Trump Invites Supporters on Stage for Handling Protester — See What Happens When One of Them Says He’s a Veteran

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By Tré Goins-Phillips. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is known for his raucous rallies, and one he held Tuesday night in Augusta, South Carolina, was no exception.

During his speech Tuesday night, Trump, who is leading in South Carolina with 38 percent of the vote, was interrupted by a protester who was allegedly yelling profanities and raising his middle finger to the large crowd.

“They should be ashamed of themselves. It’s disgraceful,” Trump said of the protester, who he described as a “rough cookie,” before inviting the two men who “took action” against the demonstrator onto the stage.

“Do not let them intimidate you,” the older of the two men said when he took the stage. “You back this man right here to the hilt. They will say anything, they will do anything to keep in power.”

He went on to say he’s supporting “my man Donald Trump” because the U.S. needs “some new thinking” and “some fresh blood” in the White House. (Read more from “Trump Invites Supporters on Stage for Handling Protester — See What Happens When One of Them Says He’s a Veteran” HERE)

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Unharmed by Rowdy Debate, Donald Trump Still Tops GOP Field in S.C.

By Greg Bluestein, Jim Galloway and Tamar Hallerman. The first statewide poll since last Saturday’s bitter debate shows Donald Trump still leading the Republican presidential field in South Carolina, and a narrowing race for second. From Public Policy Polling via The State newspaper in Columbia:

Behind Trump, who has 35 percent support in a new poll, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas are tied for second place — at 18 percent each….

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is in fourth at 10 percent support, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, tied with 7 percent support each.

(Read more from “Unharmed by Rowdy Debate, Donald Trump Still Tops GOP Field in S.C.” HERE)

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Left and Right Agree: Feds Using Brute Force to Destroy Press Freedom in America

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In yet another shocking case of the feds using brute, tyrannical power against protesters, law enforcement arrested radio-host Pete Santilli at the Oregon federal refuge several weeks ago and a federal judge just ruled again that he must stay behind bars. Why? Because the journalist is a “real threat” to federal officers.

Many civil libertarians on both sides of the political aisle are disgusted by this latest strong arm tactic with both the conservative Rutherford Institute and now the leftist ACLU of Oregon complaining that federal agencies are increasingly acting without regard to the Constitution.

No matter what you may think of Pete Santilli or his “shock jock” approach to conservative journalism, looking at the criminal complaint against him reflects that before his arrest he was practicing his rights to free speech and assembly in protest against the government. Throughout the federal complaint are Santilli’s quotes, including one where he asked that 100,000 unarmed people come together to protest government actions. Somehow, this was construed by the feds as a criminal act meant to impede their duties rather than a constitutionally-protected gathering of protesters.

Santilli’s past association with the Oath Keepers and the III% Patriots group seems to be a big factor for the U.S. attorneys involved in the case. The feds view such groups as “anti-government” patriot groups, almost on the level of terrorists. Perhaps as a warning to any patriot-protestor, Washington has demonstrated that mere association with the wrong type of groups or saying anything against the government could result in your incarceration.

To some, more disturbing than the Santilli arrest and incarceration themselves are the tactics that were used by the government before the talk show host was even arrested. First, in a clear act of intimidation, he and his girlfriend Deborah Jordan (and co-producer of his radio show) were detained for about an hour in Newtown, Ohio for being suspects on a Terror Watch list. Unsurprisingly, they were not on the list and were released. Some believe that this detention, occurring just a couple of weeks before Santilli’s arrival in Oregon was meant to bully or intimidate him from joining the protest.

Then, on February 9, the rental vehicle driven by Santilli’s girlfriend was seized because it was reported as “stolen.” She called the rental company for more information and discovered that the FBI had made the report that resulted in seizure. The FBI’s explanation? The agency contended the rental car might be used in a crime at the federal refuge. As she had been planning to travel there the next day, this suggests the FBI had been monitoring her activities and that the false report on the car was intended to interfere or harass her.

The Rutherford Institute is raising concerns not just about Santilli’s case but also other protests in which the government has targeted journalists (such as in Ferguson). The conservative legal group contends this reflects a highly disturbing trend of government silencing members of the press. Combine that with what we’ve seen of other anti-press actions of the feds – such as the hacking of journalist Sharyl Attkisson’s computer – and you can’t escape the conclusion that we have a real problem on our hands.

Please contact your elected leaders and pressure them to hold these federal agencies and prosecutors accountable for their unconstitutional approach to press freedom. This is critical: if federal agencies don’t stop their attacks on freedom, you can kiss the American democratic experiment goodbye.

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21 New Numbers That Show That the Global Economy Is Absolutely Imploding

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After a series of stunning declines through the month of January and the first half of February, global financial markets seem to have found a patch of relative stability at least for the moment. But that does not mean that the crisis is over. On the contrary, all of the hard economic numbers that are coming in from around the world tell us that the global economy is coming apart at the seams. This is especially true when you look at global trade numbers. The amount of stuff that is being bought, sold and shipped around the planet is falling precipitously. So don’t be fooled if stocks go up one day or down the next. The truth is that we are in the early chapters of a brand new economic meltdown, and I believe that all of the signs indicate that it will continue to get worse in the months ahead. The following are 21 new numbers that show that the global economy is absolutely imploding…

#1 Chinese exports fell by 11.2 percent year over year in January.

#2 Chinese imports were even worse in January. On a year over year basis, they declined a whopping 18.8 percent.

#3 It may be hard to believe, but Chinese imports have now plunged for 15 months in a row.

#4 In India, exports were down 13.6 percent on a year over year basis in January.

#5 In Japan, exports declined 8 percent in December on a year over year basis, while imports plummeted 18 percent.

#6 For the sixth time in six years, Japanese GDP growth has gone negative.

#7 In the United States, exports were down 7 percent on a year over year basis in December.

#8 U.S. factory orders have fallen for 14 months in a row.

#9 The Restaurant Performance Index in the United States has dropped to the lowest level that we have seen since 2008.

#10 This month the Baltic Dry Index fell below 300 for the first time ever.

#11 It is now cheaper to rent a 1,100 foot merchant vessel than it is to rent a Ferrari.

#12 Orders for Class 8 trucks in the United States dropped by 48 percent on a year over year basis in January.

#13 Due to a lack of demand for trucks, Daimler just laid off 1,250 U.S. workers.

#14 Even though Saudi Arabia and Russia have agreed to freeze oil production at current levels, the price of U.S. oil has still fallen below 30 dollars a barrel.

#15 It is being reported that 35 percent of all oil and gas companies around the world are at risk of falling into bankruptcy.

#16 According to CNN, 67 oil and gas companies in the United States filed for bankruptcy during 2015.

#17 The number of job cuts in the United States skyrocketed 218 percent during the month of January according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

#18 All over America, retail stores are shutting down at a stunning pace. The following list of store closures comes from one of my previous articles…

-Wal-Mart is closing 269 stores, including 154 inside the United States.

-K-Mart is closing down more than two dozen stores over the next several months.

-J.C. Penney will be permanently shutting down 47 more stores after closing a total of 40 stores in 2015.

-Macy’s has decided that it needs to shutter 36 stores and lay off approximately 2,500 employees.

-The Gap is in the process of closing 175 stores in North America.

-Aeropostale is in the process of closing 84 stores all across America.

-Finish Line has announced that 150 stores will be shutting down over the next few years.

-Sears has shut down about 600 stores over the past year or so, but sales at the stores that remain open continue to fall precipitously.

#19 The price of gold is enjoying its best quarterly performance in 30 years.

#20 Global stocks have fallen into bear market territory, which means that about one-fifth of all global stock market wealth has already been wiped out.

#21 Unfortunately for global central banks, they have pretty much run out of ammunition. Since March 2008, central banks have cut interest rates 637 times and they have purchased a staggering 12.3 trillion dollars worth of assets. There is not much more that they can do, and now the next great crisis is upon us.

Without any outside influences, the global economy and the global financial system will continue to rapidly fall apart.

But if we do have a major “black swan event” take place, that could cause the bottom to fall out at any moment.

In particular, I am deeply concerned about the possibility that World War III could be sparked in the Middle East. In an article that I published earlier today entitled “Turkey Is Asking The United States To Take Part In A Ground Invasion Of Syria“, I included a quote from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that reveals just how eager Turkey and Saudi Arabia are for war to begin…

“Some countries like us, Saudi Arabia and some other Western European countries have said that a ground operation is necessary,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Reuters in an interview.

However, this kind of action could not be left to regional powers alone. “To expect this only from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar is neither right nor realistic. If such an operation is to take place, it has to be carried out jointly, like the (coalition) air strikes,” he said.

The Turks and the Saudis very much want the United States to take a leading role in any ground invasion of Syria, but the Obama administration is not likely to do that.

So we shall see if the Turks and the Saudis are willing to go ahead without us. Let us hope that they do not decide to invade Syria, because that could start the biggest war in the Middle East that any of us have ever seen.

Unfortunately, Turkey is already attacking.

Turkey has been shelling Kurdish and Syrian military positions in northern Syria for four days in a row even though the Obama administration has been urging them to stop.

The first month and a half of 2016 has already been quite chaotic, and the stage is set for global events to greatly accelerate during the months ahead.

Sadly, the mainstream media in the United States is largely ignoring the preparations for a ground invasion of Syria, and they keep telling us that the global economy is going to be just fine, so most ordinary Americans are going to be absolutely blindsided by what is about to happen. (For more from the author of “21 New Numbers That Show That the Global Economy Is Absolutely Imploding” please click HERE)

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Ted Cruz’s Campaign Had a Snappy Response to Donald Trump’s Lawsuit Threat

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By Pamela Engel. The presidential campaign of US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) fired back on Tuesday after Donald Trump called him “unstable” and threatened to sue him.

Cruz’s communications director, Rick Tyler, used a pun to dismiss Trump’s attacks.

“There is reason ‘Trumped up’ means phony,” Tyler told Business Insider in an email. “He should look hard in the mirror.”

The day before, Trump released a statement raging about Cruz’s supposedly “fraudulent” campaign actions.

He has accused Cruz of running robocalls saying that Trump was not going to run in the upcoming South Carolina primary. (Read more from “Ted Cruz’s Campaign Had a Snappy Response to Donald Trump’s Lawsuit Threat” HERE)

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Gowdy Calls for Cruz to Denounce ‘Underhanded Tactics’

By Al Weaver. Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina congressman who supports Marco Rubio, called for Ted Cruz to repudiate the most recent bit of “underhanded tactics” ahead of the South Carolina primary.

“In the last week, we have seen a systematic effort by Sen. Cruz and his allies to spread false information and outright lies in the hopes of winning votes by appealing to our lowest common denominator,” Gowdy said. “Now, Its been reported that a fake Facebook page has been used to fool South Carolinians into thinking that I no longer support Marco Rubio and that I’m instead supporting Ted Cruz.

“Nothing could be further from the truth and I’m demanding that Sen. Cruz and his campaign repudiate these dishonest and underhanded tactics,” Gowdy continued. “We can have a debate about the future of our party and our country. But we need not leave our integrity behind.”

In the Facebook post at hand by a page titled “Trey Gowdy Prayers,” it says that the most recent debate “revealed [Rubio’s] total lack of integrity, intillect and foresight,” before switching the faux endorsement to Cruz.

It is official, I have changed my mind. My previous endorsement of Marco Rubio was a grave mistake. The recent South Carolina debate revealed his total lack of integrity, intillect and foresight,” the post reads. “To all my Christian and Conservative friends in South Carolina, I hereby formally endorse Ted Cruz for President of the United States.” (Read more from “Gowdy Calls for Cruz to Denounce ‘Underhanded Tactics'” HERE)

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World War III Approaches? Saudi Arabia and Turkey Drop Hints That an Invasion of Syria Is Imminent

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As you read this article, Turkish forces are massing along the border with Syria, and the largest “military exercises” in the history of the Middle East are being held in northern Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are publicly warning that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “will be removed by force” if a political solution cannot be found, and Turkey is claiming that it may have to establish a “safe zone” in northern Syria “for humanitarian purposes”. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their Sunni allies have poured massive amounts of money and arms into the conflict in Syria, and now that their Sunni insurgents are on the verge of total defeat, they are trying to come up with a way to justify going in there and doing the job themselves.

For the Saudis, their focus is on trying to convince everyone that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is an extremely dangerous dictator that must be removed at all costs. The following comes from the London Independent…

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be removed by force if the peace process fails, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister has said.

“Bashar al-Assad will leave – have no doubt about it,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told CNN. “He will either leave by a political process or he will be removed by force.”

Saudi Arabia has sent troops and fighter jets to a Turkish military base ahead of a possible ground invasion of Syria.

So precisely who will be doing the “removing” if force is necessary?

Are the Saudis ready to send in ground troops?

Apparently they are. Just consider what Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told CNN…

Saudi Foreign Minister Jubeir made clear that his country’s troops would not go it alone.

“I can tell you that there is some serious discussion going on with regards to looking at a ground component in Syria, because there has to be a possibility of taking and holding ground, that one cannot do from the air.”

“We are saying we will participate within the U.S.-led coalition, should this coalition decide to send ground troops into Syria, that we are prepared to send special forces with those troops.”

But if the Saudis try to take Damascus and remove Assad by force, the Syrians and their allies will certainly fight back. That means that the Saudis will be fighting Hezbollah, the Iranians and the Russians.

Needless to say, Saudi Arabia is going to need a lot of help to do that.

So that may explain why Saudi Arabia has organized the largest “military exercise” in the history of the Middle East. CNN finally reported on this gigantic gathering of military forces in northern Saudi Arabia earlier today…

Saudi Arabia launched a massive military exercise that will include troops from 20 nations, state media reported Monday.

The drill, dubbed North Thunder, involves Arab and Muslim countries, according to the Saudi Press Agency. It’s taking place in King Khalid Military City in northeastern Saudi Arabia.

The news agency did not provide much information on what the exercise entails but called it “the largest in the region’s history.” The agency said it will involve air, sea and land forces.

This is the list of nations that are reportedly participating in these “exercises” so far…

-Saudi Arabia

-Jordan

-Bahrain

-Senegal

-Oman

-Qatar

-United Arab Emirates

-Sudan

-Kuwait

-the Maldives

-Morocco

-Pakistan

-Chad

-Tunisia

-Comoro Islands

-Djibouti

-Malaysia

-Egypt

-Mauritania

-Mauritius

As I discussed yesterday, 350,000 soldiers, 20,000 tanks, 2,450 warplanes and 460 military helicopters are reportedly gathering for these “military exercises”.

To me, that seems to be a great deal of overkill if the goal is just “training”.

Here is more about these “exercises” from RT…

The Saudi state agency made the announcement on Sunday, adding that participating troops will begin arriving in “the next few hours.”

The oil-rich nation described the exercises as “the largest and most important” military drills in the region’s history.

The so-called “Northern Thunder” exercise will take place in the north of the country and will include air, sea and land forces. SPA said that it will show that Riyadh and its allies “stand united in confronting all challenges and preserving peace and stability in the region.”

So are these forces massing for a ground invasion of Syria?

We shall see.

In the end, we probably won’t have to wait too long before we find out the answer.

Meanwhile, Turkish officials continue to assert that they may have to establish a “safe zone” for refugees in northern Syria. Since thousands of refugees are continually pouring their direction, they claim that they have no other choice but to go in and take control of the situation.

In fact, Turkey has already established several very large refugee camps on the Syrian side of the border…

Some 100,000 Syrian refugees are being looked after in camps inside Syria close to the Turkish border, including 35,000 who this month fled a Russian-backed regime offensive in northern Aleppo province, a top Turkish official said Friday.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan, whose country has come under increasing pressure to open its border to people fleeing the violence, said the refugees were being accommodated in nine camps just across the border with Syria.

But make no mistake – this is not just about helping refugees.

The truth is that ISIS has been using Turkey as a home base for years, and hundreds of millions of dollars of ISIS oil has been shipped into Turkey where it has then been sold to the rest of the world. Barack Obama knows about all of this, and yet he has refused to do anything to stop it.

At this point the cooperation between ISIS and Turkey has become so obvious that even CNN is admitting that ISIS militants are being resupplied from Turkey…

To the east of Aleppo, Kurdish forces are, with American support, eyeing the remaining ISIS strongholds along the Turkish border — Jarablus and Manbij. The U.S. wants ISIS out, to remove its access to resupply of materiel and fighters from Turkey.

Meanwhile, Turkey, America’s NATO ally that is engaged in a brutal but often unseen war with the Kurds’ allies in Turkey’s southeast, doesn’t want the Kurds to advance, and may stop at nothing to prevent that.

Fortunately, the Russian bombing campaign has pretty much put an end to the endless parade of ISIS oil trucks that were entering Turkey, and now the primary supply line to Sunni militants in the strategically important city of Aleppo is about to be cut off.

The corridor that runs through the city of Azaz is vitally important, and the Prime Minister of Turkey recently insisted that the Turkish government “will not allow Azaz to fall”…

Turkey shelled YPG positions for a third straight day on Monday to try to stop its fighters seizing Azaz, just 8 km from the border. Ankara fears the Kurdish militia, backed by Russia, is trying to secure the last stretch of around 100 km along the Syrian border not already under its control.

“We will not allow Azaz to fall,” Davutoglu told reporters on his plane on the way to Ukraine. “If they approach again they will see the harshest reaction,” he said.

Unfortunately for the Turkish government, it appears that Azaz is already slipping away from the militants. The following was reported by an Iranian news source…

Ankara is likely to take action to counter the Syrian military and allied groups on choking up a supply link on which militants relied to get weapons and logistics.

Syrian troops and Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters have retaken the town of Azaz, located to the northwest of Aleppo, prompting Saudi Arabia and Turkey to hint at deployment of ground forces to the region.

Asked if Ankara might act to reverse the gains, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (seen below) said on Friday, “Wait for the next few days and you will have the answer,” Turkish paper Hurriyet reported.

Wait for the next few days and you will have the answer?

That sounds rather ominous.

Like I said yesterday, I don’t think that I have ever seen a scenario which was more likely to lead to World War III than the one that we are watching play out right now.

Do Saudi Arabia and Turkey actually expect to waltz into Syria and start taking territory without a response from the Syrians, Hezbollah, the Iranians and the Russians?

And if fighting does break out, how is the United States possibly going to stay out of it?

The truth is that Saudi Arabia and Turkey would never invade Syria in the first place without the express approval of the Obama administration.

The next couple of weeks are key. If we can get into early March without an invasion, by that time Saudi Arabia and Turkey may have missed their window. The troops gathered for the massive military exercise in northern Saudi Arabia will start to go home, and by then the Sunni militants remaining in Aleppo will probably be pretty much completely defeated.

But will Saudi Arabia and Turkey really be willing to walk away after pouring so much time, effort and money into the conflict in Syria? They had dreamed of turning Syria into a full-blown Sunni nation, and if they give up now Syria will end up being dominated by Iran and Hezbollah. It will be a result that is far worse than if they never tried to overthrow Assad in the first place.

So my gut feeling is telling me that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their Sunni allies are not done in Syria. But their obsession with that country threatens to plunge us into World War III, and if that happens the consequences will be felt by every man, woman and child on the entire planet. (For more from the author of “World War III Approaches: Saudi Arabia and Turkey Drop Hints That an Invasion of Syria Is Imminent” please click HERE)

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Carson: ‘Schizophrenic’ Shariah Muslims in U.S. Can’t Integrate

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Dr. Ben Carson says Muslims who claim to be faithful to the U.S. Constitution and Shariah law are “schizophrenic.”

The Republican presidential hopeful appeared on Breitbart News Daily on SiriusXM on Tuesday and was asked whether devout Muslims can credibly claim they are loyal to America’s founding principles.

Do you think that Muslims that are Shariah-adherent can … integrate into a society where you have the rule of law and … a federal system?” Carson was asked, Mediaite reported.

“Only if they’re schizophrenic,” the retired neurosurgeon replied. “I don’t see how they could do it otherwise, because you have two different philosophies warring at you. … So, no. That would be very difficult. That’s why Teddy Roosevelt said what he said. He said you’re welcome to come here from any place and [practice] any religion as long as you accept our ways and want to be an American. If you don’t, then stay where you are” . . .

The Republican presidential candidate has never been one to shy away from a question on radical Islam. A September appearance on “Meet the Press” with NBC’s Chuck Todd enraged Muslim activists when Carson said he would not be in favor of having a Shariah-practicing American as the commander in chief. (Read more from “Carson: ‘Schizophrenic’ Shariah Muslims in U.S. Can’t Integrate” HERE)

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Former Miss Arkansas Speaks out About Her Freaky Night With Bill Clinton, Reveals Potentially Damaging Secrets About Hillary

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Photo Credit: Daily Mail Sally Miller looked on in amusement as the man who would become the 42nd President of the United States slipped into her own frilly black nightgown.

The former Miss Arkansas has never forgotten how her younger lover proceeded to dance around the bedroom, serenading her with his saxophone and reducing her to a fit of giggles . . .

But while his attempts at lovemaking were largely forgettable, Clinton would rarely disappoint when it came to divulging intimate and potentially damaging secrets about his wife Hillary.

And what of those accusations so insulting or damaging that a potential Presidential candidate would unleash her operatives to intimidate or even bump off an elderly lady?

‘Hillary is a lesbian,’ Miller claims, reigniting a lingering but unsubstantiated rumor that has dogged the former First Lady for years. (Read more from “Former Miss Arkansas Speaks out About Her Freaky Night With Bill Clinton, Reveals Potentially Damaging Secrets About Hillary” HERE)

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Judge Forces Apple to Help Unlock San Bernardino Shooter iPhone

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A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Apple to give investigators access to encrypted data on the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters, assistance the computer giant “declined to provide voluntarily,” according to court papers.

In a 40-page filing, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles argued that it needed Apple to help it find the password and access “relevant, critical … data” on the locked cellphone of Syed Farook, who with his wife Tashfeen Malik murdered 14 people in San Bernardino, California on December 2.

“Despite … a warrant authorizing the search,” said prosecutors, “the government has been unable to complete the search because it cannot access the iPhone’s encrypted content. Apple has the exclusive technical means which would assist the government in completing its search, but has declined to provide that assistance voluntarily” . . .

The judge ruled Tuesday that the Cupertino-based company had to provide “reasonable technical assistance” to the government in recovering data from the iPhone 5c, including bypassing the auto-erase function and allowing investigators to submit an unlimited number of passwords in their attempts to unlock the phone. Apple has five days to respond to the court if it believes that compliance would be “unreasonably burdensome.” (Read more from “Judge Forces Apple to Help Unlock San Bernardino Shooter iPhone” HERE)

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Obama: Trump Won’t Make It to White House

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President Obama said today that he does not believe GOP frontrunner Donald Trump will make it to the White House, but the real estate mogul took the remark as a compliment, saying Obama has done a “lousy job.”

“I continue to believe Mr. Trump will not be president,” Obama said while speaking at a press conference in Rancho Mirage, California. “And the reason is because I have a lot of faith in the American people” . . .

“It’s not hosting a talk show, or a reality show. It’s not promotion, it’s not marketing,” Obama said. “It’s hard and a lot of people count on us getting it right” . . .

The president also took a shot at the rest of the GOP field, saying “foreign observers are troubled” by the GOP’s rhetoric, specifically the doubting of climate change and proposals to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. (Read more from “Obama: Trump Won’t Make It to White House” HERE)

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Military Tells Congress It Can’t Send Gitmo Detainees to U.S.

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Just as President Barack Obama is planning to send Congress his plan to close the Guantanamo Bay prison this year, leaders of the military say it will not transfer any detainees to the U.S., unless the law prohibiting such transfers is changed.

Lt. General William Mayville Jr., the director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said as much in a letter to Congress last week, which I obtained. Mayville’s letter gets to the heart of a knotty constitutional issue on Guantanamo: Does President Obama have the authority to close the facility without the consent of Congress?

Writing to 16 House members who served in the military, Mayville writes: “Current law prohibits the use of funds to ‘transfer, release or assist in the transfer or release’ of detainees of Guantanamo Bay to or within the United States, and prohibits the construction, modification or acquisition of any facility within the United States to house any Guantanamo detainee. The Joint Staff will not take any action contrary to those restrictions” . . .

Unlike Mayville, Obama himself has been coy on whether the law prevents him from closing Guantanamo. In December at his year-end press conference, the president said, “We will wait until Congress has definitively said no to a well-thought-out plan with numbers attached to it before we say anything definitive about my executive authority here.” (Read more from “Military Tells Congress It Can’t Send Gitmo Detainees to U.S.” HERE)

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