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| Democrat Tulsi Gabbard Defends Her Visit, and Kris Kobach Tips His Hand | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| With Thanksgiving approaching, the transition team is putting the last touches on President-elect Donald J. Trump’s national security leadership even as Mr. Trump pivots to his domestic and economic policy cabinet posts. One visitor to Trump Tower on Monday is of note: a Democrat, Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. Another, Secretary of State Kris Kobach of Kansas, let the world see part of his plans for the Department of Homeland Security. | |
| Ms. Gabbard, an Iraq war veteran and former Bernie Sanders supporter, defended her visit Monday to the office of the president-elect, saying she needed to talk foreign policy with Mr. Trump “before the drumbeats of war that neocons have been beating drag us into an escalation of the war to overthrow the Syrian government.” | Ms. Gabbard, an Iraq war veteran and former Bernie Sanders supporter, defended her visit Monday to the office of the president-elect, saying she needed to talk foreign policy with Mr. Trump “before the drumbeats of war that neocons have been beating drag us into an escalation of the war to overthrow the Syrian government.” |
| Her statement, lengthy and somewhat defensive, allowed, “While the rules of political expediency would say I should have refused to meet with President-elect Trump, I never have and never will play politics with American and Syrian lives.” | Her statement, lengthy and somewhat defensive, allowed, “While the rules of political expediency would say I should have refused to meet with President-elect Trump, I never have and never will play politics with American and Syrian lives.” |
| She then made the case against any intervention in a war that has pulled in Russia and left hundreds of thousands slaughtered. | She then made the case against any intervention in a war that has pulled in Russia and left hundreds of thousands slaughtered. |
| Her case is a break from the position that her fellow Democrat, Hillary Clinton, campaigned on. It fits nicely with Mr. Trump’s reluctance to engage — and with warnings against American involvement from the president of Russia, Vladimir V. Putin. | Her case is a break from the position that her fellow Democrat, Hillary Clinton, campaigned on. It fits nicely with Mr. Trump’s reluctance to engage — and with warnings against American involvement from the president of Russia, Vladimir V. Putin. |
| And speaking of Ms. Gabbard, Kellyanne Conway, a Trump senior adviser and his campaign manager, took some time on Monday to laud the fledgling rebellion in Democratic ranks against the liberal old guard. | |
| Speaking to reporters, Ms. Conway praised Ms. Gabbard’s willingness to buck the party, boosted Representative Tim Ryan, a Democrat from Youngstown, Ohio, who is challenging Representative Nancy Pelosi’s leadership, and had kind words for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who has said Democrats need to focus more on economic struggles and less on the grievances of minorities and women. | |
| “Bernie Sanders today was also quoted as saying they should stop identity politics in the Democratic Party. Whoa. He can call and we’ll tell him how to do that and win,” she said. | |
| Mr. Sanders struck back in his way, declaring the Trump infrastructure a scam for fat-cat investors. | |
| Ms. Conway also weighed in on the growing scrutiny of the president-elect’s business pursuits, which appear to be continuing even as he prepares to lead the free world. | |
| She also made it clear she did not like reporters questioning his continuing business pursuits. | |
| “Do you ask people how long they will play golf and do the transition? Are you suggesting he is doing something illegal?” she snapped. “I already said he is not. But the presumption is that he is.” | |
| Mr. Kobach, the conservative Kansas secretary of state, may have been a little too loose with his plans for the Department of Homeland Security. | |
| Entering Trump Tower, the anti-immigration hard-liner up for the job of secretary of homeland security, was photographed carrying a document titled “Kobach Strategic Plan for First 365 Days.” Some of it was obscured by his arm, but not all. | |
| Under “Bar the Entry of Potential Terrorists,” the document called for reintroducing the “National Security Entry-Exit Registration System” implemented after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and suspended a decade later. | |
| It also calls for “extreme vetting questions” for “high-risk aliens.” Questions included support for Sharia law, jihad and the equality of men and women. The document also calls for an end to entry for Syrian refugees. | |
| The transition is not all policy talk and cabinet vetting. Mr. Trump also made time to meet for an off-the-record conclave with leading television executives and on-air personalities. | The transition is not all policy talk and cabinet vetting. Mr. Trump also made time to meet for an off-the-record conclave with leading television executives and on-air personalities. |
| Among those spotted were NBC’s Deborah Turness, MSNBC’s Phil Griffin, CNN’s Jeff Zucker and Wolf Blitzer, Fox News’s Bill Shine, Jack Abernethy, Jay Wallace and Suzanne Scott, and CBS’s John Dickerson and Charlie Rose. | |
| Former Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts emerged from the gilded elevators of Trump Tower on Monday to do what most visitors have not: Make a public case to be in the president-elect’s cabinet. | Former Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts emerged from the gilded elevators of Trump Tower on Monday to do what most visitors have not: Make a public case to be in the president-elect’s cabinet. |
| Specifically, the man who lost a Senate seat to Elizabeth Warren, then failed to win another in New Hampshire, wants to be secretary of veterans affairs. | Specifically, the man who lost a Senate seat to Elizabeth Warren, then failed to win another in New Hampshire, wants to be secretary of veterans affairs. |
| “We obviously spoke about my passion and his passion, which are veterans and veterans issues,” he told the news media. “The toughest job in the cabinet is to lead the V.A., because it has, while it has so many angels working there, it has so many great problems as well. So he’s obviously going to take my application, or interest, under consideration. I’m glad that he called.” | “We obviously spoke about my passion and his passion, which are veterans and veterans issues,” he told the news media. “The toughest job in the cabinet is to lead the V.A., because it has, while it has so many angels working there, it has so many great problems as well. So he’s obviously going to take my application, or interest, under consideration. I’m glad that he called.” |
| He did acknowledge he was not a sure thing, despite his early and passionate advocacy for candidate Trump in New Hampshire, which Mrs. Clinton narrowly carried. | He did acknowledge he was not a sure thing, despite his early and passionate advocacy for candidate Trump in New Hampshire, which Mrs. Clinton narrowly carried. |
| “I think I’m the best person, but there are some tremendous people out there, and I don’t look at it as a competition,” he said. | “I think I’m the best person, but there are some tremendous people out there, and I don’t look at it as a competition,” he said. |
| Perhaps it was impolitic of Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s senior adviser, to praise conservative women like Sarah Palin and Ann Coulter by saying their leadership “would be pro-family, they would have husbands, they would love their children.” | Perhaps it was impolitic of Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s senior adviser, to praise conservative women like Sarah Palin and Ann Coulter by saying their leadership “would be pro-family, they would have husbands, they would love their children.” |
| “They wouldn’t be a bunch of dykes that came from the Seven Sisters schools up in New England,” he said in a 2011 radio interview. | “They wouldn’t be a bunch of dykes that came from the Seven Sisters schools up in New England,” he said in a 2011 radio interview. |
| Now the heads of Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Smith College, Vassar College and Wellesley College are asking the future senior White House adviser to “take a more expansive, informed and tolerant worldview.” | Now the heads of Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Smith College, Vassar College and Wellesley College are asking the future senior White House adviser to “take a more expansive, informed and tolerant worldview.” |
| “Our alumnae are accomplished leaders in all spheres of public and professional life; they are committed to their work, their families and their countries. Now more than ever, we look to those who would lead the United States of America for a message of inclusion, respect and unity,” they wrote in an open letter to Mr. Bannon. | “Our alumnae are accomplished leaders in all spheres of public and professional life; they are committed to their work, their families and their countries. Now more than ever, we look to those who would lead the United States of America for a message of inclusion, respect and unity,” they wrote in an open letter to Mr. Bannon. |
| Hillary Clinton’s popular vote lead surged above 1.72 million on Sunday night, with millions of votes still to count. At 1.3 percentage points, she has built a lead not seen in a losing campaign since Rutherford B. Hayes’s bitterly disputed election of 1876. | Hillary Clinton’s popular vote lead surged above 1.72 million on Sunday night, with millions of votes still to count. At 1.3 percentage points, she has built a lead not seen in a losing campaign since Rutherford B. Hayes’s bitterly disputed election of 1876. |
| The 2016 results have no such disputes, however. Mrs. Clinton’s lead keeps rising on her strength in California, where her margin stands at 29 percentage points, up from President Obama’s 23 percentage points 2012. She has failed to close the gap in any of the swing states that she lost, though Mr. Trump’s lead in Michigan has dwindled to 11,612 votes, a bad night in Tiger Stadium. | The 2016 results have no such disputes, however. Mrs. Clinton’s lead keeps rising on her strength in California, where her margin stands at 29 percentage points, up from President Obama’s 23 percentage points 2012. She has failed to close the gap in any of the swing states that she lost, though Mr. Trump’s lead in Michigan has dwindled to 11,612 votes, a bad night in Tiger Stadium. |
| Florida certified its results on Sunday, sealing Mr. Trump’s margin of victory at 1.2 percentage points. Third-party candidates in Florida easily took enough votes to swing the results. | Florida certified its results on Sunday, sealing Mr. Trump’s margin of victory at 1.2 percentage points. Third-party candidates in Florida easily took enough votes to swing the results. |
| But more Americans seem prepared to give Mr. Trump a chance. A new Morning Consult poll found that 46 percent of registered voters view the president-elect favorably, the same number that see him unfavorably. Just before the election, 37 percent of voters viewed him favorably, while 61 percent viewed him unfavorably. | But more Americans seem prepared to give Mr. Trump a chance. A new Morning Consult poll found that 46 percent of registered voters view the president-elect favorably, the same number that see him unfavorably. Just before the election, 37 percent of voters viewed him favorably, while 61 percent viewed him unfavorably. |