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Walter Mondale Wants To Know: Where Have The Jimmy Carters Gone?

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Jimmy Carter with Walter Mondale of Minn., his vice presidential choice, on the final night of the 1976 Democratic Convention in New York.

AP Photo

For a few minutes on Saturday — under the harsh yellow lights of the Minneapolis Hilton, Grand Ballroom, Salon B — there was a brief reprieve from presidential politics.

It was the last morning of the Democratic National Committee meeting. Party members had spent much of the weekend, between sessions and in the hotel lobby bar, engaged in a vigorous exchange of opinions about the state of the race. (Things could be better!) Donald Trump was solidifying his lead, Hillary Clinton was losing hers, and the other Democratic candidates, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley, were making urgent appeals for support as the frontrunner’s sheen of “inevitability” appeared to be fading all over again. There was some panic (Clinton’s emails), some outrage (only six debates!), and speculation all around (Biden?).

These updates did not interest Walter F. Mondale.

Past the threshold of Salon B, during a meeting of the state’s Senior Caucus, the former vice president recalled his view of a more fundamental era of politics.

In a brief speech, Mondale, 87, reminded the hundred or so elderly Democrats in the crowd that, “together,” they had pushed to pass Medicare, Medicaid, the Voting Rights Act, and the food stamp program; to create rules against racial discrimination in the Democratic Party and to enact legislation for the environment, fair housing, and school lunches. This was “the high tide of American history,” he said. “These are things that we did.”

There was a sense, as Mondale left the Senior Caucus meeting on Saturday, that he was not as impressed with the current state of affairs.

In the hallway, when a woman identified herself as a “big fan from Georgia,” Mondale stopped her. “Ah, Georgia! I worked for a guy down there,” he said. “We’re all praying for him.” His boss in the White House, President Jimmy Carter, announced earlier this month that he would begin treatment, at the age of 90, for cancer in his brain. Mondale was planning a visit next week.

“You know,” he told the Georgia woman, “he was so gracious — compared to these asses running.”

The vice president attended as the DNC’s hometown guest of honor. He is retired but still works out of his law office in downtown Minneapolis. On Friday, during the string of speeches that make up the gathering’s main event, Mondale functioned as the quiet party elder in the front row: The presidential candidates praised him from the podium, and the hall of delegates rose each time to applaud.

The next morning, Mondale continued his tour as weekend statesman. He exchanged more pleasantries with the members of the Senior Caucus: “How many of you were in the ’48 campaign?” He navigated the challenges of the digital camera: “Press this one… Oh, alright, I see… Zoom in… We’re zooming… One, two, three!” And then came the questions.

Yes, he supports Hillary. He did during the 2008 campaign, too. (In her speech, she “showed a lot of fight and spark,” he said. “That’s what we need.”) And yes, six seems like a fine number of DNC debates. (The Republicans “keep at ’em ’til they kill themselves.”) No, this Democratic primary is not like his in 1984. (“It probably doesn’t have any bearing at all.”) And no, there is not a current analog to Gary Hart, the young senator who challenged Mondale, that cycle's presumptive nominee, with a generational campaign of “new ideas.” (“I don’t see any person out there. It could be Bernie,” he said, then hesitated. “What do I say…? I think he’s got an age problem.” A shrug. “I’ve got an age problem.”)

Mondale has his own questions. They worry him far more.

Would the country continue to be up front, as he said in his speech to the seniors, on “the great rules of justice and decency”? And when would the low-tide recede — taking with it the latest “asses” of the election cycle?

“I shouldn’t have said that,” Mondale said. “But at this time when we need our good country to sit down and reason with each other, have a civil tone, an honest look at problems and major answers, and have a good contest — instead we’re having a yelling contest.”

“And it really troubles me. Because I don’t remember it being quite this bad before.”

Hillary Clinton is joined on stage with Mondale during a campaign stop in Minneapolis in February 2008.

Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images

These matters have long been a point of dismay for Mondale. In 1992, when Bill Clinton and Ross Perot were making regular appearances on MTV and the talk show circuit, Mondale lamented to the New York Times that, in the old days, “There was a dignity to running for the presidency.”

What we have now, Mondale said in Minneapolis, is Trump leading the pack — but with “a lot of people who seem to be agreeing with him and are still yelling at each other.”

“It’s very negative, negative, negative, negative every day. You can’t run a country on that.”

Another question on his mind: Where have all the Jimmy Carters gone?

Mondale has told “everybody” he knows to watch the press conference. In Atlanta, Carter told reporters earlier this month about his cancer, faith, and his feeling at “ease with whatever comes.”

“Very few things have moved me more,” Mondale said.

He plans to visit the Carter family next week, bringing with him a recently clipped cartoon from the Minneapolis Star Tribune: The drawing shows the former president “building this home,” said Mondale. The Carters volunteered for decades with Habitat for Humanity. “It’s a beautiful house. He’s putting on the last bit. And it says, ‘Carter, the decent builder, the kind man.’ I think that was one of the great, gracious, courageous, decent things I’ve ever seen a public servant do.”

“That’s a wonderful thing.”

For Mondale, there is still hope for this presidential campaign. He would like, for instance, to see a woman become president. Clinton, he believes, could do it — prognostications aside.

“This is the first time in American history — and that’s a long time — that a gifted woman has a real chance to be president,” he said. “And that’s worth a lot to me.”

And the email investigation? Would it hurt her?

“You know…” He stopped. “I think if you don’t mind, I’ll quit at this point.”


Rand Paul On Birthright Citizenship: “People Get Carried Away On Whatever The Term Is”

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Paul says birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants is an issue that needs to be adjudicated.

Scott Olson / Getty Images

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul says there needs to be a discussion on whether children of undocumented immigrants born in the United States should be considered citizens, adding that people get "carried away" over the term used to describe them.

"I think people get carried away on whatever the term is. I think just have a good discussion on whether or not children of those who came here illegally should be considered to be citizens," Paul told Boston Herald Radio on Monday. "And I'm not sure it's been adjudicated. I think it has to be and it is a problem and I think that we can't have the whole world come."

Two of Paul's opponents, Donald Trump and Jeb Bush, were widely criticized for using the term "anchor baby" to describe the children born in America whose parents are not U.S. citizens. Those children are granted citizenship upon birth under the citizenship clause of the 14th amendment.

"You know we've had a debate over what the 14th amendment applies to. If you read history, the 14th amendment was about African Americans and making sure they and their descendants were citizens," Paul said earlier in the interview. "Without question I support the 14th amendment and am a huge fan in fact of the 14th amendment. But the decision of whether or not you are a citizen, if you are born here, born to illegal aliens, has actually never been decided."

In the same interview, Paul also criticized opponent Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on the issue of immigration. On "Meet the Press" Sunday, Walker said building a wall on the U.S.-Canadian border was a "legitimate issue." Paul called the the wall "a dumb idea."

"That's a pretty dumb idea. There have been a lot of dumb ideas put out," Paul said.

"You know, one that the Mexicans would pay for a wall was probably the dumbest of dumb ideas, but putting up a wall between us and Canada is sort of a ridiculous notion. It's sort of like everybody is now competing to say 'oh no I'll put them in camps, oh no I'll throw them out, oh no I'll put everyone in jail and I'll have an electric fence and I'll do this' and it's like you know the biggest thing we need to do is have a functioning immigration system with a good work program."

Listen to the full interview:

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Supreme Court Keeps Former Virginia Governor Out Of Jail For Now

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Justices let former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell stay out of jail until they decide whether to hear his appeal of his conviction.

Former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell, convicted on corruption charges relating to his time in office, will stay out of jail for now, under an order from the Supreme Court on Monday.

In the unsigned order, the court has granted McDonnell's request to stay out of jail until the Supreme Court decides whether it will hear his appeal. The former governor was sentenced by the trial court to 24 months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release.

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals already rejected McDonnell's appeal, leading him to ask the Supreme Court to review his case. Until the court decides whether it will do so — whether it will grant his petition for a writ of certiorari — McDonnell will not start his sentence, per Monday's order.

"Should the petition for a writ of certiorari be denied, this stay shall terminate automatically," the court ordered. "In the event the petition for a writ of certiorari is granted, the stay shall terminate upon the issuance of the judgment of this Court."

This is a developing news story. Check back for updates or follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter.


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Supreme Court Denies Kentucky Clerk's Request To Halt Same-Sex Marriage Order

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Justice Elena Kagan referred the request from Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis to the full court, which denied the request on Monday evening.

Rowan County Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis

Timothy D. Easley / AP

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday evening denied a Kentucky clerk's request to keep enforcing her "no marriage licenses" policy — an attempt to avoid issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples — while she appeals the trial court's preliminary ruling.

The Rowan County clerk, Kim Davis, argues that she should be exempted from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples because she has a religious objection.

Three same-sex couples seeking to marry sued her, leading U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning to order Davis to stop enforcing her "no marriage licenses" policy against those couples.

He refused to put his order on hold while Davis appealed the order, but he temporarily put it on hold — just until Monday — so Davis could ask the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals if they would grant her a stay during her appeal. The 6th Circuit denied that request this past week, leading Davis to seek a stay from the Supreme Court.

Davis had argued that the state policy requiring her office to issue licenses to same-sex couples "substantially burden[s]" her religious freedom rights under the U.S. and Kentucky constitutions and Kentucky's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The court gave no reasons in Monday evening's brief order for denying her request that the trial court's order to be put on hold while she appeals the matter. No justices publicly announced that they would have granted the request.

During the business day on Monday, the Rowan County Clerk's Office was open but was still not issuing marriage licenses.

On Tuesday morning, there will be no question — at least as to the three same-sex couples who sued Davis — that Davis is under a federal court's order to stop her "no marriage licenses" policy.

If Davis does not comply, a party could ask Bunning to hold her in contempt of court.

In a statement, the Human Rights Campaign's senior vice president for policy and political affairs, JoDee Winterhof, said, "Ms. Davis' choices are clear: she must either choose to follow the law or resign her public position."

A request for comment from Davis's lawyers at Liberty Counsel was not immediately returned.

7,000 Pages Of Hillary Clinton Email Are Coming Your Way Tonight

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Jeff Swensen / Getty Images

The State Department will release another large, monthly batch of Hillary Clinton's email on Monday night — as the Democratic front-runner continues to face questions and an investigation into her email protocols and criticism of how she has addressed the subject.

In the last week, following a series of jokes about her email (one about the charms of Snapchat's 24-hour deletion, and the other about wiping a server with a cloth), Clinton has struck a slightly more contrite tone.

"I’m trying to do a better job of explaining to people what’s going on," she told reporters in Minneapolis last week. "So there’s not all this concern, and there’s some sense made out of the confusion, and to answer people’s questions.”

In recent weeks, Clinton has turned over the server she once used to the Justice Department, as federal investigators examine how classified information was handled during her time at the State Department. Clinton exclusively used a personal account, which was housed on a personal server.

The monthly email releases will ultimately result in approximately 55,000 pages of Clinton's email in the public domain. Those emails are the product of a selection process overseen only by Clinton's staff; after her staff deemed which emails were work-related, Clinton deleted the remainder of her email.

LINK: Hillary Clinton Continues To Shift Tone On Emails

LINK: Hillary Clinton’s Handling of Email Issue Frustrates Democratic Leaders

Chelsea Clinton Wrote Bill And Hillary About Being "Profoundly Disturbed" By Haiti Response

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“The incompetence is mind numbing.”

Handout / Getty Images

Revealed in the most recent batch of Hillary Clinton's emails released by the State Department is a seven-page memo written by Chelsea Clinton in which she details her takeaways from a four-day trip to Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake.

In the undated memo, addressed to "Dad" and "Mom," Clinton is critical of the United Nations response, and issues a dire warning: "If we do not quickly change the organization, management, accountability and delivery paradigm on the ground, we could quite conceivably confront tens of thousands of children's deaths by diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid and other water-related diseases in the near future. "

Read the full memo below:

White House Launches Year Two Of Campus Anti-Sexual Assault Campaign With Simple Message

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One year into the Obama administration’s “It’s On Us” anti-sexual assault campaign, top presidential adviser Valerie Jarett says the White House has helped start changing the culture about sexual violence on college campuses.

It's On Us

WASHINGTON — It's just about the one year mark for the signature policy effort led by senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett aimed at changing the culture around sexual assault on campus known as "It's On Us".

In its first 12 months, the effort has united high-profile collegiate organizations like sports conferences as well as TV networks, social media companies, and celebrities with campus activists to spread an anti-assault message focused on empowering students to call out sexual assault and intervene to stop it. More than 300 schools have student-run It's On Us campaigns, the White House says, and more than 650 events have been held since President Obama announced the campaign last September. Particular emphasis has been put on empowering men to be allies to women classmates, who statistics show are still more likely to be sexually assaulted than other groups.

The It's On Us campaign trademark is younger celebrities delivering stark messages about sexual assault and the culture on college campuses. On Tuesday came the latest iteration, a new PSA featuring stars like Zoe Saldana, John Cho, and Josh Hutcherson that Jarrett says tries to put the idea of consent at the top of mind for incoming students as they head back to school or arrive at college for the first time. The opening weeks of a new school year are among those where the danger for sexual assaults is the highest and so, White House aides said Monday, the time when It's On Us is needed more than ever.

The simple message of the new administration PSA: Without consent, sex is rape. Period.

"Consent: If you don't get it, you don't get it," Hutcherson and Saldana say at the end of the 30-second spot in one of the darker double entendres out there.

Reducing campus sexual assault has been a big policy effort for the White House and a personal focus for Jarrett, a longtime adviser to the president. In an interview with BuzzFeed News, she said It's On Us has beat expectations in its first years in terms of the number of schools participating and the engagement from national organizations. The It's On Us online campaign has attracted 3 billion impressions, the White House said, including more than 10 million online views of the PSAs.

But the anti-sexual assault mandate for It's On Us, and the Obama administration in general, is far larger than a popular online effort. Jarrett emphasized that the administration is trying to change the culture around sexual assault on campus, coming alongside a new national focus on sexual politics that has included discussions of sexism, consent, rape and assault.

Jarrett was bullish on the first year of It's On Us, saying the campaign has helped to make changes already on campus. Asked if women are safer from sexual assault on campuses than they were a couple years ago, she offered a qualified "yes."

"Changing cultures doesn't happen overnight," she said, saying that campus reforms are occurring on a campus-by-campus basis and some campuses are better than others.

But the awareness has risen, Jarrett said. Anecdotally, White House aides added, students and parents are now asking about a school's culture around sexual assault and consent when on college tours and considering which schools to attend. Those questions will lead to the more dramatic cultural shifts the White House is hoping for.

"I just can't overemphasize that just the thought that this would be a factor in a student's decision about whether or not to attend a college or university is a very important sign," she said. "Because the market will move in the right direction, if colleges and universities are finding that they're having a difficult time attracting the most talented students because their culture is one that is tolerant of sexual assault, there will be enormous pressure on them to change."

Huckabee: "Remarkable" Democrats Looking At "73-Year-Old Gaffe-Master" Biden As Savior

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The Republican presidential candidate comments on the age of his Democratic adversaries, and offers praise for Bernie Sanders.

Charlie Riedel / AP

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said on Monday that it is "remarkable" Democrats are "looking at a 73-year-old gaffe-master" Joe Biden as an alternative to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

"The Democrats have really got themselves in a bind," Huckabee told Iowa radio host Jan Mickelson. "Right now, they're looking at a 73-year-old gaffe-master Joe Biden — who's a nice guy, don't take that from him — but they're looking at him as maybe the guy who could come in and rescue them."

The 60-year-old Republican presidential candidate then called Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, "a person that's known as primarily a liar," referring to the ongoing scandal surrounding her e-mail use as secretary of state, before praising Sanders for his honesty. Huckabee also compared the current contenders' ages to that of Biden, saying that both Sanders and Clinton are "approaching seventy." (Sanders is 73, while Clinton is 67.)

"They've got a person that's known as primarily a liar and a dishonest person who has erased all of her emails," Huckabee said. "And then they've got an avowed socialist, who is actually honest about his socialism and says it up front, uh, both of whom, you know, are approaching seventy and so they're gonna get a 73-year-old guy to come in and rescue them. And it's just a remarkable place for the Democrats to be."

Later in the interview, Huckabee lauded Sanders for his views on Wall Street.

"I agree with Sanders on that the business model of Wall Street has corrupted this country and it has corrupted politics because, as I often say, the donor class, feeds the political class at the expense of the working class," Huckabee said. "And that's really happened. Wall Street is not evil itself, but what's happened is, Wall Street has become a casino. It no longer is the place where people make an investment in products and services but they actually just move paper around and make vast amounts of money on the commissions."

"He's right about the banks," Huckabee continued. "The big mistake was repealing Glass-Steagall because the investment banks and the community banks now have lines that have been erased and that's what led to the housing bubble."

Huckabee went on to add that he also agreed with Sanders' opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but disagreed with the socialist's views on topics such as fighting climate change and raising the minimum wage.

Here's the audio:

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Martin O'Malley Hires Director Of Hispanic Media

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Jose Aristimuño joins the campaign after spending time as a volunteer, BuzzFeed News has learned.

Paul Sancya / AP

The Martin O'Malley campaign has hired Jose Aristimuño, an operative and Spanish-language media commentator as director of Hispanic media, the campaign confirmed.

Aristimuño, a Venezuelan immigrant, who began with the campaign as a volunteer, said his priority is to engage Latino press regionally and nationally, a major challenge for O'Malley who is not yet well known in the Hispanic community, despite an early focus on Latino issues.

"There's no question that the governor is not as known among the other candidates in the race," Aristimuño said. "But when they get to know him and understand his record and what he stands for, people start reevaluating who they want to vote for."

Gabriela Domenzain, the director of public engagement and highest-ranking Latina in the campaign said Aristimuño's passion and persistence when it came to O'Malley got her attention "but his dedication and effectiveness in informing the Latino community about the governor's record on Latino issues" earned him the role. She said he will play an integral role in the campaign's efforts to engage Hispanics in a "culturally and linguistically sensitive" way.

Most recently, Aristimuño was getting out the word that O'Malley was one of only two candidates, along with Lincoln Chafee, who accepted an invitation to a Des Moines Register Iowa immigration forum featuring immigration activists and faith leaders on Saturday. Candidates of both parties were invited to the event.

Aristimuño, who also started the aspirational Hispanic issues site Latino Giant, said he was drawn to O'Malley after he saw the way he "stood against those wanting to deport unaccompanied children at the border last year" and instead welcomed the largest amount of children per capita to Maryland.

The campaign has struggled to gain traction even with stances like that and an immigration policy paper called one of the most progressive and inclusive by people like influential Univision anchor, Jorge Ramos.

A Univision poll conducted by Bendixen & Amandi in July found that 74% of Latinos did not know O'Malley and only 1% would vote for him.

A Gallup poll released last week found that the former Maryland governor had a -2 favorability with Hispanics, trailing Hillary Clinton at +40 and Bernie Sanders at +5.

Still, the campaign has continued to put O'Malley in front of Latino voters, betting that once they get to know him they will like what they see, and adopted a strategy of taking on Donald Trump, who in the same Gallup poll was shown cratering with Hispanics at -51 favorability.

Two weeks ago in Las Vegas, O'Malley held a press conference in front of Trump's hotel, knocking him on immigration and saying he was with workers attempting to unionize. And last week a Spanish-language op-ed by O'Malley ran on Univision.com, the most popular website among U.S. Hispanics, entitled "Why am I confronting Donald Trump?" Saying he "denounced Trump's racist and divisive" rhetoric, O'Malley laid out the reason for the op-ed.

"It was maybe one of the first times that many of you had seen me on television and that's why I wanted to explain why I did it," he wrote.

LINK: Martin O’Malley Has Carved Out A Focus On Latino Issues So Why Does No One Care?

How Sidney Blumenthal Tried And Failed To Pull Hillary Clinton To The Left On Foreign Policy

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Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

The latest release of emails from Hillary Clinton's personal email account show that longtime confidant Sidney Blumenthal regularly attempted to push the then-Secretary of State to the left on foreign policy.

Clinton didn't always respond to Blumenthal, who not only often sent work by his son Max Blumenthal, a vociferous critic of Israel, but also speeches, analysis, and pieces by others, and himself espoused views to the left of Clinton's public positions on Israel and encouraged her to do the same.

In a memo on March 21, 2010, Blumenthal encouraged Clinton to criticize the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) during her speech at its annual conference and praise the liberal group J Street. In the email, Blumenthal said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "stage managing" Jewish communal organizations and that AIPAC has become an "organ" of Likud.

"Perhaps most controversial, I would argue something you should do is that, while praising AIPAC, remind it in as subtle but also direct a way as you can that it does not have a monopoly over American Jewish opinion," Blumenthal wrote. "Bibi is stage managing U.S. Jewish organizations (and neocons, and the religious right, and whomever else he can muster) against the administration. AIPAC itself has become an organ of the Israeli right, specifically Likud. By acknowledging J Street you give them legitimacy, credibility and create room within the American Jewish community for debate supportive of the administration's pursuit of the peace process. Just by mentioning J Street in passing, AIPAC becomes a point on the spectrum, not the controller of the spectrum."

Blumenthal then suggested a watered-down version of the point about J Street to include in Clinton's speech itself: "Only through the marketplace of ideas will sound policies to help resolve complicated and seemingly intransigent problems be developed. This administration values everybody's views. They are important. You are important. We welcome views across the spectrum, from AIPAC to J Street. All these views are legitimate and must be heard and considered."

Clinton did not use Blumenthal's suggested language in her remarks to AIPAC.

Earlier that same day, Blumenthal had sent Clinton an analysis by the left-wing Israeli writer and activist Uri Avnery about David Petraeus' 2010 testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee that named the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as one of the root causes of instability in the Middle East. In the piece, Avnery writes that American Jews "are ready to do anything — just anything — for the government of Israel" but that in order to avoid being accused of putting Israel's security ahead of that of the United States, "it is important for them to repeat endlessly the mantra that the interests of Israel and the U.S. are identical."

"And now comes the most important general of the U.S. Army and says that this is not so," Avnery writes. "The policy of the present Israeli government is endangering the lives of American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan."

On Iran, Blumenthal sent Clinton two analyses by Gary Sick, a former Carter administration national security aide and influential figure on the left of the Iran debate. Sick wrote the book October Surprise, which argues that Ronald Reagan purposefully delayed the release of the American hostages in Iran until after the election in order to prevent Jimmy Carter from winning.

Blumenthal sent Clinton the transcripts of two speeches given by former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman, whose nomination for chair of the National Intelligence Council was scuttled in 2009 because of controversy over his criticisms of Israel and comments he had made about Tibetan unrest that were seen as overly favorable to China. Freeman blamed the "Israel lobby" for the controversy. Blumenthal sent Clinton a February 2010 speech by Freeman on Saudi Arabia, as well as Freeman's 2010 speech in Oslo about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process with the subject line "FYI. Freeman reflects Saudi view and most of State." Then-Director of Policy Planning Anne-Marie Slaughter also sent the Oslo speech to Clinton.

On May 17, 2010, Blumenthal encouraged Clinton to intervene when MIT linguistics scholar and left-wing foreign policy critic Noam Chomsky was prevented from entering the West Bank. "This incident can be profitable if Israel understands it should not be doing this to U.S. or European critics in the future," Blumenthal wrote. Clinton forwarded the email to her assistant and asked her to print three copies.

Blumenthal also regularly sent Clinton work by his son Max, an anti-Zionist writer whose 2013 book Goliath was panned by Nation writer Eric Alterman, himself a critic of Israel, as the "I-Hate-Israel Handbook" and something that "could have been published by the Hamas Book-of-the-Month Club."

Though Clinton does not appear to have always responded to Blumenthal's missives, she was not always merely a passive recipient of them. After Blumenthal sent her the Avnery piece, she responded, "I have to speak to AIPAC tomorrow. How--and should--i use this?"

Blumenthal replied that he was sending her the memo later, then a few hours later Clinton emailed unprompted to ask if he was still sending it. Blumenthal replied that he was, and that he had been "writing and also talking it out with Joe Wilson." And as was evident from the previous email release, as well, Blumenthal also served as a go-between for Clinton and British officials despite his lack of an official role with the U.S. government.

Rand Paul On Clerk Refusing Same-Sex Marriage Licences: Protest Is Part Of The American Way

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“Whether or not people who still work for the state can do it without the legislature changing it, is something I’m going to leave up to the courts exactly how to do it,” Paul said.

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

During a radio interview on Monday, Sen. Rand Paul said that while a Kentucky county clerk refusing to issue marriage licenses out of a religious objection to same-sex marriage was an "important part of the American way," the courts should ultimately decide if someone can work for the state and deny lawful marriages.

"I think people who do stand up and are making a stand to say that they believe in something is an important part of the American way," the Kentucky senator told Boston Herald Radio when asked if he back Kim Davis, the Rowan County clerk who continues to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite a court order that she end her "no marriage licenses" policy.

"Whether or not people who still work for the state can do it without the legislature changing it, is something I'm going to leave up to the courts exactly how to do it," Paul said.

Earlier in his response, Paul said the government could avoid conflicts like the one in Rowan County if it just got out of the business of marriage, a view Paul has repeatedly expressed over the years.

"You know I think one way to get around the whole idea of what the Supreme Court is forcing on the states is for states to just get out of the business of giving out licenses." Paul said.

"And so, I've often said we could of gotten around all of this, also, in the sense that I do believe everybody has the right to a contract. There never should of never been any limitations on people of the same sex having contracts," Paul added. "But I do object to the state putting its imprimatur to the specialness of marriage, on something that's different than most people defined as marriage for most of history. So one way is just getting the state out completely. I think that's what we're heading towards, actually."

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Fiorina On Securing Borders: "I Don't Think Walls Are Particularly Effective"

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Fiorina becomes the latest Republican presidential candidate to comment on building a wall along the northern border.

Charlie Riedel / AP

Carly Fiorina said on Tuesday that she doesn't "think walls are particularly effective," arguing that America should instead use "technology" to secure its northern and southern borders.

Asked by radio host Michael Medved about rival GOP presidential candidate Scott Walker's comments that a wall separating the U.S. and Canada was a "legitimate issue for us to look at," Fiorina said "if that's what it took," she would do it, but that she was skeptical of walls in general.

"I don't think walls are particularly effective," she said. "I mean, if that's what it took to do it, I would do it, North or South. But I think technology has advanced to the point where it is far quicker, far less expensive, and actually far more effective to deploy technology."

Fiorina became the latest Republican presidential candidate to comment on Walker's remark about a northern wall since he made it on Sunday. Rand Paul said on Monday that he thought such a wall was "a pretty dumb idea." Mike Huckabee said the same day that he was "not aware" of a "major problem of people coming across the Northern border," but that, "if we did have that problem, then we would need to secure that border as well."

Walker has since argued that his comment was widely misinterpreted.

Later in the interview, Fiorina added that "we've invested a lot of money" in the northern border since 9/11, but that "spending the money doesn't seem to translate into any results."

"And yes, I do think we need to be focused on our northern border as well," she said. "Although I will tell you, having been up around that border a lot, that we've invested a lot of money in that border since 9/11 and it's one of the mysteries of the ineffective bureaucracy that the federal government has become that sometimes—too often, frankly—spending the money doesn't seem to translate into any results which is part of the set of problems we've got to solve."

Here's the audio:

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Santorum: Obama Thinks "Potential Radical Islamic Sympathizers" Are "A Good Thing For America"

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“And let’s be honest, I mean, you know, if you look at radical Islam it’s about as antithetical to the American first principles as anything you’d want to see. But in President Obama’s mind, that’s a good thing for America.”

Nati Harnik / AP

Rick Santorum said on Tuesday that President Obama thinks allowing "potential radical Islamic sympathizers" into the country instead of Christians and Jews is "a good thing for America" because the president believes the country "needs to be changed."

Santorum made the comments while talking to radio host Jan Mickelson about America's sheltering of refugees from war-torn countries in the Middle East.

"I can tell you, as president of the United States, if we're gonna take refugees from Syria or refugees from Iraq or refugees from the Middle East, the refugees we're gonna take are the people who being persecuted over there and the people who are being most persecuted over there are obviously, obviously Christians and Jews, not—" Santorum said, before being cut off by Mickelson, who said "Christians and Jews are the back of the list."

"They're being crucified over there, they're being burned at the stake, and they can't get in the country," Santorum responded, talking about Middle Eastern Christians and Jews. "And we bring in folks who are potential radical Islamic sympathizers. Again, it's the silly idea and notion—and I remember being in a debate with Howard Dean at Northwestern a couple of years ago, and we were asked a question by a student, 'What's the greatest virtue of the United States of America?'—you know what Howard Dean said? 'Diversity.' But that's what they believe."

Santorum said that some people, including Obama, believed that admitting immigrants who "share none of the values of what made America a unique and great country," including those sympathetic to "radical Islam," was a "good thing for America."

"They believe that America will be better off if we bring in people that are nothing like and share none of the values of what made America a unique and great country," Santorum said. "And let's be honest, I mean, you know, if you look at radical Islam it's about as antithetical to the American first principles as anything you'd want to see. But in Obama's, in President Obama's mind, that's a good thing for America because America is flawed and needs to be changed and needs to be more influenced by these other cultures and other religions."

Earlier in the interview, Santorum denounced the Iran deal, arguing that it was based in a "fundamental misunderstanding of the Middle East and certainly of the Islamic world."

"We can't impose our values on a thousand year old culture and religion and at the same time we can't expect them to reason and negotiate with us in a way that we expect," Santorum said. "And we don't expect—we shouldn't expect them to keep these agreements because fundamentally they don't believe they have to when they're confronting the infidels."

Santorum has traveled to all 99 counties in Iowa during his presidential campaign, but is still polling at about one percent both there and nationally.

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Few Options To Remove Kentucky Clerk From Office

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There are few options, under Kentucky law, for addressing an official who doesn’t want to do their job.

Rowan County clerk Kim Davis (right) talks with David Moore following her office's refusal to issue marriage licenses at the Rowan County Courthouse in Morehead, Kentucky, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015.

Timothy D. Easley / AP

WASHINGTON — On Thursday morning, Kentucky's Rowan County clerk Kim Davis could be held in contempt of court for continuing to refuse to issue marriage licenses.

Many supporters of marriage equality have called for Davis's firing, but, as an elected official herself, she cannot be fired. Without her backing down or resigning or people waiting for the next election, other options for getting Davis, or Rowan County, on board with marriage equality are very limited, a review of state law and state history shows.

Davis's policy, which she says is based on her religious opposition to her name appearing on the marriage licenses of same-sex couples, has captivated the country. In the wake of the Supreme Court's June ruling in favor of nationwide marriage equality, most places — immediately or eventually — implemented the ruling and have moved on. As BuzzFeed News noted, however, there were a few small pockets resisting.

Now, one of those pockets — Rowan County — is the central story of the marriage equality "backlash" that never coalesced.

On Thursday, U.S. District Court David Bunning — who issued an order on Aug. 12 that Davis, a Democrat, end her "no marriage licenses" policy should the couples who sued seek a marriage license from her — could hold Davis in contempt. That could mean fines, as requested by the plaintiffs, or even the jailing of Davis.

"Plaintiffs do not seek to compel Davis' compliance through incarceration," lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote in a court filing on Tuesday. "Since Defendant Davis continues to collect compensation from the Commonwealth for duties she fails to perform, Plaintiffs urge the the Court to impose financial penalties sufficiently serious and increasingly onerous to compel Davis' immediate compliance without further delay."

Even if Bunning does hold her in contempt, however, Davis has signaled that won't change her position. In a statement released through her Liberty Counsel lawyers on Tuesday, she said, "It is not a light issue for me. It is a Heaven or Hell decision. … I intend to continue to serve the people of Rowan County, but I cannot violate my conscience."

Via lrc.ky.gov


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Protests In Baltimore For Something Unusual: Supporting A Prosecutor

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Activists on Wednesday said their protests were as much about standing with State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby as they were about standing for justice for Freddie Gray.

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BALTIMORE — The tone of protests on the first day of hearings in the case of Freddie Gray was somber and uneasy.

Chants about getting justice for Gray ("All night! All day!") came from a few dozen protesters who, at times, looked less than enthused.

Then a young activist in a black shirt and hat bearing the Malcolm X logo grabbed the megaphone and started riling up the crowd. He was not here for the cameras, he said, nor was he ready for the protests to end. Rose bounded into a street a few blocks away, leading the charge to block traffic; some witnesses said he was hit by a car. He was arrested and treated in an ambulance as protesters looked on. The status of his whereabouts and condition were unknown well into the afternoon.

"Once the one kid got locked up," one officer said, "they all started to behave."

Another kind of protest had already begun playing out in front of the media: one supporting a government official, the State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

Protesters offered passionate, pleading expressions of support for the young prosecutor, who on May 1 brought charges against six officers in connection with Gray's death.

On Wednesday, a judge denied two of the defense's motions: one to have charges against the officers dismissed, and another to force Mosby to recuse herself.

The protest community that embraced her on Wednesday morning said it took personally the attacks levied against her professionalism, saying they were unfair at best, racist at worst. Others were perplexed by what they said was a smear campaign against her for attending a Prince concert.

"Y'all wanna scrutinize her for doing her job?" said Tawanda Jones said in front of the media throng observing the protests. She later told BuzzFeed News she wished Mosby had been elected to her position when her brother, Tyrone West, died in 2013. During a traffic stop, West died after died after police beat him, and exacerbated a heart condition.

Bryan Woolston / Reuters

"We put her in office," she said, holding a sign emblazoned with her brother's name. "Had it not been for us getting the outgoing state's attorney Greg Bernstein out of office, this case would have no transparency. I just wish that she was in office when my brother was brutally murdered."

Shai Crawley, a young preacher from East Baltimore, addressed the audience by reading a passage from the Bible's Book of Amos to explain Mosby's meaning to their community as a deliverer of justice. He said the protests were as much about lifting her up as they were about calling for justice for Gray.

"She's our hero," he said, rattling off the names of murder cases in Baltimore devoid of the transparency and accountability they say is being exhibited by Mosby's office. "We're out here basically begging that she's going to stay on the case because this an elected official who actually charged these officers. We'll all for her. She was our hope when we didn't have any hope."

Some were cynical about the prospective length of the case, potential pitfalls, and the risk a non-conviction might have on her career and their morale — when the news came down that she would not be removed from the case, there was no celebration. Many of the activists had already departed.


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Bipartisan Criminal Justice Coalition Is Bigger And Ready For Congress To Come Back

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NAACP President Cornell William Brooks

Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — When Congress returns to the Capitol from the long recess next week, an expanded bipartisan criminal justice advocacy community will be waiting — and ready to push hard for legislation to reduce the federal prison population they hope to pass before presidential politics subsume any and all chances at big new laws.

One of the more powerful advocacy groups in the city, the Coalition for Public Safety, which is backed by the Kochs and the Center for American Progress, will add the NAACP Thursday to its list of big name partners working as one on criminal justice, top officials at the Coalition and NAACP told BuzzFeed News.

NAACP joins the ACLU, FreedomWorks, Americans For Tax Reform, the Faith And Freedom Coalition, the Center American Progress, and other groups that are more often than not divided on big policy conversations in Washington.

The addition of one of the oldest criminal justice advocacy groups to the coalition helps boost efforts across the country, Coalition Senior Policy Advisor Lance Lemmonds said.

“It is a historically important organization. They didn’t just get into this debate or into this agenda,” he said. The NAACP will help build on “a moment for unprecedented bipartisan momentum” on criminal justice, Lemmonds added.

Negotiations with the NAACP have gone on for months, and concluded just as the Coalition For Public Safety was preparing action in Washington and across the country to promote criminal justice legislation.

“To say we’re pretty excited for an organization of that magnitude is an understatement,” Lemmonds said.

For the NAACP, the coalition offers a new way to push a core mission.

“Historically, the NAACP from its founding has worked in terms of criminal justice,” said Cornell William Brooks, president of the NAACP. “Not just redressing racialized violence in terms of lynching but, dating back to Jim Crow, disproportionate sentencing due to race.”

Advocates are hoping months of negotiations in the Senate among advocacy-minded Republicans, Democrats, and tough-on-crime Republicans will result in a legislative package in the next few weeks. There’s hope for House legislation as well, though the House is mostly been seen as a tougher environment for a big bill. To help keep the issue in the spotlight, the Coalition For Public Safety is planning a national campaign that will bring policy discussions centered around the group’s Fair Sentencing & Fair Chances policy agenda to big cities in red states and blue states throughout September and October. The campaign will kick off on Capitol Hill soon after Congress returns.

Before the summer recess, there was a growing push in Washington to see a big criminal justice bill pass the Republican-controlled Congress and head to the White House for President Obama’s signature. The administration has spearheaded a number public awareness campaigns, including the first-ever presidential visit to a federal prison, to secure public support for what administration allies hope will be lasting Obama legacy: reexamining and reducing drug sentences (or laws) from the 1980s and 1990s advocates say have contributed to a huge spike in nonviolent offenders heading to prison. On the Hill, libertarian-leaning conservatives like Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky urged their Republican colleagues to take a fresh look at criminal justice over lasting concerns about appearing soft on crime.

Recent weeks have seen the news filled with negative stories, however, that could make prioritizing criminal justice tougher. Conservatives are expressing public frustration with the Black Lives Matter movement, and violent crime spikes in some big cities over the summer are reminiscent of the high-crime rates that led both parties to adopt the tough-on-crime agenda in the first place.

Officials say the recent news will not deter advocates and should not derail bipartisan legislative efforts.

“Current events should not take away from the policy goals that our coalition is working towards,” said Lemmonds. “A fairer, cheaper criminal justice system benefits everybody.”

Brooks, who worked on anti-recidivism campaigns in the Newark, New Jersey, criminal justice system before going to work for the NAACP, said it’s too early to make connections between the spikes in crime and any specific factor. He said it’s a time for “courageous conversations” around police, criminal justice and crime.

“This moment can’t be missed. We embarked on this era of mass incarceration without really looking too hard at our assumptions,” he said. “It’s cost us a lot in terms of money and lives.”

Ted Cruz Defends Kim Davis: "We Must Be Vigilant To Protect The Free Exercise Of Religion"

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The senator from Texas on Wednesday posted a message to his Facebook page, saying Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis should be able to hold her job without having to violate her religious beliefs.

Scott Olson / Getty Images

In a message posted to his Facebook page, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz defended Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who is refusing to issue marriage licenses out of a religious objection to same-sex marriage.

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Facebook: tedcruzpage

Cruz joins former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in voicing support for Davis, who continues to enforce her "no marriages" policy in defiance of a federal court order.

"I spoke with Kim Davis this morning to offer my prayers and support. I let her know how proud I am of her for not abandoning her religious convictions and standing strong for religious liberty. She is showing more courage and humility than just about any federal office holder in Washington," Huckabee said, according to the Washington Post.

Not all Republican candidates running for president have backed Davis, however. Rand Paul told Boston Herald Radio on Monday that the courts should decide Davis' fate, and Carly Fiorina told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt Tuesday that her actions were "not appropriate" as a government official. Sen. Lindsey Graham also told Hugh Hewitt Tuesday that as a public official, Davis should "comply with the law or resign."


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Anonymous Twitter User Asks Court To Toss Out James Woods's Lawsuit

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In response to the lawsuit, based on a tweet calling Woods a “cocaine addict,” the Twitter user’s lawyers respond that “Twitter users will not be inclined to view heated tweets as stating provable facts.”

Evan Agostini / AP

WASHINGTON — Lawyers for an anonymous Twitter user say that James Woods's $10 million lawsuit against the user for tweeting that Woods is a "cocaine addict" should be tossed out of court under California's rules against lawsuits that aim to shut down free speech.

"Twitter is known for abuse and hyperbole, not for fact," the user's lawyers argue in support of tossing out Woods's lawsuit. "Twitter users will not be inclined to view heated tweets as stating provable facts."

The anti-SLAPP statute is aimed at stopping "strategic lawsuits against public participation" — "lawsuits brought primarily to chill the valid exercise of the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and petition for the redress of grievances," as the California version of the law puts it. In a court filing this week that was obtained by BuzzFeed News, lawyers for the anonymous Twitter user, @abelisted, make the case that this is just the type of lawsuit intended to be stopped by the anti-SLAPP statute.

"Mr. Doe is not rich or famous like Mr. Woods. He polices Twitter expression he doesn't like through responsive speech, not through expensive lawsuits," the lawyers for the user write. "People who follow his Twitter account @AbeListed would be familiar with his blunt and abrasive style of insulting political opponents, often directing his insults at their Twitter accounts."

Under the anti-SLAPP statute, as the filing details, a person must show two things: First, the person being sued must show that the conduct in question — the tweet — was an exercise of free speech rights "in connection with a public issue." Second, to maintain the lawsuit, the person suing — here, Woods — must show that he could possibly win his lawsuit.

"Mr. Doe easily carries his burden under the first prong of the anti-SLAPP test; his speech is in a public forum and on a matter of public interest," the Twitter user's lawyer, Kenneth White of Brown White & Osborn LLP, argues. "But Mr. Woods cannot carry his burden: because Mr. Doe's tweet is rhetorical hyperbole plainly protected by the First Amendment, Mr. Woods' attempt to abuse the courts to censor Mr. Doe must fail."

White himself is a well-known Twitter user and blogger, a former federal prosecutor who is one of the two people tweeting as @Popehat.

The "cocaine addict" tweet in question was a response to a tweet from Woods referring to Caitlyn Jenner by her prior name — and then contrasting coverage of her in USA Today to a lack of coverage of the Planned Parenthood videos about fetal tissue sales that have been in the news over the summer.

In detailing the reasons why this lawsuit should be subject to the anti-SLAPP statute, the combative nature of Twitter, generally, and of Woods (@RealJamesWoods on Twitter) and the Twitter user, specifically, are laid out in great detail — with many tweets submitted as exhibits.

The response is perhaps best summed up in this paragraph:

The response is perhaps best summed up in this paragraph:

Submitted as an exhibit, the tweet that formed the basis for the lawsuit:

Submitted as an exhibit, the tweet that formed the basis for the lawsuit:


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Rand Paul: "Real Mistake" And "Step Back" To Jail Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis

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The Kentucky senator told CNN’s Brianna Keilar that its “absurd” to jail Davis for exercising her religious beliefs.

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Rand Paul said Thursday that its a "huge mistake" to jail Rowan county clerk Kim Davis for refusing to issue marriage licenses out of her opposition to same-sex marriage on religious grounds.

"I think it's absurd to put someone in jail for exercising their religious liberty," Paul told CNN's Brianna Keilar. "You know if you want to convince people that same-sex marriage is something that's acceptable, I would say try to persuade people. But you know, if we're going to use the federal government, and get involved in every state, locality, you know what's going to happen? It's going to harden people's resolve on this issue. They'll be no open-mindedness on this, and I think its a real mistake to be doing this. I think what's going to happen as a result of this, is states and localities are going to opt out of the marriage business completely."

On Thursday morning, Davis was held in contempt of court by a federal judge, and will be held in federal marshal custody until she instructs her staff to issue marriage licenses.

Paul said the law in Kentucky hasn't been debated enough, and said he thinks there are ways to interpret the law that wouldn't lead conflicts like the one in Rowan county.

"Well I think one thing we haven't debated enough is what actually is the law. Is the law that every county clerk in Kentucky has to sign a marriage certificate. Is a notary of the public, is that sufficient? Is the clerk's job to execute and to file contracts, or is it to sign their approval? I think there's a lot of different ways around this that don't lead to conflict that lead more to more time where people can try to persuade others of their opinion on what marriage should be," Paul said.

Paul added that jailing Davis is a step back for those who support same-sex marriage.

"I think this is a real mistake, and even those on the other side of the issue, those who want to support a new definition for marriage, I think it sets their movement back, because its seen as that the federal government is going to come in, with bully force, and here even with police power, and incarcerate people who disagree or who still believe in the traditional notion of marriage. So I think its a huge mistake and its a step back even for those who do want to redefine marriage."

Rand Paul On Syrian Refugees: We Should Be "Warm," But We Can't Take Everybody

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As the Syrian refugee situation in Europe continues unabated, Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday that while the United States should be "warm and welcoming," there are dangers in being indiscriminate with accepting refugees — and argued the U.S. involvement in Syria has exacerbated the refugee situation.

KEILAR: What do you think about how the United States should be involved in this and if the United States should take in any refugees?

PAUL: I don't think there are any easy answers as far as how we stop war and stop famine around the world, and so it will probably continue to occur. The one thing I think we should do in the Middle East that could maybe make some of these wars less harmful is I don't think we should be arming people who hate us. I think it's sad and it's a travesty that ISIS now has a billion dollars worth of Humvees. They ride around in our tanks. They have our weapons; they have anti-tank weapons. And I think that's a mistake because we got involved in this Syrian civil war and we got on the side of al Qaeda and ISIS, which I think was a terrible tragedy and a terrible mistake by President Obama. We are a welcoming nation, and we have accepted a lot of refugees, and I think we will continue to do so, but we also can't accept the whole world, so there are some limits. I also think that those who come to our country, we need to get them to assimilate into our country, and I don't think it's a good idea to develop whole populations within the U.S. who really don't like the U.S., so I think we have to be selective and careful and we are a welcoming country, but we just can't take everybody.

KEILAR: You think the U.S. should play a part in this, though? Because obviously Germany, a lot of other European countries are trying to figure out a way to accommodate some of these refugees. Do you see the U.S. fitting into that effort?

PAUL: Part of the way we can be helpful in the effort is not by further and making the war worse in that part of the region, because they flee the famine and the disaster of war—

KEILAR: But they are fleeing at this point. These refugees specifically at this point in time, where we know a lot of them are held up at certain parts of the border in Europe. Should the U.S. play a role in that or should the U.S. be looking more to Europe to deal with this?

PAUL: Well, the people who live there will obviously have a bigger stake in accepting refugees. But we have been a very generous nation — and we have accepted a lot of refugees. We've already accepted refugees from Syria, we accepted a lot from Somalia. But we've also run into some problems with accepting so many refugees that we take some of the people who could rebuild the country; we did this with Iraq, where we won the war but then we accepted 60,000 Iraqi refugees into our country some of which wish us harm. Same way with Somalia; we received so many refugees and immigrants from Somalia, that many of them are actually part of the faction that has actually gone back to Syria to fight against us. So I think we do have to be careful with this, and we should have a warm and welcoming heart, but we also just can't accept the whole world to come here.

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