Well prepare yourself, because that might not be the only reunion story this week.
Over the weekend, writer Bolu Babalola tweeted the following, heartfelt request:
At the time of writing, that tweet has been shared around 13,000 times. True to form, the good people of Twitter were quick to offer their assistance:
I’m actually a local Wakandan and he’s the kings cousin… all hell broke loose when he came to visit us last time… so be careful girl because he wants to take control of everything… @michaelb4jordan … he’s calmed down and is pretty focused on boxing right now
Still, every heart-warming story has its downsides. Shockingly, there were some people in this case who had the audacity to question whether or not the image was genuine.
I mean I wish you couldget whoever you want by photoshopping them i to your pic and asking twitter to do ‘their thing’ I’d make so many different edits of hot people beside me
Oh my badall the best and I hope you find Mich- I mean-the guy. He’s a real hottie don’t let him slip away! Twitter let’s help her find him again!A love like this doesn’t come by often
Despite the naysayers, though, it looks like the story may in fact have a happy ending. In the early hours of Monday morning, Babalola shared the following updated:
Mashable reached out to Babalola to ask what she’d say to the mystery man if Twitter does manage to connect them, to which she sent the following response:
“What is there to say? Thanks for the great time this summer, shall we pick up where we left off?”
Not an entirely unexpected response. Still, she may have to wait a while. Judging by the number of similar requests that have popped up over the past 24 hours, it looks like Twitter may be pretty busy for a while…
Hey twitter, my sister and I met this girl when we went to DC in 2013. We were basically best friends for the day. I’d love to find her and see how she’s doing now. Twitter do your thing! pic.twitter.com/8bDf6m4RKt
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WELL, HERE WE ARE. It’s Monday, and by next Friday, a chunk of government is slated to shut down. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP also wants funding for his border wall by Dec. 7. Seven spending bills need to pass in the next 11 days to avoid a temporary shutdown of big patches of government.
THE INCENTIVES …
— THE PRESIDENT:TRUMP has just 39 days left of an all-Republican D.C. He has every incentive to push as hard as he possibly can for as much funding as possible for his border wall. A shutdown wouldn’t even hurt too badly. Department of Homeland Security funding — which expires Dec. 7 — can be continued on an emergency basis if Congress cannot pass a bill. So there is nothing stopping him from a big-time, drag-out fight.
— DEMOCRATS: Democrats take control of the House in a few weeks, so they have zero incentive to cooperate in passing spending for Trump’s border wall without a big concession. DREAM Act? DACA protections? These could all be on the table. Remember: Trump needs 60 votes in the Senate, so Democratic cooperation is a must.
— REPUBLICANS: There’s a huge slice of the House GOP that feels like Republicans never lived up to the promise of Trump’s election by not fighting hard enough for a border wall. So watch for the Jim Jordans of the world to push for wall funding. Remember: the deadline is Dec. 7, and the only backstop is Christmas.
ALSO THIS WEEK … HOUSE DEMOCRATS will hold closed leadership elections Wednesday. NANCY PELOSI (CALIF.), STENY HOYER (MD.) and JIM CLYBURN (S.C.) are all running unopposed for speaker, majority leader and whip.
— MORE GOOD NEWS FOR PELOSI … “Another rebel Dem softens on opposing Pelosi for speaker,” by Rachael Bade, Heather Caygle and John Bresnahan: “Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), one of 16 lawmakers or members-elect who had signed a letter promising to vote against Pelosi on the floor, said on Sunday he would back her over a Republican during the critical Jan. 3 vote.
“‘If it becomes as a choice between a Republican and Nancy Pelosi, I’ll obviously support Nancy Pelosi,’ Lynch told a local TV station. ‘But I do think we risk losing the majority in the House — we risk having Trump elected for another four years — if the Democrats don’t offer a new direction in the Democratic Party.’” POLITICO
ON THE BORDER … AP’S CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN in Tijuana, Mexico: “Mexico to up security at border after migrants try to cross”: “Mexico pledged to shore up security near its border with the United States and local authorities said that 39 migrants were arrested after a peaceful march devolved into chaos when U.S. agents fired tear gas into Mexico to stop some migrants who tried to breach the border.
“Mexico’s Interior Ministry said Sunday it would immediately deport those who tried to ‘violently’ enter the U.S. from Tijuana. Meanwhile, Tijuana’s municipal government said that more than three-dozen migrants were arrested for disturbing the peace and other charges stemming from the march and what followed.” AP
KARLA ZABLUDOVSKY, BuzzFeed’s Mexico bureau chief (@karlazabs): “11,000 Central Americans have been deported from Mexico since Oct. 19th (MX Immigration authorities say some requested to be returned home). That’s not a typo: 11,000 people in 37 days. Of these, 1,906 were part of the caravans.”
Good Monday morning and welcome back. SPOTTED: Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky seeing “Torch Song” on Broadway this weekend. Pool report from a tipster: “They were accompanied by Dan Baer (former United States Ambassador for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe). Also in the audience (sitting separately) was Randi Zuckerberg …
“There were two standing ovations: one at the beginning of the night for the Clintons when they walked into the theater and the other at the end of the night for the actors when they bowed. After the show the Clintons went backstage to congratulate the cast and crew along with Eric Kuhn, one of the show’s producers.”
THE NEW DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY — RACHAEL BADE: “Capitol Hill boys club braces for scores of new female members”: “A record 102 women were elected in the midterms, a total that includes several moms with young children. The influx is forcing lawmakers to reassess policies to make Capitol Hill more female- and parent-friendly. Renovations are already underway to install nursing stations around the Capitol. And there’s talk among Democratic women about how to best arrange the congressional schedule so that parents can video chat with their kids over dinner, help them with their school work and make it home three days a week.
“The increased number of women with children, while still a small minority of lawmakers, will likely reinvigorate a debate over child care costs as well. Lawmakers, who earn $174,000 a year, are barred from using any official funds for child care needs, but there’s a quiet debate underway among some new members about whether that rule should be tweaked.” POLITICO
NANCY COOK and DARREN SAMUELSOHN: “White House lacks lawyers to deal with empowered Democrats”: “The White House counsel’s office is down to a skeletal staff, potentially leaving them unprepared to deal with a flood of subpoenas for documents and witnesses when Democrats take control of the House. The office has been without a permanent leader since ex-White House senior attorney Don McGahn left the administration in mid-October.
“His replacement, Pat Cipollone, is caught up in an extended background check that’s prevented him from starting. And in the coming weeks, deputy counsel Annie Donaldson, who served as McGahn’s most trusted aide and as the office’s chief of staff, is expected to leave the administration, according to two Republicans close to the White House. …
“Amid the leadership tumult, the counsel’s office has shrunk to about 25 lawyers, according to a second Republican close to the administration. That’s lower than its recent high point of roughly 35 attorneys and well short of the 40 people that some expect it will need to deal with a reinvigorated Democratic party eager to investigate the president’s tax returns and business dealings in foreign countries, reopen probes into Russian election meddling and explore the behavior of a bevy of Cabinet officials.” POLITICO
DEFICITS MATTER AGAIN? — “Trump demands action to reduce deficit, pushes new deficit spending,” by WaPo’s Josh Dawsey andDamian Paletta: “President Trump is demanding top advisers craft a plan to reduce the country’s ballooning budget deficits, but the president has flummoxed his own aides by repeatedly seeking new spending while ruling out measures needed to address the country’s unbalanced budget.Trump’s deficit-reduction directive came last month, after the White House reported a large increase in the deficit for the previous 12 months.
“The announcement unnerved Republicans and investors, helping fuel a big sell-off in the stock market. Two days after the deficit report, Trump floated a surprise demand to his Cabinet secretaries, asking them to identify steep cuts in their agencies.…
“When staffers sought to include an attack on Democrats’ Medicare-for-all proposals in Trump’s campaign speeches this fall, he initially blanched, two administration aides said. Medicare is popular, he said, and voters want it. Eventually, he agreed to the attack if he could say Democrats were going to take the entitlement away.” WaPo
FINALLY … L.A. TIMES: “California’s deadliest fire on record is 100% contained, officials say,” by Ruben Vives and Sonali Kohli: “More than two weeks after the deadliest fire on record in California swept through Butte County, killing at least 85 people and destroying 14,000 homes, officials announced Sunday that the massive Camp fire was finally 100% contained. The devastating blaze, which began on Nov. 8, scorched more than 153,000 acres and destroyed more than 18,000 structures, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials. The number of residents still missing stands at 249, and thousands more have been displaced by the massive blaze.” LAT
IN MISSISSIPPI — “‘We don’t want an Alabama’: Hyde-Smith has Republicans holding their breath,” by James Arkin: “Republicans think Cindy Hyde-Smith will ultimately pull out a win Mississippi’s special Senate election on Tuesday. But they say the race has tightened — and after what happened in Alabama last year, they’re on edge.
“A swirl of controversy surrounding the Republican senator — stirred up by her comment about attending a ‘public hanging’ — has given Democrat Mike Espy momentum in the home stretch, officials from both parties say. Hyde-Smith has never trailed in polling, and Democrats acknowledge she’s likely to win, but they argue that her flubs have given Espy a very narrow opening if everything breaks his way.
“Henry Barbour, the [RNC] committeeman and a longtime Mississippi operative, said base voters in both parties are energized, but gave a slight edge to Espy’s supporters. He said he expects Hyde-Smith to win on Tuesday, though he added that Republicans should be concerned about the potential for weak turnout.” POLITICO
TRUMP’S MONDAY — The president is having lunch at 12:30 p.m. with VP Mike Pence. He will leave the White House at 2:35 p.m. to travel to Tupelo, Miss. He will headline a political rally at 4:15 p.m. Central time. He will then travel to Gulfport, Miss., where he will participate in a criminal justice roundtable at 6:50 p.m. Central time. Afterward, he will head to Biloxi, Miss. At 8 p.m. Central time, the president will headline a political rally at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Afterward, he will return to Washington.
N.Y. POST’S RICHARD JOHNSON: “Jared and Josh Kushner buying luxe Lower East Side hotel”: “Jared and Joshua Kushner are expanding their real estate empire by buying the hip Hotel on Rivington on the Lower East Side.” NYP
FOR YOUR RADAR — “Report: Netanyahu’s Prosecutor Recommends Indictment in Two Cases,” by Jerusalem Post’s Yonah Jeremy Bob: “The state prosecution team working on Cases 1000 (the ‘Illegal Gifts Affair’) and 2000 (the ‘Yediot Aharonot-Yisrael Hayom Affair’) against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sent its recommendation for corruption to State Attorney Shai Nitzan, Channel 10 reported late Sunday. The report suggested that Economic Crimes Division Director Liat Ben-Ari’s recommendations were for an indictment against Netanyahu for bribery in Case 1000.” Jerusalem Post
2020 WATCH — “Democrats’ Senate losses jeopardize national spotlight for possible 2020 hopeful,” by WaPo’s Karoun Demirjian and Seung Min Kim: “Senate Democrats’ midterm losses have created a dilemma for the party’s leadership over a key committee seat held by Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), a prospective 2020 presidential contender who is at risk of having to forfeit the high-profile assignment and the national spotlight that comes with it. Harris, a former prosecutor and state attorney general, is the Senate Judiciary Committee’s most junior member. …
“[U]nless Democrats strike a deal, either with the Senate’s Republican majority or with fellow Democrats on the committee, numbers and seniority dictate that Harris will be out — and that has liberal groups scrambling to save her position.” WaPo
— NATASHA KORECKI and LAURA NAHMIAS: “Franken scandal haunts Gillibrand’s 2020 chances”: “More than a dozen prominent West Coast, New York and national donors and bundlers — many of them women — said they would never again donate to or fundraise for Gillibrand or would only do so if she ended up as the Democratic presidential nominee.
“Gillibrand has defended her approach by insisting she placed deeply held personal values over party loyalty. But the still-burning resentment among the donor class now confronts Gillibrand as she explores a presidential bid, cutting her off from influential and deep-pocketed contributors and their networks at a time when an expansive 2020 field will compete for their dollars.” POLITICO
OBAMA ALUMNI — “Obama Alumni Return to Washington, This Time as House Freshmen,” by NYT’s Catie Edmondson and Sheryl Gay Stolberg: “Their previous jobs have taken them to the Oval Office, the Situation Room and the Senate floor. One met with a Saudi king and plotted strategy to fight the Islamic State. Another cracked down on human rights abuses in North Korea.
“Their Rolodexes are flush with former cabinet members and current Pentagon officials who are happy to take their calls. Nearly a dozen members of the House’s incoming class are far from being gawky freshmen, stumbling wide-eyed through the strange corridors of Capitol Hill, but are instead experienced policymakers who have worked in previous presidential administrations — seven of them for former President Barack Obama.
“Their return to Washington is, in part, a way to undo what they see as the unspooling of the values and legacy of the nation’s 44th president. … [Elissa] Slotkin’s stack of congratulatory notes looks like a who’s who of Washington. ‘A lot of my national security community from both sides of the aisle have been reaching out and saying, “Anything we can do,”’ she said in an interview.” NYT
MILESTONE — “For the First Time, a Black Woman Will Lead The Harvard Crimson,” by NYT’s Amy Chozick: “Writers and editors at The Harvard Crimson have gone on to be presidents (John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt), tech billionaires (Steve Ballmer, the former chief executive of Microsoft), news media bosses (Jeff Zucker, the head of CNN) and a number of my colleagues at The New York Times. But what the newspaper had in power, it lacked in diversity. Now Kristine E. Guillaume will lead The Crimson’s ‘146th guard,’ making her the third black president and first black woman to helm the organization since its founding in 1873.” NYT
MEDIAWATCH — Elana Schor is joining AP as a political reporter covering the 2020 campaign. She most recently worked at POLITICO.
— Joe Tone is joining “Vice News Tonight on HBO” as deputy Washington editor. He most recently was editor-in-chief of the Dallas Observer.
SPOTTED: Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) on AA 1634 from PHX to DCA seated in first class after clearing from his No. 1 position on the upgrade list. “He boarded early as an American Airlines ‘Concierge Key’ member,” per our tipster. … Nina Totenberg on yesterday afternoon’s Southwest STL to DCA flight. … Lady Gaga at a corner table at the Four Seasons yesterday at 9 a.m. having breakfast.
WEEKEND WEDDING — “‘It Makes Sense Now’: Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Tie the Knot in a Secret Washington D.C. Ceremony,” by Vanity Fair’s Emily Jane Fox: “The Morning Joe co-hosts made it official during an intimate Saturday ceremony at the National Archives, in front of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, officiated by Rep. Elijah Cummings. … The Archives, closed to the public on Saturday evening and almost entirely empty apart from security and staff, were opened to accommodate the couple and five guests, plus their children.
“It was the first time a wedding has ever been held there. … After the ceremony, the couple joined a reception of around 40 at Chez Billy Sud, a little French bistro off of M Street … Before 10 o’clock, the couple cut into their 20-layer traditional crepe layer cake, and everyone had trickled out by about 10:45. … I realized I had left without asking her the most important question: Was she changing her name, I texted her after everyone had gone home? ‘Yup,’ she replied.” With two pics: VF
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: former Delaware Gov. Jack Markell is 58. A fun fact about Jack: “I rode my bicycle across the U.S. when I finished my second term as governor. Wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. And I’d never do it again!” Playbook Plus Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: Gabe Brotman is 29 … Chris Hughes, co-chair of the Economic Security Project, is 35 … Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) is 65 … Neal Conan is 69 … former CIA Director Porter Goss is 8-0 (hat tip: son Chauncey) … Dannia Hakki of PR firm Moki Media … Stuart Jolly, founder and owner of Command Solutions … Matt Frei, Channel 4 Europe editor and presenter … POLITICO’s Randon White (h/t Kam Mumtaz) … Douglas Smith … Mark Weisenmiller is 55 … Randy Mikkelsen … Lynn Aronoff … Sarah Wildman … Fahad Shah … Erica Brettell … Wes Allison is 5-0 … Marcia Coyle, chief Washington correspondent for National Law Journal … Lisa Vedernikova, special projects manager for NYT publisher A.G. Sulzberger and an HFA alum (h/t Alex Halpern Levy) …
… Jenna Gibson, senior editorial producer for CBS News … Katie Gommel of Sunshine Sachs (h/t Leah Nelson) … POLITICO’s William Hall … Webber Steinhoff, principal at Prospect Strategic Communications (h/t Andy Hemming, filing from Dublin) … former Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) is 6-0 … No Labels chief of staff Sasha Borowsky … Tyler Threadgill … Amy Shlossman … Vicente Garcia … Gaby Siem … Valerie Holford … Scott Tannen … Jamie Corley … Kate Vasiloff … Edelman’s Todd Deutsch … Brittany Heyer of Save the Children … Greg Davis … Alicia Jennings, senior producer at NBC News … Ray Glendening, CEO of Scarlet Oak Strategies LLC, is 39 … James Devitt … Doug Winslow … Andy McGuire (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)
It’s Cyber Monday! If you missed out on Black Friday deals, now is your chance to still save on the products and goods you want for the holiday season from top retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and Macy’s. We rounded up the best deals on electronics, video games, smart home devices, CBD oil, and even some online courses from Udemy. There are so many ways to save today, we can’t even handle it.
There are a few of our favorite Cyber Monday deals:
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Forget self-driving cars. The future is all about self-parking cars.
For anyone still traumatized from learning how to parallel park, a new patent from Bay Area-based electric vehicle company SF Motors will soothe your bumper-filled nightmares.
The company’s approved patent for design and methodology for a self-parking system takes sensors, cameras, and LIDAR (a laser system to measure distance between objects) to supply data to a computer that can direct the car on how to park. The system with sensors is mounted on the car at bumper level for prime parking data collection.
A look at the patent application approved last month shows how the sensors tell the parking system about objects that may exist as well as how far away they are. In the patent, SF Motors says the cameras can identify pedestrians, cyclists, cars, parking spot lines, markers, signs, curbs, trees, roads, and other things you’d find on a street or in a parking lot.
How the self-parking feature works.
Image: sf motors
It’s like that self-docking boat from Volvo, but way more useful for all of us who actually have a car. SF Motors says the self-parking feature can work in most conditions regardless of the weather or visibility outside. “Hand, facial or body gestures or cues to signal intentions between human operators can be limited or impossible under poor visibility conditions such as at night or during poor weather,” the patent reads, knocking humans abilities to gauge whether you’ll actually fit into that spot or not.
This also seems like a swipe at Tesla’s self-parking and summon features available on its driver assistance system, Autopilot. Tesla’s autonomous parking capabilities are fairly limited to clear-cut spots like those in lots or in garages.
Now that SF Motors has the patent, they want to incorporate it into their vision for an intelligent electric vehicle that has other autonomous features, like those that help with safe driving.
The company plans to have its first vehicle equipped with features like this autonomous parking sensor available in China toward the end of next year.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported a Cano trade has become the next order of business for general manager Jerry Dipoto. The Mariners have already traded ace James Paxton to the Yankees and catcherMike Zunino to the Tampa Bay Rays as they begin a rebuild.
Cano, 36, was limited to 80 games played last season due to a performance-enhancing drug suspension. He hit .303/.374/.471 with 10 home runs and 50 runs batted in after returning to the team.
This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.
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WELL, HERE WE ARE. It’s Monday, and by next Friday, a chunk of government is slated to shut down. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP also wants funding for his border wall by Dec. 7. Seven spending bills need to pass in the next 11 days to avoid a temporary shutdown of big patches of government.
THE INCENTIVES …
— THE PRESIDENT:TRUMP has just 39 days left of an all-Republican D.C. He has every incentive to push as hard as he possibly can for as much funding as possible for his border wall. A shutdown wouldn’t even hurt too badly. Department of Homeland Security funding — which expires Dec. 7 — can be continued on an emergency basis if Congress cannot pass a bill. So there is nothing stopping him from a big-time, drag-out fight.
— DEMOCRATS: Democrats take control of the House in a few weeks, so they have zero incentive to cooperate in passing spending for Trump’s border wall without a big concession. DREAM Act? DACA protections? These could all be on the table. Remember: Trump needs 60 votes in the Senate, so Democratic cooperation is a must.
— REPUBLICANS: There’s a huge slice of the House GOP that feels like Republicans never lived up to the promise of Trump’s election by not fighting hard enough for a border wall. So watch for the Jim Jordans of the world to push for wall funding. Remember: the deadline is Dec. 7, and the only backstop is Christmas.
ALSO THIS WEEK … HOUSE DEMOCRATS will hold closed leadership elections Wednesday. NANCY PELOSI (CALIF.), STENY HOYER (MD.) and JIM CLYBURN (S.C.) are all running unopposed for speaker, majority leader and whip.
— MORE GOOD NEWS FOR PELOSI … “Another rebel Dem softens on opposing Pelosi for speaker,” by Rachael Bade, Heather Caygle and John Bresnahan: “Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), one of 16 lawmakers or members-elect who had signed a letter promising to vote against Pelosi on the floor, said on Sunday he would back her over a Republican during the critical Jan. 3 vote.
“‘If it becomes as a choice between a Republican and Nancy Pelosi, I’ll obviously support Nancy Pelosi,’ Lynch told a local TV station. ‘But I do think we risk losing the majority in the House — we risk having Trump elected for another four years — if the Democrats don’t offer a new direction in the Democratic Party.’” POLITICO
ON THE BORDER … AP’S CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN in Tijuana, Mexico: “Mexico to up security at border after migrants try to cross”: “Mexico pledged to shore up security near its border with the United States and local authorities said that 39 migrants were arrested after a peaceful march devolved into chaos when U.S. agents fired tear gas into Mexico to stop some migrants who tried to breach the border.
“Mexico’s Interior Ministry said Sunday it would immediately deport those who tried to ‘violently’ enter the U.S. from Tijuana. Meanwhile, Tijuana’s municipal government said that more than three-dozen migrants were arrested for disturbing the peace and other charges stemming from the march and what followed.” AP
KARLA ZABLUDOVSKY, BuzzFeed’s Mexico bureau chief (@karlazabs): “11,000 Central Americans have been deported from Mexico since Oct. 19th (MX Immigration authorities say some requested to be returned home). That’s not a typo: 11,000 people in 37 days. Of these, 1,906 were part of the caravans.”
Good Monday morning and welcome back. SPOTTED: Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky seeing “Torch Song” on Broadway this weekend. Pool report from a tipster: “They were accompanied by Dan Baer (former United States Ambassador for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe). Also in the audience (sitting separately) was Randi Zuckerberg …
“There were two standing ovations: one at the beginning of the night for the Clintons when they walked into the theater and the other at the end of the night for the actors when they bowed. After the show the Clintons went backstage to congratulate the cast and crew along with Eric Kuhn, one of the show’s producers.”
THE NEW DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY — RACHAEL BADE: “Capitol Hill boys club braces for scores of new female members”: “A record 102 women were elected in the midterms, a total that includes several moms with young children. The influx is forcing lawmakers to reassess policies to make Capitol Hill more female- and parent-friendly. Renovations are already underway to install nursing stations around the Capitol. And there’s talk among Democratic women about how to best arrange the congressional schedule so that parents can video chat with their kids over dinner, help them with their school work and make it home three days a week.
“The increased number of women with children, while still a small minority of lawmakers, will likely reinvigorate a debate over child care costs as well. Lawmakers, who earn $174,000 a year, are barred from using any official funds for child care needs, but there’s a quiet debate underway among some new members about whether that rule should be tweaked.” POLITICO
NANCY COOK and DARREN SAMUELSOHN: “White House lacks lawyers to deal with empowered Democrats”: “The White House counsel’s office is down to a skeletal staff, potentially leaving them unprepared to deal with a flood of subpoenas for documents and witnesses when Democrats take control of the House. The office has been without a permanent leader since ex-White House senior attorney Don McGahn left the administration in mid-October.
“His replacement, Pat Cipollone, is caught up in an extended background check that’s prevented him from starting. And in the coming weeks, deputy counsel Annie Donaldson, who served as McGahn’s most trusted aide and as the office’s chief of staff, is expected to leave the administration, according to two Republicans close to the White House. …
“Amid the leadership tumult, the counsel’s office has shrunk to about 25 lawyers, according to a second Republican close to the administration. That’s lower than its recent high point of roughly 35 attorneys and well short of the 40 people that some expect it will need to deal with a reinvigorated Democratic party eager to investigate the president’s tax returns and business dealings in foreign countries, reopen probes into Russian election meddling and explore the behavior of a bevy of Cabinet officials.” POLITICO
DEFICITS MATTER AGAIN? — “Trump demands action to reduce deficit, pushes new deficit spending,” by WaPo’s Josh Dawsey andDamian Paletta: “President Trump is demanding top advisers craft a plan to reduce the country’s ballooning budget deficits, but the president has flummoxed his own aides by repeatedly seeking new spending while ruling out measures needed to address the country’s unbalanced budget.Trump’s deficit-reduction directive came last month, after the White House reported a large increase in the deficit for the previous 12 months.
“The announcement unnerved Republicans and investors, helping fuel a big sell-off in the stock market. Two days after the deficit report, Trump floated a surprise demand to his Cabinet secretaries, asking them to identify steep cuts in their agencies.…
“When staffers sought to include an attack on Democrats’ Medicare-for-all proposals in Trump’s campaign speeches this fall, he initially blanched, two administration aides said. Medicare is popular, he said, and voters want it. Eventually, he agreed to the attack if he could say Democrats were going to take the entitlement away.” WaPo
FINALLY … L.A. TIMES: “California’s deadliest fire on record is 100% contained, officials say,” by Ruben Vives and Sonali Kohli: “More than two weeks after the deadliest fire on record in California swept through Butte County, killing at least 85 people and destroying 14,000 homes, officials announced Sunday that the massive Camp fire was finally 100% contained. The devastating blaze, which began on Nov. 8, scorched more than 153,000 acres and destroyed more than 18,000 structures, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials. The number of residents still missing stands at 249, and thousands more have been displaced by the massive blaze.” LAT
IN MISSISSIPPI — “‘We don’t want an Alabama’: Hyde-Smith has Republicans holding their breath,” by James Arkin: “Republicans think Cindy Hyde-Smith will ultimately pull out a win Mississippi’s special Senate election on Tuesday. But they say the race has tightened — and after what happened in Alabama last year, they’re on edge.
“A swirl of controversy surrounding the Republican senator — stirred up by her comment about attending a ‘public hanging’ — has given Democrat Mike Espy momentum in the home stretch, officials from both parties say. Hyde-Smith has never trailed in polling, and Democrats acknowledge she’s likely to win, but they argue that her flubs have given Espy a very narrow opening if everything breaks his way.
“Henry Barbour, the [RNC] committeeman and a longtime Mississippi operative, said base voters in both parties are energized, but gave a slight edge to Espy’s supporters. He said he expects Hyde-Smith to win on Tuesday, though he added that Republicans should be concerned about the potential for weak turnout.” POLITICO
TRUMP’S MONDAY — The president is having lunch at 12:30 p.m. with VP Mike Pence. He will leave the White House at 2:35 p.m. to travel to Tupelo, Miss. He will headline a political rally at 4:15 p.m. Central time. He will then travel to Gulfport, Miss., where he will participate in a criminal justice roundtable at 6:50 p.m. Central time. Afterward, he will head to Biloxi, Miss. At 8 p.m. Central time, the president will headline a political rally at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Afterward, he will return to Washington.
N.Y. POST’S RICHARD JOHNSON: “Jared and Josh Kushner buying luxe Lower East Side hotel”: “Jared and Joshua Kushner are expanding their real estate empire by buying the hip Hotel on Rivington on the Lower East Side.” NYP
FOR YOUR RADAR — “Report: Netanyahu’s Prosecutor Recommends Indictment in Two Cases,” by Jerusalem Post’s Yonah Jeremy Bob: “The state prosecution team working on Cases 1000 (the ‘Illegal Gifts Affair’) and 2000 (the ‘Yediot Aharonot-Yisrael Hayom Affair’) against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sent its recommendation for corruption to State Attorney Shai Nitzan, Channel 10 reported late Sunday. The report suggested that Economic Crimes Division Director Liat Ben-Ari’s recommendations were for an indictment against Netanyahu for bribery in Case 1000.” Jerusalem Post
2020 WATCH — “Democrats’ Senate losses jeopardize national spotlight for possible 2020 hopeful,” by WaPo’s Karoun Demirjian and Seung Min Kim: “Senate Democrats’ midterm losses have created a dilemma for the party’s leadership over a key committee seat held by Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), a prospective 2020 presidential contender who is at risk of having to forfeit the high-profile assignment and the national spotlight that comes with it. Harris, a former prosecutor and state attorney general, is the Senate Judiciary Committee’s most junior member. …
“[U]nless Democrats strike a deal, either with the Senate’s Republican majority or with fellow Democrats on the committee, numbers and seniority dictate that Harris will be out — and that has liberal groups scrambling to save her position.” WaPo
— NATASHA KORECKI and LAURA NAHMIAS: “Franken scandal haunts Gillibrand’s 2020 chances”: “More than a dozen prominent West Coast, New York and national donors and bundlers — many of them women — said they would never again donate to or fundraise for Gillibrand or would only do so if she ended up as the Democratic presidential nominee.
“Gillibrand has defended her approach by insisting she placed deeply held personal values over party loyalty. But the still-burning resentment among the donor class now confronts Gillibrand as she explores a presidential bid, cutting her off from influential and deep-pocketed contributors and their networks at a time when an expansive 2020 field will compete for their dollars.” POLITICO
OBAMA ALUMNI — “Obama Alumni Return to Washington, This Time as House Freshmen,” by NYT’s Catie Edmondson and Sheryl Gay Stolberg: “Their previous jobs have taken them to the Oval Office, the Situation Room and the Senate floor. One met with a Saudi king and plotted strategy to fight the Islamic State. Another cracked down on human rights abuses in North Korea.
“Their Rolodexes are flush with former cabinet members and current Pentagon officials who are happy to take their calls. Nearly a dozen members of the House’s incoming class are far from being gawky freshmen, stumbling wide-eyed through the strange corridors of Capitol Hill, but are instead experienced policymakers who have worked in previous presidential administrations — seven of them for former President Barack Obama.
“Their return to Washington is, in part, a way to undo what they see as the unspooling of the values and legacy of the nation’s 44th president. … [Elissa] Slotkin’s stack of congratulatory notes looks like a who’s who of Washington. ‘A lot of my national security community from both sides of the aisle have been reaching out and saying, “Anything we can do,”’ she said in an interview.” NYT
MILESTONE — “For the First Time, a Black Woman Will Lead The Harvard Crimson,” by NYT’s Amy Chozick: “Writers and editors at The Harvard Crimson have gone on to be presidents (John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt), tech billionaires (Steve Ballmer, the former chief executive of Microsoft), news media bosses (Jeff Zucker, the head of CNN) and a number of my colleagues at The New York Times. But what the newspaper had in power, it lacked in diversity. Now Kristine E. Guillaume will lead The Crimson’s ‘146th guard,’ making her the third black president and first black woman to helm the organization since its founding in 1873.” NYT
MEDIAWATCH — Elana Schor is joining AP as a political reporter covering the 2020 campaign. She most recently worked at POLITICO.
— Joe Tone is joining “Vice News Tonight on HBO” as deputy Washington editor. He most recently was editor-in-chief of the Dallas Observer.
SPOTTED: Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) on AA 1634 from PHX to DCA seated in first class after clearing from his No. 1 position on the upgrade list. “He boarded early as an American Airlines ‘Concierge Key’ member,” per our tipster. … Nina Totenberg on yesterday afternoon’s Southwest STL to DCA flight. … Lady Gaga at a corner table at the Four Seasons yesterday at 9 a.m. having breakfast.
WEEKEND WEDDING — “‘It Makes Sense Now’: Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Tie the Knot in a Secret Washington D.C. Ceremony,” by Vanity Fair’s Emily Jane Fox: “The Morning Joe co-hosts made it official during an intimate Saturday ceremony at the National Archives, in front of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, officiated by Rep. Elijah Cummings. … The Archives, closed to the public on Saturday evening and almost entirely empty apart from security and staff, were opened to accommodate the couple and five guests, plus their children.
“It was the first time a wedding has ever been held there. … After the ceremony, the couple joined a reception of around 40 at Chez Billy Sud, a little French bistro off of M Street … Before 10 o’clock, the couple cut into their 20-layer traditional crepe layer cake, and everyone had trickled out by about 10:45. … I realized I had left without asking her the most important question: Was she changing her name, I texted her after everyone had gone home? ‘Yup,’ she replied.” With two pics: VF
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: former Delaware Gov. Jack Markell is 58. A fun fact about Jack: “I rode my bicycle across the U.S. when I finished my second term as governor. Wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. And I’d never do it again!” Playbook Plus Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: Gabe Brotman is 29 … Chris Hughes, co-chair of the Economic Security Project, is 35 … Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) is 65 … Neal Conan is 69 … former CIA Director Porter Goss is 8-0 (hat tip: son Chauncey) … Dannia Hakki of PR firm Moki Media … Stuart Jolly, founder and owner of Command Solutions … Matt Frei, Channel 4 Europe editor and presenter … POLITICO’s Randon White (h/t Kam Mumtaz) … Douglas Smith … Mark Weisenmiller is 55 … Randy Mikkelsen … Lynn Aronoff … Sarah Wildman … Fahad Shah … Erica Brettell … Wes Allison is 5-0 … Marcia Coyle, chief Washington correspondent for National Law Journal … Lisa Vedernikova, special projects manager for NYT publisher A.G. Sulzberger and an HFA alum (h/t Alex Halpern Levy) …
… Jenna Gibson, senior editorial producer for CBS News … Katie Gommel of Sunshine Sachs (h/t Leah Nelson) … POLITICO’s William Hall … Webber Steinhoff, principal at Prospect Strategic Communications (h/t Andy Hemming, filing from Dublin) … former Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) is 6-0 … No Labels chief of staff Sasha Borowsky … Tyler Threadgill … Amy Shlossman … Vicente Garcia … Gaby Siem … Valerie Holford … Scott Tannen … Jamie Corley … Kate Vasiloff … Edelman’s Todd Deutsch … Brittany Heyer of Save the Children … Greg Davis … Alicia Jennings, senior producer at NBC News … Ray Glendening, CEO of Scarlet Oak Strategies LLC, is 39 … James Devitt … Doug Winslow … Andy McGuire (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)
The UK government has seized documents from a software company as part of an ongoing inquiry into the way Facebook handles its users’ data.
The documents from Six4Three apparently contain emails between Facebook senior executives including Mark Zuckerberg, according to The Observer, who first broke the story.
MP Damian Collins, the Chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, has said they believe the documents contain “important information” about the way Facebook has shared its users’ information with developers.
The @CommonsCMS has received the documents it ordered from Six4Three relating to Facebook. I have reviewed them and the committee will discuss how we will proceed early next week. Under UK law & parliamentary privilege we can publish papers if we choose to as part of our inquiry
After the documents were seized, Richard Allen, Facebook’s public policy vice president, sent a letter to Damian Collins.
In the letter, Allen refers to the context of Six4Three’s legal action against Facebook, which stems from an app the software firm developed — Pikinis — to allow users to quickly find swimsuit photos on the social network.
“This case has become a matter of public debate and it is important that participants in this debate understand its context,” he wrote.
Collins shared his reply on Twitter:
“The Committee’s interest in the documents we have requested relates to their relevance to our ongoing inquiry into disinformation and fake news,” Collins wrote. “As you know, we have asked many questions of Facebook about its policies on sharing user data with developers, how these have been enforced, and how the company identifies activity of bad actors.
“We believe that the documents we have ordered from Six4Three could contain important information about this which is of a high level of public interest.”
As Collins also makes clear early on in the letter, that the committee could use parliamentary privilege to publish the documents, if they want to do so.
A Facebook spokesperson sent the following comment to Mashable:
“Six4Three’s claims are entirely meritless — Facebook has never traded Facebook data for anything and we’ve always made clear that developer access is subject to both our policies and what info people choose to share. We operate in a fiercely competitive market in which people connect and share. For every service offered on Facebook and our family of apps, you can find at least three or four competing services with hundreds of millions, if not billions, of users.”
All eyes will now be on Damian Collins’ Twitter feed to see what the committee’s next move will be.
Catania, Sicily – On All Soul’s Day, around three kilometres from the port in the Sicilian city of Catania, the pauper’s grave at the Monumental Cemetery is unusually well-tended, with fresh flowers and beads wrapped around cross-shaped headstones.
Many belong to refugees and migrants who died at sea while trying to reach Europe. Sicilian cemeteries currently host the remains of more than 2,000 of them.
The Mediterranean route is fraught withdanger.So far this year, more than 2,000 people have died while crossing the sea, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Local authorities here recover on average only one in 10 bodies, which usually remains unidentified.
“An overall indifference has led to a higher non-identification rate of most bodies,” says Giorgia Mirto, a Sicilian anthropologist and founder of Mediterranean Missing, a database project collecting names of the identified dead refugees and migrants. “They just become statistics instead of humans.”
After spending her time in cemeteries across the island, Mirto has identified a trend.
“Here, migrants become part of the community. I noticed average citizens bringing flowers and praying over their graves,” she says. “‘[It is] part of a Catholic mindset that instils the idea of taking care of the dead, in place of those who can’t afford or aren’t able to pay a visit.”
Aid workers of Proactiva Open Arms recover dead bodies of refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean [File:Santi Palacios/AP Photo]
In August, local policeman Angelo Milazzo accompanied a Jamal Mekdad, a Syrian man and his two children who had travelled from Denmark, to the cemetery of Melilli, a port village in Syracuse, eastern Sicily.
They were visiting the grave of their wife and mother, who died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean in 2014.
“Remembering that day still brings me tears,” Milazzo says.
He is part of a police unit trying to prevent undocumented migration and was present on the day the Syrian woman perished, that day he saw the bodies of 24 people.
From that moment, his work went well beyond the duties of his job as he made it his mission to try and identify the dead – often outside his working hours – spending time in port towns, cemeteries and searching on Facebook.
Most victims do not carry identification documents, such as passports, so the first step is collaborating with coroners who examine the bodies and provide forensic police with information about the refugees’ DNA, origin, height, weight and gender, as well as pictures of clothing and notes of distinctive features or objects they had.
“These reports are sent to our police unit, as well as to migrant help centres hosting survivors of shipwrecks, who can help identifying some of the victims, as usually, they travel with family members,” Milazzo says.
I think it’s a doctor’s duty, actually any human being’s duty, to give back dignity, importance and most of all an identity, to those who’ve represented something in someone else’s life. It’s called Mediterranean compassion, and we Sicilians know that well.
Antonella Argo, coroner
Some of the coroners in charge of examining bones and clothes were, like Milazzo, touched on a personal level by the tragedy.
Antonella Argo, a coroner in Palermo, Sicily’s capital, examined the bodies of several drowned migrants.
“The frustration in this job can be tough. I remember one time, during a major shipwreck in 2016, my team and I were in charge of helping provide information about 52 bodies. We only managed to identify 18,” Argo explains.
“I think it’s a doctor’s duty, actually any human being’s duty, to give back dignity, importance and most of all an identity, to those who’ve represented something in someone else’s life. It’s called Mediterranean compassion, and we Sicilians know that well.”
Milazzo, the policeman, began his work in identification in 2014, having received reports from Argo’s colleagues, by visiting several towns in the province.
One of his first stops was La Zagara, a migrant centre in Melilli.
With the help of an Arabic-speaking interpreter, he began talking to survivors, mostly Syrians, showing them pictures of clothing and giving them details.
Many provided him with the information he was looking for, as they were also searching for the missing.
A young Syrian woman, simply identified with the number 23, was on his list.
At La Zagara, he showed a man who had lost his wife the woman’s pictures.
“Angelo showed me a face close up from the autopsy. It was her, my Sireen,” says Jamal Mekdad, the Syrian refugee father, explaining he hadn’t recognised her at first.
Now living and working as a photographer in Denmark with his two children, he says he’s grateful for those who helped identify his wife.
“They do an important job of giving back dignity to the victims’ families, as well as the disappeared migrants themselves,” he said.
It took Milazzo a year, two months and 10 days to file a complete report identifying all the victims from the 2014 shipwreck, allowing Italian authorities to issue official death certificates.
He runs a Facebook page, posting details about the dead and exchanging messages with people searching for answers.
“Facebook has been crucial in collecting information about the disappeared and to get in touch with relatives,” Milazzo says.
“Death certificates are fundamental for the relatives to move on and think about the future, carry on their lives, be entitled to inheritance and get peace of mind.”
‘They deserve to rest in peace’
The 2014 case was, however, an exception.
Most families remain in the dark about their relatives.
But once an identity is settled, the search for a burial site begins.
Abdelhafid Kheit, an imam, gives refugees who have died a Muslim burial ceremony [Stefania D’Ignoti/Al Jazeera]
As most victims are Muslim, it falls on Abdelhafid Kheit, an imam in the community, to take care of the bodies.
“When the refugee crisis began, I had the impulse to help, to do something not only as a spiritual leader but as a human being,” Kheit says, holding back tears.
Overcrowding in cemeteries, however, is a challenge.
“For years, I’ve asked Sicily’s president to buy a piece of land and open a cemetery of the sea deaths. So far, my request hasn’t been answered. But I don’t give up, and will continue my advocacy to reach this goal,” says Kheit.
Mekdad remembers speaking on the phone in 2014 with Kheit, who he describes as a “gentle imam with a North African accent”.
“I entrusted my wife’s soul to him for her funeral, as I wasn’t able to attend,” he says.
Kheit supervises the various stages of burial: washing the deceased migrant’s body, wrapping it in a white shroud and leading the burial prayer.
These experiences have been the most challenging of his career, he says.
“On certain occasions, I was asked to do these rituals on bodies which were so decomposed that I almost refrained from doing my job,” he says, “but then I continued because they deserved to rest in peace.”
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I’d make so many different edits of hot people beside me
all the best and I hope you find Mich- I mean-the guy. He’s a real hottie don’t let him slip away!
Twitter let’s help her find him again!A love like this doesn’t come by often
(@beccamals) November 26, 2018
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Daily Trends Hunter 