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Trump blasts McConnell for Senate crash of Obama health care repeal

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FOSTER KLUG AND MATTHEW PENNINGTON

ASSOCIATED PRESS | August 9, 2017, 7:09AM

| Updated 6 hours ago.

SEOUL, South Korea In an exchange of threats, President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang of "fire and fury like the world has never seen" and the North's military claimed Wednesday it was examining plans for attacking Guam.

The high-level tit-for-tat follows reports that North Korea has mastered a crucial technology needed to strike the United States with a nuclear missile.

Despite regular North Korean threats against Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific about 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers) from the Korean Peninsula, it is extremely unlikely that Pyongyang would risk the assured annihilation of its revered leadership with a pre-emptive attack on U.S. citizens. It's also not clear how reliable North Korea's mid-range missiles would be in an attack against a distant target given the relatively few times they've been tested.

Even so, the competing threats and Trump's use of North Korea-style rhetoric Pyongyang has long vowed to reduce Seoul to a "sea of fire" raise already high animosity and heighten worries that a miscalculation might spark conflict between the rivals.

The North Korean army said in a statement that it is studying a plan to create an "enveloping fire" in areas around Guam with medium- to long-range ballistic missiles. The statement described Andersen Air Force Base on Guam as a "beachhead" for a potential U.S. invasion of North Korea it needed to neutralize. It was unlikely the North's threat was a direct response to Trump's comments to the camera at his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.

South Korea's Unification Ministry, which deals with matters related to North Korea, said the North's army statement hurts efforts to improve inter-Korean relations. Ministry spokesman Baek Tai-hyun said Seoul remains committed to both dialogue and sanctions for solving the North Korean nuclear problem and called for Pyongyang to stop its provocations. Baek did not mention Trump's comments.

Trump spoke hours after reports indicated North Korea can now wed nuclear warheads with its missiles, including its longest-range missiles that may be able to hit the American mainland. The North has strived for decades to have the ability to strike the U.S. and its Asian allies, and the pace of its breakthroughs is having far-reaching consequences for stability in the Pacific and beyond.

The nuclear advances were detailed in an official Japanese assessment Tuesday and a later Washington Post story that cited U.S. intelligence officials and a confidential Defense Intelligence Agency report. The U.S. now assesses the North Korean arsenal at up to 60 nuclear weapons, more than double most assessments by independent experts, according to the Post's reporting.

"North Korea had best not make any more threats to the United States," said a stern-looking Trump, seated with his arms crossed and with his wife beside him. "They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen."

"He has been very threatening beyond a normal state. And as I said they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before."

The remarks appeared scripted, with Trump glancing at a paper in front of him. They evoked President Harry Truman's announcement of the U.S. atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945, in which he warned of "a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth."

But it wasn't clear what Trump, who is prone to hyperbole and bombast in far less grave situations, meant by the threat. White House officials did not elaborate, but U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson downplayed Trump's threat, saying the president intended to send a strong message "in language that Kim Jong Un can understand."

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Tillerson said Trump delivered the message the way he did because the North Korean leader "doesn't seem to understand diplomatic language." Trump wanted to make clear to North Korea that the U.S. has the "unquestionable ability to defend itself" and will protect itself and its allies, Tillerson said, adding Trump wanted to "avoid any miscalculation" by Pyongyang.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer issued a statement saying, "We need to be firm and deliberate with North Korea, but reckless rhetoric is not a strategy to keep America safe."

The Trump administration considers North Korea to be America's greatest national security threat and tensions have steadily risen this year.

Pyongyang responded angrily to the U.N. Security Council's adoption this weekend of new, tougher sanctions spearheaded by Washington. Tens of thousands packed Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang on Wednesday for a rally that followed a familiar format of speeches from a balcony, with the crowd listening below, standing in organized rows interspersed with placards and slogans.

The sanctions followed intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month, the second of which was estimating as having a range that could reach more of the U.S. mainland. The newly revealed U.S. intelligence assessment indicates those missiles can carry nuclear warheads.

Denouncing the U.N. sanctions through state media, the North warned: "We will make the U.S. pay by a thousand-fold for all the heinous crimes it commits against the state and people of this country."

For North Korea, having a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike America would be the ultimate guarantee against U.S. invasion.

It is an ambition decades in the making. North Korea began producing fissile material for bombs in the 1990s and conducted its first nuclear test explosion in 2006. Four subsequent nuclear tests, the latest a year ago, have accelerated progress on miniaturizing a device something North Korea already claimed it could do. Over that span, multiple U.S. presidents have tried and failed to coax or pressure Pyongyang into abandoning its nuclear ambitions.

The secrecy of the North's nuclear program and the underground nature of its test explosions make it very difficult to properly assess its claims. But the new assessments from Japan and the U.S. suggest that doubts over the North's abilities are receding.

In an annual report, Japan's Defense Ministry on Tuesday concluded that "it is possible that North Korea has achieved the miniaturization of nuclear weapons and has developed nuclear warheads." Japan, a key U.S. ally, is a potential, front-line target of North Korean aggression.

The Post story, citing unnamed U.S. intelligence officials, went further. It said the Defense Intelligence Agency analysis, completed last month, assessed North Korea has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, including by intercontinental missiles.

Officials at the agency wouldn't comment Tuesday. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence also wouldn't discuss the report.

It's unclear how North Korea's new capabilities will immediately affect how the U.S. approaches the country's regular missile launches and occasional nuclear tests. The U.S. military has never attempted to shoot a North Korean missile out of the sky, deeming all previous tests to pose no threat to the United States. The U.S. could weigh military action if the threat perception changes.

The calculation of North Korea's nuclear arsenal at 60 bombs exceeds other assessments, which range from around one dozen to about 30 weapons. The assessments are typically an estimate of the amount of plutonium and enriched uranium North Korea has in its inventory rather than how much of that material has been weaponized. It's unclear how many, if any, miniaturized warheads North Korea has built.

Last month's ICBM tests highlighted the growing threat. Both missiles were fired at highly lofted angles and landed in the sea near Japan, but analysts said the weapons could reach Alaska, Los Angeles or Chicago if fired at a normal, flattened trajectory.

North Korea threatened to hit Guam with its Hwasong-12 missiles, which it says can carry a heavy nuclear warhead.

Not all technical hurdles have been overcome, however. North Korea is still believed to lack expertise to ensure a missile could re-enter the Earth's atmosphere without the warhead burning up. And it's still working on striking targets with accuracy.

___

Pennington reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, Deb Riechmann in Washington and Catherine Lucey in New Jersey contributed to this report.

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President Trump, North Korea trade escalating threats of fire - Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Deidre Dejear

The woman who directed outreach to African American voters in Iowa for President Obamas 2012 campaign is running to be the states top election official. Democrat Deidre DeJearof Des Moines says if shes elected as Iowas Secretary of State, encouraging Iowa voters to participate in ALL elections will be her top goal.

Getting people engaged at the grassroots level city council elections, school board elections, DeJear says. 2016 wasnt just a presidential election. We had things on that ballot that were going to impact our cities, our counties more immediately than what the federal election was going to do.

The new voter verification procedures Republican lawmakers enacted this spring also motivated DeJear to run for this office.

Its more than just about a drivers license or a state ID, DeJear says. Obviouslythe impacts that its going to have on college students, the elderly, folks with lack of transportationa lot of communication about how their process is going to change.

DeJear says she intends for her campaign to be a testing ground for how to teach voters about the new law.

Im more of an end-goal individual and I look, I see the barrier, but Im more concentrated on how do I help people better connect with the voting process in light of this barrier, DeJear says. And we have to continue to keep the voter first in this process.

DeJear, who is 31 years old, cast her first vote in 2004 in Iowa, when she was a college student at Drake University. DeJear is a native of Mississippi whose family moved to Oklahoma when she was 12. She settled in Iowa after graduating from Drake. DeJear owns a small business that helps entrepreneurs develop business plans and marketing concepts. She says that work gives her an affinity for the business registration functions the Iowa secretary of states office.

Its not enough to be a resource to help them start their business, DeJear says. Im interested in being a resource, also, to give them the means to stay in business.

DeJear will have competition for the Democratic Partys nomination for secretary of state. Democrat Jim Mowrer of Des Moines has announced hes running for the office, too. Current Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, has not indicated whether he intends to seek reelection in 2018.

Photo courtesy of the DeJear campaign.

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Another Democrat in race for Iowa secretary of state's job - Radio Iowa

MSNBC

Republican makes provocative comments about McCain's brain cancer MSNBC It's no secret that Republicans were disappointed when Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) joined Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and 48 Senate Democrats in derailing the GOP's far-right health care plan two weeks ago. But just ... and more »

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Republican makes provocative comments about McCain's brain cancer - MSNBC

President Trump made a surprise endorsement on Tuesday night in Alabamas Republican Senate primary, throwing his support behind incumbent Sen. Luther Strange over the other conservative candidates running just one week before election day.

Senator Luther Strange has done a great job representing the people of the Great State of Alabama, Trump tweeted. He has my complete and total endorsement!

The primary to fill the seat once held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions is set for next Tuesday, Aug. 15. A run-off will be held Sept. 26 if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, which seems likely in the crowded field though polling has been scarce.

Mr. President, what an honor, Strange tweeted after Trumps announcement. Thank you so much for your support and confidence. Proud to work with you to #MAGA #ALsen.

Trump's endorsement is a major blow to U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, a conservative lawmaker who has been endorsed by pro-Trump figures, including Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin and Sean Hannity.

"I respect President Trump, but I am baffled and disappointed Mitch McConnell and the swamp somehow misled the president into endorsing Luther Strange, Brooks said in a Wednesday statement.

Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who has the ardent support of Christian conservatives, is also vying for a spot in the run-off and has vowed to be a reliable advocate for the Trump administration in Washington.

Trump's endorsement of Strange is a win for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose political operation has been boosting Strange while running ads portraying Brooks as not sufficiently pro-Trump.

During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Brooks supported Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, something his opponents have used against him. A super PAC with ties to McConnell, the Senate Leadership Fund, has been running television ads of Brooks past critical comments about Trump.

Meanwhile, Brooks has been tying Strange to the Republican establishment and McConnell, whom he says he would not vote for as Republican majority leader.

Strange, the states former attorney general, was temporarily appointed to the seat in April after Sessions joined the Trump administration.

His opponents have used that appointment from former Gov. Robert Bentley against him: Stranges office was investigating Bentley before the governor made him senator. Bentley has since resigned from office in scandal.

The contest has been defined largelyover candidates emphasizing their support of the president in a state where the president remains widely popular.

TRUMP-SESSIONS FEUD JOLTS ALABAMA SENATE PRIMARY

Discussing Trumps election to the White House, Strange said this month: "I consider it a biblical miracle that he's there."

Brooks has vowed to fight for funding for Trumps border wall. And if I have to filibuster on the Senate floor, Ill even read the King James Bible until the wall is funded, Brooks said in a recent ad.

Moore told the Associated Press in May: God puts people in positions in positions he wantsI believe he sent Donald Trump in there to do what Donald Trump can do.

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Trump endorses Strange in Alabama's GOP Senate primary - Fox News

(WASHINGTON) Republicans face a problem as they try to defend a slim majority in the Senate and win races elsewhere: Insurgent primary candidates are trying to lay claim to President Donald Trump's mantle, and knock out the establishment's choices.

The latest case is in Nevada, where endangered GOP incumbent Sen. Dean Heller drew a challenge Tuesday from businessman and repeat failed candidate Danny Tarkanian, who announced his bid in an early morning Fox News Channel appearance seemingly aimed at an audience of one: the president himself.

"We're never going to make America great again unless we have senators in office that fully support President Trump and his America-first agenda," Tarkanian said, criticizing Heller as "one of the first never-Trumpers in Nevada" and arguing he had obstructed Trump's agenda in Congress.

Heller opposed early versions of Trump-backed health care legislation in the Senate before voting for a final version that failed anyway. His campaign spokesman, Tommy Ferraro, dismissed Tarkanian as a "perennial candidate."

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is the official Senate GOP campaign arm, quickly announced its support for Heller, and a super PAC backed by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., committed to spending what it takes to support him and other GOP incumbents.

The dynamic mirrors longstanding clashes between the GOP's establishment and activist wings, which played out disastrously in 2010 and 2012 when hard-core conservatives won Senate primaries but went on to lose to Democrats. McConnell and his allies vowed never to let that happen again and have subsequently intervened in primaries when necessary to produce candidates who could win.

The X factor now is the appeal Trump may hold to Republican primary voters and what Trump himself will do. The president offered one clue Tuesday night, backing the establishment candidate in next week's GOP Senate special election primary in Alabama, hours after an Associated Press story noted the absence so far of a presidential endorsement in the race.

"Senator Luther Strange has done a great job representing the people of the Great State of Alabama. He has my complete and total endorsement!" the president wrote, bypassing a firebrand House conservative, Mo Brooks, and an evangelical former state chief justice, Roy Moore, in favor of the appointed senator strongly backed by McConnell. The candidates are fighting over the seat previously held by now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

But whether Heller will get the presidential seal of approval in his primary is far less clear, and he is not alone.

Next door in Arizona, GOP incumbent Sen. Jeff Flake, another Trump skeptic during last year's campaign, faces at least one challenge from the right in conservative Kelli Ward, who repeatedly denounces Flake while praising Trump.

In each case, to their annoyance, establishment-aligned Republicans face the prospect of spending millions to protect an incumbent from a challenger who might have a tough time getting out of the general election. Republicans hold a 52-48 Senate majority and are playing offense against Democratic incumbents in 10 states Trump won.

"It's a critical time to make sure that Republican members know, when they're casting tough votes, that we'll have their backs," said Steven Law, a former McConnell chief of staff who heads the Senate Leadership Fund, in describing the decision to come in with millions to back Strange in Alabama.

Until Trump weighed in with his endorsement late Tuesday, the Alabama race had underscored questions about the role the president would play in Senate primaries.

A former GOP Senate campaign official with knowledge of the situation said the NRSC has sought help from the Trump White House on Senate races but those requests went unanswered under the leadership of recently ousted Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, leading to widespread frustration. The former campaign official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal party matters.

While Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have said they want to increase the Republican majorities in the House and Senate, the White House's approach to contentious primaries isn't clear yet. And Trump has already worked against McConnell's goals, ignoring his pleas not to appoint former Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, a likely Senate candidate, as Interior secretary, while boosting endangered Democratic Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia by hosting them at Trump Tower.

As for Heller, he is already walking the Trump tightrope.

Heller's initial denunciation of a Senate plan to repeal and replace Obamacare drew the ire of a political nonprofit promoting Trump's agenda. America First Policies tied Heller to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in a social media push and threatened to spend more than $1 million trashing him on television and radio on his home turf. McConnell called the group's attacks "beyond stupid."

In addition to the health care episode, Heller in 2015 said he was donating Trump's previous campaign contributions to charity a move he announced after Trump came under fire for characterizing some illegal immigrants from Mexico as rapists. For a president with a famously long memory for slights, Heller may have little hope of getting back into his good graces.

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The Republican Party Has a Big Problem: Insurgent Candidates - TIME