KOREAN SUMMIT - South Korea's View

"U.S. and South Korea ‘on the same page,’ vice foreign minister says" PBS NewsHour 6/18/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  South Korean Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lim Sung-nam sits down with Judy Woodruff to discuss what he sees as the foundations of North Korea’s possible denuclearization and next steps in the process.

KOREA - High-Stakes Diplomacy

"Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping hold high-stakes visit in secret" PBS NewsHour 3/28/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The leaders of China and North Korea held an unofficial summit this week, waiting until Wednesday to announce it to the world.  Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping came face-to-face for the first time in Beijing, Kim first venture abroad since he became North Korea's supreme leader in 2011.  Judy Woodruff reports on how both countries have characterized the visit.

"What does Kim Jong Un's China visit mean for the U.S.?" PBS NewsHour 3/28/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Why did North Korean leader Kim Jong Un go to China, and what impact will that visit have on its nuclear standoff with the U.S.?  Judy Woodruff gets two views from Michael Pillsbury an adviser to the Trump administration, and Michael Green a former National Security Council staff member.

THE KOREAS - Breaking Silence

"Rivals North and South Korea break their silence.  Here’s what could challenge future dialogue" PBS NewsHour 1/9/2018

NOTE:  Standford FSI

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  For the first time in more than two years, officials from the two Koreas sat for high-level, closed-door talks.  The two sides agreed to hold future military talks to ease border tensions and the North pledged to send a delegation to next month's Winter Olympic Games.  Judy Woodruff discusses the developments with former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens.

WORLD VIEW - Of Twitter-n-Chief

"How Trump’s love of Twitter translates abroad" PBS NewsHour 1/3/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Donald Trump uses Twitter to speak directly to the American people.  How is this mode of communication heard in foreign nations?  Former ambassador Nancy McEldowney who is now at Georgetown University, and Kenneth Weinstein, president and CEO of the Hudson Institute think tank, lend their perspectives. 

OPINION - Brooks and Marcus 8/11/2017

"Brooks and Marcus on Trump's threats for North Korea, thanks for Putin" PBS NewsHour 8/11/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week's news, including President Trump's tough words for North Korea over its nuclear threat, as well as his thanking Russian President Vladimir Putin for expelling hundreds of U.S. diplomats, plus his attacking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  And to the analysis of Brooks and Marcus.  That's New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post deputy editorial page editor Ruth Marcus.  Mark Shields is away.

And we welcome both of you.

So, you just heard two very different views from our earlier expert guests on North Korea.

You heard the President again commenting, David, and now Senator Risch.  How do you assess the President's management of this North Korea situation?

DAVID BROOKS, The New York Times:  Unusual, I guess.

(LAUGHTER)

DAVID BROOKS:  It will come after the war in Venezuela, apparently, we just learned.  I don't know what that was all about.

Listen, there's been a consensus of how to deal with this extremely knotty problem.  And that is, at least on the rhetorical level, the North Korean regime is extremely fiery, extremely insecure, sometimes hysterical.

And when you're around somebody who's screaming and unstable, the last thing you want to do is add to the instability with your own unstable, hysterical rhetoric.

And so most administrations, Republican and Democrats, when the North Koreans say they're going to Seoul into a lake of fire, whatever their rhetoric is, have just ignored it and relied on some underlying sense that the North Koreans don't want to commit national suicide.

Donald Trump has gone the other way.  Now, I think that is still — that sense that neither party wants to go into a war is still there.  But the psychological probabilities that you're going to enter into some August 1914 miscalculation certainly go up when both people are screaming at the top of their lungs.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  But, Ruth, you Justice Department heard Senator Risch, who says he talks to the White House.  And he said: I have talked to the President, and we think being very clear with North Korea is the best way to go.

RUTH MARCUS, The Washington Post:  Yes.

Well, David used the term unusual.  I think it's just absolutely scary.  And I didn't feel calmed down listening to Senator Risch, I have to say.

But there's a couple of positive things to say about President Trump here, just to surprise people for a second.  One is that this situation with North Korea is not his fault.  In other words, we were going to get to this.  Some President was going to end up in the terrible situation we have with the progress that North Korea has made with nuclear weapons.  He [Trump] just happens to be the President.

Number two, they were doing a very good job, until this latest eruptions of kind of bullying testosterone this week, in terms of pursuing what needs to be done, which is the diplomatic sanctions.  Senator Risch is right about the achievement in the Security Council.

But, all of a sudden, we saw this week these statements, and you would have thought Tuesday that maybe it was an eruption and they'd tamp it down.  And, instead, day after day after day, he's coming out saying more scary and dangerous things.

And I do not understand how that is anything but destabilizing, and with a very already unstable ally [enemy?].

DAVID BROOKS:  Yes.

Well, it could be that he thinks the North Koreans are undeterrable, and that this is not a usual regime, maybe because they have this new leader, and that you actually do have to take action.  He could be — he believes that.

It could be he just likes to blunder.  It’s always dangerous to overinterpret what Donald Trump says at any one moment.  And it could be he thinks the 'madman theory' is right theory here.  And the madman…

JUDY WOODRUFF:  Remind everybody what the madman — because it sounds scary.

(LAUGHTER)

DAVID BROOKS:  The 'madman theory' is that you can be a successful deterrer if you — if they think you could be crazy.

And so I think it can be very effective, so long as you’re not actually crazy.  And so we have a North Korean, we’re not really sure.  We have a President who has his moments.

And so the 'madman theory,' when both people could actually be crazy, is actually a very dangerous situation.
[ 😲 ]

NORTH KOREA - Escalation

Fat-Man vs Little-Boy

"Latest North Korea clash draws sharply different responses from Trump, top national security aides" PBS NewsHour 8/9/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  As a war of words escalated between the North Korea and the U.S., Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged calm, saying Americans should have no concerns about the rhetoric of the last few days.  The volley of tough talk follows reports that Pyongyang can now make nuclear weapons small enough to fit inside a long-range missile.  John Yang reports.

"How will North Korea react to mixed signals from U.S.?" PBS NewsHour 8/9/2017

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SUMMARY:  Judy Woodruff talks to former Pentagon official Abraham Denmark and Mike Chinoy of the University of Southern California about the latest threats and counter-threats between Pyongyang and Washington and what options the U.S. has to defuse the situation.

"Trump fires back in war of words with North Korea" PBS NewsHour 8/10/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Trump doubled down on his threats against North Korea on Thursday, and disparaged a quarter century of U.S. policy for the country.  Meanwhile, North Korea announced its plans to launch four intermediate-range missiles at the U.S. territory of Guam and state TV declared the U.S. President reckless.  Special correspondent Nick Schifrin reports.

"Cardin: Trump's warning for North Korea isn't a game plan" PBS NewsHour 8/10/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The August recess hasn't stopped members of Congress from weighing in on President Trump's latest warnings to North Korea.  Judy Woodruff speaks with Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md) about the president's fiery comments and whether the administration has a well-thought-out strategy, plus how the U.S. should approach diplomacy while turning up the pressure on the nation.

"How likely is a military conflict with North Korea?" PBS NewsHour 8/11/2017

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SUMMARY:  President Trump said the U.S. and its military is ready to deal with any provocation by the Pyongyang regime.  How do the president's words impact the Trump administration's options?  Judy Woodruff speaks with retired Adm. Dennis Blair, a former U.S. Pacific Forces commander, and former CIA analyst Sue Mi Terry to get some insight into the reclusive regime and how the U.S. should proceed.

"What's the view of U.S. tensions from Pyongyang?" PBS NewsHour 8/11/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Trump denounced North Korea yet again Friday, affirming the U.S. and its military are ready to deal with any further provocation from Pyongyang.  Despite the tensions, it was revealed that U.S. and North Korean diplomats have had back channel discussions recently.  Nick Schifrin looks at the internal response and gets the North Korean perspective from Rafael Wober of Associated Press.

NORTH KOREA - Response to Otto Warmbier's Death

"Will Otto Warmbier’s death affect U.S. strategy on North Korea?" PBS NewsHour 6/20/2017

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SUMMARY:  President Trump condemned the death of 22-year-old American student Otto Warmbier -- who was released from North Korean detention in a coma -- and seemed to abandon his goal of enlisting China to pressure the regime.  How does Warmbier’s tragic end affect the U.S. approach?  John Yang explores what's at stake with Kathleen Stephens, former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea.

TRUMP AGENDA - The 'Black Ops' Government

"Why transparency — on Trump's taxes, visitors and family business — matters" PBS NewsHour 4/18/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In the Trump administration, questions of transparency start with the President's tax returns and why he's not releasing them.  But there are also questions about White House visitor logs and who's advising the President.  John Yang reports and Judy Woodruff talks to Richard Painter of the University of Minnesota and Noah Bookbinder of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

"A special state visit for Trump sparks outcry in the U.K." PBS NewsHour 4/18/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  When British Prime Minister Theresa May met with President Trump in January, she extended a special honor; an invitation for a state visit, which only two Presidents have received since 1952.  But the President's visit to the U.K.  has become politically fraught, prompting protests and petitions, and every aspect of the trip is in flux.  Special correspondent Ryan Chilcote reports from London.

NEWSHOUR BOOKSHELF - "A World in Disarray"

"How a former diplomat makes sense of ‘A World in Disarray’" PBS NewsHour 4/17/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In the new book "A World in Disarray: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order," a former American diplomat takes a candid look at the state of international affairs.  Margaret Warner talks to Richard Haass about what’s happened to the world since the end of the Cold War, and the challenges facing President Trump now.

OPINION - Shields and Brooks 4/14/2017

"Shields and Brooks on GOP home-district hostility, Trump policy reversals" PBS NewsHour 4/14/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week's news, including how Republican members of Congress are facing heat from crowds of their own constituents while home during recess, why President Trump's views have shifted on China, NATO, and Janet Yellen, and more.

TRUMP WORLD - The View of the Generalissimo

Fist of all, don't be fooled.  Trump IS and always will be Trump-first.

"Have crises abroad changed President Trump's view of the world?" PBS NewsHour 4/13/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  What began as a Trump presidency emphasizing retrenchment on the home front has been quickly refocused on the U.S. role abroad.  The U.S. response to Syria's use of chemical weapons have raised fresh questions about President Trump's foreign policy.  Judy Woodruff talks to former Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns and Adm. James Stavridis former NATO Supreme Allied Commander.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  He bills himself the 'America-First President,' but it's world affairs that have risen to the top of his agenda lately.  Syria's use of chemical weapons, the U.S. response, and President Trump's own words have raised fresh questions about his foreign policy.

TRUMP AGENDA - Egypt

"Rebooting U.S.-Egypt relations, human rights concerns become a private matter" PBS NewsHour 4/3/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Trump did something on Monday that his predecessor never did; welcome Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to the White House.  Chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner reports, while John Yang talks to Michele Dunne of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace about the Trump administration deemphasizing human rights concerns to reboot the Egypt relationship.

TRUMP AGENDA - Diplomacy

"Two veteran lawmakers worry global diplomacy is being undervalued" PBS NewsHour 3/30/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Trump vowed on the campaign trail to improve America's global standing.  After two months in office, the president has shaken up the world stage, from dust-ups with allies to continued questions about Russia.  Judy Woodruff gets views from veteran lawmakers former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.), and former Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), about how they see Trump foreign policy so far.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  President Trump promised often during the campaign to improve America's standing across the globe.

Now, more than two months in office, Mr. Trump has shaken up the world stage, from dust-ups with longtime allies to continued questions about Russia.

We examine the administration's foreign policy now with two veteran lawmakers who helped to shape U.S. national security, former Republican Senator Richard Lugar, and former Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton, both from Indiana.  They are now both distinguished scholars at Indiana University.

And welcome to the NewsHour to both of you.

The New York Times reported today — and I will start with you, Senator Lugar — that the United States is expanding — expanding and deepening its military involvement in the Middle East under President Trump in Iraq, in Syria, in Yemen.  At the same time, he's calling for cutbacks in spending on diplomacy.

What do you think of this approach?

FORMER SEN. RICHARD LUGAR, R-Ind.:  Well, I believe the approach is very fearful.

And we really need to have all of our alliances as strong as possible.  I mean, as a matter of fact, to have a military strategy for the Middle East, as opposed to a few troops that are going here and there at various times, I'm really concerned about the President's lack of enthusiasm for NATO, for example.

I'm worried about our — even the alliance problems in our own hemisphere with the NAFTA, quite apart from those ties with the Far East.  In other words, we need to reach out, offering leadership in the world.  And we need to be finding new allies, new people to help us.

The Middle East will not be solved by a few Americans who are sent over there, even if we augment that by a few more.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  Representative Hamilton, your take on the first two months of this presidency on foreign policy?

FORMER REP. LEE HAMILTON, D-Ind.:  Well, I agree very much with what Dick said.

You need to have I a strong military and be prepared to use it on occasion as a last resort.  But you certainly have to have strong diplomacy.

Almost all of these problems that we're dealing with, I think all of them, ultimately have a political solution.  You do not get that kind of a solution through military action.  You get it through diplomacy, negotiations, consultations, endless meetings, and conversations of all kinds with your friends and your enemies.

We need a strong diplomatic effort in order to advance our interests in the world.

TRUMP AGENDA - A Primer: "How-To Make Friends Into Enemies"

"First Trump-Merkel meeting reflects different views, styles" PBS NewsHour 3/17/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Trump met for the first time Friday, a meeting that might have smoothed relations after a rocky start.  Though they exchanged compliments, Mr. Trump pressed Merkel on NATO defense spending as well as trade issues, and the chancellor was asked to comment on the President's combative style.  Chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner (NewsHour) reports.

RUSSIA - Putin's Playbook

"What we know about Russian meddling and Putin's playbook" PBS NewsHour 2/27/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  U.S. intelligence agencies believe Russia attempted to sway the U.S. election through DNC email hacking and an influence campaign.  But to what degree were President Trump's campaign advisers in contact with Russians?  And what made Americans susceptible to influence?  William Brangham examines what we know with Evan Osnos of The New Yorker and former CIA official John Sipher.

"U.S. and Russia relations are very strained.  Here's what's at stake" PBS NewsHour 3/3/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The latest reports on repeated contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials have strained the potential for improved ties between Moscow and Washington.  Chief foreign correspondent Margaret Warner reports, then Judy Woodruff gets views on what's at stake from Andrew Weiss of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Paul Saunders of the Center for the National Interest.

TRUMP AGENDA - China/Japan Diplomacy

"What's the future of relations with China, Japan under Trump?" PBS NewsHour 2/10/2017

COMMENT:  Note Trump's insensitivity on the nuclear weapon issue.  During my 22yr U.S. Navy carrier, I was stationed in Japan and I am very aware of their sensitivity in regards to nuclear weapons.  After Nagasaki and Hiroshima you cannot blame them, they KNOW the horrors of the use nuclear weapons.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with President Trump Friday amid growing concerns in Asia over trade, North Korea's missile and nuclear programs and China flexing its military muscle.  Judy Woodruff speaks with Evan Medeiros, former Senior Director for Asian Affairs during the Obama administration, about what U.S. relations with Asia look like going forward.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  As we mentioned earlier, the prime minister of Japan was at the White House today, the beginning of several days of talks with the president.

The visit comes amid growing concerns in Asia over trade, over North Korea's missile and nuclear programs, and over China flexing its military muscle.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  The bond between our two nations and the friendship between our two peoples runs very, very deep.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  The two leaders presented a united front, despite differences that have emerged in the early days of the Trump presidency.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had pushed hard for the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, but President Trump has officially abandoned it.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  On the economy, we will seek a trading relationship that is free, fair, and reciprocal, benefiting both of our countries.

SHINZO ABE, Japanese Prime Minister (through interpreter):  I am quite optimistic that good results will be seen from the dialogue.  Now the free and fair common set of rules will be created for free trade in the region.  That was the purpose of TPP.  That importance has not changed.  I, myself, believe that.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  Abe also talked up Japanese industry's contributions to the U.S. economy, after Mr. Trump blasted Toyota last month for planning a new plant in Mexico.

Defense is another potential flash point.  During the campaign, candidate Trump suggested Japan and South Korea could pay more for their own defense, up to and including nuclear weapons.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  North Korea has nukes.  Japan has a problem with that.  I mean, they have a big problem with that.  Maybe they would in fact be better off if they defend themselves from North Korea.

QUESTION:  With nukes?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  Including with nukes, yes, including with nukes.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  Today, however, the president appeared to step back.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  It is important that both Japan and the United States continue to invest very heavily in the alliance to build up our defense.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  Some 50,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan, the largest American outpost in Asia.  Last week, Secretary of Defense James Mattis made Asia his first overseas visit.  In Japan, he reassured Abe that the U.S. will maintain its presence there.

The U.S. military also serves as the main counterweight to China's increasing aggressiveness in the South China Sea.  Today, Abe said that must continue.

SHINZO ABE (through interpreter):  We need to maintain the freedom of navigation and rule of law.  Such international order there must be maintained.

TRUMP WORLD - Britain's Life-Line

"High stakes and friction points for ‘special relationship' between Trump and UK's May" PBS NewsHour 1/27/2017

CAUTION:  Britain, Trump will want his name (in gold) on Parliament. 😉

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May both came to power during waves of populism and now are trying to steer their respective countries in new directions.  At the White House Friday, the allies met for what was Trump's first foreign visit to discuss Brexit and the prospect of a bilateral trade deal.  Both leaders Margaret Warner reports on what's at stake for both leaders.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  In contrast to the ban on refugees, the White House opened its doors today to the United States' most trusted ally.

As Margaret Warner reports, in the face of uncharted waters, there was an appreciation of a shared history.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  It is a great honor to have Winston Churchill back.

MARGARET WARNER (NewsHour):  President Trump had a warm Oval Office welcome for Prime Minister May, as the two posed beside a bust of Britain's greatest wartime leader.

And both are now trying to steer their countries in new directions amid great uncertainty.  May is charting Britain's withdrawal from the European Union after the public voted for Brexit, which triggered her predecessor David Cameron's resignation.  May didn't support leaving the E.U. either, but she's now pledged to see it through, insisting it will be a clean break.

THERESA MAY, British Prime Minister:  Brexit means Brexit, and we're going to make a success of it.

MARGARET WARNER:  Last April in London, then-President Obama warned a vote to leave the E.U. would jeopardize a future U.S.-U.K. trade agreement.

FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  Because our focus is in negotiating with a big bloc, the European Union, to get a trade agreement done.  And the U.K. is going to be in the back of the queue.

MARGARET WARNER:  Mr. Trump, however, was a vocal Brexit supporter.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:  People want to take their country back.

MARGARET WARNER:  And Nigel Farage, the man who led the Brexit movement, campaigned with Mr. Trump, and visited him in New York just days after his election.

Atop May's agenda now is to get President Trump to commit to negotiate a bilateral trade deal as soon as Britain leaves the E.U.  Yet, President Trump vows to put America first, and has already issued some protectionist orders, like insisting new oil pipelines be built with American steel.

Britain's ambassador to the U.S., Sir Kim Darroch, said what May needs now is a pledge to negotiate a deal, not the details.

SIR KIM DARROCH, U.S. Ambassador to the United States:  As we leave the E.U., we intend to go global to have a global series of trading relationships.  I think it's reassuring to the British public to know that the door over here is open to doing a deal quickly.

MARGARET WARNER:  Julian Borger, The Guardian's world affairs editor, said negotiating an exit from the E.U. won't be easy.

JULIAN BORGER, The Guardian:  It is going to be economically and politically very costly to do.  Trump's arrival is really a political lifeline for her.  She can say, we are now global Britain.  We look beyond Europe.  We have — there's a whole world out there that's willing to buy our stuff and stand with us.  And U.S. is exhibit 'A' our closest ally, special relationship.  These sort of ideas and phrases really resonate in the U.K.

TRUMP AGENDA - The Wall

aka "The Art of Making More Enemies"

"What Trump's wall means for U.S. relations with Mexico" PBS NewsHour 1/26/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  What do President Trump's latest actions on immigration mean for U.S. relations with Mexico?  Former State Department official Roger Noriega and James Carafano from the Heritage Foundation join Antonio Mora to discuss the apparent rift between President Trump and Mexico's President Enrique Peña over the decision to build a wall along the southern border.

ANTONIO MORA (NewsHour):  Let's take a closer look now at the rift developing between President Trump and Mexico's Enrique Pena Nieto.

For what that might mean for both countries, I'm joined by Roger Noriega of the American Enterprise Institute.  He's a former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs in the George W. Bush administration.  And James Carafano, vice president of the Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy at the Heritage Foundation.

Very good to have you both here.

Roger, I want to start with you.

Was the cancellation of this meeting, because both leaders were backed into a corner, Donald Trump by his promises in the campaign that he was going to build that wall and Mexico was going to pay for it, and Pena Nieto because his approval ratings are so terrible, that he has to play hardball politically?

ROGER NORIEGA, American Enterprise Institute:  Well, I think it's fair to say that this was a very uncomfortable exchange between these two leaders.

Certainly, I think President Trump didn't want to be seen as having a meeting canceled on him, so he suggested that it was a common decision to maybe reschedule.

But, from the point of view of Pena Nieto, he — you know, the insistence that Mexico's going to pay for a wall, in spite of his declarations to the contrary, put this very weak president on the defensive at home.

And, you know, this is our second largest trading partner.  This is a country we should be cultivating a positive dialogue about how we work together to make ourselves more secure and more competitive vis-a-vis the rest of the world.

ANTONIO MORA:  And, James, did Pena Nieto have really any choice, after President Trump tweeted that the meeting had to be canceled if Mexico wasn't going to pay for the wall?

JAMES CARAFANO, Heritage Foundation:  Yes, I don't think it's just about that tweet.

And I want to start by saying, I think the Mexican government actually started out exactly right, and not just what the president has said, but the whole the way the campaign rhetoric was portrayed.  That's what's being dumped into Latin America.  They're not watching FOX News.

And, I mean, they're basically hearing a very vitriolic, very aggressive description of this.

"White House floats import tax amid tensions with Mexico" PBS NewsHour 1/26/2017

"Congress would be willing to foot the bill$" aka 'we are going to shaft tax payers for the bill$.'

AND 'criminal immigrants' = being Mexican.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Trump's push for a wall on the border has opened a diplomatic rift with Mexico.  After Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced he was canceling a visit to Washington, Mr. Trump gave no ground at a GOP retreat in Philadelphia.  Congressional leaders said Congress would be willing to foot the bill for a wall for now.  Lisa Desjardins talks to Judy Woodruff from Philadelphia.

TRUMP AGENDA - Warning From UN Ambassador Power

"UN Ambassador Power warns against ‘historical amnesia' in future Russian relations" PBS NewsHour 1/17/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power used her final speech to focus on Russia as a major threat.  Judy Woodruff sits down with Power during her last days in office to discuss troubling actions by Russia and the future of Russian relations under the Trump administration, as well as the Obama administration's complicated decision not to intervene militarily in Syria.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  President-elect Trump's nominee to be U.S.  Ambassador to the U.N., South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, plans to question why the U.S. contributes 22 percent of the U.N.'s budget.

In prepared remarks for her confirmation hearing tomorrow, we also learned that she will criticize the recent vote condemning Israeli settlements.

Earlier today, I sat down with Samantha Power.  She's the outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.  We spoke at the State Department.

And I began by asking why, in her final speech, she focused on Russia as a major threat to the U.S.

SAMANTHA POWER, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations:  There is a fair amount of competition, obviously, with ISIL and the terrorist networks around the world, China also posing a different kind of threat to the rules-based order.

But I thought it was very important before leaving to draw on my eight years, our eight years here in these jobs of privilege that we have had, to take note of the pattern that has developed, particularly in the last few years, starting with the decision by President Putin to go into Ukraine, to lie about it, to take Crimea, to try to annex it, involved with that regime, itself resorting to tactics that were outlawed 100 years ago, and then systematically, in Europe, backing these illiberal parties whose world view is closer to this kind of populist authoritarian, anti-Muslim, anti-diversity kind of line that has been pursued in Moscow.

All of that plus, of course, the most recent and most egregious example that hits close to home for us, which is interfering in our elections through hacking, through fake news, and with an eye to trying to help one candidate win.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  And so, when the President-elect speaks, as he has often, about wanting a better relationship with Russia — and, in fact, one of his advisers has just said in the last day or so, he said, the U.S. needs to find a way to get along better with Russia.  He said, we need to focus less on combating communism and more on rejecting radical Islam.

How do you react to that?

SAMANTHA POWER:  Well, let me raise my hand and say at no point have I been fighting the last war and seeking at the U.N. to combat communism.

I think we do have an interest in combating states that try to cross borders and steal parts of other people's country.  We have an interest in combating tactics in war that are abhorrent and that only fuel terrorism because they incite people on the ground.

And we, as Americans, have an interest in ensuring that the only people who get to vote for our elected leaders are our citizens, and not some foreign people who think that they have an interest in skewing our election in one direction or another.

Look, I think the point that we all agree upon is that we have to engage with Russia.  I have spent, you know, as much time with my Russian counterpart as I have probably with anybody else, including close family members, over the course of the last four years.  And we have done really important work together.

At the same time we're at each other on Aleppo, on Ukraine, we're authorizing peacekeeping missions, putting sanctions in place on North Korea for its nuclear tests.  We need to find means for cooperation.

I think the potential difference or the issue that is going to need to be adjudicated is, on what terms?  Are we going to bring historical amnesia and pretend as though history is just starting on January 21, or are we going to take into account egregious violations of the rules of the road that may have — in the first instance have predated the administration, but that are inevitably going to continue if Russia believes that there are no costs to its actions, as if all it has to do is just wait out the United States, and then eventually we will soften our positions and forget about what happened?

JOHN KERRY - Parting Shots

"Kerry: ‘We have a problem' if people don't care about accountability or policy being made on Twitter" PBS NewsHour 1/10/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry joined other Obama administration officials for an event Tuesday at the U.S. Institute of Peace focusing on the importance of a smooth political transition.  Judy Woodruff sat down with him to ask about the Trump transition and the problems the world faces today.

JOHN KERRY, Secretary of State:  What troubles me a little bit is that people are not separating a remarkable transformation that is taking place globally [and] naturally, from things that we’re really responsible for.

Let me give you an example, Arab Spring.  We didn’t start the Arab Spring.  We couldn’t have stopped the Arab Spring, particularly with respect to Syria.  And I think there are some things that might have been able to have been done.

But that had nothing to do with the red line.  And let’s make that absolutely clear, folks.  President Obama never retreated from his red line.  He never changed his mind about his readiness to bomb Assad to make it clear, you don’t use chemical weapons, never.  There’s a mythology that’s grown up around this.

One of the greatest challenges we all face right now, not just America, but every country in the world, is, we are living in a factless political environment.  And every country in the world better stop and start worrying about authoritarian populism and the absence of substance in our dialogue, if you call it that.