowsky of
Illinois, and Congresswoman Diana DeGette are of the Energy and Commerce Committee. From Judiciary,
Jerry Nadler and Suzan DelBene. And from Government Reform, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Jackie
Speier of California. Those are the three Committees of Jurisdiction for this issue where hearings take place.
They bring a great wealth of knowledge, staff, intellectual resources, and the rest to this.
It's a funny thing. It's well, we'll see what their agenda is as they go forward. But I do believe that hardworking families deserve better than wasting taxpayers' money on select committees that diminish women's
health possibilities.
In terms of women's health, Sunday [marked] the start of the Affordable Care Act's third open enrollment
period. Uninsured Americans across the country will be able to visit the Health Insurance Marketplace and
enroll in quality affordable coverage for them and their families.
It's pretty exciting. It's really exciting to say that, thanks to this historic law, nearly 18 million previously
underinsured uninsured 18 million previously uninsured Americans now have quality, affordable health
coverage.
Again, young adults can stay on their parents' health insurance until 26. No longer will insurers be able to
turn you away for preexisting conditions. No more annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you can receive.
And no longer will being a women be a preexisting medical condition. Just a few of the advantages of the
law.
As you know, Republicans have tried scores of time to take it down, but we are very proud of the number of
people who have had access now to affordable, quality health care. And, at the same time, it is serving to
lower costs of health care not only to families but to our budget, our national budget, and to our economy.
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2015 Friday
One of the fastest"growing parts of health care in our country is the cost of prescription drugs, the
fastest"growing part of health expenditures today. This is really coming to be a crisis. It must be understood,
it must be investigated so we can find ways to rein in the soaring cost.
As you know, Ranking Member [Elijah] Cummings has called on Chairman [Jason] Chaffetz for an
investigation, which so far has not materialized. Democrats have formed a task force. Maybe some of you
were at their press event yesterday. We will have a Steering and Policy Committee hearing on this subject. It
really hits home with people.
And part of the whole idea of our investments in basic biomedical research and the National Institutes of
Health and then coupled with the Affordable Care Act, with accessibility, is so that these miraculous cures
could be available to everyone. But the pricing is really becoming almost an immorality.
of our companies with the same brush, but we do have to investigate those. We have to investigate the
practice that some are engaged in.
It's a very big issue across the country. I know some of you do travel across the country, and it's a big issue
in many homes and in many doctor's offices. And it's a very huge issue in hospitals across the country,
because they have to bear the cost.
***
Q: I saw that the NDAA passed today.
Leader Pelosi. Yeah.
Q: It includes provisions to block President Obama from transferring detainees from GTMO. Do you have a
reaction to that? And, also, are you disappointed that President Obama hasn't succeeded in closing GTMO
entirely?
Leader Pelosi. I am sorry that this is in the bill. The President has signed this bill before with a signing
statement that relates to GTMO.
But I'm not disappointed in anything in terms of the President. I'm disappointed that the Republicans have
prevented the President from closing Guantanamo, which he said he was going to do, which he set out to do,
and which he had a plan to do and he does have a plan to do now.
As you know, there was a facility to be built in Illinois, where people welcomed the economic development
that it would bring, but the Republicans prevented that from happening. So my disappointment is that the
Republicans "" they should know that Guantanamo should have been closed a long time ago. They should
not have prevented it. That's where my disappointment is.
Yes, ma'am.
Q: Ms. Pelosi, Democrats faced a pretty tough night on a Tuesday, but, particularly, the San Francisco sheriff
race, where Vicki Hennessey ended up beating Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. I believe she ended up picking up
52,000 votes out of 83,000 ballots that were cast. That particular race kind of focused in on the sanctuary
cities situation, since Sheriff Mirkarimi, he was a big, staunch supporter of that. What does that really tell you
about what San Francisco voters really want in that city?
Leader Pelosi. Well, let me disagree with you. I don't think it was such a great there was a loss in Kentucky.
There were four Democrats picked up four seats in Pennsylvania, in New Jersey. In neighboring
Pennsylvania, they swept the election for the Supreme Court, preventing some, shall we say,
not"so"friendly"to"people initiatives there.
We have a long list of two pages, if you want to talk politics I should have brought that because we can go
State by State, where there were some victories.
The loss in Kentucky was a sad one for the Governor. However, we did win the Attorney General seat there,
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2015 Friday
and the Secretary of State was reelected the there.
That you would describe Vicki Hennessey's victory in San Francisco as an indication of a bad night for
Democrats just I can't grasp that. Sheriff now to be Hennessey, or acting she will be the Sheriff is very
popular in our community. We had a race between two people, and her statements about this subject she
said she would view these issues about turning over people on a case"by"case basis. She disagreed, as
most of us did, with what the current Sheriff did.
But I wouldn't, in friendship, think that it was a bad night for Democrats because Vicki Hennessey won in San
Francisco. We are all very proud of her. It was a great victory. And her distinction that she made is: You look
And I'm pleased that the Senate has rejected some of the ill"conceived notions that were drifting around
Yes, Chad. So, Chad, what are you going to do with you now? The Speaker went to your alma mater.
Q: Right.
Leader Pelosi. So are you going to be a nonbiased reporter?
Q: John Boehner represented the district where Miami was located, so...
Leader Pelosi. There you go. Well, goodness. Oh, gosh.
Q: I lived down the street from him, actually. Anyway...
Leader Pelosi. Congratulations to...
Q: Thank you.
Leader Pelosi. Miami of Ohio.
Q: We've got a President, Benjamin Harrison; the first Speaker; and two unsuccessful Vice Presidents
Whitelaw Reid and Paul Ryan.
But my question is about Paul Ryan. How do you think he has done in this first week? I mean, it's right out of
the gate here, but how do you think he has done in that first week?
Leader Pelosi. Well, you know, to become Speaker of the House is a very momentous step forward. It's the
third"highest position in the country: President, Vice President, Speaker of the House. And so it's a great
undertaking.
To do so in medias res, you know, to be tossed in right in the middle of a legislative session, in the middle of
negotiations on the budget and the rest, is very challenging. And to then have to make your adjustments from
a staffing standpoint and the additional responsibilities that I know the Speaker is proud to assume, it's, I
think, really not "" the first week is not a time to judge a Speaker.
I think that just getting through the week is an accomplishment, with all the things that barrage the new
Speaker and his time.
Q: And having been in the Speaker's chair yourself, not that you would give advice necessarily, but what are
the you know, you were there for that first week. Granted, you didn't come in in the middle of a Congress.
Leader Pelosi. Right.
Q: But what is kind of a potential pitfall you could see that, you know, if you were talking to Speakers at large,
what you would say, watch out for this, watch out for that?
Leader Pelosi. Well, you know, if the Speaker asks me for advice, then I will share that with him and perhaps
with you.
Q: And you've not had a conversation with him yet? You've not had a conversation with him?
Leader Pelosi. No, we have not, not in that we have had a friendly exchange on the floor, but we have not
had that conversation. But I wish him well. It's a very challenging job.
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2015 Friday
And I don't know if you have anything specific about the appropriations process or anything like that,
because that's what we're engaged in.
It's my understanding from his press conference that he said he was going to have the appropriations bills
that had not yet been negotiated by the subcommittees to be taken up by the full conference of Republicans.
Well, that would be good news to our Members, because 100 percent of our Members say they should all be
on the Appropriations Committee and that we should have one committee in the House, and that's it, so that
everybody makes those decisions. But the fact is, that is not governing by committee. That's not governing
by committee.
And so I think that will be challenging. But it's interesting and it's curious, and I wish him well with it. But, as
an appropriator, as I said, out of respect for the knowledge, the expertise that people have in their focus on
their subcommittees, I think that that will be an interesting dynamic, to see how his appropriators react to his
whole conference weighing in on the bills of his committee and calling it, "We're respecting the committee
system."
Yes, sir.
Q: Leader Pelosi, among the election results this week was the defeat of a nondiscrimination ordinance in
Houston that would have protected LGBT people.
Why do you think that ordinance failed? And do you think that defeat could galvanize support for a federal
nondiscrimination bill in Congress?
Leader Pelosi. It was sad.
I spent time last week in Texas. I was invited by the Bush family to speak at the Points of Light conference
there. So I was there from the weekend and then into Tuesday, when I spoke at the conference and then the
convention and then at a salute to the 25"year anniversary of it with President Bush and Mrs. Bush. It was
glorious. So thank you for affording me the opportunity to sing their praises in terms of volunteerism and
hope.
At the time, obviously, I was engaged in some political matters while I was there, meeting with Democrats
along the way, and seeing the ads on TV. And that was heartbreaking. It was really heartbreaking, because
some significant money came in, really mischaracterized what the initiative did.
And I think the size of the not only that it lost, I mean, they, the other side won, but the size of the defeat was
stunning. Because I don't think "" how many other cities in Texas have nondiscrimination?
Staff. Nine of the 100,000"people"or"more.
Leader Pelosi. Nine cities of 100,000 or more in Texas have this nondiscrimination provision, and now
they've defeated in Houston.
What was interesting to me I talked about the negative ads, but to see the ads with veterans in them saying
that they supported it, the HERO it was called HERO because of what it meant to veterans was so beautiful.
And the kind of nasty ads you know what they were. It's disappointing.
But we just have to think of it as a bump in the road. And, of course, we have our equality bill that we have
introduced in July, introduced by David Cicilline but with bipartisan [and] bicameral support. In the Senate
and the House, we announced it. And that would be an attempt to end discrimination, expanding the Civil
Rights Act to include LGBT equality in there, as well.
It's inevitable. It will happen. It may be inconceivable to some. It is inevitable to us. We have to shorten the
distance, as I always say, between the inevitable and the inconceivable. And we will prevail. But it was
disappointing.
Q: But do you think that defeat could galvanize movement on that bill during this Congress?
Leader Pelosi. I would hope so. You know, we'll see. And we have a new Speaker and the rest. I would hope
so. But I think that "" I don't want anybody's hopes to be held too high, when we see some of the actions
taken by Congress.
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2015 Friday
But this is a when we had the majority, we passed the hate crimes bill that was fully inclusive, including
transgender [people]. At the time, I think you know, they told me, if you take transgender out, you can pass
this bill in a minute. And I said, if we take transgender out, we're not passing it in 100 million years, because
we're not doing it. We're just not doing that.
And so we thought we got past that a little and, of course, then we went on to 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repeal.
And then the courts did the marriage equality piece. So we're making great progress, and the momentum
was on the side of ending discrimination. And this I hope we just consider an episode and not a trend.
And we'll keep working very hard and build public the only way Congress acts is if there's public support. And
that's what we will continue to do.
Yes, sir.
Q: Madam Leader, back to Kentucky, all the polls got it wrong. Mr. Bevin, who ended up winning that race,
was viewed as very extreme conservative.
But I was listening to some political analysts who said that, because of the healthcare law that he actively ran
against, you've sort of seen the loss of an entire generation of Democrats in the South.
You were Speaker on the backs of Blue Dog Democrats. How do Democrats win in the South in 2015, 2016?
Leader Pelosi. Well, let me, again, not subscribe to your characterization. What happened in Kentucky was
let me give you an example.
In Mr. Yarmuth's district, when he ran in the off"year when he ran in the Presidential year, he had over
200,000 votes. In the non"presidential year, he had, what, 170,000 votes, something like that, over 150,000
votes. That was 1 year ago.
The gubernatorial candidate got 110,000 votes in his district. It was about turnout.
And the answer to your question, not only in the South but everywhere, is we have to increase turnout. And if
the turnout had been bigger, the election would have been different.
But so what? You know, we don't agonize, we organize. And that's what we have to do, whether it's in the
South, the Midwest, in suburban areas, in rural areas, and in the West, in the entire country. It's about
showing people the connection, as Martin Luther King said, between the ballot, legislation, and their lives.
And that just has not been done sufficiently.
Q: But President Obama, his team is very talented at that. There's a lot of worry, I have read, from
Democratic groups that mobilization is just not there to the level that it was in 2012. What can you guys do?
Leader Pelosi. Well, the Presidential year is the big year. I mean, it's not there as it in 2012. Yeah. Yeah.
Because the Presidential race is the main event. It has everything. It has glamour, it has money, it has power,
it has showbiz. It's an attraction. And the off"years are like the lounge act. So who goes there, right? Unless
you're just waiting for the next show.
So, no, I'm very optimistic, because, as I've said to you before and you've heard us present in a more full
way, in fact, on Tuesday, Restoration Tuesday, where Mr. Clyburn and Congresswoman Terri Sewell
presented their agenda for passing a voting rights act, having outreach and engagement with voters about
the connection of winning elections and winning initiatives to improve their lives. And we just have to do
better at it. But in a Presidential year is an opportunity time for us.
Somebody told me that there was a poll after 2012 of people who didn't vote, and, in that poll, President
Obama won by 30 points over Mitt Romney.
So we have a challenge. And that affects all the good things that we'd like to see happen, including a
HERO's Act that was challenged in Houston.
Yes, sir. And then I'm going to have to go.
Staff. Last question.
Q: There's an argument to be made and you may quibble with how well it could be made that the bipartisan
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2015 Friday
agreement that sort of hit this place in the last 2 weeks over the debt ceiling, sequester deal, and now the
transportation bill is basically, "Let's kick everything until we see who the next President is," that these are
basically sham, gimmicky, paid"for bills whose basic thing is to get it off of the agenda until 2017.
So what does it say about the atmosphere here that that seems to be the case? Indeed...
Leader Pelosi. I don't even know what you're talking about.
Q: What is...
Leader Pelosi. I really don't even know what you're talking about. This is a very substantial decision to lift the
caps, to put off sequestration, yeah, but it had nothing to do with who the next President is, whoever she may
be. But it...
[Laughter.]
Leader Pelosi. Or he. We have wonderful candidates across the board on our side.
And that's one place I would disagree with the distinguished Speaker, with all due respect, when he said that
any one of the Republican candidates on the stage would be a better President than Hillary Clinton. Come
on.
But, anyway, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley I'm so proud of him from Maryland. We
So I don't see that at all. This was of the moment. We had to keep government open. We wanted to do so in
a way if anything, it wasn't about what comes next. It was about what we have not done, what we were
delinquent in doing.
And so now we succeeded in lifting the caps, putting off the sequestration, lifting the debt ceiling until 2017
that was remarkable stopping the Medicare prescription increase and stopping the cut in disability.
But, no, this was well, I wanted more. This was a compromise. I wanted more. I wanted the IMF. You know, I
had a full agenda. But it being a compromise, I accept the fact that they have the majority, the President has
the signature, we have the "" we can uphold whatever the President does.
Q: But doesn't the modest scope of these deals, this basic punting, basically mean that the next 14 months
will be substantially policy"free?
Leader Pelosi. Well, is that a bad thing? Is that a bad thing?
Q: Well, given that you guys' job is to make policy...
Leader Pelosi. I mean, not policy"free. It'll be argument"free because we have some in other words, when it
comes to lifting the debt ceiling, we have removed doubt that we are going to default. That's more certainty
for our economy.
Just the discussion of it in 2011 lowered our credit rating. You remember that, or some of you who were here
then? It lowered our credit rating, just the mere discussion of it. And when we finally passed it in the last time
we passed it, 199 Republicans voted no. They did not honor the full faith and credit of the United States.
Twenty"eight voted yes, including Speaker Boehner.
And don't we miss him? I mean, personally. Personally. I am just talking personally. No offense to the new
Speaker, but, personally, what a lovely guy.
And so, no, I that's a very interesting characterization. We're optimists. We're positive. This was a good thing.
Let's see well, it's going to create over 350,000 jobs in next year alone. So whatever it is, it is a good thing for
job creation, for increasing paychecks and reducing the deficit and, again, having parity between defense,
which we all want to support, and domestic, which we all want to support, in a way that honors a firewall, that
you can't take from one or the other to increase the funding.
So it was, I felt, very positive, very bipartisan. And I was willing to accept what I couldn't get in the bill for what
was in it. And that's what I always say to Members: Try not to judge bills for what isn't in it but to respect it for
what is in it.
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2015 Friday
And I think it's worthy of respect. That's why 100 Democrats voted for it, not because they didn't have their
problems with one thing or another, but because they have a shared commitment, all of them, to working
families in our country, of creating good"paying jobs, increasing paychecks.
And, you know, it all comes back to middle"class economics versus trickle"down. But we'll save that for
another day.
Q: What about [Colin] Kaepernick getting benched?
Leader Pelosi. How about the Mets? Why do they start those games so late at night?
Q: I agree.
Leader Pelosi. Honest to God.
Q: Well on the West Coast it's good for them.
Leader Pelosi. Yeah, yeah. Of course.
Q: How about Air BnB staying alive in San Francisco?
Leader Pelosi. It was good. That was good.
Q: Are you supportive of that?
Leader Pelosi. I was supportive of it. [Senator] Dianne [Feinstein] was not because some of these initiatives
just go too far. And then you can't correct them except by initiative. And that's a problem.
Q: My aunt is a property owner and was very happy about the results. Aunt Christine I'll tell her you say hello.
Leader Pelosi. Yes, tell her I said hi. Thank you.
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States News Service
TRANSCRIPT OF PELOSI PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY NOV. 5, 2015

BYLINE: States News Service
LENGTH: 4460 words
The following information was released by the office of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi:
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi held her weekly press conference today. Below is a transcript of the press
conference.
Leader Pelosi. Good afternoon, everyone.
Thank you for your accommodation of being here later. We had the Highway Bill on the Floor.
That is very good, to be passing a bill. And House Democrats are very happy that some of their priorities are
contained in it. The automatic increase in infrastructure investments; if more revenue flows into the Highway
Trust Fund, it would be used for more infrastructure strengthening the Buy America provisions to maximize
American job creation, focusing transportation investments to increase access to jobs in disadvantaged
communities this is really important. And promoting women and minority"owned businesses recruit[ing] and
training transit workers from underrepresented populations. So this is, hopefully, a way to bring jobs to
communities that would greatly benefit.
I'm very pleased that reauthorization of the Export"Import Bank is in there and that every amendment was
defeated every amendment was defeated. That was pretty that was a bipartisan effort, to defeat every
amendment: Maxine Waters, Steny Hoyer, Denny Heck, working with Congressmen [Charlie] Dent, [Frank]
Lucas. You know, it was really quite a bipartisan effort, and we're very proud of that, because that is really a
job"creator that reduces the deficit, increases our competitiveness abroad by enabling small and
moderate"size businesses, as well as large businesses, to have access to markets abroad.
The Highway Bill is a good bill, except it's modest. I would say, rather than a robust rollout, it's a modest step
forward. We really do have to work to do more, because our infrastructure needs are great. And they go
beyond highway and transportation. You know, it's about broadband infrastructure, it's about water
infrastructure in our country. And so, we have a big challenge.
As you probably know, the American Society of Civil Engineers puts our deficit into the trillions. Well, we are
not going to have that kind of money to spend, but we, hopefully, will be able to leverage the money that we
do have into getting the most for it. And it goes beyond transportation. It goes into other infrastructure that we
need that I mentioned.
The bill is a 6"year bill that's funded for about 3 years. I'd like it to be funded take that 3 years and spend it in
2 years, and then we'd have something more robust, but then we'd have 4 years unfunded. So, we have to
find a way and work for a greater commitment to repair and modernize our infrastructure, creating
good"paying jobs, increasing wages, lowering the deficit. And here we are now with the appropriations. The
clock is ticking. We have until December 11, as you know.
Last week, we were really happy with the Budget Bill. One hundred percent of the Democrats in the House
and the Senate voted for the Budget Bill. The bipartisan compromise, Democratic and Republican"shaped
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Budget Bill 100 percent of the Democrats voted for it.
Sad to say, 200 Republicans House and Senate combined 200 Republicans voted against the bill. Sixty"eight
percent of the Members of the House Republican Conference voted against it, and the remainder coming
from the Senate side.
What the bill did was to affirm the full faith and credit of the United States of America. What a 'no' vote does
is to default on that. What the bill does is to enhance our ability to invest in our defense and our domestic
agenda by lifting the caps and removing the stranglehold of sequestration. That's what Democrats voted for.
200 Republicans said no to that. 200 Republicans said no' to stopping the drastic increase in Medicare Part
B payments. 200 Republicans said no' to stopping a 20"percent cut in benefits for people with disabilities
under Social Security. It's hard to understand, but we were able to pass the bill. And the Budget Bill serves as
a blueprint for how we go forward now in the appropriations season.
Yesterday, I met with our appropriators to the appropriators I'm an appropriator, Steny is an appropriator, Mr.
Carter is an appropriator, Rosa DeLauro is an appropriator, Mr. Israel much of our leadership are
appropriators, as are Senator Reid and Senator Durbin. So, we understand the mentality of appropriators,
and that is to try to work in a bipartisan way to get the job done with a time fuse there.
And so we salute their work. And that is what they are doing and preparing for where we go here, except now
we've lifted the caps. There's more investments to be made, and they have to do their 302(b) allocation as to
how much they're going to spend, invest, and what committees it goes to. That will be a Republican decision,
and then we'll ask in a bipartisan way to implement it.
And we have until December 11 to put that omnibus together, just remembering that September 30, in time
for the end of the fiscal year, 151 Republicans voted to shut down government, not to support the and, sadly,
they tied to that if this bill came up and did not remove funding for Planned Parenthood, then the Speaker
would have to give up his gavel, which he did, sad to say.
We welcome the new Speaker. We wish him luck and cooperation. And I'm happy that we're moving forward
with a modest Transportation Bill. I wish it could be bigger, reflecting new technologies and all that is going
on out there.
On another front, yesterday, I appointed the Members to our select committee. We renamed it the
Republicans' Select Committee to Attack Women's Health.' Our Ranking Member, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois,
and Congresswoman Diana DeGette are of the Energy and Commerce Committee. From Judiciary, Jerry
Nadler and Suzan DelBene. And from Government Reform, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Jackie Speier of
California. Those are the three Committees of Jurisdiction for this issue where hearings take place. They
bring a great wealth of knowledge, staff, intellectual resources, and the rest to this.
It's a funny thing. It's well, we'll see what their agenda is as they go forward. But I do believe that hardworking families deserve better than wasting taxpayers' money on select committees that diminish women's
health possibilities.
In terms of women's health, Sunday [marked] the start of the Affordable Care Act's third open enrollment
period. Uninsured Americans across the country will be able to visit the Health Insurance Marketplace and
enroll in quality affordable coverage for them and their families.
It's pretty exciting. It's really exciting to say that, thanks to this historic law, nearly 18 million previously
underinsured uninsured 18 million previously uninsured Americans now have quality, affordable health
coverage.
Again, young adults can stay on their parents' health insurance until 26. No longer will insurers be able to
turn you away for preexisting conditions. No more annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you can receive.
And no longer will being a women be a preexisting medical condition. Just a few of the advantages of the
law.
As you know, Republicans have tried scores of time to take it down, but we are very proud of the number of
people who have had access now to affordable, quality health care. And, at the same time, it is serving to
lower costs of health care not only to families but to our budget, our national budget, and to our economy.
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One of the fastest"growing parts of health care in our country is the cost of prescription drugs, the
fastest"growing part of health expenditures today. This is really coming to be a crisis. It must be understood,
it must be investigated so we can find ways to rein in the soaring cost.
As you know, Ranking Member [Elijah] Cummings has called on Chairman [Jason] Chaffetz for an
investigation, which so far has not materialized. Democrats have formed a task force. Maybe some of you
were at their press event yesterday. We will have a Steering and Policy Committee hearing on this subject. It
really hits home with people.
And part of the whole idea of our investments in basic biomedical research and the National Institutes of
Health and then coupled with the Affordable Care Act, with accessibility, is so that these miraculous cures
could be available to everyone. But the pricing is really becoming almost an immorality.
of our companies with the same brush, but we do have to investigate those. We have to investigate the
practice that some are engaged in.
It's a very big issue across the country. I know some of you do travel across the country, and it's a big issue
in many homes and in many doctor's offices. And it's a very huge issue in hospitals across the country,
because they have to bear the cost.
***
Q: I saw that the NDAA passed today.
Leader Pelosi. Yeah.
Q: It includes provisions to block President Obama from transferring detainees from GTMO. Do you have a
reaction to that? And, also, are you disappointed that President Obama hasn't succeeded in closing GTMO
entirely?
Leader Pelosi. I am sorry that this is in the bill. The President has signed this bill before with a signing
statement that relates to GTMO.
But I'm not disappointed in anything in terms of the President. I'm disappointed that the Republicans have
prevented the President from closing Guantanamo, which he said he was going to do, which he set out to do,
and which he had a plan to do and he does have a plan to do now.
As you know, there was a facility to be built in Illinois, where people welcomed the economic development
that it would bring, but the Republicans prevented that from happening. So my disappointment is that the
Republicans "" they should know that Guantanamo should have been closed a long time ago. They should
not have prevented it. That's where my disappointment is.
Yes, ma'am.
Q: Ms. Pelosi, Democrats faced a pretty tough night on a Tuesday, but, particularly, the San Francisco sheriff
race, where Vicki Hennessey ended up beating Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. I believe she ended up picking up
52,000 votes out of 83,000 ballots that were cast. That particular race kind of focused in on the sanctuary
cities situation, since Sheriff Mirkarimi, he was a big, staunch supporter of that. What does that really tell you
about what San Francisco voters really want in that city?
Leader Pelosi. Well, let me disagree with you. I don't think it was such a great there was a loss in Kentucky.
There were four Democrats picked up four seats in Pennsylvania, in New Jersey. In neighboring
Pennsylvania, they swept the election for the Supreme Court, preventing some, shall we say,
not"so"friendly"to"people initiatives there.
We have a long list of two pages, if you want to talk politics I should have brought that because we can go
State by State, where there were some victories.
The loss in Kentucky was a sad one for the Governor. However, we did win the Attorney General seat there,
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and the Secretary of State was reelected the there.
That you would describe Vicki Hennessey's victory in San Francisco as an indication of a bad night for
Democrats just I can't grasp that. Sheriff now to be Hennessey, or acting she will be the Sheriff is very
popular in our community. We had a race between two people, and her statements about this subject she
said she would view these issues about turning over people on a case"by"case basis. She disagreed, as
most of us did, with what the current Sheriff did.
But I wouldn't, in friendship, think that it was a bad night for Democrats because Vicki Hennessey won in San
Francisco. We are all very proud of her. It was a great victory. And her distinction that she made is: You look
And I'm pleased that the Senate has rejected some of the ill"conceived notions that were drifting around
Yes, Chad. So, Chad, what are you going to do with you now? The Speaker went to your alma mater.
Q: Right.
Leader Pelosi. So are you going to be a nonbiased reporter?
Q: John Boehner represented the district where Miami was located, so...
Leader Pelosi. There you go. Well, goodness. Oh, gosh.
Q: I lived down the street from him, actually. Anyway...
Leader Pelosi. Congratulations to...
Q: Thank you.
Leader Pelosi. Miami of Ohio.
Q: We've got a President, Benjamin Harrison; the first Speaker; and two unsuccessful Vice Presidents
Whitelaw Reid and Paul Ryan.
But my question is about Paul Ryan. How do you think he has done in this first week? I mean, it's right out of
the gate here, but how do you think he has done in that first week?
Leader Pelosi. Well, you know, to become Speaker of the House is a very momentous step forward. It's the
third"highest position in the country: President, Vice President, Speaker of the House. And so it's a great
undertaking.
To do so in medias res, you know, to be tossed in right in the middle of a legislative session, in the middle of
negotiations on the budget and the rest, is very challenging. And to then have to make your adjustments from
a staffing standpoint and the additional responsibilities that I know the Speaker is proud to assume, it's, I
think, really not "" the first week is not a time to judge a Speaker.
I think that just getting through the week is an accomplishment, with all the things that barrage the new
Speaker and his time.
Q: And having been in the Speaker's chair yourself, not that you would give advice necessarily, but what are
the you know, you were there for that first week. Granted, you didn't come in in the middle of a Congress.
Leader Pelosi. Right.
Q: But what is kind of a potential pitfall you could see that, you know, if you were talking to Speakers at large,
what you would say, watch out for this, watch out for that?
Leader Pelosi. Well, you know, if the Speaker asks me for advice, then I will share that with him and perhaps
with you.
Q: And you've not had a conversation with him yet? You've not had a conversation with him?
Leader Pelosi. No, we have not, not in that we have had a friendly exchange on the floor, but we have not
had that conversation. But I wish him well. It's a very challenging job.
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And I don't know if you have anything specific about the appropriations process or anything like that,
because that's what we're engaged in.
It's my understanding from his press conference that he said he was going to have the appropriations bills
that had not yet been negotiated by the subcommittees to be taken up by the full conference of Republicans.
Well, that would be good news to our Members, because 100 percent of our Members say they should all be
on the Appropriations Committee and that we should have one committee in the House, and that's it, so that
everybody makes those decisions. But the fact is, that is not governing by committee. That's not governing
by committee.
And so I think that will be challenging. But it's interesting and it's curious, and I wish him well with it. But, as
an appropriator, as I said, out of respect for the knowledge, the expertise that people have in their focus on
their subcommittees, I think that that will be an interesting dynamic, to see how his appropriators react to his
whole conference weighing in on the bills of his committee and calling it, We're respecting the committee
system.
Yes, sir.
Q: Leader Pelosi, among the election results this week was the defeat of a nondiscrimination ordinance in
Houston that would have protected LGBT people.
Why do you think that ordinance failed? And do you think that defeat could galvanize support for a federal
nondiscrimination bill in Congress?
Leader Pelosi. It was sad.
I spent time last week in Texas. I was invited by the Bush family to speak at the Points of Light conference
there. So I was there from the weekend and then into Tuesday, when I spoke at the conference and then the
convention and then at a salute to the 25"year anniversary of it with President Bush and Mrs. Bush. It was
glorious. So thank you for affording me the opportunity to sing their praises in terms of volunteerism and
hope.
At the time, obviously, I was engaged in some political matters while I was there, meeting with Democrats
along the way, and seeing the ads on TV. And that was heartbreaking. It was really heartbreaking, because
some significant money came in, really mischaracterized what the initiative did.
And I think the size of the not only that it lost, I mean, they, the other side won, but the size of the defeat was
stunning. Because I don't think "" how many other cities in Texas have nondiscrimination?
Staff. Nine of the 100,000"people"or"more.
Leader Pelosi. Nine cities of 100,000 or more in Texas have this nondiscrimination provision, and now
they've defeated in Houston.
What was interesting to me I talked about the negative ads, but to see the ads with veterans in them saying
that they supported it, the HERO it was called HERO because of what it meant to veterans was so beautiful.
And the kind of nasty ads you know what they were. It's disappointing.
But we just have to think of it as a bump in the road. And, of course, we have our equality bill that we have
introduced in July, introduced by David Cicilline but with bipartisan [and] bicameral support. In the Senate
and the House, we announced it. And that would be an attempt to end discrimination, expanding the Civil
Rights Act to include LGBT equality in there, as well.
It's inevitable. It will happen. It may be inconceivable to some. It is inevitable to us. We have to shorten the
distance, as I always say, between the inevitable and the inconceivable. And we will prevail. But it was
disappointing.
Q: But do you think that defeat could galvanize movement on that bill during this Congress?
Leader Pelosi. I would hope so. You know, we'll see. And we have a new Speaker and the rest. I would hope
so. But I think that "" I don't want anybody's hopes to be held too high, when we see some of the actions
taken by Congress.
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But this is a when we had the majority, we passed the hate crimes bill that was fully inclusive, including
transgender [people]. At the time, I think you know, they told me, if you take transgender out, you can pass
this bill in a minute. And I said, if we take transgender out, we're not passing it in 100 million years, because
we're not doing it. We're just not doing that.
And so we thought we got past that a little and, of course, then we went on to 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repeal.
And then the courts did the marriage equality piece. So we're making great progress, and the momentum
was on the side of ending discrimination. And this I hope we just consider an episode and not a trend.
And we'll keep working very hard and build public the only way Congress acts is if there's public support. And
that's what we will continue to do.
Yes, sir.
Q: Madam Leader, back to Kentucky, all the polls got it wrong. Mr. Bevin, who ended up winning that race,
was viewed as very extreme conservative.
But I was listening to some political analysts who said that, because of the healthcare law that he actively ran
against, you've sort of seen the loss of an entire generation of Democrats in the South.
You were Speaker on the backs of Blue Dog Democrats. How do Democrats win in the South in 2015, 2016?
Leader Pelosi. Well, let me, again, not subscribe to your characterization. What happened in Kentucky was
let me give you an example.
In Mr. Yarmuth's district, when he ran in the off"year when he ran in the Presidential year, he had over
200,000 votes. In the non"presidential year, he had, what, 170,000 votes, something like that, over 150,000
votes. That was 1 year ago.
The gubernatorial candidate got 110,000 votes in his district. It was about turnout.
And the answer to your question, not only in the South but everywhere, is we have to increase turnout. And if
the turnout had been bigger, the election would have been different.
But so what? You know, we don't agonize, we organize. And that's what we have to do, whether it's in the
South, the Midwest, in suburban areas, in rural areas, and in the West, in the entire country. It's about
showing people the connection, as Martin Luther King said, between the ballot, legislation, and their lives.
And that just has not been done sufficiently.
Q: But President Obama, his team is very talented at that. There's a lot of worry, I have read, from
Democratic groups that mobilization is just not there to the level that it was in 2012. What can you guys do?
Leader Pelosi. Well, the Presidential year is the big year. I mean, it's not there as it in 2012. Yeah. Yeah.
Because the Presidential race is the main event. It has everything. It has glamour, it has money, it has power,
it has showbiz. It's an attraction. And the off"years are like the lounge act. So who goes there, right? Unless
you're just waiting for the next show.
So, no, I'm very optimistic, because, as I've said to you before and you've heard us present in a more full
way, in fact, on Tuesday, Restoration Tuesday, where Mr. Clyburn and Congresswoman Terri Sewell
presented their agenda for passing a voting rights act, having outreach and engagement with voters about
the connection of winning elections and winning initiatives to improve their lives. And we just have to do
better at it. But in a Presidential year is an opportunity time for us.
Somebody told me that there was a poll after 2012 of people who didn't vote, and, in that poll, President
Obama won by 30 points over Mitt Romney.
So we have a challenge. And that affects all the good things that we'd like to see happen, including a
HERO's Act that was challenged in Houston.
Yes, sir. And then I'm going to have to go.
Staff. Last question.
Q: There's an argument to be made and you may quibble with how well it could be made that the bipartisan
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agreement that sort of hit this place in the last 2 weeks over the debt ceiling, sequester deal, and now the
transportation bill is basically, Let's kick everything until we see who the next President is, that these are
basically sham, gimmicky, paid"for bills whose basic thing is to get it off of the agenda until 2017.
So what does it say about the atmosphere here that that seems to be the case? Indeed...
Leader Pelosi. I don't even know what you're talking about.
Q: What is...
Leader Pelosi. I really don't even know what you're talking about. This is a very substantial decision to lift the
caps, to put off sequestration, yeah, but it had nothing to do with who the next President is, whoever she may
be. But it...
[Laughter.]
Leader Pelosi. Or he. We have wonderful candidates across the board on our side.
And that's one place I would disagree with the distinguished Speaker, with all due respect, when he said that
any one of the Republican candidates on the stage would be a better President than Hillary Clinton. Come
on.
But, anyway, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley I'm so proud of him from Maryland. We
So I don't see that at all. This was of the moment. We had to keep government open. We wanted to do so in
a way if anything, it wasn't about what comes next. It was about what we have not done, what we were
delinquent in doing.
And so now we succeeded in lifting the caps, putting off the sequestration, lifting the debt ceiling until 2017
that was remarkable stopping the Medicare prescription increase and stopping the cut in disability.
But, no, this was well, I wanted more. This was a compromise. I wanted more. I wanted the IMF. You know, I
had a full agenda. But it being a compromise, I accept the fact that they have the majority, the President has
the signature, we have the "" we can uphold whatever the President does.
Q: But doesn't the modest scope of these deals, this basic punting, basically mean that the next 14 months
will be substantially policy"free?
Leader Pelosi. Well, is that a bad thing? Is that a bad thing?
Q: Well, given that you guys' job is to make policy...
Leader Pelosi. I mean, not policy"free. It'll be argument"free because we have some in other words, when it
comes to lifting the debt ceiling, we have removed doubt that we are going to default. That's more certainty
for our economy.
Just the discussion of it in 2011 lowered our credit rating. You remember that, or some of you who were here
then? It lowered our credit rating, just the mere discussion of it. And when we finally passed it in the last time
we passed it, 199 Republicans voted no. They did not honor the full faith and credit of the United States.
Twenty"eight voted yes, including Speaker Boehner.
And don't we miss him? I mean, personally. Personally. I am just talking personally. No offense to the new
Speaker, but, personally, what a lovely guy.
And so, no, I that's a very interesting characterization. We're optimists. We're positive. This was a good thing.
Let's see well, it's going to create over 350,000 jobs in next year alone. So whatever it is, it is a good thing for
job creation, for increasing paychecks and reducing the deficit and, again, having parity between defense,
which we all want to support, and domestic, which we all want to support, in a way that honors a firewall, that
you can't take from one or the other to increase the funding.
So it was, I felt, very positive, very bipartisan. And I was willing to accept what I couldn't get in the bill for what
was in it. And that's what I always say to Members: Try not to judge bills for what isn't in it but to respect it for
what is in it.
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And I think it's worthy of respect. That's why 100 Democrats voted for it, not because they didn't have their
problems with one thing or another, but because they have a shared commitment, all of them, to working
families in our country, of creating good"paying jobs, increasing paychecks.
And, you know, it all comes back to middle"class economics versus trickle"down. But we'll save that for
another day.
Q: What about [Colin] Kaepernick getting benched?
Leader Pelosi. How about the Mets? Why do they start those games so late at night?
Q: I agree.
Leader Pelosi. Honest to God.
Q: Well on the West Coast it's good for them.
Leader Pelosi. Yeah, yeah. Of course.
Q: How about Air BnB staying alive in San Francisco?
Leader Pelosi. It was good. That was good.
Q: Are you supportive of that?
Leader Pelosi. I was supportive of it. [Senator] Dianne [Feinstein] was not because some of these initiatives
just go too far. And then you can't correct them except by initiative. And that's a problem.
Q: My aunt is a property owner and was very happy about the results. Aunt Christine I'll tell her you say hello.
Leader Pelosi. Yes, tell her I said hi. Thank you.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 2015 States News Service
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Obama: Possibility There Was A Bomb on Downed Plane; Egypt: U.S., UK Haven't Shared Intel on Possible
Bomb; Specific Chatter on International Wire November 6, 2015 Friday
48 of 49 DOCUMENTS
International Wire
Obama: Possibility There Was A Bomb on Downed Plane; Egypt: U.S.,

UK Haven't Shared Intel on Possible Bomb; Specific Chatter on
LENGTH: 7286 words
[19:00:10] ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, breaking news. President Obama breaking
his silence talking about a bomb taking down Flight 9268.
Plus, our special report inside a bomb lab. What kind of bomb could ISIS have used?
And Ben Carson says he led a violent past, attacking people with bats, hammers and knives. So, CNN
tracked down his childhood friends. Is it true? Let's go OUTFRONT.
Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, President Obama weighing in for
the first time on how terrorists may have taken down Metrojet Flight 9268. The plane blowing up in midair
killing all 224 people on board.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES: I think there is a possibility that there was a bomb on board
and we're taking that very seriously.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: This, as a U.S. official tells CNN there had been chatter about bomb capabilities prior to the crash
and after the crash, an official telling CNN, ISIS terrorists were bragging about the crash and having specific
conversations about the bomb's origin. Leading intelligence experts to believe a bomb took down Flight
9268. The Intel also suggests that an airport insider planted a bomb on the plane. That insider or insiders
could still be working at the Sharm El-Sheikh airport. Leading the UK government to hold all flights in and out
of the luxury resort. Thousands of tourists are stranded there tonight. Tomorrow, special charters will arrive at
Sharm El- Sheik to begin bringing them home. The passengers will only be allowed what they can carry
onboard. There will be no luggage in the plane's cargo hold.
Pamela Brown is OUTFRONT tonight. And Pamela, these are chilling messages that you are learning about
that have been intercepted.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Erin. They are chilling. And the intelligence is
inconclusive right now, I want to point that out, but it's enough to cause widespread concern among U.S.
officials, including President Obama, as we just heard, that a bomb was planted on that plane and ISIS could
be behind it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN (voice-over): Tonight, U.S. intelligence officials say specific chatter from the ISIS affiliate in the Sinai
Peninsula following the crash is leading American officials to suspect a bomb may be responsible for bringing
down the plane.
REP. PETER KING (R), HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Obviously there's a consensus building
around the world that there was explosives and if there was, ISIS would certainly be a prime candidate.
BROWN: Intelligent sources tell CNN terrorists boasted messages about planting a bomb on the plane but
officials caution the chatter alone is not definitive evidence.
Page 197
DAVEED GARTENSTEIN-ROSS, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: The chatter is not
fool-proof and could be used in ways to throw off someone who you know is listening on your
communications.
BROWN: ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula has shown bomb-making capabilities before but if the terrorists are
responsible for smuggling a bomb aboard this flight, it would mark a significant step in their capabilities to
launch further attacks.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: At this point, we don't have enough information to
make our own determination about what exactly occurred but we do have enough information at this point to
not rule out the possibility of terrorist involved.
BROWN: There is no indication so far that passengers or crew aboard the flight had any connection to terror
groups so investigators are looking at a possible inside job. A not so sophisticated bomb planted by an
employee at Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh Airport.
ANTHONY MAY, FORMER ATF EXPLOSIVE AIRPORT: Other than some physically being on the plane
initiating device, we're really kind of limited to either a timing situation or a barometric pressure switch
bringing down an aircraft.
BROWN: Tonight, Egypt and Russia are still pushing back saying it's too soon to know if terrorism was at
play.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And U.S. officials say no final assessment will be made about the cause until forensics evidence
and results from those black boxes are made available -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Pamela, thank you very much.
And we're also getting some disturbing new intelligence tonight about the group that claims responsibility for
the bombing.
Our terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank is OUTFRONT. Paul, what more are you learning about that tonight?
PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, the intelligence pointing to the idea of an insider
involved at Sharm El-Sheikh airports. And this group ISIS -- looking to see who is potentially responsible for
this attack and actually has a track record of recruiting insiders inside the Egyptian military and police. And in
fact, a senior Egyptian police colonel back in January 2014 passed over insider information which helped the
group launched an attack at a security director headquarters in Cairo. So very significant details there, Erin.
BURNETT: Very significant details. All right. Thank you very much, Paul Cruickshank.
And as Paul is talking about that group and successfully recruiting in the military, Ian Lee is OUTFRONT.
He's at the Sharm El-Sheikh airport. And Ian, the British government isn't allowing tourists to put any luggage
in the cargo hold on their way home. Because they're obviously concerned the threat still be present. That
insider that Paul is talking about could still be present.
[19:05:17] IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And there's increased security here tonight at
the airport. There's a checkpoint before you even get to the terminal which is behind me. Then, inside there's
layers of security. You're going to go through x-rays, metal detectors and probably even a pat down before
you actually check in. That's because of ISIS in the Sinai. Probably the deadliest branch of the terrorists'
organization that most Americans haven't heard about.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEE (voice-over): As investigators comb through the debris and analyze the plane's data recorders trying to
determine what led to the crash of Russian Metrojet 9268, ISIS is claiming responsibility for killing the 224
people on board. In a new audio message, reportedly from the Sinai branch, the militant group says find your
black boxes and analyze them. We are the ones with God's blessing who brought it down. Today, Russian
and Egyptian officials insisting there's currently no evidence of a bomb. But U.S. officials say, their
intelligence is pointing to a bomb, possibly by one of ISIS' least known affiliates.
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MOHANNAD SABRY, EGYPTIAN JOURNALIST: The Egyptian branch of ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula has
proved itself as a lethal, very sophisticated and very powerful terrorist organization over the past specifically
two years and over the past five years, since 2011.
LEE: It was late last year that the terror group previously known as Ansar Betal Mactus (ph) now called state
of Sinai group pledged allegiance to ISIS Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi with numbers estimated in the
hundreds. The group is eclipsing al-Qaeda in the region and has adopted ISIS' brutal tactics. Here, the
aftermath of an attack against an Egyptian army checkpoint in broad daylight. In all, the group claims to have
killed hundreds in roadside bombings, drive-by shootings and suicide attacks. While those captured are
brutally executed.
The Sinai group is well known for illicit smuggling and the two most sophisticated weapons believed to be in
their arsenal include Russian-made anti-tank missiles used in targeting tanks in a boat in the Mediterranean.
And shoulder-launched surface to air missiles here taking down an Egyptian helicopter. Analysts say what
they don't possess is sophisticated missiles to shoot down a jet traveling over 30,000 feet like Flight 9268.
Whether or not ISIS actually brought down the jet, experts worry commercial airliners could now be in their
crosshairs.
And Erin, that's not just worrying for officials here in Egypt but around the world. If ISIS is now viewing these
as targets that they are going to start going after -- Erin.
BURNETT: Ian Lee, thank you very much, as we said live at Sharm El-Sheikh tonight. And now, the former
CIA counterterrorism head Phil Mudd. And Phil, you saw Ian's reporting. This group has access to a lot of
weapons now.
PHIL MUDD, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL: Yes.
BURNETT: It's one of the fastest growing and now possibly the most deadly part of ISIS but they have only
been affiliated with ISIS for about a year. Right? They have their own group. They pledge allegiance to ISIS
itself.
MUDD: Yes.
BURNETT: Could they have pulled this off themselves or do you think this shows ISIS central is now more
powerful and directed an attack like this?
MUDD: Well, the big story here. We're talking about capabilities, that is, whether a group can hire a bunch of
people or train a bunch of people to get into a relatively unsecured airport, maybe a modestly sophisticated
device. The story here to me isn't whether they have or have had for the past year the capabilities to do this.
What's interesting to me here is if you look globally at terror organizations, the hardest question as a
professional to answer is, what is their intent? Most organizations like this struggle beyond saying, I want to
attack a local police station. We're under a lot of pressure from security service. Let me fight them. The
number of organizations that have a visionary leadership at the top that says let me take the ISIS or the alQaeda message and target the head of the snake, the Israelis, the Americans, the Russians, that is very few.
The message here Erin is not the capability to get to Sharm El- Sheikh. It's the intent to get beyond local
targets and go after the big guys.
BURNETT: All right. And the big guys, obviously now you're going after Russia. But then, what about the
United States?
MUDD: That's right. People might sit back and say, hey, the Russians have entered the game in Syria. They
are bombing the opposition in Syria, they're allied with Bashar al-Assad. ISIS has gone after them in this
circumstance. Therefore, the Americans are off the hook. That is not the lesson I would take. Once an
organization like this has leadership that says, we want to execute operations against the head of the state,
whether you're the Israelis, the Brits, the French or the Americans, you cannot sit there and say, they are
going to stop at the Russians. The Americans are bombing as well. They have to be saying, how do we come
after Washington or New York or a U.S. airliner?
[19:10:18] BURNETT: And they have now shown, to your point -- they don't just have the capability but they
have the intent interests.
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MUDD: That's right.
BURNETT: That kind of focus that you saw from something like al Qaeda in 15 years -MUDD: That's right.
BURNETT: They're going to focus on the United State. Something like ISIS is now showing they could be
doing.
MUDD: That's right. In the next step, in my word is pretty straightforward. We're talking about an attack on an
airliner. Inside the business, you have a straightforward simple question. Who is the leader who did this?
Very few leaders are that philosophical about how they choose target. Second, who is the operational
commander who organize this? Third, who was the bomb maker who built this device? And, fourth, what did
that network that included people in Sharm El-Sheik to get on the aircraft? There are people sitting back
saying, these guys have got to have a one way ticket up planet earth? They cannot stay here because they
will target another aircraft.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Phil Mudd.
MUDD: Thank you.
BURNETT: And pretty somber, I know when you said they will target another aircraft.
Next, we're going to go inside a bomb lab to show you what investigators are looking at right now and
whether they can figure out what sort of a bomb this might have been.
Plus, Egypt it's still saying there's no evidence to support claims of a bomb. Why? Why are they so adamant?
And Ben Carson says, he had a rough and violent youth. We asked a childhood friends what they remember
about it and you'll be pretty shocked at what they have to say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:15:40] BURNETT: Breaking news, President Obama for the first time acknowledging that a terrorist bomb
may have downed Metrojet Flight 9268. Those comments contradicting Egyptian officials who maintain that
there's no evidence. So, what are investigators looking for as they scour the massive debris field?
Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The power of a bomb aboard a passenger plane. This
demonstration by the U.S. attorney's office shows the end result.
THOMAS ANTHONY, FORMER FAA CIVIL AVIATION SECURITY MANAGER: Coming through the office.
LAH: The beginning tracked by forensic bomb expert Thomas Anthony.
(on camera): Is this a classic C-4 explosion?
ANTHONY: It is. Less push and more sort of force like that. We have less residue than a low explosive.
LAH (voice-over): Starting with a C-4 bomb, a type of plastic explosives, the former FAA civil aviation security
manager walks us through the impact of several types of bombs and the telltale signs they lead behind.
ANTHONY: The residue from the black powder coming from a central point, look at the edges here. The
edges on the black powder are very, very different. They have this sort of like almost coral-like look to them.
This is napalm. Look at all the residue of the napalm that was left behind. That is something that is indicative
and characteristic of the napalm.
LAH: Are there countless numbers of explosives?
ANTHONY: There are dozens of types of explosives.
LAH: Investigators begin to narrow the possibilities with field tests like this one. A quickly analyzed residue.
This orange collar points to a C-4 bomb. Anthony says the severity of a bomb on a plane depends on many
factors like timing and placement and there isn't always visible proof.
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(on camera): Is it possible that an explosive can go off on a plane and there be no residue?
ANTHONY: It's possible that there could be no residue left.
LAH: Here's why. Look at the wreckage from the Metrojet crash, much of it consumed by fire.
ANTHONY: If you have melting aircraft parts, melting aluminum, it's mixing with the other parts that it could
easily disguise any evidence of an IED. LAH: Anthony says it's critical to have forensic proof of an aviation
investigation and only a lab can sift out evidence from this. Just as important, piecing together clues beyond
the wreckage knowing when and who may have placed the explosive device aboard the plane.
ANTHONY: There are so many electronics that we can buy off the shelf that can be programmed to activate
hours, days, weeks, months in the future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: So if this is indeed a bomb, how long before there is that tangible evidence and this Russian airliner
disaster? Well, Anthony says it could be days, it could be months. And the intelligence here Erin could prove
critical if that chatter could narrow down where in the wreckage these investigators look for that evidence -Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Kyung, thank you. And now, the former FAA Safety Inspector David Soucie along with
former CIA Operative Bob Baer.
Bob, you know, you heard Kyung's report that even if they don't find any traces of bomb residue, that may not
mean anything, right? There could still have been a bomb and it doesn't leave a tangible trail?
BOB BAER, FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: That's absolutely right. I have even seen explosions against
buildings that left no residue and we knew it was an explosion, absolutely and it took years to actually come
up with something, some real good forensic information. And if the plane did burned. And also as he said, it
depends on the explosives. As PETN, it doesn't leave much residue and these bombs are fairly small and
you've got the debris field so wide and the rest of it. You would really need a high-end lab like we have in the
United States. You'd need the FBI on this. And what I don't trust is and I don't mean this the wrong way, but I
don't trust the Egyptians. They don't have the sophistication to reassemble this airplane the way it should be
and get to the bottom of this.
BURNETT: They also, of course, have been, you know, denying the possibility that anything could have gone
wrong which we're going to be talking about more in just a few moments. But David, I want to show you
some video. This as investigators coming through the debris fields of what's happening on the ground
actually today. They are marking the plane with what looks like some sort of a, you know, sophisticated
magic marker. What are they doing there?
[19:20:03] DAVID SOUCIE, FORMER FAA SAFETY INSPECTOR: What they're doing is looking for -- in
Anthony's piece and Bob mentioned it as well, you have to know where to look for this residue. So, to do
that, you have to look for what is the initial fracture point in the fuselage. So, what they are doing there is
looking at the metallurgy, they're looking at how they're twisted in which way it points. If the fracture occurs,
whether it's from a bomb or from any kind of internal pressure change, it's going to push that metal in certain
ways and as it breaks, it makes a little indication. So those arrows, what they are doing there in the
investigation we go through, we make arrows pointing to where that fracture point is leading us, where that
information that you see on the field is pointing to.
So that when you do assemble the aircraft and Bob is right about the Egyptians, they may not have that
sophistication but I'm hoping that they bring in people who have done this before, like the Flight 800 team.
There's still some of folks around that would love to help with this. Put them together, they've done it before.
They know how to reassemble aircraft. You put this together and then you have those arrows that will help
you point to that fracture point. From that point, that's where you're going to find the residues where those
fracture points that lead the investigators.
BURNETT: So, Bob, you talk about that this not have to be a very large device and I know you and I spoke
this week. You've said, look, it could have been a pound or less. When you see a debris field like this where
the tail is three miles away from a big portion of the debris field, I mean, it's a huge space we're talking about,
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how difficult would it be to find pieces of the device itself? Would they have a chance at doing that?
BAER: You know, there are chances they won't find the initiator. This initiator. Some of the wire can be
actually drawn with a pen, conductors. It's very sophisticated, some of these bombs. Very small barometric
switch would probably be blown up in the explosion. You know, the detonator, of course, is gone. You know?
So really, as David said, we have got to find that fracture point and look for a residue but even then it's not
going to be conclusive and what worries me is what sort of device was this? And if it's going to take us
several months to reassemble this airplane, we don't know how many bombs are out there. If it was a May
15th device, for instance, which can get through most American airports, that makes me nervous that those
bombs are out there and the Islamic State has them.
BURNETT: Right. Well, because I mean, you talk about how many bombs are out there. They wouldn't know
because they don't know what kind of bomb it is. I mean, Phil Mudd was saying just a few moments ago,
Bob, which is that there will be another airliner.
BAER: Oh, I think so. I think they'll make another attempt. Let's hope they don't get lucky. They have to know
what they are doing. Our security is very good but, at the end of the day, most technicians at airports, most
TSA points cannot identify these sophisticated bombs and let's hope that the Islamic State doesn't have
these things.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you both very much.
And next, British and American intelligence say a bomb likely took down Flight 9268 but the Egyptians are in
denial. They even today, quote-unquote, "Promoted the man in-charge of the Sharm El- Sheikh airport." Are
they trying to cover-up the truth?
And Ben Carson has talked openly about his fight and quote, "pathological temper" as a young man, but is it
true? We have a special report tonight. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:27:09] BURNETT: Breaking news, President Obama weighing in on for the first time on the Russian
passenger jet that went down in Egypt. The President admitting a bomb may have taken down that plane.
Also tonight, a U.S. official confirming to CNN that very specific chatter among ISIS-affiliated terrorists about
the plane crash is why they believe terrorists downed the plane. Very specific chatter, bragging about it and
also talking about the specific origin of the bomb. Russian and Egyptian officials are urging people around
the world not to jump to conclusions, though, about what brought down the plane. So, why are Egypt and
Russia saying not so fast when the U.S. and the UK are saying something so different?
Miguel Marquez is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An army of investigators walking miles to the
desert searching for debris and any possible sign of what caused Metrojet 9268 to crash. Investigators from
around the world but Egypt's civil aviation authority in full control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Egypt has adopted a surge of transparency related to this incident.
MARQUEZ: But with millions in tourism at stake, will Egypt offer a fully transparent and open investigation?
Tourism is one of Egypt's largest industries in the warm waters around Sharm El-Sheikh, a huge draw,
bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars every year and already Egyptian officials are saying the plane was
not brought down by a bomb and that Egypt is safe.
NASSER KAMEL, EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR TO UNITED KINGDOM: What happened is a tragic airline
incident that happens, unfortunately, part of the reality of our world with millions of flights every day, is we are
bound to have an incident here or there. But Egypt as a destination is as safe as ever.
MARQUEZ: And two previous crash investigations raised potential questions about how Egypt reaches its
conclusions.
PETER GOELZ, FORMER NTSB MANAGING DIRECTOR: The Egyptians have the opportunity to issue an
unbiased report. We've heard very little from them so far. A few contradictory statements. They are under
enormous pressure.
Page 202
MARQUEZ: Peter Goelz headed the NTSB investigation into the crash of Egyptian air flight 990 in October
1999. The flight left New York's JFK bound for Cairo, plunged into international waters off the coast of
Massachusetts. Egypt was initially in charge of that investigation. The NTSB took over. But when pilot suicide
appeared to be the cause, Egypt launched its own parallel investigation.
GOELZ: We became convinced that this was a deliberate act and the pilot, the co-pilot had flown that aircraft
into the ground.
MARQUEZ: The Egyptian investigation concluded mechanical fault caused the Boeing 767 to crash. The
NTSB determined first officer Gameel Al-Batouti deliberately crashed the plane. The final seconds from the
voice data recorder, you can hear Al-Batouti repeating, "I rely on God." And a second voice in the cockpit
asking him, why he shot down the engines and then begging him repeatedly to help him pull up before the
recording ends. And this wasn't the only time Egyptian and western investigators differed over the cause of a
crash.
PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: In 2004, there was an accident off of Sharm el-Sheikh, a 737
crash. The BEA, the French and the Americans indicated that they believed it was pilot error. The Egyptians
did not agree and blamed it on some sort of mechanical failure.
MARQUEZ: As the U.S. and other countries make their own assessments about why Flight 9268 crashed,
the pressure growing on Egypt, the world watching.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now, Peter Goelz does say that we need to give the Egyptians time to come to their own
conclusions and make more evidence public. But if history is any guide to how Egyptians have conducted
their investigations, he says a lot of investigators and a lot of countries around the world will be watching
very, very closely -- Erin.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: We will. And, of course, the stakes are so high.
Matthew Chance is OUTFRONT now in Moscow.
The chatter we are talking about is very specific about a possible bomb with terrorists talking about even the
origin of that bomb. What else are you hearing?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, from the
Russian vantage point here, the Russians aren't acknowledging any of this has taken place. Certainly, they
are not saying that they have any intelligence that matches this U.S. intelligence. They are even very critical
of the fact that if there is any intelligence or the intelligence that the U.S. says it has, shocked is the word
they have used, shocked that that intelligence was not shared with the Russians.
For their part, the Russians are saying, look, it's much too early to say what the cause of this crash was.
They are not ruling out terrorism. They are just saying the investigation so far hasn't produced results that
would sustain that conclusion and it could be months, according to the Russians, before the investigation is
at the point where they can say why 224 people lost their lives in the Sinai Peninsula.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Matthew, thank you very much. Now I want to go back to our counterterrorism
analyst, former CIA counterterror official director Phil Mudd.
I mean, Phil, it's pretty shocking, you have the British and Americans are talking about this chatter that
they've intercepted. It's very specific. They have an insider at the airport. They have all of this information.
The Egyptians and the Russians appear to be in some sort of denial. What do you think is happening here?
PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERRORISM ANALYST: A couple things going on here. First, from an intelligence
perspective, the Russians are an adversary. You picked up technical intelligence, intercepting ISIS in the
Sinai, your first reaction isn't how do I pass this technical information to my adversary, the Russians. I think
the interesting question down the road is they have lost 220-plus people on a Russian aircraft. They have a
common target here in the Sinai, that is ISIS. Do they start saying should we have intelligence cooperation
even as you, the Russians, support Bashar al Assad in Syria?
So, I think there's some people in Washington saying, how do we figure out intelligence cooperation in a
Page 203
common target with a security service that's adversary? This is pretty unique.
BURNETT: So what you're saying is that the U.S. could say, look, we've picked up terrorist A saying to
terrorist B about this being the origin of the bomb but without giving their methods -MUDD: That's right.
BURNETT: -- to give, to show how they actually got that would be giving Russians information that the U.S. is
unwilling to give -MUDD: That's right.
BURNETT: Bigger picture, right, about how the U.S. is tracking.
MUDD: Sure, if you're on the other side of that, if the roles were reversed and the Russians passed to me
when I was at the FBI or the agency, passed to me intelligence information that says we're intercepting ISIS,
and the Americans, our side, who just lost 200 plus people, I'd have a simple question. You've got to tell me
how you're acquiring this intelligence because we have a to break in to whatever that -BURNETT: So, the U.S. is just not saying the how?
MUDD: That's right. Any service wants to know what you know but how you got that, because we want to do
the same thing. We want to intercept the same traffic.
BURNETT: It is pretty scary, though, bottom line, you have the Egyptians, they're control of the physical
evidence here.
MUDD: Sure.
BURNETT: And in denial. MUDD: And they are sitting here saying, as others said, like in Tunisia, this is a
crushing tourism industry. We have to be careful how we rule this out.
BURNETT: All right. Phil Mudd, thank you very much.
MUDD: Thank you.
BURNETT: And OUTFRONT next, Ben Carson's violent past. We asked his friends about his stories of fights
with a bat, a hammer, a knife. What they remember will surprise you.
And an OUTFRONT exclusive tonight, Bush 41 on Cheney, Rumsfeld and 43. The former president speaks
out, holding nothing back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:38:28] BURNETT: Breaking news tonight, we now know which candidates will be on the stage and which
will be bumped from the next Republican debate? Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee both moving from the
main stage to the undercard debate, and the eight candidates in the main debate on Tuesday, you can see
them there.
We are also learning today that the two front-runners, Donald Trump and Ben Carson, have now gotten
approval for Secret Service protection.
This comes as Carson faces new scrutiny for his claims about a violent past.
Joe Johns is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Candidates can come and -JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ben Carson's quiet dignified
approach is a big part of his appeal. But he says his calm demeanor was carved out of a violent past.
CARSON: As a teenager, I would go out to people with rocks and bricks and baseball bats and hammers.
JOHNS: Carson wrote in his book about striking a schoolmate in the face with a combination lock, nearly
punching his mother, smashing a kid's face with a rock. Carson said he also tried to kill a friend identified as
Page 204
Bob in a disagreement over the radio.
He describes his temper as pathological, a disease that made him totally irrational.
CARSON: I had a large camping night. I tried to stab him in the abdomen. And fortunately, under his clothing,
he had a large metal belt buckle. And the knife blade struck with such force that it broke. JOHNS: It was he
says a pivotal point in Carson's life, depicted in a TV movie.
[19:40:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Benny, what did you do?
JOHNS: But then an epiphany. Carson said he quelled his anger with prayer.
CARSON: I locked myself in a bathroom and contemplated my life and realizing that I would never realize my
dream of becoming a physician with a temper like that.
JOHNS: From that day forward, Carson says he was a changed man, now in the course from poverty in
Detroit to world famous neurosurgeon.
CARSON: I never had another angry outburst since that day.
JOHNS: But that early picture of violence is not recognizable to some who grew up with Carson.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was shocked. I was surprised because he was just -- you know, he was quiet
and calm.
JOHNS: CNN reporters Maeve Reston and Scott Glover tracked down 10 schoolmates and neighbors. None
challenged Carson's story directly, only one said they've heard vague rumors about one of the incidents, but
all said this was not the boy they knew.
STEVE CHOICE, FORMER NEIGHBOR OF CARSON: I was really surprised when I read he tried to stab
someone. Like what?
REPORTER: Does it fit with the guy you knew? That kind of activity.
CHOICE: No.
JOHNS: The campaign has refused repeated requests to help find witnesses or the victims Carson mentions,
only by first name, telling CNN it was a, quote, "witch hunt".
CNN has been unable to locate witnesses or victims.
TIMOTHY MCDANIEL, CHILDHOOD FRIEND OF CARSON: I associate him with a lot of things but never
stooping to the level of a common street thug. So, I was a little surprised by it.
JOHNS: Timothy McDaniel says he was one of Carson's closest childhood friends. He says he raised it with
Carson after the book came out.
MCDANIEL: I said, "Ben, you hid it from us all those years," and he said he was just too embarrassed to
even talk about it. I was surprised at some of the things he said but, you know, he said them honestly. And I
believed everything he told me.
JOHNS: Joe Johns, CNN Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: And OUTFRONT now, our national political reporter Maeve Reston. She and CNN's Scott Glover
(ph) had one an enormous amount of reporting on this story.
Maeve, Carson's campaign declined numerous times to cooperate with your investigation, but he did
respond today, first telling CNN the people that you spoke with only knew him after he had changed and then
later he said this in response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARSON: The names that I used for instance are fictitious names because I don't want to bring people into
something like this, because I know what you guys do to their lives.
Page 205
REPORTER: But have you reached out to any of them since you've become a candidate?
CARSON: There are some that I stay in contact with, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Maeve, does that response add up to you?
RESTON: I'm just very puzzled about the entire response. Obviously, we've been working on this story now
for a number of weeks, talking to many of Dr. Carson's classmates, neighbors and friends, his original
assertion today that we only talked to people who knew him when he was 14 is totally wrong. We talked to
them throughout his entire childhood.
And then to say these were fictitious names, I don't understand why the campaign, when I went to them more
than a week ago, saying we have been unable to find Bob or Jerry, the guys in the lock and stabbing
incident, why they wouldn't have said back then those are fictitious names because we went on to contact all
of the Bobs and Jerrys that we could find in Dr. Carson's class and no one has materialized yet thus far.
BURNETT: Is it possible that he's, you know, really just trying to protect their names?
RESTON: Sure. Absolutely. You know, we certainly set out to find them in -- as part of our vetting process,
we wanted to talk to them about these incidents. We wanted to vet someone who's running to be president of
the United States, find out more about his temperament and his temper.
You know, Dr. Carson has said that these were incidents that he was embarrassed to talk about but when
you're going around a close- knit neighborhood, hitting people with bricks and bats and baseball bats, you
would assume that people would know about that and none of the people that we talked to did. BURNETT:
All right. Well, Maeve, thank you very much.
RESTON: Thanks.
BURNETT: And OUTFRONT next, for the first time, President Bush talking about his own life in his own
words.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:47:30] BURNETT: Tonight, a harsh assessment of President George W. Bush's presidency, from his own
father. Also, President George H.W. Bush kept an audio diary of his life. And tonight, we're hearing his
recordings for the first time.
Jamie Gangel sat down with the president's autobiographer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham,
who shares what he learned in his upcoming book, "Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George
Herbert Walker Bush".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT: I accept your nomination for president.
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is George Herbert Walker Bush
unleashed, sharing his most private thoughts on everything from his time in office to his family. -GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT: This administration is not going to rest.
GANGEL (voice-over): -- to his son's presidency.
JON MEACHAM, AUTHOR: He handed over four years of diaries in the White House with no strings
attached.
GANGEL (on camera): And he said to you -MEACHAM: Call 'em like you see 'em. Let -- you're going to sort it out.
GANGEL (voice-over): Among the many revelations, Bush 41 is bluntly critical of the men who served his son
in the White House. He called Vice President Dick Cheney "Iron Ass" and former Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld an "arrogant" fellow.
Page 206
But perhaps the biggest surprise, Bush is critical of his son for his hot rhetoric.
(on camera): We've never heard him criticized his son before as president.
MEACHAM: Right.
GANGEL: Why do you think he went public now? MEACHAM: I think with the distance of history, he believed
so strongly in the fact that force and diplomacy have to be complementary, not competitive that I think he
wanted to put on the record that he doesn't think the president has accomplished very much by swaggering.
They should be strong but they don't need to be needlessly provocative.
GANGEL: So, is this a father worried about his son's policy being criticized, not being right? Is there a
father/son here?
MEACHAM: There's always a father/son thing here. Of course. I mean, how could there not be.
GANGEL: Was George W. Bush at all defensive about the criticism from his father?
MEACHAM: He was surprised by it. I think it's safe to say, he said dad never said any of this to me, either
during the presidency or after. He said he never would have said, "Hey, you've got to rein in Cheney, he's
going to ruin your administration.
[19:50:06] And anyway, I disagree with him. These were my policies."
He knew he would never say these things directly to him, which is in and of itself fascinating.
GANGEL: In addition to the president's diaries, Meacham was given access to Barbara Bush's diaries and
other insights include that Nancy Reagan did not seem to like Barbara Bush. He told his diary, quote,
"Frankly, I think jealous of her."
There is a blunt assessment of Bill Clinton as a draft dodger and a liar. And Meacham writes the Bushes
were, quote, "horrified" by the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Bush acknowledges he couldn't help but like the guy.
(on camera): Do you think it's a genuine friendship?
MEACHAM: For George H.W. Bush I think it is.
GANGEL: And for Bill Clinton?
MEACHAM: You never know, do you?
GANGEL (voice-over): That said, the Bushes don't seem to have the same warm feelings toward Hillary
Clinton calling her, quote, "militant and pro liberal".
(on camera): Why do you think they let you go public while they were still there because they are both very -she may be blunt, but they are old school.
MEACHAM: They are old school but they are also old school in this sense, which is that history will sort it
out. I think they are fearless about history.
GANGEL (voice-over): Just one example, this is an excerpt from Bush's diary which he dictated on Air Force
One in the lead up to the Persian Gulf War. It is the first time we're hearing it.
GEORGE H.W. BUSH: It's been probably the most hectic 48 hours since I've been president and for terms of
serious national security interests, I've been on the phone incessantly.
GANGEL: Another disclosure, what the family says about political competition between George W. and
brother Jeb.
(on camera): There is this narrative around Jeb that he was supposed to be the one to follow in his father's
footsteps, and both he and his father said on the record not true.
MEACHAM: George H.W. Bush said that talk, I think Jeb was the one that's (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
GANGEL (voice-over): The diaries also reveal that none other than Donald Trump played an earlier unusual
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role in Bush political life. In 1988, Trump apparently volunteered to be Bush's vice president.
(on camera): And what did George Bush think of this?
MEACHAM: Strange, unbelievable I think is the quote. But it does show you that Donald Trump has been
eyeing that real estate for a long time.
GANGEL (voice-over): At the end of the book, Meacham decided to ask the 91-year-old former president
whether his views had changed on gay marriage. He found the answer spoke volumes about the man.
MEACHAM: A day or two later, arriving in the mail was a little statement signed by George Bush that said I
still believe in traditional marriage, but people have a right to be happy without discrimination. They should be
able to do what they want to do. I guess you could say I've mellowed. To me, it's emblematic of a man -GANGEL (on camera): Because? What does it say?
MEACHAM: It says that people have a right to be happy. He was in a very quiet way about tearing down
barriers. He was about fair play. And it goes all the way back to Greenwich. It was all the way back to his
mother. You're a stickler for the rules. You compete, you fight hard to win, but you always play fair.
This as President Obama said of him, this is a gentleman.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GANGEL: And for the record, according to Jon Meacham, Dick Cheney read the comments. He smiled and
said, "It was fascinating." He also said he simply was always doing what 43 wanted him to do and what the
country required. As for Donald Rumsfeld, he had a slightly different take. He issued the statement today
saying, quote, "Bush 41 is getting up in years and misjudges Bush 43 who I found made his own decisions."
Let's just say Rumsfeld and Bush 41 never got along -BURNETT: No, leveling insult now.
GANGEL: Yes.
BURNETT: So, one of those sound bytes from the tape from the Persian Gulf War, he sounds very
exhausted. It's a very human moment.
GANGEL: Right. So we've only heard parts of the tape but Jon has listened to all of them. He says he
frequently sounds tired because it's the end of the day, but said they are almost like therapy sessions, like
there was nobody else he could talk to, share this with. So, he's talking himself through the experience.
BURNETT: That's -- right. I guess as president you can't trust anyone even if you did want a therapist.
So, Donald Trump -[19:55:00] GANGEL: Who could believe it? He was back there then. He's like the Zelig (ph) of the Bush
family. I mean, it's just rather astounding but back then he was trying to be vice president. It's amazing.
BURNETT: That is amazing, especially given now obviously what is happening.
All right. Jamie, thank you very much. And we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: And I want to make sure you know, Ben Carson will be a guest on "NEW DAY" here on CNN
tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. As we said, Dr. Carson going to be answering to that report you just heard
from Maeve Reston.
Thank you so much for joining us. Be sure to set your DVR to record OUTFRONT, so you can watch us
anytime.
"AC360" starts right now.
[Byline: Erin Burnett, Ian Lee, Pamela Brown, Kyung Lah, Miguel Marquez, Matthew Chance, Phil Mudd, Joe
Johns, Maeve Reston, Jamie Gangel] [Guest: Paul Cruickshank, Phil Mudd, David Soucie, Bob Baer] [High:
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, President Obama weighing in for the first time on how terrorists may
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have taken down Metrojet Flight 9268. The plane blowing up in midair killing all 224 people on board. Also
tonight, a U.S. official confirming to CNN that very specific chatter among ISIS-affiliated terrorists about the
plane crash is why they believe terrorists downed the plane. Very specific chatter, bragging about it and also
talking about the specific origin of the bomb.] [Spec: Aviation; Disasters; Death] [Copy: Content and
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REP. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH HOLDS A HEARING ON EVALUATING THE 2015 TRAFFICKING IN
PERSONS REPORT Political Transcript Wire November 6, 2015 Friday
49 of 49 DOCUMENTS
Political Transcript Wire
REP. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH HOLDS A HEARING ON EVALUATING

THE 2015 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT
LENGTH: 20778 words
(CORRECTED COPY: ADDS TO SPEAKERS LIST)
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH,
GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS HOLDS A HEARING ON
EVALUATING THE 2015 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT
NOVEMBER 4, 2015
SPEAKERS: REP. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, R-N.J. CHAIRMAN REP. MARK MEADOWS, R-N.C. REP.
CURT CLAWSON, R-FLA. REP. SCOTT DESJARLAIS, R-TENN. REP. DANIEL M. DONOVAN JR., R-N.Y.
REP. ED ROYCE, R-CALIF. EX OFFICIO
REP. KAREN BASS, D-CALIF. RANKING MEMBER REP. AMI BERA, D-CALIF. REP. DAVID CICILLINE, DR.I. REP. ELIOT L. ENGEL, D-N.Y. EX OFFICIO
WITNESSES: KARI JOHNSTONE, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY DIRECTOR, OFFICE TO MONITOR AND
COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, STATE DEPARTMENT
JAMES CAROUSO, ACTING DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EAST ASIAN AND
PACIFIC AFFAIRS
MARK LAGON, PRESIDENT, FREEDOM HOUSE, FORMER AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
ALEX LEE, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR SOUTH AMERICA AND CUBA, BUREAU OF
WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS
[*] SMITH: The subcommittee will come to order and good afternoon to everyone. We have come a long way
since the September 14th, 1990 hearing in this room that I chaired on human trafficking, one of the series
that continues to this day. At that particular hearing the NDRL (ph) Assistant Secretary Harold Koh called
human trafficking a global plague instead that while the Clinton administration supported the objective of my
bill to combat human trafficking, he testified that the existing legislative framework was sufficient and that
new legislation should not focus on developing new institutions or establishing owner's new requirements
quote, unquote.
No TIP Office, no TIP Report, no TIP sanction as he said beats up reporting in the annual country reports in
human rights practices would suffice. Secretary Koh testified that the administration strongly objected to
singling out and the sanctioning nations with poor records and government complexity in trafficking, but then
agree on the need for alien a silent protection and enhanced criminal penalties for traffickers that were - was
also contained in my legislation.
That said I pushed ahead in a bipartisan fashion and crafted a comprehensive piece of legislation Landmark Legislation known as a Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, who was just celebrated its 15th
a day on October 28th when it was signed into law.
The power of the Trafficking in Persons Report a mainstay of the legislation rests on its credibility and the
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credibility of the report rests on its accuracy. We must get the report right. No fudging, no favors to nations
based on other agendas or we risk losing the most effective tool we have to help the more than 20 million
victims of trafficking and slaves around the world. Some countries, as you know as, you know, the
distinguished people at our witness table, hopefully credit the TIP Report for their increase and effective antitrafficking response.
Over the last 14 years now into the 15th, more than 100 countries have enacted anti-trafficking laws and
many countries have taken other steps required to significantly raise their tier rankings. And of tier 1 is for
those who fully meet minimum standards, tier 2 for those who are making significant efforts to meet minimum
standards and tier 3 for those who are not making significant efforts to meet minimum standards and indeed
maybe subject to sanctions. And for those between tier 2 and 3, congress in 2003 created a tier to watch list
and for those who have undertaken significant anti-trafficking steps, late often late in the evaluation year and
just for the record, I wrote out law too.
Unfortunately, this ranking has been misused to a allow countries to escape accountability a loophole we felt
being close with the Labour Force Act and that bill sponsored by Howard Berman. We are holding this
hearing today to focus today to do -- to well-founded concern that some of the rankings in the most recent
report are inaccurate and undermined incredibility of the report.
Great inflation for certain favored countries undermines accuracy and accountability and I would respectfully
submit demoralizes countries that actually made significant progress last year. They state department heard
from many house members, 161 to be exact, when it was linked (ph) that Malaysia was last to be upgraded
to - from tier 3 to the tier 2 watch list.
The report justify the upgrade because Malaysia introduced but did not past an amendment to their trafficking
law and allowed a limited number of their trafficking victims who worked outside of detention while keeping
the rest of the victims in detention. These are incomplete actions compel in comparison to the size of
Malaysia's trafficking problem.
Malaysia was a subject of incise of Reuters Investigative report in 2014 and without objection, I would like to
make report a part of the record, which found that human traffickers were keeping hundreds of Rohingya
refugees from Vermont captive in houses in Northern Malaysia beating them, depriving them a food and
demanding a ransom from their families. At least two million vulnerable immigrants worked in the informal
economy in Malaysia.
NGOs on the ground tell us that the traffickers operate openly and with impunity and then those who get in
their way are killed. Only three traffickers were convicted in Malaysia last year, three in a country of more that
30 million people. And it was just known for the record and parenthetically here as we went through the
minimum standards over the last decade and a half.
We're always trying to calibrate those minimum standards because some countries like to gain the system.
And the very first piece of legislation, we talked about prosecutions and arrests and found that lots of
prosecutions, very few convictions then we started looking at out how long and whether or not that individual
or individuals served any time in jail, incarcerated.
Again in Malaysia, only three traffickers were convicted last year and that ratio were not enough or not bad
enough. It also marks the third year of decline for convictions in Malaysia. Three convictions is 1/3 in the
number of convictions in Malaysia that they had in 2013 when Malaysia was still free and 1/7 of the
convictions in 2012.
Trafficking in Malaysia is getting worse and the governments enforces the law was barely non existent and
yet Malaysia was upgraded. So what happened? Was Malaysia's upgrading anyway related to that nation's
eligibility to join the Trans-Pacific partnership? This bring Congress approved the Trade Priorities Act of 2015
excluding Tier3 countries from expediting consideration by the Congress for the simple reason that the
Congress did not want to increase trade with countries that engage in persistent trafficking including labor
trafficking.
Malaysia was disqualified until their upgrade. More than bad optics, more than sliding the will of Congress
such circumventing of accountability is disastrous for labor trafficking victims and victims of all kinds in
Malaysia. Instead of demanding change before Malaysia became a major trading partner. The Administration
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weakened our standards to give Malaysia a pass. In other words, we looked the other way to empower a
slave economy.
The administration also upgraded Cuba this year to the Tier2 watch list on very flimsy justification, namely,
that Cuba began sharing information with the U.S. on trafficking and that it convicted 13 traffickers two years
ago which is outside of the reporting period. But what is changing Cuba or trafficking victims in the last year?
Cuba illegally permits the pimping (ph) of 16 year old girls. It's the top destination in the Western hemisphere
for child sex tourism and does not criminalize labor trafficking at all. And I want to say again parenthetically, I
read the tip report of all these countries. The Cuba report is excellent but it doesn't come forth with the
ranking. You got it right on the report but not right on the ranking.
On the labor trafficking side, Cuba does not criminalize labor trafficking. Indeed Cuban healthcare personnel
who are sent abroad by the Castro regime to generate income for the government report being forced to
work in medical missions. Having their passports withheld and their families threatened. Again as the author
of the TVPA I could say unequivocally that the spirit and the letter of the law makes clear that trafficking
rankings should not be used in the hopes of bringing about better bilateral relations such as Cuba, rather,
better relation with Cuba should be preconditioned on real protection for Cuba has exploited and abused
children and women in recognition of labor trafficking which again they just don't recognize it. The bar (ph)
also seems to be lowered in this year in the case of Uzbekistan which was upgraded to the Tier2 watch list
despite the fact that Uzbekistan's government openly empowered apologetically. Forces his population into
forced labor every year during the cotton harvest. Something invested to the league (ph) on previously
testified at a hearing here, having similar parallels to slavery in this country. Harvesting cotton before
emancipation took place in United States.
In recent years, the government has shifted away from pulling young children out of school and allow the ILO
to monitor conditions, but instead of children they can script as adults continuing this as systematic
exploitation of it's population.
China's premature upgrade to Tier2 watch lists in 2014 and it continue its presence there in the 2015 report
also raises very serious questions. How can a country that systematically traffics his own people anything but
Tier3. If they're one year on the Tier3 list in 2013, China passed a law allegedly closed its 320 reeducation
through laborer, the detention centers which forced prisoners and other detainees to reform manual labor
and padded the pockets of the government.
The States Department upgraded China because of that reform of 2014 but now we know from the report
and I would again would in parenthetically I chair the China commission. We just put out our comprehensive
report on China. They just simply have changed how they do business. Not the fact that it allows guises and
continues and is a terrible blight on the government of China.
The report itself says the government only closed several of the 324 slavery sites and converted other reform
to labors facility into safe sponsored drug detention or custody and education centers. Again a great deal of
hype about this very little when it came to actually changing the system. In other words, China continues to
force detains its citizens before manual labor and yet got the tier upgrade. It was given for allegedly and in
this practice. I will note and remind my colleagues that we've had -- I've chaired 55 hearings on human rights
in China. Setting right were you set?
Years ago it was six members including a Tibetan upholding the ANSO (ph). We talked about the so called
reformed through labor camps. He held up a cattle prod and said, they put it here in our (groin) area and
that's how they get us where when we're reluctant to perform the mission, the 12, the 14 hours a day or more
that they are forced to be a part of work, so called reforms in labor. That hasn't changed. It's morphed into a
different but a very similar situation. In the end, that was the pretext for the upgrade.
Additionally, the Chinese course to population control policy, in combination with the cultural preference for
boys, has resulted in tens of millions of women and girls missing from the population making China a
regional nightmare (ph) for sex and drug trafficking as men who reached marrying age simply cannot find a
wife.
Just ask the Burmese, Cambodia, Vietnamese, Laosian and North Korean women imported to meet Chinese
demand. And let me say and note here as well, I wrote an update, it was in the Washing Times yesterday.
Nicholas ever said to an expert one or that was contained in the Washington journal. Another said -- spoken
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out about the so-called relaxation of one to two child has not changed one iota.
The coercive aspects of that population which will program in China with forced divorce and enforced
sterilization as the main stays and this terrible fee called that they imposed, fines, (inaudible) fine as a means
of implementation. So the continuance of missing girls will continue in China. And that will lead to more sex
trafficking.
We've had at this committee, a number of women who have been compelled to perform sex work, in other
words, sex trafficking from other nations. And there's been 90 percent of North Korean women seeking
asylum in China have been trafficked. We've had them sit here and tell their stories, the very few lucky ones.
And of course China breaks its words to the refugee convention and rather than providing them some kind of
dual remedy or protection, sends them right back to North Korea at the end of their exploitation where then
they are executed or send to death GULAG system.
Consider this, China convicted 35 traffickers last year in a country of $1.3 billion, 3, 5, not 3500, not 35,000,
35. Thailand, by contrast, a Tier3 country of 67 million people had 151 convictions in 2014. Nothing -- and I
say again, nothing in Chinese deplorable record in 2014 wants anything but a Tier 3 ranking. Thailand, by
contrast, is Tier3. China is with such small number, piddling number of convictions and government
complexity up and down the system is no longer a Tier3 country. I wrote the TVPA to allow flexibility and
discernment and rewarding a country for making progress over their record from year before and for
significant, not modest, or superficial changes efforts to go to prosecution's prevention and protection.
You know, having as three-day conference there or making something around the edges isn't what
constitutes significant. Tier rankings are a tool. They really change not a rubber stamp for simply holding a
meeting or being a major training partner. The rankings in this 2015 report seem to be a real opportunity of
loss for several countries not just for the countries we had gave a pass to but other countries where good
trade efforts were made but were not sufficiently acknowledged. No country will take U.S. trafficking ranking
seriously but there seems to be awaiting a non-agreement to look the other way when it suits U.S. business
or other interest. Tellingly, writers report that there was a lot of anxiety at the State department between the
trafficking experts, at the TIP office where I have the highest regard for and the viewers.
This year, the two sides split according to writers on 17 countries that they have (ph) lost almost all of those
conflicts. I look forward to our distinguished witnesses but I'd like to yield to my friend and colleague, Ms.
Bass for any comment.
BASS: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And as usual, I want to thank you for your leadership on this issue
and your creation of the TIP Report to begin with. I want to say that I share your concerns over Malaysia and
Malaysia is upgrading and say that there might be some people that come - some of our colleagues that,
"OK, good, good, good", that come and attend the session so that they can express their concerns over that.
I do - I don't though, however, share your concerns about Cuba and in fact, I've been impressed with the way
Cuba has responded to trafficking, especially sex trafficking and I remember, years ago when it was so
obvious and opened and flourishing and what I saw that take place is a absolute decline in this and the
Cuban government providing a lot of education. What was happening in the early years was that girls and
women from the countryside were coming through the city because there wasn't any employment.
And so to discourage that they provided a lot of education and they actually created a soap opera on T.V. that
was shown widely through out the country to educate people in the countryside and ask them not to come to
the city and get involved with this. So I do think that improvements have been made there and that it's
important for us to knowledge it.
In regard to doctors that go over and go to different countries, I have spoken with many of them and one of
the things that I think that we are doing that I hope we stop, especially with the change in policy toward Cuba
is to try to seduce some of the Cuban doctors that are practicing around the world from returning the Cuba
but actually to come to the United States.
And when see doctors that are providing healthcare in developing countries, to me, it's important that they
can continue to do that.
I also have to say that I often crunch when comparisons are made with other countries to slavery that took
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place in the United States and particular because, you know, you're talking about my ancestors who actually
don't even know who they were and when I think about our capital, our nations capital which was built with
slave labor, what we did is this that we rented the U.S. government, rented slaves from local plantations and
they built the U.S. capital and there's an acknowledgment of this in the capital's visitors center.
And so I think sometimes when those comparisons are made, it can minimize what actually took place in this
country for over 200 years. And then, in terms of the trafficking report, I'm always interested in trafficking that
takes place in the United States, in particular with girls who are in the foster care system. And I'm proud to
say that in my county, in Los Angeles, the sheriff's department as well as social services got together and our
sheriff's department have now adopted a policy where they will not arrest girls who are caught up in
trafficking, and that they will stop using the term "John" (ph) to refer to the Cham- Listers (ph) because that's
actually who they are.
So while we hold the world accountable and rightfully so, I think it's important that we continue to hold our
own country accountable and I appreciate that in the TIP Report, it does have a section on United States, but
I want to continue to call for our own country and, as a matter of fact, all 50 states to adopt the policy where
they will no longer arrest girls.
Thank you. With that, I yield back my time.
SMITH: Yield to Vice Chairman of the Committee Mr. Meadows.
MEADOWS: Thank you Mr. Chairman. Thank you for your eloquent remarks as you opened up this particular
hearing.
To my right, to your left, is the gentlewoman from Missouri Mr. Wagner and as the Ranking Member was
talking about putting the emphasis on what we do here in the United States, it is not only been her calling but
her passion too to address that and so I want to acknowledge, not only her presence, but her willingness to
engage on this horrific crime against for many practical purposes, young girls but not just young girls, young
boys, as we well know, but not only here in the United States but internationally. And so her presence here,
hopefully, underscores the importance that all members of congress, whether they're on this committee or
not, places on this particular topic.
I'm troubled by the trend that I see and I want to be very specific in terms of what I'm looking for today from
each one of you. I don't doubt the work that many of you do and the passion of which you do it. This is -some of you have been called to this and you see it as a personal mission and not just a profession. And I
thank you for that.
But I am troubled by what I see is a manipulation for political purposes of the TIPs report that basically has
elevated to a level beyond many of you who are seated here at that particular desk. I am troubled by the
reports, not only that the Chairman has mentioned, but specifically how we seemed to have all the up to
Secretary Kerry and those that are just shy for his position, intervening with regards to decisions on who will
be included and who will not be included.
So, let me be very clear.
Many times when we have a secretary or the undersecretary coming in to testify and things have not gone
well, they say that they oversee a vast agency of hundreds, if not thousands of different reporting,
supervisors and managers. And they couldn't individually way in on those when it comes to accountability,
but yet, as we started to do the analysis with who was included and was excluded, it appears that it goes to
the very highest levels within the state department and then weighing in on who should be on the report and
who should not.
That is troubling because once you get a way from those who best understand it, the decisions are political. It
is beyond my comprehension and certainly I find it extremely interesting that Malaysia would have been
removed from their status during a TTP negotiation process that is still going ongoing. And yet, we somehow
see this as being a pragmatic decision when very little on the ground appears to the change.
And I'm -- either the report in our efforts to correct these terrible crimes are meaningful or they become a
political tool and if they become a political tool then, indeed, we need to do a way with the agency in the very
report itself because it's nothing more than sending the wrong message that we don't think this serious.
Page 215
I am here today because I take this serious. I take it very serious. My daughter at 15 years of age brought
this particular subject really up-close and personal when she talked about what was happening in the United
States and abroad. And if we are not going to stand up and be a voice then who will. And so, I'm being direct.
I expect direct answers as we go into the question and answer period and specifically with what kinds of
intervention has taken place that could potentially be perceived as political.
And with that, Mr. Chairman, I would yield back.
SMITH: I recognize Mr. Cicilline.
CICILLINE: Thank you Mr. Chairman. I thank the witnesses for being here today and also thank you Mr.
Chairman and Ranking Member Bass for holding this hearing and for being such a leader in the fight against
human trafficking and particularly, both here in United States and around the world. And thank you Mr.
Chairman for your legislation that created the TIP Report and your early leadership on this issue.
The Trafficking in Persons Report, which was authorized by congress in 2000, is designed to be used as an
important tool in our international diplomacy to incentivize countries to take important steps to combat human
trafficking and sanction those who fall short.
Since the report inception more than 120 countries have enacted anti-trafficking laws and many countries
have taken other steps required to significantly raise their TIP rankings, siding the report as a key factor in
their increased anti-trafficking response. And that is why it is my judgment that it is particularly alarming and
really a shame that we're here today discussing what seems to be the obvious politicization of the report in
the context of Malaysia.
I do not make that statement lightly. I think that the men and women to the state department are dedicated
public servants who fight everyday to promote American values abroad. But it is nearly impossible. We're
looking into facts to include anything other than the determination to move Malaysia from tier 3 to tier 2 watch
list status because without sufficient justification and ill-advised at best.
Universally, advocates on the ground in the human trafficking community here in United States have reported
that Malaysia has made minimal progress and in fact this fall in some key areas in their anti-trafficking
campaign in the past year. Both the Washington Post and the New York Times editorial boards raised
concerns about this year's report.
Moreover the anti-trafficking amendments that were apparently taken into account to improve Malaysia's
score have still not been adopted. More than seven months after they were used impart to justify the change
in ranking. With TPP eligibility for Malaysia hinging on this determination, it certainly comes off as a political
one. I hope to hear a thorough explanation today of how this determination was made and by home. And I
fear that the damage has already been done.
Countries around the world, many of whom have made much more progress in their countries and then the
countries that we're going to be discussing today. We have seen the discussion around this year's report and
decided that politics is more important than their actions and that is a regrettable consequence.
So I hope to hear from our witnesses how the state department intense to take action to restore credibility to
this vitality important report and restore our credibility around the world in the issue of anti-trafficking efforts.
And with that, I yield back Mr. Chairman.
SMITH: Thank you. Mr. Donovan.
DONOVAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
From what I've heard my colleagues, if any of these, is true this is alarming so I'm going to yield the rest of
my time so we can hear from the witnesses. Thank you, sir.
SMITH: OK. Thank you. Without objection, we're joined by Ann Wagner and I like to recognize...
(Off-Mic)
WAGNER: Thank you very, very much, Mr. Chairman and I thank our witnesses for being here today to
testify, many of whom our good and loyal outstanding members of the state department of which I had the
pleasure of serving as a United States ambassador for four years.
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I applaud your work in this area. I applaud the Chairman's work lifelong work in this area along with Ranking
Member Bass and the kind and diligence of the committee in letting me come and testify on this very
important issue. And I thank you for convening this hearing to investigate the potential political interference in
this year's Trafficking in Persons Report.
I applaud the Committee's efforts to increase awareness of human trafficking, especially Chairman Smith
ongoing leadership and dedication to combating this terrible crime and if that's the most honorable (ph)
members of our society, both here in the United States of America and around the globe.
On July 27th, the state department published the 15th installment of the Trafficking in Persons Report. This
independent annual publication reached 188 countries on their efforts to combat human trafficking in
accordance with standards outlined in The Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
As a former United States Ambassador, I know well, very well how the TIP Report serves as an important
tool for pressuring countries to take meaningful action to address human rights violations.
Frankly, my very first introduction to the world of human trafficking both sex trafficking and labor trafficking,
girls, boys, men, women, all of the above came when I served at the state department. As a U.S.
ambassador, I was responsible for the TIP Report that came out of out of my mission. And thus, when I came
home from my tour of jury, I began to dive into this horrific crime against humanity and the most vulnerable
mostly young girls and women in the United States of America hundred work hard with many on this
committee and many through out congress in a bipartisan way to pass some of the most cutting edge
legislation that we have seen in many, many years on human trafficking here domestically.
I am pleased that the president signed into a law this past May. But it is absolutely the TIP Report is key, key
to addressing human rights violations.
This recent media reports indicate that political appointees meddled in the compilation of this publication by
challenging state department, human rights experts rating, recommendations for 17 politically strategic
countries and inflating the assessment of 14 of this.
Over the objections I am told of the state department's own experts, Malaysia and Cuba were among
countries upgraded from the blacklists of worst offenders on human trafficking.
Malaysia's unsubstantiated upgrade is particularly alarming because of its overt importance to the TransPacific Partnership. Congress has restricted TTP negotiations with countries that have the worst records in
combating human trafficking.
Malaysia was one of those countries. However, on the eve of July, TTP negotiating round, the state
department took Malaysia off its human rights blacklists by upgrading its status from a tier 3 to the less
incriminating tier 2 watch list rating.
If it is true that the administration politicize this report, there are questions about why they chose to
significantly, significantly diminish a tool that has been effective in fighting the scourge of human trafficking
around the world.
United States cannot be a leader in the fight against human trafficking if we do not honestly assess the state
of the problem for all countries. Even our own and most importantly, including trading partners like Malaysia.
The U.S. cannot allow political interest to outweigh the safety and the freedom of the thousands of the traffics
men, women and children. We have to hold governments accountable for their actions.
I welcome the continuing investigations into the sheriff's JIP TIP Report and I would urge the administration
to remain vigilant against any attempts to circumvent the veracity of future TIP Reports and the protection
they provide. I thank again the Chairman, the Ranking Member and other members of the committee for the
kind and diligence. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
SMITH: Curt, you want -- Curt, you want to -- any opening statements?
CLAWSON: Thank you for coming. I like you a lot. I yield back.
SMITH: OK. Thank you. Thank you.
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Let me now introduce our very distinguished panel beginning with Dr. Kari Johnstone who is the Principal
Deputy Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. She began serving in this role on
November 2014.
Previously, she served in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the Office of International
Religious Freedom. She also served as the director for Russia and Central Asia at the National Security Staff
of the White House, as an election officer at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan and the human rights officer at
the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan.
Without objection, your full resumes will be made a part of the record.
Then I would like to introduce Mr. James Carouso who is the acting deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau
of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He joined the Department of State in 1995, having (ph) a 14 year career in
International Banking and Finance.
Most recently, Mr. Carouso was served as the councilor for economic affairs at the U.S. Embassy in
Indonesia. Prior to that, he served with the state department in a variety of economic commercial roles into
the Mexican (ph) republic, South African and Australia, Thailand and Cypress.
And finally, we'll hear from, in his palm, Mr. Alex Lee who served as deputy assistant secretary for South
America and Cuba in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. He is a career member of the Senior
Foreign Service and was named to his current position in February of 2014.
Mr. Lee has the biannual U.S. delegation to the Migration Talks with Cuba 2013 and '14 and he was deputy
chief of mission at the U.S. Interest Section in Cuba.
Prior to joining the State Department, Mr. Lee was staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Dr. Johnstone, the floor is yours.
JOHNSTONE: Thank you Chairman Smith and members of this Committee for inviting us here today to talk
about the 2015 Trafficking in Persons or TIP Report. It has been my honor to be associated with TIP Report
and to lead the work of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons in recent months.
I also want to thank Deputy Assistant Secretary Alex Lee and Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Jim Carouso
for testifying alongside me.
Producing the annual TIP Report is a year-round Department-wide effort involving hundreds of staff in
Washington and at U.S. embassies and consulates around the world. The final report reflects the
Department's best assessment of foreign government efforts to comply with the minimum standards to
eliminate trafficking in persons as outlined in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act or TVPA.
I know how important the issue of modern slavery is to Congress. On behalf of the entire department, I want
to thank your commitment to this issue and Mr. Chairman for you authorship of this important legislation.
We were thrilled that your colleagues in the senate have recently confirmed our new ambassador at large the
head the TIP Office in Coppedge. Last week, Ambassador of Coppedge and the TIP Office recognized the
15th anniversary of the TVPA.
Over these last 15 years, we have learned that the TVPA's legal framework is what makes the TIP Report
such an effective tool in combating human trafficking across the globe. Since the passage of the TVPA, the
TIP Report has helped to draw a public attention to the issue of human trafficking and prompted foreign
governments to take meaningful steps to address this crime.
It is often referred to as the gold standard for and I have learned during my time leading the TIP Office that it
truly lives up to this designation. Not only is it one of the most effective diplomatic tools our government has
for encouraging a foreign government to take action and make progress in combating modern slavery, it also
gives voice to the many stakeholders working on the front lines of the problem, whether they be government
officials who want to see change in their country, activists who confront the crime wherever it occurs, or
professionals providing services to victims around the world. And it conveys the human face of the world's
trafficking crimes to its readers.
There is much to be proud of in this Report. As always, the narratives tier ranking reflects the government
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effort to increase prosecutions, improve protections and enhance victim effort, I'm sorry -- prevention efforts
to combat modern slavery, not the extent of human trafficking in any particular country.
We saw a tangible progress in many places in the world, many governments adopted new anti-trafficking
laws or improved existing laws, strengthened their law enforcement efforts to convict and punish traffickers,
increased inter-governmental coordination to combat human trafficking by establishing senior-level bodies
and adopting national action plans, and improved victim protection measures.
Between April 2014 and March 2015, Afghanistan, Angola, Barbados, the Czech Republic, Eritrea, Sierra
Leone, and Sudan all became parties to the 2000 U.N. TIP Protocol, which we also referred to as a
preliminary (ph) protocol. Of the 188 countries and territories assessed in the 2015 TIP Report, 18 countries
were upgraded this year.
Unfortunately, we also saw efforts fall short in the 18 countries that were downgraded. Much work remains,
and all of us must continue to improve our efforts to fight this crime. We will continue to use the report to
elevate human trafficking and encourage governments to implement the actions recommended in the TIP
Report.
Secretary Kerry personally raises the issue with foreign leaders, as he recently did in both Cuba and
Malaysia. Ultimately, the purpose of the report and our shared goal is to effect change.
We continuously review how we can use the report even more effectively as a lever year around to motivate
tangible progress around the world. For example, I just returned from a productive trip to Thailand, Malaysia,
Hong Kong, and China during which I urged these governments to make stronger efforts to implement the
recommendation in the 2015 TIP Report. I was pleased to see that every official I met was aware of their tier
designation in the TIP Report.
I won't claim that all of these officials fully agreed with our assessments, but the report and minimum
standards have clearly focused attention on the realities of modern slavery and the tangible steps required to
combat this crime. It was also clear in each country I visited last month that officials in our embassies and
consulates are regularly engaged in their host government to improve their anti- trafficking efforts and to
implement the TIP Report recommendations.
Amidst all the important information found in the annual TIP Report, one message becomes clear year after
year, human trafficking is a challenge in nearly every corner of the globe including here in the United States.
Governments all over the world, including those on tier 1, struggled to keep up with a crime that affects
millions of individuals compelled into service for sex or labor or both. We must all continuously improve our
efforts to fight and end this crime.
We know our work is critical. We remain committed to addressing these challenges. And we look forward to
helping create a world free from modern slavery.
Thank you
SMITH: Anything you like to add? I know it's a joint statement but please.
CAROUSO: Thank you Chairman Smith and members of the Subcommittee. It is a privilege to testify with Dr.
Kari Johnstone, who's acknowledge expert on this issue, has done so much of combat trafficking across the
region.
I welcome her appreciation for inviting us here today to talk about 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report and I
want to again acknowledge the work of this committee and to Mr. Chairman on the importance of this report,
for the work we do in our embassies across the region.
As Dr. Johnstone explained producing the TIP Report is a year- round department-wide effort involving all of
our embassies and consulates around the world. As a Foreign Service Officer I had experience myself when
I served in Thailand. I was in the boarder of China, I was led to a room to look garlic, a mountain of garlic and
all these young women peeling the garlic speak in Chinese, obviously, they didn't belong in Thailand.
The credibility that we have with (ph) embassy and as U.S. embassy employees, in using tools like the TIP
Report helps us solve problems like that that's why I proud (inaudible) deal things like that.
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It's truly is the TIP Report one of the best diplomat tools we have to ensure the governments across region
takes seriously the efforts to combat trafficking in persons. Our progress is insufficient as unfortunately, as
number of countries in Asia Pacific, the recommendations of the TIP Report provide guidance, concrete
guidance, to our embassies and consulates oversees as they carryout their diplomatic through this as the
Ambassador was saying.
EIP and TIP Office collaborate closely with foreign governments international partners to combat trafficking.
EIP and the TIP Office also work very closely with federal partners to provide foreign assistance to combat
human trafficking, particularly the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, Population
Refugees and Migration, our Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor USAID and the Department of
Labor.
The TIP Office is currently funds 20 projects in 14 EAP countries and like -- let's just highlight a few examples
of this bilateral engagement.
In the Philippines, Civil Society Organizations are providing Law Enforcement, Training Support to arrest the
online commercial sexual exploitation of children.
Across the Pacific Islands, we fund programs to enhance victim protections, strength an anti trafficking
investigations and prosecutions.
In Thailand, we reach and collaborate with Department of Homeland Security to embed the agents with the
real type police's Anti- Trafficking Division. And we're considering ways to replicate that model in other
countries.
Our approach to traffic is not limited just bilateral engagements to impart to the focus, the U.S. government
places on combating traffic within the region. We're working with ASEAN on the Association Southeast Asian
Nations as a to come close to endorsing a convention on trafficking persons and the State Department is
planning to fund regional ASEAN projects to help meet the requirements of this convention.
Year round even after the course is complete. It was official to every level from ambassadors down to the
most senior officer, regularly engaged towards governments and trafficking issues.
From my own experience, I know that these efforts are willing to be (ph) informed with this overall strategic
plan as well as your daily work. And thanks largely to the effectiveness of the reports to your ranking system
we're able to reach progress.
Armed with these rankings, the TIP office, EAP, and our post overseas will continue to be able to effectively
collaborate in programs and different strategies better combating discourage in the future.
Once again, I truly thank you and we look forward to your questions.
SMITH: Thank you sir very much.
Mr. Lee.
LEE: I have a short statement. Thank you Chairman Smith and Members of the Committee for the
opportunity to develop and present remarks about the 2015 Trafficking in Persons report.
This courage of modern-day trafficking in persons touches every region of the globe including that of the
Western Hemisphere, and the Bureau of the Western Hemisphere Affairs takes trafficking in persons and the
challenge of addressing effective solutions to it very seriously.
We regularly engaged with partner governments to encourage the prosecution of traffickers, provide
protection to victims and to provide programs for prevention. Our embassy personnel on the front lines of this
diplomatic engagement, whether at the senior level of our front office of our ambassadors. Whether at our
working level with the ministries of Foreign Affairs, justice for the security of public security ministries, and in
addition, our embassy personnel provide the reporting that informs much of the annual trafficking in person
we report.
U.S. Programs, it promotes rule of law, good governance, citizen security, and economic prosperity
throughout the Western Hemisphere, seek to address the underlying factors that allow trafficking in persons
to persist. For example, the Department of State funds capacity building of law enforcement and immigration
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officials in the region to scream and identify victims of human trafficking and to investigate and prosecute
those cases.
We work closely with the office to monitoring and combat trafficking in persons and partner governments to
compile the most accurate information that will allow us and our partners to assess government efforts and
work towards the most effective solutions. I look forward to answering you questions.
SMITH: Thank you very much for you testimony. And again, thanks to all of you for being here today.
Can we just ask you? When it came to, again, in light of the various (ph) reports, in light of concerns and
must have (ph) about Malaysia, China, some of us at least have strong concerns about Cuba and
Uzbekistan, and even Vietnam. I mean Vietnam has complexity in traffic in particularly labor trafficking. Did
any other concern, other than trade such as the trade factor in any way come into play with the
administration's decision to upgrade Malaysia or Cuba or China?
Again, I read the report on Cuba three times and it's excellent. It frames it. It gets it. It captures the
information based on everything else I know and other sources and yet it doesn't warn and upgrade and I'm
wondering in light of the reproach once reproach (ph), once it occurred between Washington and Havana
was that in any way a part of this? Anyway, because I would think that the TIP report made recommendations
and, perhaps, you might want to speak to that. There should be more transparency in this process. I know
very often the default is to say we can't say what we recommended but we didn't know that.
This is all about a gross (ph) human rights abused that disproportionately now affects women and children
and, you know, as I said in my opening, you know, China had 35 convictions watch list. Thailand had 151
convictions Tier3, Malaysia had three convictions and Cuba is down in a single digit as well. You know,
Thailand must feel aggrieved. It was just the position of these other countries that upgrades and there
appears to be other issues that come into play.
I would note, parenthetically that I was ever more proud and I made very strong support of Israel and South
Korea, but during the previous administration both Israel and South Korea were designated as Tier3
countries, because that's where the evidence took the administration. And frankly both countries did robust
things and tremendous things. South Korea passed new laws and certainly, you know, I met with the
Ambassador from Israel several times. They're reporting, they are closing up of ruffles (ph) just was it was
extraordinary and they got off Tier3 and in the old fashion way, they earned it. But then you look at the -- was
there any other factor in this continual of decision made by TIP goes on to the assistant secretaries, the
deputy, that does this (ph) or right up to Secretary Kerry and to President Obama. And if you could and I
hope you will, if you could provided us with, who made these decisions at the end of the day.
BASS: Thank you very much Mr. Chairman, if I may begin at least to answer that question. This year when
we prepared the 2015 TIP report as in previous years, it was a truly deliberative fact-based process of
discussions between our experts throughout the State department and both at our embassy, the council to
overseas with our colleagues in regional bureaus here in Washington and experts in the TIP office.
That is the same process that we use. Every year, we compare and assess government's efforts against -that own government's efforts the previous year against the minimum standards that's outlined in the TVPA.
Specifically looking at those criteria and whether or not the government has and they've made significant
efforts to fulfill those minimum standards. That is the process that was true for all of the countries this year.
We made these decisions. Ultimately the final chair designations are made by the secretary of State this year
as they are every year by the authority given to him in the TVPA so the decisions are in fact here to make not
the TIP report off -- not the TIP office or others in the State department but again your recommendations are
certainly...
SMITH: That you do make a recommendation as to what the designation should be. When there is a split of
-- I mean you've done -- no one knows more about it than you and the date enclosed and what else to the
various embassies because they're on the ground and they know and in 15 years later, we are really getting
it right because every embassy I go to and there were many, I always asked who's doing TIP here and I'm
always impressed just how seriously they take this, but again my big question is like with Malaysia, did TVPA
play a role in that upgrade?
BASS: Yes. The secretary himself has said publicly that TVPA did not come into it. He did not consult others
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in the administration nor did do I pass to the USCR, when I have no knowledge of that came up in any other
official's discussions on this as your designation for Malaysia or any other country.
SMITH: How about with regards to Cuba? Again the report is excellent in its detail and I mean when a
country doesn't even acknowledge his force labor when it pimps out girls who are 16 and we know that the
government runs the infrastructure for hotels and the like and it is a very, very cruel exploitation of young girls
and young boys. And I'm just wondering, who, you know, what was your recommendation of TIP and then to
the bureau? Was it to keep it at Tier3, Cuba?
BASS: As you yourself indicated we don't discussed the internal deliberations (ph) and recommendations of
the different parts of the State Department and there is a robust discussion in the vast majority of cases. We
reached consensus at the expert level and discussions don't go further.
There are some cases that the evidence may be pointing at different directions as, you know, yourself within
the minimum standards. Therefore minimum standards and 12 indicia and the fourth one as there are a lot of
different factors we're looking and some cases they all point in the same direction of either progress or left
thereof. In some cases they're mixed as was the case in Malaysia that we saw increase prosecutions and
investigations that it declined any convictions. So when we do have more complicated situation like that, the
discussions do go further of the chain and ultimately the secretary makes this.
SMITH: But again on this increased prosecutions is that objecting the testimony of most reverent, the Bishop
of Seattle Alonzo, who lead a -- that recently the catholic conference who lead a delegation to Malaysia. They
make to the point that despite the presence of an anti-trafficking law, the delegation learning that the
government office literary no protection or rescue the victims and then very issue we just mentioned on
Malaysia's arrest -- increase arrest for human traffickers. The conviction rate remains low due to the ability to
the traffickers deprive (ph) or threat officials.
That's exactly what we thought we corrected in previous deliberations of the TVPA and it's all about, you
know, such as how many arrest you make, it didn't put that out as a - the unlike, yeah, we're looking all this
arrests. What's good it is if there's no convictions and nobody does real time or have their assets seized on
the day it gleamed (ph) to search in the various enterprise. So again, if there is a way you can tell us who
made this -- I mean TPP had no impact on this. Mr. Carouso you might want speak to that?
I mean the Senate was very robust and including my senior senator in raising this issue about Melendez and
so, you know, I can tell you in every meeting I was ever in to discuss this -- the discussions are strictly related
to the facts of the trafficking in person situation in the country which is involved and that include the reports
you got in from the embassy.
JOHNSTONE: If I may add, also you asked about the importance of the TVPA and the criteria outlines there
in the discussions of absolutely they are central, and in the case of Malaysia, we did look across the three
Ps. And as you noted, we have serious concerns about victim protection in Malaysia that has been our
number one recommendation last several years in the TIP report encouraging the government to
fundamentally change how it treats trafficking victims.
They have essentially been held in government shelters that essentially served as detention facilities where
the victims have neither free to improvement nor the right to work and that has been our top priority
recommendation in the last several years, because as you point out, it is a very serious concern.
The government did make significant efforts over the course of the 2015 reporting period in the 2014
calendar year to improve that and the amendments that were passed just after the reporting period ended.
Do you seek to fundamentally revise that system? We are consciously optimistic that once they're
implemented they will make meaningful progress in this area but that was the number one.
SMITH: I have more question because two of our members do have to leave. I'd like to yield to Ms. Bass and
then to Mr. Cicilline (ph).
BASS: Thank you. I really appreciate that. You know, I wanted to ask you about online trafficking. And it's
certainly a growing problem especially in the U.S., when there's like large sporting events like the Super Ball
for example and there was this big huge bust on sex trafficking then their sites like back page and Craig (ph)
listened and even Facebook and so, I wanted to know what efforts within the Federal Government are being
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made to curtail and then also is this is an international phenomena?
JOHNSTONE: We are defiantly tracking that issue both in the United States. Our colleagues and our parts of
the Federal Government are increasing their efforts on that in terms of law enforcement efforts to try to
identify traffickers who are using online methods to find their victims. We unfortunately are also seeing that is
a growing trend in some other countries. The Philippines for example it's an area that we have focused on so
both through our diplomatic efforts but also our programming efforts. We're trying to get a better handle on
this because it does seem to be an increasing problem in the world.
(OFF-MIKE)
(UNKNOWN): Thank you Mr. Chairman. So Dr. Johnstone your testimony today, let me be clear is that no
other factor other than trafficking issues. No trade issues, no domestic policy issues have entered in and the
decisions to either raise or lower the status of any of these countries this year, is that your testimony?
JOHNSTONE: In all of the discussions that we had within the typically...
(UNKNOWN): I'm not asking about difficulty (ph). I'm asking about your testimony here today, is that your
testimony that it did not play a factor?
JOHNSTONE: None of the discussions with respect to the recommendations that were made by colleagues
in regional bureaus or the TIP Office included any other factors other than trafficking itself. I cannot speak to
the discussions that took place among...
(UNKNOWN): I'm not asking about discussions, OK. You've given a great answer to a question I didn't ask.
I'm talking about consideration that there's a difference between discussion and what is really considered in
terms of the way that a decision has arrived at and I'm just saying that the evidence wouldn't support that
there was not other mitigating factors and I want to know what your testimony is here today because that -you're leaving us that direction and I want to make sure that we're clear.
JOHNSTONE: The decisions on the three rankings themselves were made by the secretary of State. He
himself has publicly said no other factors came in to it and that is the full...
(UNKNOWN): I'm asking for your testimony. You're here today. If he was here I'd ask him the same question
but I'm asking for your testimony.
JOHNSTONE: Any of the recommendations that were made by my colleague.
(UNKNOWN): Yes or no. And I need to know yes or no?
JOHNSTONE: There were no factors other than the TVPA criteria to my knowledge.
(UNKNOWN): OK. Are you and Mr. Carouso are you willing to give us your split memos or split reports in
supplying to this committee as it relates to the decisions and how they came?
JOHNSTONE: The State Department does not share the internal...
(UNKNOWN): I know they don't. I said are you willing to give them, because that would help us eliminate the
decision making process without you having to way in on it personally and do you not think that the American
people have a right to know?
JOHNSTONE: I believed that the question of what information we would share and what documents we're
able to share is being discussed currently by...
(UNKNOWN): Do you think that the American people have a right to know?
JOHNSTONE: I have the right to know about how we...
(UNKNOWN): Arrived in this horrific crimes and whether we trade with them, how, how it would be trade? Do
you think the American people have the right to know? It's an easy question.
JOHNSTONE: I think it's very important to the American people how we address the issue and I think that
these -- the facts speak for themselves and then reports themselves.
(UNKNOWN): All right, so will you supply the split memo to this Committee?
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JOHNSTONE: I will have to consult with my colleague's back on the State Department what documentation
we're ready to provide.
(UNKNOWN): Are you saying that you're prohibited. Because I don't believe you're prohibited.
JOHNSTONE: I'm saying I don't have the authority to decide what documentation the State Department...
(UNKNOWN): All right Mr. Carouso, are you willing to give us your split memos?
CAROUSO: I agree with Dr. Johnstone. I have to go back to my processing.
(UNKNOWN): Well, you guys are -- I'm sure you prepared for this hearing today and as you were preparing
for this hearing I believe that you would anticipate that this particular question would have come up and so
when you prepared -- what was the decision was made? Were you going to give that information to this
Committee or not? Mr. Carouso?
CAROUSO: I never asked her.
(UNKNOWN): OK, All right, so let me ask you this. There were 17 different cases. Of the 17 cases the initial
recommendations were only adhere to according to my information in three times, three out of 17. That's a
batting average of 175. Normally it wouldn't put you on the Kansas City Royals with that kind of a batting
average, so if your recommendation was only followed and not overruled that's the way that I view it, being
overruled by people up the line only out of 17 times you were overruled 14 times. Would you say that that is
indicative of people up the line making a decision that may not be based on those closest to the information?
JOHNSTONE: And that would certainly not the how I would characterize it. I do believe that the entire State
Department takes the issue very seriously and our obligation.
(UNKNOWN): I'm not denying that, what I'm giving at is it appears that Secretary Kerry and the
undersecretary made a decision in six of the 17 cases is that correct?
JOHNSTONE: That we are not discussing internal positions that...
(UNKNOWN): That's not an internal position. That's just saying how many times did they weigh in? Did they
weigh in six times or not?
JOHNSTONE: That the internal discussion process in which countries who waited on -- we are considered to
be the in terms deliberation process and...
(UNKNOWN): I appreciate that but, you know, what it appears is that you're coming here. We're asking very
specific and not difficult questions and yet you seem to want to avoid those -- Wendy Sherman, who I have a
great deal of respect for, admire weighed in on 11 countries, is that correct?
JOHNSTONE: I'm not able to comment on the internal deliberation.
(UNKNOWN): Not able or not willing?
JOHNSTONE: Not able.
(UNKNOWN): So you're saying by statue you're not allowed to tell this Committee, who has oversight of this
particular issue?
Is that your testimony?
JOHNSTONE: That the way that the process goes with in the State Department, we have expert level
discussions within our office and...
UNKNOWN: Are you willing to have us review that when we're not in a public forum with just members of
both the Minority and the Majority looking those split memos, are you willing to do that?
JOHNSTONE: That is certain something I will -- can tell with my colleagues on it.
UNKNOWN: When will you have an answer back to this committee?
JOHNSTONE: As soon as we possibly can.
UNKNOWN: So within seven days?
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JOHNSTONE: That should be possible, I believe.
UNKNOWN: All right. I yield back. Thank you.
SMITH: Let me just follow up and continue my questioning and then I yield to Mr. Cicilline. We do have a
break with five votes on the floor. Take about 20 minutes if we will make the last one or the first commission
saying it just with regards to Vietnam.
Now I've chaired -- I would see it on human (inaudible) that I've gotten passed three times in the Congress,
I've been there. We know that labor trafficking is a huge problem.
The first case it was prosecuted successfully was against Vietnamese leaders of from Daiwa (ph) and that
was the first conviction that was gleamed (ph) from that law.
Mark Lagon from Freedom House also our former ambassador, he said excellent point to the upgrade of the
Vietnam to Tier 2 is bewildering in points that there is that other absence of prosecutions for labor trafficking
as well as official complicity which we know is a huge problem with that hearing is on just that.
Vietnams complicity with human trafficking and I'm wondering why they're even -- and the Chinese issue as I
said on my opening comments to reforms through labor.
I'm probably the only member along with -- who's ever been in a one soon after the Tiananmen Square
Massacre, we met 40 Tiananmen Square or so we were in live and talk to him (ph), protesters who had
shaved heads and look like concentration camp victims. The (inaudible) guy has not been dismantled, it's
marked into something else, that it's still hardly (ph) repressive. And again that was the pretext for upgrading
China.
My hope is that China ought to be Tier 3, whether or not you sanction them, it's all up to you. You know,
there's huge discretion there. But in term of looking at the facts from the ground whether it be sex trafficking
or labor trafficking, China is a basket case and it's a race at the bottom of North Korea on these issues and
yet superpower considerations maybe were mitigating factors there.
And that's what, you know, Mr. Meadows and I and so many others are trying to get out, where other issues
involved intervening issues like opening an embassy in both Havana and Washington, China being a
superpower.
I mean this TIP Report is scared. We've got to get it right and pull no punches ,you know, say it exactly the
way it is assign tier ranking is exactly they want to be. And then what you do on sanctions is all up to you.
The second shoe that needs to drop which we seem to be late in hearing from -- anyway, when it comes to
the sanctions part which we thought would be in September.
So if you could on Vietnam and China and again answer on the record whether any intervening issues
whether or not it was discussed, you know, that could be plausible deniability. We never discussed and so we
could say in front of a committee that there was never discussion on other issues. But it's the 64 tiny
elephant in the room wherever that metaphor is -- what was the TPP where we have many members on both
side of aisle disproportionally Democrat who feel at the system was gained. I believed it was gained on
Malaysia.
Again part of Thailand, looking at those conviction numbers, China, 35 convictions, Thailand, 151, Malaysia,
three. I mean that's a cool joke. So, please if you could adjust that and as well our distinguish guests.
JOHNSTONE: Do you have a preference which country we take first?
SMITH: Any order you would like to answer.
JOHNSTONE: One thing I just wanted to point out quickly, you mentioned the sanctions and waivers peace.
The White House did in fact really send information in October. I was looking for the date so we can get you
the exact date. That wasn't indeed, I'm really sorry. And I think, perhaps, my colleague can talk about
Vietnam. I'm happy to talk about China.
UNKNOWN: OK. I think what impressed us in Vietnam would arrest of 685 suspected traffickers, and
prosecute 472 and convicted 413. Most sentence range from three to 15 years imprisonment. Within 1000
country trafficking victims were identified by the protection and integrates support to another 668.
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We also participate and joined investigations and rescue operations in neighboring countries. You know, in
2012, Vietnam's anti-trafficking law expand this specifically define a criminalized sex and labor trafficking as
punishment from two to 20 years and three to 25 years imprisonment is also increase the number officials we
see at the anti-trafficking training. So, all those factors way they on the Tier 2 ranking.
You know, the part (ph) of issue here is that the problems are horrific as you point out and when were doing
these rankings, it's dredging (ph) a country against itself because we try measuring countries against other
countries then it gets really, really complicated (inaudible).
So, Vietnam made some progress and even the miserable number of three convictions in Malaysia. Yes, that
was terrible. So now we're working with them to train officials of how you prosecute these cases and they
welcomed that. We're working with them on how to get the implementing regulations right on the
amendments that you passed so that it can't be loop holes which means they can't get the convictions later
on.
And again, getting to the bottom line, we are encourage modestly by Malaysia's apparent effort to address
this issue with seriousness and this report and you committees passion about that which we point out every
chance we get that this is being watched very, very carefully.
It with the answer to a higher authority, they know. Deputy Prime Minister Zahid of Malaysia was here just a
couple of weeks a go. And Secretary Kerry's point this out to him in a very short clear words and he promised
how he would personally make sure these issues were addressed. Anyway, I just -- I wanted to really
emphasize that. (Inaudible) what about China?
JOHNSTONE: Sure, I can take a word about China...
SMITH: Please.
JOHNSTONE: ... if you would like. When I was there last week, I reinforced the serious concern that I know
you share and that Deputy Secretary Blinken when he raise (ph) when he was in China as well. We are
deeply concern about the situation of human trafficking in China particularly they need to take robust steps to
address forced labor including in state facilities, we raise that quite directly.
We are also concerned about women and children who may be trafficking victims that are not screened and
identify the trafficking victims and may in fact to be arrested. And ultimately, either prosecuted or deported if
they're not Chinese for crimes that they committed as result to being victims rather than treated as victims.
We are also concerned that the government has forcedly (inaudible) North Koreans as you mentioned. We
continue to raise these issues both in the report and our engagement with the government.
I must say that in my conversations last week with Chinese officials, I was somewhat pleasantly surprised by
there openness to share information with us. The efforts that they are taking to address particularly sex
trafficking and their joint training.
Hopefully, this can be a foundation that we can help them build better understanding of the crime.
One of the things that I left to the country is outlined in the U.N preliminary (ph) protocol in particularly
focused on issues in -- more expensive than our law or than (inaudible), and other horrible crimes that we
just don't call human trafficking like organ harvesting and organ trafficking, illegal adoption. We talked a lot
about the issue of forced marriage and trafficking amongst those women as you yourself mention, Mr.
Chairman. There's plenty to be concerned about in China.
We do indeed measure the government's efforts again its own efforts in previous years which is why China
remained in Tier 2 Watch List based on separating (ph) in previous years what we do believe to be
increasing law enforcement efforts.
We have serious concerns that we will continue to raise with them and hopefully we will some progress in the
future. I think my colleague also wanted to...
UNKNOWN: What is report this morning that India has been preventing trafficking, they consider families
granted trafficking increases for the U.S. from Limbos (ph) on convictions or victims identified and assisted,
I'm not sure why -- how they could be in Tier 2 country as well but now they're even -- I mean don't give out
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(inaudible) basically we do due diligence that I plugged the administration claiming as -- it's fraudulent (ph).
And Cuba too.
(OFF-MIKE)
UNKNOWN: Thank you.
JOHNSTONE: If I could just mention...
UNKNOWN: Thank you Chairman. You -- in you opening presentation whether of diplomatic relations and I
can answer...
LEE: We've done TIP have some issues and there was a distinct change on the Cuban side after they see it
to the Palermo. What happen after that was kind of an accelerated bilateral engagement. They had never
occurred before. And so, in the sense, our understanding -- in the prevention greatly, you know, first video
conference of TIP experts sort of very senior level on both countries.
In March of 14th, we had a joint JTEP and WHA visit to Havana looking at what the Cuban government was
doing on the ground in a way that we had never had access to.
In February 2015, under Secretary (inaudible) had a meeting with the main Cuban Foreign Ministry official
responsible for United States, again, to emphasis the importance of TIP in our bilateral relationship.
A month later a technical level group of TIP -- Cuban TIP experts came to the United States for a series of
technically focused meetings...
SMITH: Mr. Lee, if you could just suspend and we'll come right back to you as soon as -- we do have run
zero. We're out of time for voting for Mr. Cicilline. So we're going to run over and vote. We'll be back in about
20 minutes and I apologize for the interruption and for the inconvenience to all of you.
Stay in the recess.
The subcommittee will resume -- it's a sitting and again I apologize for that lengthy delay. You were -- Mr.
Lee, still press the (inaudible) if you would continue.
LEE: Thank you, Chairman. I was essentially kind of going through a litany of engagements but to make the
larger point that our understanding what the Cuban government does and does not do has greatly increase
in the past couple of years. And in a sense has been a beneficiary of kind of the more constructive
engagement between the two governments in those areas, both governments have decide to work on in a
cooperative manner of which trafficking in person is one of those.
So, for all of the areas that we have reported and identified in the TIP Report on Cuba that we need to work
on, we have established with the Cuban government, you know, a ongoing process of sharing information
that allows us to make our points and also understand what they are doing and what they're not doing and
that's basically the point I wanted to make.
SMITH: Thank you, sir. You know, if you if you could Mr. Carouso speak to the India issue, if you'd like. And
merely touch on, you know, the T.V. report today of the Indian government being very hostile towards that.
But also what do we have, I mean, some of the earlier hearings we had in this Committee were on very, very
young Indian girls who were trafficked -- that the police I remember -- I was actually in Nigeria in between
stops on the trip and I watched an unbelievably incisive CNN report that talked about in half hour what I had
heard from a number of the witnesses from India for years about how the place were tipped off right before a
brothel raid where under aged girl some as young as 10 were quickly scooted out the building so that they
could not be rescued because there was informant within the Police Department.
And, you know, one of the things that are TIP minimum (ph) standards emphasis that police are part of the
government and (inaudible) compositely (ph) by the police, or prosecutors or judges or anyone else in law
enforcement that too constitutes, you know, a violation of minimum standards.
So, you could speak to India if you would and then I'll yield to the (inaudible)
CAROUSO: Actually EAP doesn't cover India so I'm going to differ to Kari.
JOHNSTONE: So I will in fact to speak with you. We do have series concerns about the trafficking situation
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in India. We absolutely share your concern about such appalling stories that we unfortunately do hear
coming out of India.
The government of India does not fully comply with the minimum standards with the elimination of trafficking
but it is making significant efforts to do so in our assessment.
During the reporting period the government continued to fund shelter and rehabilitation services for women
and children through out India. We train the prosecutors and judges and upon order of the Supreme Court
several stage months searches to trace to where about of thousand of lost and abandoned children,
including we believe potential trafficking victims.
The governments law enforcement in progress was unclear however as you stated that the government did
not provide adequate disaggregated anti-trafficking data. And official complicity remained the serious concern
that we share with you as well, Mr. Chairman. We continue to be troubled that victims were sometimes
penalized through arrest for crimes committed as the results of being subjective to human trafficking.
And then many anti-human trafficking units which be is with other agencies and refer victims to shelters were
not functioning. NGOs assess the government victim care services were inconsistent and inadequate for the
skill of India's trafficking problem. We therefore remain concerned about the series human trafficking situation
in India including force abandoned (ph) labor.
On the T.V. issue that you mentioned, I also would like to say that is concern that we share. We are deeply
concerned by the reports that some Indian national is holding U.S. T.V.s as have experienced travel
restrictions.
As you noted, this is an important protection that the United States provides two trafficking victims and we
take that very seriously.
The current status of the Indian policy as even the Reuters story that came out today indicated is unclear. We
continue to ask the Indian government both to fully repeal the policy and give us the better understanding of
what they are doing. We have engaged repeatedly both in Washington and within India through our mission
at very high levels.
Ambassador Susan Coppedge will be heading there again this month in which we -- we will definitely raise
the issue of the T.V. as well as the other -- these other concerns that we have about human trafficking.
CICILLINE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you again to our witnesses for your work and for your
testimony. I really want to focus my questions on Malaysia. And I've looked carefully at the 2014 TIP Report.
And when you compare the 2014 and 2015 TIP Report, the bulk of the recommendations that the department
makes regarding Malaysia are substantially the same.
For example, they both report they need to amend Malaysia's anti-trafficking law, to provide protective
services to all victims, to implement procedures to identify labor trafficking victims, to offer alternatives to
deportation to countries who are victims with -- oppression, to increase average to notify migrant workers
who arrived and to better cooperate with other governments in the region.
They look like the same recommendations.
And so my first question really is if the government of Malaysia had made a good faith effort (ph) to improve
its anti-trafficking efforts. Why did the government fulfill so few of the recommendations that relay in 2014 TIP
Report?
JOHNSTONE: If I may begin by noting that there recommendations in the TIP Report, generally are quite
broad and long term. And they're usually meant to help get a government -- to bringing government to full
compliance with the minimum standards. So they're not short term or small and very frequently if you look at
different countries as well you would find it from year to year, many in the recommendations are repeated
even if there is tier movement because they're maybe some progress in one area the recommendation but
not other. So that is something that we would see in many countries...
CICILLINE: But again the point is that they should use some of those before they change position on their
rankings not just...
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JOHNSTONE: And they may indeed be making significant efforts toward fulfilling those recommendations
with out completely fulfilling recommendation, which I think we could say is the case of Malaysia in 2015.
We had said -- I mentioned earlier for several years that our primarily top recommendation our biggest
concern was how victims are treated in Malaysia and with the adoption of amendments to their law, we do
believe that if fully implemented the new law would fundamentally change the victim protection system.
CICILLINE: But to be clear, those recommendations were not adopted at the time of the issuance of the TIP
Report. In fact, it says specifically, there were draft amendments that were made to existing anti-trafficking
law. The Cabinet approved to draft amendments and introduce them to parliament but parliament had not
passed the amendments at the end of the reporting period.
So it seems to me the only significant difference is the creation of the pilot program for government workers
to be out of detention. Is there anything in addition to that that distinguishes 2014 from 2015?
JOHNSTONE: We certainly saw much increase government efforts and four Cabinet level maybe is
throughout the year. I wish the government did ramp up and outlined significant new efforts that it was taking
including drafting this law through new consolations with civil society, which had not done and pass....
CICILLINE: Yeah.
JOHNSTONE: ... that was indeed progressed in one of our top recommendations as well.
CICILLINE: I'm very concerned because when you take these two reports and put them side by side, well it
identifies actions that Malaysia should take which I think most countries that understand to me, you should so
these things or some effort in the serious way to get these things done. And if you get some of them done,
you will presumably have some opportunity to move up in the rankings. They got none of them done other
than this pilot program and they had a significant change in their status.
So my next question is, did any staff in the office to monitor and combat trafficking in persons recommend the
upgrade Tier 3 to Tier 2 Watch List from Malaysia?
JOHNSTONE: Well, again, we do not discuss the internal deliberations and who had which had which
position within the state department. It is a fact-based deliberative process and to maintain the credibility of
the process itself we believe it's important that the expert opinions throughout the state department are able
to be express freely and candidly and the credibility of the process is really important. CICILLINE: So is it that
normal course that the secretary of state recommendation without telling me what they are, that they mirror
regularly the recommendations of your office or our departures from the recommendations of your office
common? Does is it happen once every ten countries? Does it happen once a year? Does it -- how
frequently is the secretary saves determination at odds with the determination or the recommendation of the
department?
JOHNSTONE: As I said earlier, the decision is ultimately the secretary is to make. Our...
CICILLINE: No, I know that. My question is how often is his decision different from the recommendation of
the staff of your office?
JOHNSTONE: In the vast majority of cases, the recommendations which contents as at the working level
between the TIP Office and the regional bureaus in our colleagues to -- and our embassies and consulate's
run (ph).
CICILLINE: So you say this determinations fact-based and obviously you can't tell it what was the secretary's
head but the fact that you are rely on to make the recommendation is that one difference of circumstances
this pilot program for...
JOHNSTONE: As well as the activity of the government throughout the year and consulting was civil society
and drafting the amendment.
CICILLINE: So on April 17th, the U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia, Joseph Yun, said that Malaysian needed to
show greater political will and prosecuting human traffickers and protecting their victims of the country, hope
to approve its Tier 3 ranking.
Even at the 2015 TIP Report covers government efforts undertaking from April 1st, 2014 through March 31st,
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2015, meaning that all actions reference in the report had already occurred before Ambassador Yun's
comments. Can you explain why the department disagree with the Ambassador's assessment?
JOHNSTONE: Again, we're not free to discuss internal deliberation and who had which position. The
Ambassador did indeed convey accurately the concerns that the entire department had included under
secretary about human trafficking in Malaysia and that the government needed to do more. Ultimately, the
Tier 2 Watch List assessment makes it very clear that the government still has a lot to work to do. It is far
from a good grade. It's equivalent of a D minus. It indicates in fact that they still have a lot of work to do and
we do have serious concerns that are shared through out the...
CICILLINE: But, Dr. Johnstone, the fact is the ambassador who is there on the ground makes this
determination says very clearly that they have much more work to do before they can improve its ranking.
You're either recommendation under secretary of states' determination is contrary to that. I'm wondering if
you had a basis for why it is that you concluded as a recommendation or the secretary can conclude that the
ambassador was wrong. But you can both be right. It can be Ambassador Yun is right and Secretary Kerry is
right.
JOHNSTONE: I wouldn't characterize his quote as saying that the Ambassador Yun made a recommendation
on the Tier ranking with in that quote as well.
CICILLINE: No, but he did say that before they could move to Tier 3 there was -- they had to demonstrate
greater political will and prosecuting human trafficking and protecting their victims, if they hope to improve to
Tier 3 rank -- from a tier 3 rank.
JOHNSTONE: And we did see increased prosecution and investigations, of course were very concerned that
we didn't see progress in fact saw a decline in the convictions.
CICILLINE: In addition, Ambassador Yun noted that there had been a failure to engage in sufficient
prosecutions of perpetrators of trafficking and although the TIP Report notes an increase in prosecutions, it
also notes that there were only three trafficking convictions. That's the decline of 2/3 from last year's report.
And also notes that the government code -- the government did not report any investigations prosecutions or
conviction of government officials complicit in trafficking despite evidence of some government officials
facilitated migrants smuggling. Do you believe again that those facts represent a good face ever to prosecute
traffickers?
JOHNSTONE: We very much share the concern that you just voiced about the low number of convictions
and we had said that both publicly and privately when I was just in Malaysia last month. We made that point
very clearly and indicated that we anticipate significant progress as we're making the decisions for the 2016
Report.
CICILLINE: With all do respect, that's comforting to hear but in the face of an upgrade it sort of raises the
question of why it is that a country will receive an upgrade with very little in fact other than that pilot program I
don't see evidence.
And I just want to ask you finally. Tenaganita which is Malaysian NGO that helps tracking victims claims that
police have known about the North Malaysian trafficking trail and the existence of human trafficking camps
for many, many years. And in fact the organization says that migrants have been reporting about the camps
since 2007 and that no police action was taken when reports were made about the camps.
Can you tell me, Dr. Johnstone, whether any officials at Tenaganita were interviewed during the compilation
of the TIP Report and does the state department agree or just be with those allegations and if so why?
JOHNSTONE: We do maintain a relationship both through our embassy and our office here Tenaganita. I
met with them myself as well in Malaysia last month. Their information definitely is something that we taken
into account and we're compiling the report.
We noted in the report and subsequently in our meetings with government officials the serious concerns that
we take about the allegations of trafficking in those areas and the camps and force mass graves that were
found. We understand that there is an ongoing investigation that has produce the report this now with
Attorney General. We stress the importance of accountability for everyone who is responsible for any human
trafficking in those places including government officials.
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CICILLINE: So you don't disagree with the allegations that were made by that NGO?
JOHNSTONE: It is definitely serious issue that we have raise with government. Yes.
CICILLINE: So let me just ask as a final question, you said that this is a fact-based deliberative process. Can
you tell me specifically what facts you're relied upon to raise Malaysia's standing in the TIP Report?
JOHNSTONE: The facts that are outlined it the report itself. The ones that we just discussed including the
increase of prosecutions and investigations noting that it is a mixed picture that decline -- in declining
convictions are still a cause and concern. The government efforts that were made to reform the victim
protection system during the reporting period which was our top recommendation for the last several years.
CICILLINE: So no investigation of prosecutions of government officials, correct?
JOHNSTONE: They've had an investigation of government officials. We don't have the prosecutions or
conviction.
CICILLINE: No prosecution of government officials despite evidence of complicity of government officials. No
-- a decline and overall prosecutions by 2/3. No enactment of any anti-trafficking laws but some expectation
they will in the pilot program. Those are the facts. Have I missed any important once?
JOHNSTONE: I believe that you maybe miss spoke about the prosecution. The prosecution investigations
did increase, the conviction is decreased.
CICILLINE: It is.
JOHNSTONE: So the law enforcement picture was actually next one. There were increases in both
prosecutions and investigations.
CICILLINE: But a significant decline and of -- I think it was three convictions.
JOHNSTONE: Three from nine, so...
CICILLINE: But nine wasn't....
JOHNSTONE: It's vocally inadequate. We completely agree with you on that. CICILLINE: I'll just say before I
yield back, Mr. Chairman. This raises a very serious concern to me. I consider this report to be sacred and a
very powerful international diplomatic tool and I think the context in which this decision was made about
Malaysia and that lawful lack of evidence to support it, and context of the trade agreement is something
which will do permanent damage to this process. And I'm disappointed, frankly, that nothing in this hearing
has just abuse of that conclusion and -- for all the men ad women who put so much work into this and for the
mission it is designed to support, this is the very disappointing occurrence. And with that, I yield you back, Mr.
Chairman.
SMITH: Thank you very much Mr. Cicilline. I will -- without objection go in a moment to Brad Sherman. Just
let me -- just so I'm absolutely clear, no ambiguity what so ever just like Mr. Cicilline, I have read everything I
could possibly get my hands on regarding Malaysia. And I just want to have it established beyond any
reasonable doubt that no other factors like trade when it comes to Malaysia. Opening an Embassy when it
comes to new relationship with Cuba or superpower relation in geopolitical considerations when it comes to
China was involved. It was all exclusively on human trafficking, nothing but trafficking that the decision for
each of the designations was made. Is that true? Is that your testimony?
JOHNSTONE: As I said earlier the decisions about the tier designations are made by the Secretary of State.
I was not part of the final discussions and the decision-making that he made. To my knowledge certainly at
the level of the people that you have here today all of our colleagues in the regional bureaus and our
embassies and post around the world and when in the TIP Office all of our discussions about the factors and
criteria or specifically looking at the TVAP - TVPA criteria in the minimum standards there in trafficking. In my
knowledge...
SMITH: And would you disagree with the secretary on any on these designations?
JOHNSTONE: Again on internal deliberation process, we don't discus that publically served (ph) who took
which position one, and so that we can protect the credibility of the process. There are robust discussions as
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there are in any policy issues. And people have different perspectives on things ultimately the secretary has
to take into account using perspectives and the expertise of others.
And if I may, I would also like to address what I think is a misperception of some of our regional bureau
colleagues and our embassies and missions and perhaps other (ph) state department who also bring
expertise not only in the TIP Office that are experts on the trafficking situation, the situation in their countries
but the discussion that we have with them informed both the tier designations but even more importantly the
report could not be as factual and as accurate and as objective as it is without the expertise and knowledge.
SMITH: Again as I said earlier, I thought you're reporting on Cuba was excellent, as well as some of the other
countries that where there's a dispute but the designation didn't match in my opinion of the findings.
And again for just to put an explanation point behind, Malaysia had three convictions, China has 35, and yet
they are not a Tier 3 country as they ought to be. And Thailand had a 151 convictions. And gain it's not the
only minimum standard but it is a very, very important one, 151 convictions in Thailand and they remain Tier
3.
If I was in the Thai Embassy I would say "What gives here?" That's very, very discouraging. I think they ought
to be Tier 3. The others ought to be Tier 3 as well.
Mark Lagon makes an important -- number of important observations. One of them is about Uzbekistan, he
notes that the report notes that child labor mobilization continue in some districts and he points out that the
government compelled forced labor of adults remain endemic in the 2014 cotton harvest and has the $64
question. How can a state-run trafficking earn anything but a Tier 3 ranking? What alleged a strategic interest
could motivate even a purely cynical upgrade?
JOHNSTONE: So on Uzbekistan, this is a country near and dear in my heart as you mentioned beginning I
serviced human rights officer there. And while I was there actually I was asked by the Embassy to focus on
trafficking in person as that was an issue that was of growing concern to the department and the
administration even then in 2003 when I served there.
The issue of forced labor particularly child labor as well as adult labor are -- a great concern to the
department. We have over the years in the various roles that I have been and personally also engage on this
with the Uzbekistan government in close collaboration with our NGO partners as well who provide vital
information in very difficult circumstances.
It is definitely an issue that we remained very concerned about. And again, I would point out that Uzbekistan
was upgraded only to Tier 2 Watch List that does indicate they are not meeting the minimum standards. They
have a long way to go to improve their efforts on combating human trafficking.
However, we do believe and did assess that in 2014, they did make significant efforts to dramatically reduce
the use of forced child labor. We share your concerns about adult force labor both in the Cotton Harvest and
other sectors.
SMITH: OK, without objection and I mentioned this earlier I believe but that's not -- I'm doing it now. Very in
size of articles by Reuters' reporter Jason Szep and Matt Spetalnick will have made a part of the record. And
also series of reports of commercial fishering slavery in Papua New Guinea and Malaysia by Robin Mcdowell
and Martha Mendoza from the Associated Press, that objection is like to be goes a part of the record as well.
Without objection too, I yield to my good friend and colleague (inaudible) would have a question.
UNKNOWN: Thank you Mr. Chairman. Dr. Johnstone, you have an outstanding reputation, if you'd actually
tell us something I would believe it. If you're just going to tell us that the decision was made by Secretary
Kerry, you're not qualified to psycho analyze him. If he made the decision we ought to have him here and ask
him, because we asked you what your opinion is and you won't tell us.
But let me go at this a different way. I tend to believe what Reuters' reports, pretty accurate service or
accurate the most. They report that Malaysia, Cuba and China, all got better ratings than your office wanted
to give them. Can you give me any reason to disbelieve writers?
JOHNSTONE: Well, I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that human trafficking is an issue that not
only that TIP Office cares about but our colleague throughout the state department...
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UNKNOWN: I know. I know, lets put - it's quite possible your office could make a mistake. It's quite possible
you'd want to give some country a Tier 1 and do the factors that arguments made by others in the state
department they get a Tier 2. It's possible you give them Tier 2...
JOHNSTONE: That one didn't happen.
UNKNOWN: ... and some -- and for other reasons outside your office they're given a Tier 3, and all of sudden
our trade negotiations blow up. That's possible didn't happen in this lifetime but it's possible.
But I'm asking about your Office and I've got a report here from Reuters that says your office wanted to give
a lower rating to Malaysia, Cuba and China than they ultimately got. Can you give a reason to disbelief
Reuters?
JOHNSTONE: I would reiterate that again. The narratives themselves are accurate and objective and the
product of...
UNKNOWN: OK. Can I give the -- you could just say "no", you're not going to give a reason to disbelief
Reuters because telling me that you would do a great job and of the other officers of the state department do
a great job is not answering, it's just telling me what of course the state department believes which is every
office is doing a great a job. Can you give me a reason to disbelief Reuters' report about what your office
recommended?
JOHNSTONE: I believe that the process through which we came to the both the tier determinations
themselves, as well as the reports was very much improved by the deliberative process and they robust
discussions and debates within the department. Of course, people will have different perspective that's
natural for any...
UNKNOWN: OK. So that's not a reason to disbelief Reuters, that's just a reason to say, maybe Reuters was
right and your Office recommended a lower and maybe there -- and but maybe the upgrade was justified. But
you're not telling me in your answer that there wasn't an upgrade from the position of your Office. You're just
telling me that there are other brilliant people at the state department and they may have a good point. Is that
the point your making or -- I'll stipulate.
Are their folks in the state department are brilliant? They have input, they may have good reason and it could
very well be that the upgrade is called for, an upgrade beyond what your department or office would
recommend. But I'm just asking about your office, can you give me any reason to disbelief the sentence I
quoted from Reuters?
JOHNSTONE: Again, I...
UNKNOWN: OK. OK. We'll go ahead. We'll go ahead.
JOHNSTONE: OK.
UNKNOWN: Do you personally believe that Thailand deserves a worst grading than Malaysia? Your personal
belief. Or do you simply choose not to give your personal belief.
JOHNSTONE: I am here representing the state department so I...
UNKNOWN: Could you give us your personal belief?
JOHNSTONE: The departments views on that Thailand's rating...
UNKNOWN: I didn't ask to the department's views, if your refuse to give me your personal views just say you
refuse and I will go on to the next question.
JOHNSTONE: If I could comment I think the implicit in your question, is maybe a misperception as well that
we -- I think the Reuters' article also pass this as a winning and losing and that the TIP Office lost more often
this year. And I don't think that's how we...
UNKNOWN: That's -- you're answering a question I -- this is straight. You won't answer the questions I do
asking you, why are you're answering questions I don't ask? I realized that your department has got to fight
with, argue with, or at least discuss things with other and we said all -- I mean office not department, with
other bureaus and offices around the state department.
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I'm not asking what is the state department's view. I got that in writing. I'm asking what your view is and what
your department's view is and you won't tell us. And the fact that Secretary Kerry would send you here
without instructing you or authorizing you to tell us what really happened. Gives me all of the information I
need. It -- I got a Reuters' report, it's Secretary Kerry and the state department is unwilling to deny.
You know, I'm not good enough lawyer to get you to admit it. OK, you know, you don't have to answer a
question. But Reuters' reports the -- that your office wanted to give a lower grade, lower tier than these three
countries ultimately got. You're not saying that is not the case, you are saying that the state department is a
brilliant organization with lots of brilliant people wouldn't want you to say anything else.
But if the state department can't deny this Reuters' report, then I think we know who controls the ultimate
decisions and that is those who want the straight deal. And I, you know, I think the -- this report is an
important part of our human rights efforts. I don't think it's totally discredit. I think that it could be relied upon
except when there are major diplomatic or economic reasons to go another way. And for 80-90 percent of the
countries, there is no other reason. There is no strong other reason to go another way.
But, can you mention any respective human rights organization that says Malaysia is entitled to be treated
given a higher grade than Thailand." You know them all. You work with them all. We've got another one of
them coming for the second panel. But you know that's just one, he can only invite one. You probably if I ask
you could identify 40 organizations, some very well-known, some very-well respected, some less so.
Can you name anybody who doesn't yet a paycheck from the state department? Who is involved in human
rights who says that Malaysia deserves to be in a higher tier than Thailand?
JOHNSTONE: There are indeed variety of opinions on Malaysia which we did...
UNKNOWN: Can you name -- you know them all. Can you name one?
JOHNSTONE: All I can say is that we have consulted with the NGOs. We certainly take their views and
information, they are very important.
UNKNOWN: And every NGO I'm aware of and you know a lot more than I do. Every NGO I'm aware of says
that Thailand -- that Malaysia is not entitled to be in a higher tier than Thailand. And so, I go to you, the
expert, and I say "Hey there may be some organizations I haven't talk to or even heard off," and I ask you to
name just one that thinks how.
Even if the community was 39 to one against the position this report takes, at least there'd be one. And you
know the top 40. Is there one that agrees with the reports decision to put Thailand in a lower category than
Malaysia?
JOHNSTONE: As I said, there are a variety of the opinions on the human trafficking situation in Malaysia as
there are on Thailand. There are serious problems in both countries that tiers is also shrinking indicates very
clearly that Malaysia still has a long way to go and there are still series...
UNKNOWN: That's a nice answer but you didn't name one -- you didn't name one because there isn't one. If
you knew one, you'd tell me, wouldn't you?
JOHNSTONE: At the end of the day the tier ranking is the decision that secretary state makes.
UNKNOWN: And that's why if the Secretary of State who ought to have the whatevers (ph) to come before
Congress and defend this decision because it put you in a terrible position. The secretary made these
decisions. Only he can indicate why he made them. You don't know why he made them. I know why you
don't call me as a witness. But if I was called as a witness, I would say he made them because he wants TPP
to go forward and is willing to throw the traffic in person's report out the window. But I've not testifying to that
because, yeah, I'm sitting up here. You haven't asked me to sit down there.
Look, you work very hard. This is not -- for those of us who would think that your work is very important, this
is a difficult situation. I respect your personal integrity. You have been put in a very difficult position. You've
done as good a job as anyone could possibly do in justifying one of the worst decisions made by the
department this year and you didn't make it. And I will yield back.
SMITH (ph): Thank you very much Mr. Chairman. And anytime you want to testify, you're more than
Page 234
welcome. Thank you again.
UNKNOWN: I fear someone on my colleagues would be as tough on me as I am on so many witnesses.
They've seen it. There's -- I don't have anything good. I don't enough in the karma bank to put myself through
that. Thank you.
SMITH (ph): Thank you. I do want to thank our distinguished witnesses for your testimony. As you can see
there is a great deal of bipartisan concern here on this particularly countries in question and I would like
without objection to put a letter that was sent to Secretary Kerry from the Cotton Campaign which lays out
their very specific concerns about the ranking of Uzbekistan in issues TIP Report.
Thank you again for your testimony. And we look forward to working with you going forward.
JOHNSTONE: Thank you. Likewise, we look forward to working with you and thank you for your equipment
(ph) to this issue.
SMITH: Thank you, Dr. Johnstone. I'd like to now welcome our second panel, which is Ambassador Mark
Lagon, who is our third Ambassador-at-Large for Human Trafficking and the Director of the Office to monitor
and he combat trafficking in persons at the U.S. Department of State.
Mark's -- Ambassador Lagon's record of involvement human rights is long and diverse spending from Deputy
Assistant Secretary to Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Responsibility for Human Rights,
Humanitarian Issues and U.N. Reform through Academia where he was the Chair for Global Politics and
Security at Georgetown University's Master of Science and Foreign Service Program. And Adjunct Senior
Fellow for Human Rights at the Council on Foreign Relations. He's also Executive Director and CEO of the
anti-human trafficking nonprofit, Polaris, and currently serves as the President of Freedom House. Mr. Lagon,
the floor is yours.
LAGON: Mr. Chairman, I'm very pleased that you and the members in the subcommittee invited me to testify
on the TIP Report as I have had occasions doing the past.
I'd like to look at some of the key issues in the report. Of course, we're here to focus on specific countries but
it is worth remembering that while getting less attention report each of your highlights, themes as well with
the text that precedes the country narratives. And this year's report highlight some very interesting and
important things, global supply change and then particular offering queues, to the private sector, to fight the
problem of human trafficking, the report highlight harmful, cultural norms, enhance doesn't succumb to
cultural relativism, although I will note that the report would have done well to note a cultural tolerance for
wide scale sex buying in Latin America, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan, as a driver of sex trafficking.
And I commend the report for highlighting alternatives to testimony, a drawn from a traumatized trafficking
survivors as the means of evidence to hold tremendous to account because all too often relying on testimony
of the victims solely propels law enforcement in countries around the world to leverage the properly
unconditional protection services to elicit cooperation.
Most important I want to highlight in the global finding some of the report, some percentages. I pulled out my
calculator as I do every year to look at a chart on page 48 of the Report. We see a 23.1 percent drop in
convictions worldwide and that was from an already modest 5,700 convictions to previous year.
Prosecutions for labor, I suppose to sex trafficking drop from an already low to 12.7 percent to 4.2 percent.
And the convictions going from a low 8.1 percent the previous year to only 4.9 percent of convictions for
human trafficking being for labor. So there is in essence global impunity for labor trafficking.
With respect to country situations, many of the -- which you've already raised and I am -- I'm happy to you
even cited some things already in my testimony. China and view of Freedom House is the largest
governance problem in the world both in terms of its internal treatment of human rights and this pernicious
model.
Freedom House of course ranks China is not free and its own reports, both the intrusive actions and it seems
(ph) of omission are important in the human trafficking area. Intrusive actions of the state fuel trafficking
including decades along population policies that created a shortage of females both the spouses and sexual
partners.
Page 235
And I really want to highlight the report this year which says, "The government converted some reform
through labor facilities into different types of detention centers that continued to employ forced labor."
But the Chinese state neglects to do also matters in terms of human trafficking and very importantly, the
report calls for China to provide legal alternatives to foreign victims removal to countries where they had
faced hardship or retribution, read North Korea, heinous punishments to people who would be returned to
North Korea which causes a human trafficking problem in China.
There is a terrible arbitrary rule by law pattern as supposed to rule of law pattern in China and that is
manifest in the failure to adopt legislation on all forms of human trafficking. Malaysia, much of the focus of
your discussion today and in a major controversy. Well, Freedom House ranks Malaysia as partly free. And I
will say for my own part, I have endorsed the Trans-Pacific Partnership because generally speaking, I think
open rules and norms put the right pressure on a liberal regimes.
But the upgrade seems quite clear to the coincide (ph) with the desires of the Department of State to make
Malaysia eligible for the TPP and not the merits.
For instance, corruption is rampant. It is underemphasized in the report. What the report does highlight
seems inconsistent with an upgrade especially merely four convictions for labor trafficking or passport
retention. And screening mechanisms to identify and assist trafficking victims are truly thin.
By comparison, the State Department sustained a Tier 3 ranking for Thailand because of things like victim
protection remaining insufficient and its massive sex industry, in fishing and seafood and in Thai citizens
migrating to work elsewhere.
I will repeat, as you noted, I believe that the upgrade of Vietnam, the Tier 2 is bewildering especially with the
other absence of prosecutions for labor trafficking and significant official complicity.
Uzbekistan being upgraded to the Tier 2 Watch List is striking. The report notes that child labor mobilization
continues in some districts of the country and "Government compelled forced labor of adults remained
endemic in the 2014 cotton harvest." This is one of the most heinous human rights abusers in the world even
among those countries that Freedom House rate is not free.
As far as Cuba's upgrade to Tier 2 Watch List, well, Freedom House ranks Cuba as clearly Not Free. The
grounds for an upgrade are really questionable. The reports itself says "The penal code does not criminalize
all forms of human trafficking much less are those problems and a matter of enforcement. And the Cuban
regime did not even claim efforts to prevent forced labor or any trafficking-specific shelters."
So, with cases like China -- excuse me, the cases like Cuba and Malaysia, sparking observers to suggest the
report as politicize, what are we to make at this? To say that no considerations besides the pure merits of
human trafficking come in to play in the department is a bit like the claim of being shocked, shocked to find
gambling going on at Rick's joint in Casablanca. It shouldn't surprise us. But what should be done to protect
to maximize the integrity of the TIP Report rankings? Some steps we could take would make the melody that
you've been looking at in this hearing worse.
A few years ago, a senator, on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee no longer there, concern that
Singapore and Malaysia were getting rather low rankings considering U.S. economic interest proposed
legislation to markedly increase the role of the regional bureaus. That was a lousy idea, in short.
In the early life of the TIP Office, former Deputy Secretary State Richard Armitage, who no one could call a
human rights idealist, came to the decision that the pen for the draft of the report and the proposed ranking
should lie with the office on trafficking in persons. That needs to be protected.
The most productive solution is for Congress to insist, and its oversight role in the Senate in focusing on
appointments that the ambassador's position is filled, and it's filled with someone with strong experience,
vision, and bureaucratic chops because there is bureaucratic in fighting as your hearing has focused on.
Delays nominating and confirming an envoy (ph) lead to more disputed rankings ending up, rejecting the
substantive expertise and recommendation of the TIP Office. And I'm really troubled how long it took to
replace Ambassador Luis CdeBaca.
A fellow human rights advocate in the area of women's rights who I won't name out of respect for her, with a
Page 236
deep experience in both civil society partnerships and multilateral institutions was I rejected as a finalist as I
understand it because she was apparently too concerned about the commoditization of females for sex
trafficking.
And I've said here before you when you've been kind enough to invite me to testify, we need a strong
advocate for fighting both labor and sex trafficking, it's crucial. How can we best protect to strengthen
integrity of the Report? Congress should have insist that the leader of the office be someone who work with
who themselves, reflects strength and integrity. There is going to be a deliberative process in the department,
we know it. But it will be much more likely to produce credible rankings that maximize that United States
diplomatic leverage to get countries to pass better law and more importantly to implement them if there is a
strong leader of the office. Then there will be fewer calls like Malaysia is compared to Thailand.
So, thank you for inviting me as ever to testify. This is an issue in which dignity or enslavement lie in the
balance.
SMITH: Ambassador Lagon, thank you so much for your testimony, for your life long commitment to human
rights. And when you served as ambassador, you were absolutely candid both on the record as well off and I
think that made an enormous difference. I remember it was you who finally -- despite the China hands who
didn't want, I'm sure you to do it pointed out the next us between the coercive population with your program
of the PRC, and the consequence of particularly sex trafficking of -- because of the missing daughters in the
People's Republic of China as result of sex salves and abortion. And you made that very clear.
Your comments on Uzbekistan I think were, you know, when I did asked that question based from your
testimony and I thank you for it. Maybe you could provide us some of additional, you know, I would agree
with you that, you know, when we originally did this law, the absolute intent was trafficking and only trafficking
goes into the book. We want an honest assessment of friend and ally and for ally (ph) I should say, allies and
in around the world. No games, no brinksmanship.
And in them I guess as I have cited many time the fact that Israel and South Korea adoring the previous
administrations watch were singled out. There was shock and dismay of frankly among many quarters, but it
actually led to an amelioration of the issue of victims were protected and prevention strategies put into place
and now South Korea has very, very strong laws as those the state of Israel.
We should never pull our punches and you have made that clear and I -- I want to thank you because during
your tenure, you were always available to this subcommittee and to other members of Congress, House and
Senate and your were always candid and I -- that's beyond refreshing.
Let me also say, you know, any suggestions you have about strengthening the TIP Office would be
appreciated from you and personally from Freedom House. One of the reasons that you point out in your
testimony, written testimony, that the last trafficking the reauthorization may had invertly (ph) increase of all of
the regional bureaus.
I believe that as well reading that -- the language it was not my bill, it was that amendment attached to the
reauthorization of Violence Against Women Act which I strongly support, but I ended up voting against the
reauthorization of my own law that was proffered by Senator Leahy simply because if it weakened the TIP
Office, vis-a-vis, the bureaus.
Leahy have input in order be to say "Thank you for doing your due diligence and we accepted because you
are the experts." And then the second part of the Trafficking and Victims Protection Act the sanctions portion
was always left to TIP, all kinds of collaborations. But the belief was that reason why men and women would
look at how we can best advance of the ball and protect victims and mitigate trafficking in the first place
which is a, you know, you make decisions. Its not based on empirical data, how many convictions, what is
country X, Y or Z doing, and the book -- the TIP Report was always meant to be that just say it in an
unvarnished way.
And so the disappointment that I and so many others feel about the artificial upgrades to Malaysia, to
Vietnam, to China, Uzbekistan where, you know, as you have been talking and pointing out and you did in
one previous appearance here, the comparisons to the cotton that was picked by slaves. You know, you put it
in that context and light the -- lights went off. Yeah, that's what many of the slaves did in the United States
and they're doing it in Uzbekistan.
Page 237
So any particularly thoughts you might have on in addition to what you've already said would be helpful.
Your testimony notes that Vietnam does not prosecute labor trafficking at all and that there was a high level
of official complicity in labor trafficking.
Again, that raises questions about a favored country where there are other things on the table other than
trafficking and they ought to be -- it might be (inaudible) free country as well. So, perhaps you can spend
some time in those questions.
LAGON: Much to address and I thank you. Look, I -- let me note three things. First of all, you played a role in
focusing on the question of official complicity. When a diplomat is involved in subjecting a domestic servant
to human trafficking conditions, that should be seriously held to account from the report.
You have raised the issue of peacekeepers of nations who have in fact added to human suffering and places
that have serve in the Balkans to the places in Africa as suppose to relieving it complicit as agents of their
government.
I think in a especially in a case where a government policy is in fact the source of human trafficking and
these are the stunning thing about Uzbekistan. Sure, it's finally agreed to let the ILO come in and start
looking at the problem of child labor. OK, that's good. But if in fact it is a policy of the government to continue
force labor for adults and it's not eliminating entirely the phenomenon of child labor, that's special category. I
can't see how you could give an upgrade from Tier 3for that. And I think that's something that's worth really
driving home.
If the government itself is doing it or its officials are complicit, that should be reported. In fact, it's my view that
if officials of the government are involved such as their diplomats that that should be mentioned in the report,
maybe not the names of the officials.
It's been long secondly in my view that both the Trafficking Victims Protection Act with do respect to you as
its author and the preliminary protocol are heavily focused on the prosecution and law enforcement precepts.
There are more things in the minimum standards there.
I think it's very important that you can see progress across the so called 3Ps and in particular I've been
(inaudible) in the saying that the moral imperative lies with the protection of victims or what I would call the
re-empowerment of the survivors. I think if there's anything one does to look at revision of the legislation is to
make sure that you are not giving an upgrade and failing to take account of an anemic (ph) record on victim
protection. And I think in some of the cases in question here in East Asia with Malaysia and Vietnam and
that's the case.
The last thing I would say is that any fix in the process and wanted to protect the degree to which the pen is
held by the TIP Office, you shouldn't seek a zero role for the regional bureau's or zero role for the embassy's.
They do raise considerations that should be looked at, you know. I remember people from the South and
Central Asia bureau like very different views from me as the TIP Ambassador on many countries saying "So,
can we say that Sri Lanka has the capacity to take steps on fighting human trafficking when it's been facing
an internal conflict?"
Those sorts of questions should be raised. What's inappropriate is if there's a tier upgrade based on issues
that have nothing to do with human trafficking.
SMITH: Yeah, as I mentioned to her, is there anything that you heard in testimony by our three previous
witnesses that you would like to respond to?
LAGON: Well, I think it's an interesting argument with regard to Cuba that by -- or having more dialogue with
Cuba, we found out more. And this was always an issue with North Korea, Iran and Cuba's, you know, we
don't have diplomatic relations with those countries so they're not about to hand over the statistics that we
ask oppose governments to our embassies.
I think it is a more credible argument that Cuba has take, you know, you may have taken some steps
following ratification of the preliminary protocol then to suggest, well, now we know more because they are,
you know, we're in dialogue with them.
I still find it kind of far fetch that what remains one of the, you know, Marcos (ph) (inaudible) governments of
Page 238
the world does not have a problem with its state enterprises or its political prisons of force labor.
With regard to Malaysia, I heard nothing in the testimony that lead me to believe that the TIP Office did not as
Reuters reported it recommend the Tier 3 ranking. You know, one cannot take the evidence raise for the
upgrade and see it is as, you know, tangible reason for this.
I will say I am sympathetic to the position to Dr. Johnstone is in and I would caution that we can explore what
happened, what went to right (ph) here. But ultimately, if you want to keep pressure on other governments,
maybe it isn't best for the specific different recommendations of the TIP Office and regional bureaus who ever
wins out to be known globally.
In general, the vast majority of cases do come out where they opt to be and where the TIP Office
recommends, some are howlers as I described to the press in this report as mistakes. But I think we should
take care about revealing that there were different opinions too much because after all the bill that you help
make a law and the office that you help to create put it's pressure on by a kind of credible focus leverage on
other nations.
SMITH: I agree with that but we still have to get it right for that credibility to be warranted.
LAGON: Sure.
SMITH: And let me just ask you about India and that's country that we have focused on in this committee. On
the number of friends (ph) when it comes to human rights from religious freedom or the lack of it, the issue of
abducted children and the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act
makes it very clear that India has a serious problem with child -- parental child abduction.
And the Tier 2 ranking for India doesn't appear to be deserved at all and I would really appreciate your
thoughts on that.
India has a huge child sex trafficking problem, other kinds of trafficking as well but it's huge and I'm not sure
we get the kind of data back from the government.
LAGON: Right.
SMITH: Their government that would warrant such a designation.
LAGON: I agree the entirely, I think that the Tier 3 ranking is suspect. You may have noticed in part of my
written testimony that I didn't deliver orally that, you know, we should take care, there are some very serious
human rights issues or serious global issues that aren't precisely human trafficking. They should raise doubts
about a countries overall human rights records and that's true with India as well.
You have been at the heart of every reauthorization of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The only place
in the legislation where the scale of the problem is mentioned in the Tier 2 Watch List. That sort of one place
where their could be a justification for a nation not being on Tier 2 appearing none the Tier 2Watch List
because the scale is so large. And it's true in India. It remains the demographic epicenter of human trafficking
in the world.
And while their have been improvements that might merit, Indian no longer being on, you know, a country
that anyone -- that the TIP Office would propose be Tier 3 because of some finally some actions in the states
in the federal system in India. The scale is so large and the implementation so spotty that it is really hard to
suggest that Tier 2 is merited.
SMITH: Ask you one final question and then any concluding how much you might want to make. Last week
I'd shared the hearing on the Commission and Security Cooperation in Europe on the Syrian refugees. And
one of our witnesses was the Regional Representative for the UNHCR (inaudible) and he said that the trigger
for this massive move in to Europe was a 30 percent cut in World Food Program funding people are so
desperate now for such basics as food that they finally gave flight and no they're moving in large numbers.
We're talking about 7.5 million IDP's, 4 million refugees who are scattered everywhere. Are you convinced
and I should have asked this on the previous panel as well that the concerns of trafficking in persons or being
incorporated -- integrated into our efforts to assist refugees particularly in that part of the world.
LAGON: I'm very glad you asked that for multiple reasons. One, I noticed that former Secretary of State
Page 239
Hillary Clinton and former Ambassador-at-Large C. deBaca emphasize that we need to look at humanitarian
situations and refugee situations and worry about the impact on human trafficking and we said on the thought
leader level they were focused on that earlier in this administration.
I don't think we're doing enough with respect to the refugees as clearly a vulnerability for human trafficking
with the enormous desperation. Those who are seeking a better life on there and hardship are ones who are
going to be vulnerable.
I will say two things. However, we should not and as I say in my written testimony forget the heart of human
trafficking being exploitation rather than the movement of people. I noticed earlier that people suddenly
discover the human trafficking problem with Haiti when there was natural disaster. There have been over
human trafficking problem with Haiti with the rest of X (ph) for a long time and so too, we should not discover
a human trafficking problem there happens on endemic problems.
But I must say with my Freedom House hat on, the situation here is a governance problem. This is a human
rights calamity that has been left to fester. In Syria, it is amazing how United States and the West is not taken
actions to deal with the cause of the problem which is the mass atrocities from a Assad and this predated the
atrocities of ISIS which only make the situation worse, and hence, create a human traffic and vulnerability.
SMITH: Ambassador Lagon, thank you so very much for your testimony. Without objection your full written
statement well would be part of the record.
LAGON: Thank you very much.
SMITH: And please continue to provide council in site (ph) to the Committee as you have done so effectively
for many, many years.
LAGON: Well as a former Capitol Hill staffer who's around at the time of the conference on the Trafficking
And Victims Protection Act, I consider myself, you know, honorary Hill staffer so I always will think about how
the oversight and the further refinement of the legislation are things I could play my small part on and helping
on. Thank you for your leadership.
SMITH: Make that large part and thank you so very much Mr. Ambassador. The hearing is adjourned.
END
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