TRUMP SAYS HE COULD MEET NORTH KOREA’S KIM AT DMZ
President Donald Trump is inviting North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to shake hands during a possible visit to the demilitarized zone with South Korea. Trump is scheduled to visit South Korea on Saturday after meetings at the Group of Twenty summit in Osaka.
He tweeted Saturday morning that afterward: “I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon). While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/ DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!” Trump’s summit with Kim in Vietnam this year collapsed without an agreement for denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
Carter claims Russia won Trump the White House.
ATLANTA» Former President Jimmy Carter said Friday he believes President Donald Trump actually lost the 2016 election and is president only because of Russian interference.
Carter made the comments during a discussion on human rights at a resort in Leesburg, Va., without offering any evidence for his statements.
“There is no doubt that the Russians did interfere in the election,” Carter said. “And I think the interference, though not yet quantified, if fully investigated would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election and he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf.”
The U.S. intelligence community asserted in a 2017 report that Russia had worked to help Trump during the election and to undermine the candidacy of Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
Top immigration official says border crossings dropping.
The acting secretary of Homeland Security said Friday that he expected 25 percent fewer migrants to cross the border this month, as officials in Yuma unveiled the newest temporary facility meant to detain children and families.
That number of illegal crossings would still be too high, but it was a start, Kevin McAleenan said, crediting Mexico with a concentrated effort to stop Central Americans before they arrived even to Mexico — a push prompted by threats of tariffs from President Donald Trump.
The president has seen numbers of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border skyrocket under his term despite his hard-line policies and tough talk. More than 100,000 people, mostly families from Central America, have crossed the border each month over the past few months.
Senate fails to limit Trump war powers amid Iran tensions.
WASHINGTON»
Political unease over the White House’s tough talk against Iran is reviving questions about President Donald Trump’s ability to order military strikes without approval from Congress.
The Senate fell short Friday, in a 50-40 vote, on an amendment to a sweeping Defense bill that would require congressional support before Trump acts. It didn’t reach the 60-vote threshold needed for passage. But lawmakers said the majority showing sent a strong message that Trump cannot continue relying on the nearly 2decade-old war authorizations Congress approved in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The House is expected to take up the issue next month.
“A congressional vote is a pretty good signal of what our constituents are telling us — that another war in the Middle East would be a disaster right now, we don’t want the president to just do it on a whim,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., a co-author of the measure with Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M.
“My gut tells me that the White House is realizing this is deeply unpopular with the American public.”
Governor signs felon voting bill.
MIAMI» Florida felons will have to pay court-ordered financial obligations if they want their voting rights restored under a bill signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday.
During the spring legislative session, Democrats argued that forcing felons who have completed their prison sentences and probation to pay court fees and fines goes against the spirit of the constitutional amendment voters passed in November. The amendment to restore voting rights for felons other than convicted murderers and sex offenders was approved with 64.5 percent of the vote. But the language said felons must complete their sentences, and Republicans interpreted that to include restitution, court costs, fines and fees imposed by a judge at sentencing.
Democrats said that creates a hurdle that voters didn’t intend when they approved the amendment.