Obama Plans 250 More U.S. Troops for Syria, Boosting Force to 300

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President Barack Obama will announce on Monday he plans to send as many as 250 additional U.S. troops to Syria, a sharp increase in the American presence working with local Syrian forces fighting Islamic State militants, U.S. officials said.

The deployment, which will increase U.S. forces in Syria to about 300, aims to accelerate recent gains against Islamic State and appears to reflect growing confidence in the ability of U.S.-backed forces inside Syria and Iraq to claw back territory from the hardline Sunni Islamist group.

Obama will explain his decision in a speech at 11:25 a.m. (0925 GMT) in Hanover, where he discussed the Syria crisis with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday. They will meet with other major European leaders after his remarks.

Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, controls the cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria and is proving a potent threat abroad, claiming credit for major attacks in Paris in November and Brussels in March.

While Obama has resisted putting U.S. troops into Syria, where a five-year civil war has killed at least 250,000 people, he sent 50 U.S. special operations forces to Syria last year in what U.S. officials described as a “counterterrorism” mission rather than an effort to tip the scales in the war. (Read more from “Obama Plans 250 More U.S. Troops for Syria, Boosting Force to 300” HERE)

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Sanders Campaign’s New Strategy on Superdelegates Leaves Some Unimpressed

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21668553091_35c4f5815b_b (1)By Joseph Tanfani. Retired teachers Rosie Skomitz and Ron Stouffer, part of the raucous crowd that packed an old theater here last week to cheer on a Bernie Sanders revolution, have no love for Democratic superdelegates, the party insiders who have helped Hillary Clinton pad her lead in the race for the nomination for president.

“It takes votes away from people and gives them to the elite,” Skomitz said, summing up the typical complaint from the Sanders faithful that the nomination process is undemocratic.

But as Sanders falls further behind Clinton in amassing delegates who will choose the nominee, some of his supporters have replaced their criticism and occasional outright virulence with appeals to those Democratic elites — some of whom have long memories.

“You’re trying to woo us now, but we remember when you were trashing us,” said former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, one of 21 superdelegates from the state, the largest of five that hold primaries Tuesday.

When Sanders was winning primaries in places like Michigan and Colorado, he and his supporters criticized superdelegates — Democratic leaders who can support a candidate of their choosing — as exemplary of a rigged system that robbed voters of their voice. In petitions, emails and some nasty messages on social media, thousands of Sanders backers demanded that those delegates follow the lead of their states’ voters. (Read more from “Sanders Campaign’s New Strategy on Superdelegates Leaves Some Unimpressed” HERE)

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Sanders Pressured to Quit White House Race as Clinton Weighs VP Picks

By Jim Mannion. Bernie Sanders fended off pressure Sunday to bow out of the race for the White House, as his rival, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, weighs potential runningmates.

The New York Times reported that Clinton’s advisers and allies have begun extensive discussions on a potential vice presidential candidate, and are putting together a list of 15 to 20 prospects.

Clinton has described what sort of person would fit the bill, and has set objectives for the search, the Times said.

And although her options vary depending on who her Republican opponent is and other factors in a still fluid race, she is open to an all-female ticket, advisers told the Times.

Team Clinton has not ruled out for consideration is Senator Elizabeth Warren, a darling of the left who has yet to endorse Clinton, advisers told the Times. (Read more from “Sanders Pressured to Quit White House Race as Clinton Weighs VP Picks” HERE)

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Fox News Host Just Revealed Trump’s ‘Only’ Pick for VP

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hqdefaultFox News host Bill O’Reilly believes he has the perfect candidate for Donald Trump to choose as a vice president if Trump wants to win the November general election.

Former Pres. George W. Bush press secretary Dana Perino was a guest on O’Reilly’s program Thursday. She was asked who Trump’s vice president choice should be . . .

The O’Reilly Factor host then jumped in and offered emphatically who that person should be.

“There’s only one choice for vice president if Donald Trump wants to win the White House. Only one person,” O’Reilly said. “Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico. That is the only choice if Mr. Trump, with all due respect, wants to be president. He must give it to the governor of New Mexico” . . .

“She’s very bright, she is a Republican conservative in a state that would go, you know, it’s not a lot of electoral votes, but if he can convince Gov. Martinez to be on the second, that will help him immensely,” O’Reilly said . . .

As O’Reilly observed, Martinez could help Trump in two demographics where he is weak — with women and with Hispanics. A Gallup poll published earlier this month found 70 percent of women holding an unfavorable view of the GOP front-runner. Additionally, in a Washington Post/Univision poll taken earlier this year, 80 percent of Hispanic voters have an unfavorable opinion about Trump. (Read more from “Fox News Host Just Revealed Trump’s ‘Only’ Pick for VP” HERE)

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There’s a Video Going Around of Cruz Allegedly Bribing a Delegate. Here’s the Real Story

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6236460755_af70e60869_b (1)Ted Cruz‘s campaign refuted a video purporting to show the Texas senator passing money to a Republican delegate at a campaign event . . .

The video surfaced on Reddit Friday morning, and claimed to catch Cruz trying to conceal “cash under a flyer” while handing it to a man standing with his face off-screen.

“Cruz has the money, fails to slip it,” the video text reads, before showing Cruz pass what appears to be a currency note to the man. The video, created by YouTube user Neil Turner, claims the man is a delegate, but does not give his name or say when or where the video was shot.

“The ‘delegate’ is Bruce Redden, a Cruz staffer, collecting things that people hand Ted Cruz as he shakes hands, signs books, and takes pictures after every event,” Phillips told TheDC. “The money is a $5 donation that a supporter gave to their small child to hand to the senator, along with a picture the child drew.” (Read more from “There’s a Video Going Around of Cruz Allegedly Bribing a Delegate. Here’s the Real Story” HERE)

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Karl Rove: Trump out of Time for ‘Empty Threat’ of Third-Party Race [+video]

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Donald Trump may have left the door open for a third-party run if he’s denied the GOP presidential nomination, but Republican political strategist Karl Rove Thursday called that an “empty threat,” as there is not enough time left for him to mount an independent bid.

“By the time the Republican National Convention begins on July 18 in Cleveland, 12 states will have closed their deadlines to run as an independent candidate in the fall,” Rove said on Fox News’ “Happening Now” program, outlining the numerous states, including Texas, North Carolina, Michigan and more that will have closed out their deadlines.

“A quarter for the states, more than a quarter of the states, have already closed the likelihood that he can get on the ballot, and then there are about more than a dozen that close within the next two weeks, including a couple key battleground states that he would want to be competitive in if he had any hope at all of winning the presidency.” (Read more from “Karl Rove: Trump out of Time for ‘Empty Threat’ of Third-Party Race” HERE)

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Cruz Says Trump Deserves This New Campaign Slogan After Criticizing NC Bathroom Bill [+video]

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Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump created his campaign’s latest controversy when he opined that a recent North Carolina law might be unfair to transgender Americans.

“North Carolina did something that was very strong,” Trump said in an interview on Thursday morning. “And they’re paying a big price; and there’s a lot of problems.”

He went on to say that the state should have left the issue alone, allowing men and women to use whichever restroom they prefer.

“People go, they use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate,” the brash billionaire suggested. “There has been so little trouble. And the problem with what happened in North Carolina is the strife and the economic punishment that they’re taking” . . .

Cruz further lambasted Trump’s take on the issue, offering his pick for a new campaign slogan.

“A few months ago,” he said, “Donald told us he could be the most politically correct person on Earth. Now, I guess he’s showing us what that looks like. I am waiting with anticipation for the new baseball caps that say ‘Make PC Great Again.’” (Read more from “Cruz Says Trump Deserves This New Campaign Slogan After Criticizing NC Bathroom Bill” HERE)

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Illegal Alien Families Entering US at ‘Record’ Rate

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Immigration_Reform_Leaders_Arrested_7 (1)Statistics released by Border Patrol this morning indicate that illegal immigrant families are now crossing into the United States at a record rate. The Border Patrol reports that more than 32,000 family units have been caught trying to enter the United States, which according to the Washington Times is “nearly a 40 percent” increase from 2014.

Stephen Dinian, writing for the Washington Times:

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson had thought he’d licked the problem two years ago, after surging manpower to the border. And indeed the numbers did drop in late 2014 and early 2015.

But the pace of both families and unaccompanied children picked up last summer, just as Mr. Johnson announced new relaxed rules for detaining illegal immigrants, and it has remained high ever since.

This report follows another report from Conservative Review’s Daniel Horowitz that revealed 80% of Central American children flooding the Southern border are being housed with fellow illegal aliens.

Horowitz will discuss the implications of rampant illegal immigration for United States citizens in his new book “Stolen Sovereignty,” out this July. (For more from the author of “Illegal Alien Families Entering US at ‘Record’ Rate” please click HERE)

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Trump Just Took Back This Major Claim

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Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump this week walked back his assertion that he could eliminate the country’s debt after two terms as president.

In an interview with Fortune Magazine published Friday, Trump was asked how his pledge to pay off the $19 trillion debt in 10 years was possible.

“No, I didn’t say 10 years,” Trump responded. “First of all, with low interest rates, you can think in terms of refinancings, and get it down. I believe you can do certain things to pay off the debt more quickly. The most important thing is to make sure the economy stays strong. You can do it in smaller chunks. You can do it in larger chunks. And you can do it in refinancings.”

Trump had, in fact, told The Washington Post editorial board earlier this month that he would pay off the debt in eight years by renegotiating trade deals. The Post called that claim “nonsensical.” (Read more from “Trump Just Took Back This Major Claim” HERE)

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Oklahoma Approves Major Bill That Revokes Licenses of Abortion Doctors

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University_of_Toronto_pro-life_protest_1In a bold move for the sanctity of life in Oklahoma, the state legislature approved a measure that could revoke the medical license of any doctor who performs an abortion.

According to a Reuters report:

The Republican-dominated legislature, the state’s House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a Senate bill late on Thursday. Governor Mary Fallin, a Republican, has not yet indicated whether she will sign it.

Under the bill, doctors who perform abortions would risk losing their medical licenses. Exemptions would be given for those who perform the procedure for reasons including protecting the mother or removing a miscarried fetus.

Senator Nathan Dahm, who authored the bill, called it a “proper function” for the legislature to protect life.

Opponents of the bill, however, argue it is unconstitutional to prohibit a doctor from performing a legal medical procedure, and promise an intense legal battle if the law goes into effect.

Lobbying groups opposed to the bill argue the “cash-strapped” state cannot afford expensive court proceedings and likely warn against the boycott by businesses that could follow.

But David Brumbaugh, one of the bill’s sponsors, fought back saying, “if we take care of morality, God will take care of the economy.” (For more from the author of “Oklahoma Approves Major Bill That Revokes Licenses of Abortion Doctors” please click HERE)

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