President TrumpDonald John TrumpJulián Castro: It’s time for House Democrats to ‘do something’ about Trump Warren: Congress is ‘complicit’ with Trump ‘by failing to act’ Sanders to join teachers, auto workers striking in Midwest MORE on Friday dismissed growing scrutiny over a whistleblower complaint that reportedly raised concerns about a conversation he had with a Ukrainian leader, saying the focus should instead be on Democratic presidential candidate Joe BidenJoe BidenJulián Castro: It’s time for House Democrats to ‘do something’ about Trump Warren: Congress is ‘complicit’ with Trump ‘by failing to act’ Sanders to join teachers, auto workers striking in Midwest MORE‘s ties to Ukraine during his time as vice president.

“It doesn’t matter what I discussed, but I’ll tell you this, somebody ought to look into Joe Biden’s statement,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with the Australian prime minister.

The president added that his conversations with foreign leaders are “always appropriate.”

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Trump said he did not know who the whistleblower is but derided the complaint as “partisan” and “ridiculous” and asserted that Biden is getting a pass because he’s a Democrat.

“The fake news doesn’t look into things like that,” he said. “It’s a disgrace.”

“Keep asking questions and build it up as big as possible so you can have a bigger downfall,” he added.

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The whistleblower complaint has been the subject of intense interest in recent days after The Washington Post first reported on Wednesday that it involved Trump making a “promise” to a foreign leader. The Post and The New York Times later reported that the incident in question involved Ukraine.

Further driving scrutiny about the complaint is the administration’s decision to release military aid to Ukraine after a delay that had frustrated lawmakers in both parties.

The inspector general for the U.S. intelligence community, Michael Atkinson, declined to discuss the details of the whistleblower complaint with members of the House Intelligence Committee during a closed door meeting on Thursday.

The specifics of the complaint are mostly unknown. But Trump’s handling of sensitive information has come under criticism in the past, and Democrats pushing for the president’s impeachment are likely to seize on any indications that he pressed an ally to investigate an opponent or that he politicized intelligence information.

Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke in July. A readout of the call from Ukraine published on July 25 said Trump was “convinced” that the recently elected government would be able to “quickly improve image of Ukraine,” and “complete [the] investigation of corruption cases, which inhibited the interaction between Ukraine and the USA.”

A White House readout of the call said the two leaders discussed energy and economic cooperation, but made no mention of corruption.

“I really don’t know,” Trump said when asked Friday if the July 25 conversation was the subject of the whistleblower complaint.

Trump earlier Friday had dismissed the whistleblower as “highly partisan” and insisted that the conversation in question was “pitch perfect.”

The president’s allies have seized on Biden’s connection to Ukraine in an attempt to paint the former vice president and front-runner for the 2020 Democratic nomination as corrupt.
 
Biden’s son Hunter worked with a natural gas company owned by a Ukrainian oligarch. Biden pushed in 2016 for the dismissal of a Ukrainian prosecutor who had been accused of overlooking corruption in his own office.
 
While there’s no indication Biden was acting with his son’s interests in mind, Trump’s allies, including attorney Rudy GiulianiRudy GiulianiClarence Thomas, Joe Manchin, Rudy Giuliani among guests at second state visit under Trump Missing piece to the Ukraine puzzle: State Department’s overture to Rudy Giuliani Biden blasts Trump, demands he release transcript of call with foreign leader MORE, have claimed that the former vice president should be further investigated in Ukraine.

Giuliani acknowledged in a CNN interview on Thursday night that he had asked Ukraine to investigate Biden.

“At minimum, Donald Trump should immediately release the transcript of the call in question, so that the American people can judge for themselves, and direct the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to stop stonewalling and release the whistleblower notification to the Congress,” Biden said in a statement Friday night.

Biden said that if reports about Trump are accurate, “then there is truly no bottom to President Trump’s willingness to abuse his power and abase our country.”

“Such clear-cut corruption damages and diminishes our institutions of government by making them tools of a personal political vendetta,” he said.

Updated at 6:50 p.m.

Apple has secured nearly a dozen tariff exemptions from U.S. trade officials after President TrumpDonald John TrumpJulián Castro: It’s time for House Democrats to ‘do something’ about Trump Warren: Congress is ‘complicit’ with Trump ‘by failing to act’ Sanders to join teachers, auto workers striking in Midwest MORE declared earlier this summer that the company would not receive waivers for certain computer parts.

Reuters reports that U.S. trade regulators late this week approved 10 of 15 requests that Apple had filed for relief from tariffs, including requests for partially completed circuit boards and graphics cards.

The outlet noted that the exemptions could help Apple and other companies that make smaller gaming computers to produce their devices in the U.S.

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Trump has sought to put pressure on Apple and other companies to manufacture their products in the U.S., and the president in late July rejected Apple’s request to exempt Mac Pro parts from import tariffs.

“Apple will not be given Tariff waivers, or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China,” Trump tweeted at the time. “Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!”

Apple had asked the U.S. trade representative’s office to exclude the parts from the list of products hit by tariffs as part of Trump’s escalating trade war with Beijing.

While the company’s Mac Pro has for years been manufactured in Texas, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this summer that it was moving production for its new $6,000 desktop computer to China.

The company’s CEO, Tim Cook, later said Apple wanted to manufacture its Mac Pro computers in the U.S. and suggested he was in talks with the administration on the matter.

“We’ve been making the Mac Pro in the U.S. We want to continue doing that,” he reportedly told analysts on a call in late July.

An estimated 2,200 nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) walked off the job on Friday morning in what was the first strike in history at one of city’s largest hospitals.

The hospital said the nurses union called a one-day strike after negotiations broke down on the issue of incentive pay for future job applicants, the Chicago Tribune reported.

However, Marti Smith, Midwest director of the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United, told the outlet that the strike followed disagreements about things the nurses feel impact patient safety — overtime and staffing.

Registered nurses at UCMC say short-staffing is a chronic problem at the facility.

“Since January 2017, UCMC nurses have filled out more than 1,500 reports detailing their concerns about how staffing levels might lead to adverse outcomes for their patients,” National Nurses United said in a press release.

The staffing issues reportedly delayed chemotherapy treatment for cancer patients and made nurses unable to properly monitor patients in intensive care units.

“What do we want? Safe staffing. When do we want it? Now,” the strikers chanted. 

“We have offered the hospital a staffing proposal that would allow us to provide the highest quality of care to our patients, but management not only rejected our proposal, but failed to offer a counterproposal,” said Johnny Webb, a registered nurse. “We hope this strike sends a clear message to UCMC: We are not backing down and we will continue to fight and advocate for our patients.”

The facility cut down on services in some areas and moved dozens of babies and children in intensive care units to other hospitals, the Tribune reported. Some elective procedures were rescheduled and some units where patients typically stay overnight were temporarily closed.

Officials have also put the hospital on full bypass and are asking ambulances to take new patients to other hospitals in the region.

The strike has evoked into a lockout, according to the Tribune, meaning the nurses won’t be allowed to work until Wednesday morning because the temporary replacement nurses hired were guaranteed five days of work.

“We’re disheartened that we had to get to this point,” UCMC President Sharon O’Keefe said in a statement. “We worked long and hard negotiating with the help of a federal mediator and had hoped union leadership would meet us half way. We now have to focus our efforts on safely operating our hospitals and caring for the patients who depend on us.”

Amid outside interest, the manager praised the midfielder as he outlined his plans for the Manchester United star

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants Paul Pogba to be influential at Old Trafford as the Manchester United star continues to be linked with LaLiga giants Real Madrid.

Zinedine Zidane has made no secret of his appreciation for Pogba, who said it would be a “dream” to play for the Real Madrid head coach during the international break.

Pogba and his United team-mates struggled in an underwhelming 2-1 Premier League victory over Watford on Saturday – Solskjaer’s first match since being appointed manager on a permanent basis.

And amid Madrid’s interest, Solskjaer praised Pogba as he outlined his plans for the France World Cup winner in Manchester.

“We want Paul to be both on and off the ball a good player for us,” Solskjaer said.

“We want him to be influential with the way we play. Sometimes that means up as an eight into the box, sometimes to control the game, drop down deeper.

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“Against Watford he had to drop down to get a hold of the ball. Every single game is going to be different until the end of the season.

“We haven’t really nailed down one way of playing. We’ve got three or four different ways of playing. That’s the beauty of Paul – that he can do both.”

Solskjaer also responded to former boss Louis van Gaal’s claims that United have been guilty of “park-the-bus tactics” under the Norwegian.

Next up for Manchester United is a meeting with Wolves on Tuesday before the focus turns towards a clash with Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals.

The Manchester City manage turned the air blue the team’s title rivals scored a dramatic late winner against Spurs

Pep Guardiola admitted he cursed Liverpool’s dramatic late winner against Tottenham but is relishing the “terrible challenge” of an epic Premier League title race.

Jurgen Klopp’s side edged back in front of City at the top of the table on Sunday when Toby Alderweireld’s 90th-minute own goal sealed a nervy 2-1 win over Spurs at Anfield.

City can regain a one-point advantage if they win their game in hand against Cardiff City on Wednesday, after which both teams will have six top-flight matches remaining.

“When you see them [score], you say, ‘Ah, s**t!’ but after five or 10 minutes [you think], ‘Nice’,” Guardiola chuckled at a pre-match news conference.

“It’s a terrible challenge but nobody said it would be easy. Nobody. I knew it, we know it. It’s a better challenge.

“It will be amazing what we are going to live against an amazing team, fighting against them.”

City will once again be a game in arrears after they tackle Brighton and Hove Albion in an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Saturday, while Liverpool travel to Southampton in the Premier League a day prior.

Next week brings the first leg of an all-English Champions League quarter-final against Tottenham and Guardiola believes his EFL Cup winners must embrace the experience of chasing an unprecedented quadruple.

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“It’s amazing to live this opportunity and be there – to beat Cardiff as a main target to be back on the top of the league with six games to go,” he said.

“Then after [to] go to Wembley again, to achieve the one final I never played in my life – the oldest trophy ever. And after that the Champions League.

“We passed tough moments in the season to live tough moments and we are fortunate to live it.”

The coach abandoned his tried-and-tested tactics in the Champions League first leg against Spurs – and it’s a winning formula he should return to

Pep Guardiola has drawn influence from – and cross-pollinated with – coaches and players across a broad spectrum of sports.

He famously spent a year in New York on sabbatical, whiling numerous hours away with chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov.

England’s rugby union coach Eddie Jones studied – first-hand – Guardiola’s training sessions at Bayern Munich.

His fondness for golf is well-documented, as is his admiration for basketball.

And alongside him since his early days in management has been Manel Estiarte. Estiarte is regarded as the best water polo player in history and played for Spain close to 600 times.

He has been Pep’s right-hand man for more than a decade in management – from Barcelona to Bayern to Manchester City. Guardiola respects his views and regularly seeks his counsel.

Pep once described his fellow Catalan and fellow Olympic gold-medallist as the best penalty-taker in history – albeit in a different sport – and implored his players to learn from his methods.

It would be strange, therefore, if some more of Estiarte’s thoughts about sport and how it could be played failed to rub off on Guardiola.

Water polo is a bit of an alien concept in the UK. But if you look closely enough at how a water polo team lines up, then you’ll see some similarities to football in general and in Guardiola’s preferred team shape in particular.

Broadly speaking, when a water polo team is in possession attacking, the vast majority move into what’s known as the 3-3 formation.

Positionally, you’ll find a point, two drivers, two wings and a centre. Laid out, it bears an uncanny resemblance to City’s attacking shape.

Consider Fernandinho the point. David Silva and either Bernardo Silva or Kevin De Bruyne are the drivers. A combination of Raheem Sterling and Bernardo, Leroy Sane or Riyad Mahrez fill in as the wings. Sergio Aguero is the centre; that one – in both codes – scores heavily.

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In water polo, and for City, that shape works. In league competition, where Guardiola has won eight of 10 available titles and stands on the brink of a ninth league championship in 11 seasons, his teams more often than not have enough to see off all-comers.

The drilling, the repetition, the relentlessness of Pep’s attacking machine, grinds down the competition and usually sees him come out on top. But if there has been a malfunction, it has been in the latter stages of the Champions League.

Whether it’s by choice or necessity, Pep has strayed from his template in the past couple of seasons and it’s cost him and his team.

Last week’s defeat to Tottenham might well have been avoided had Aguero simply slotted away his penalty and secured that vital away goal.

City sought – in the first half in particular – to occupy that crucial central zone in the final third, as a team would do in water polo.

They did so by either playing through Silva or Aguero or asking Sterling or Mahrez to cut in. Sterling managed to do just that to win the spot kick from Danny Rose.

Beyond that, though, Pep’s team failed to carve out significant chances and failed to dominate as they have done against 99 per cent of teams this season, Spurs included.

City seemed preoccupied over what Spurs might do when they got the ball – through Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, Son Heung-min and Harry Kane – in breakaway areas. So, Pep sacrificed, in water polo terms, one of his drivers for another point.

In this game of chance, Guardiola decided to pick Ilkay Gundogan over De Bruyne. City were not playing with the kind of freedom and expressiveness that the Belgian playmaker can bring.

Pep opted to neglect his natural game plan in favour of making provisions for the opposition. It’s not fatal – by any means – and City are still favourites to go through. But it’s put the quadruple-chasing club into a predicament they needn’t be.

And it follows a similar pattern to last season. When the teamsheets came through for the quarter-final first leg against Liverpool at Anfield, it emerged fairly quickly that Pep’s concern over what Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and specifically Mohamed Salah could do had led him to drop Sterling for Gundogan.

He wanted more passes, and more control, to take the sting out of Liverpool’s counterattacks. It backfired badly from the moment Salah landed the first blow. City didn’t recover in the second leg either.

Up in the stands after blowing his top at Anfield, Guardiola could not see the vastness of the opportunity that still lay before his team. They panicked, despite being possessed of better players and having loads of time to rectify the situation, and never once exuded the dominance of which they were capable.

That might again be the worry for the second leg against Spurs. Guardiola would be well-advised to think less about what Tottenham can do and more about what his team can do.

He might find it appropriate to restore – whether intentionally designed or not – his water polo team. Or else City could be sunk.

The first leg of the Concacaf Champions League final sees the 119th Clasico Regiomontano played out on its greatest ever stage

Tigres host to Monterrey in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions League final at the Estadio Universitario on Tuesday in what promises to be the most important Clasico Regiomontano ever.

Both clubs qualified comfortably for the showpiece, with Tigres scoring the first five goals of their tie against Santos Laguna before their opponents rallied late to get the aggregate score back to 5-3. Monterrey, meanwhile, routed Sporting Kansas City 10-2 over two matches.

Having been the runners-up in both 2016 and 2017, Tigres are aiming to go one better this time around but must overcome the three-time winners of the tournament in order to finally get their name on the trophy.

Game	Tigres UANL vs Monterrey
Date	Tuesday, April 23
Time	3:00am BST (Wednesday) / 10:00pm EST
Stream (US)	fubo TV (7-day free trial)

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In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with  fuboTV (7-day free trial) .

New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.

US TV channel	Online stream
Univision Deportes	fubo TV (7-day free trial)

In the United Kingdom (UK), the game will not be available to watch on TV or stream.

UK TV channel	Online stream
N/A	N/A

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Position	Tigres UANL players
Goalkeepers	Guzman, Fernandez, Ortega
Defenders	Salcedo, Ayala, Meza, Tercero, Sanchez, Venegas, J. Torres Nilo, Diaz, Jimenez
Midfielders	Cerna, Reyes, Pizarro, Rafael Carioca, Duenas, R. Torres, Zelarayan, Cruz
Forwards	Aquino, L. Quinones, Damm, Vargas, Valencia, Gignac

Andre-Pierre Gignac made his return from injury after six weeks on the sidelines and the club’s top scorer will lead the line, although it is debatable if he is ready for 90 minutes so quickly after playing the full match last weekend. 

Carlos Salcedo has been rested recently but looks set to return to the starting XI. Winger Julian Quiones and right back Luis “Chaka” Rodriguez are both out. 

Possible Tigres starting XI: Guzman; Duenas, Salcedo, Meza, J. Torres Nilo; Carioca, Pizarro; Aquino, Vargas, L. Quinones; Gignac

Position	Monterrey squad
Goalkeepers	Barovero, Cardenas, Resendez
Defenders	Sanchez, Vasquez, Vangioni, Medina, Layun, Gutierrez
Midfielders	Ortiz, Rodriguez, Meza, Pizarro
Forwards	Gallardo, Hurtado, Pabon, Funes Mori, Zaldivar, Bareiro

Monterrey’s selection is complicated by a suspension for Cesar Montes, meaning that right-back Stefan Medina is likely to be asked to play in the middle of the defence. Diego Alonso’s biggest decision is at left-back where he’ll opt either for Leonel Vangioni or go with the more attacking-minded Jesus Gallardo.

Captain Jose Maria Basanta, Jonathan Gonzalez, Arturo Gonzalez and Jonathan Urretaviscaya are out.

Possible Monterrey starting XI: Barovero; Layun, Medina, Sanchez, Vangioni; Ortiz, Rodriguez; Pabon, Pizarro, Hurtado; Funes Mori

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Tigres are 6/5 favourites to win the first leg with bet365. Monterrey can be backed at 23/10, while the draw is an identical price.

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Mexican sides have met seven times in the last 10 Concacaf Champions League finals, so the prospect of two more of Liga MX’s finest going head to head is no surprise in 2019’s showpiece, yet additional flavour is added to the event as it will be played out between crosstown rivals Tigres and Monterrey.

Both sides come into this match bearing scars. Tigres have twice suffered defeats in Champions League finals, while their opponents are still wounded from a 2-1 defeat in the final of the 2017 Apertura, which saw them lose the tie 3-2 on aggregate and leaves them still chasing their first major title since moving to their Estadio BBVA Bancomer home in 2015 – a loss that has helped to see them branded as perennial runners-up.

Tuca Ferretti’s side come into this tie undefeated in their last 10 Champions League home matches, dating back to a 2016 loss against America – the only time they have suffered a defeat at El Volcan in the history of the competition.

The weight of their previous defeats in finals does not hang too heavy on the club, Feretti has argued.

“Here the word ‘obligation’ isn’t the right one. I think ‘ambition’ is the word,“ Ferretti said. “We have the ambition to achieve something and get us out of this unfortunate situation, and they also do with not having been able to achieve anything in their new stadium. Which of the two? Wednesday we’ll see who achieves the final objective.”

They face a Monterrey side one point better off than them in Liga MX Clausura standings and with more winning history in continental competition.

Indeed, coach Diego Alonso is billing his sides as favourites and is openly seeking revenge for that fateful defeat in 2017.

“We’ve been waiting for this match for a year and a half,” the Uruguayan said. “With the opportunity that we now have, we can take advantage of it.”

“This team can become champions and can celebrate it in front of our fans. It’s a game of great importance and we know what it represents. 

“The chance of making history is in our hands.”

The importance of the Clasico Regio is about to reach new heights.

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Welcome to Hillicon Valley, The Hill’s newsletter detailing all you need to know about the tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. If you don’t already, be sure to sign up for our newsletter with this LINK.

Welcome! Follow the cyber team, Maggie Miller (@magmill95), and the tech team, Harper Neidig (@hneidig) and Emily Birnbaum (@birnbaum_e).

 

ZUCKERBERG RETURNS: Facebook CEO Mark ZuckerbergMark Elliot ZuckerbergLeaders of House antitrust investigation to meet with Zuckerberg Trump, Zuckerberg hold ‘constructive’ meeting at White House On The Money: House votes to avert shutdown, fund government through November | Judge blocks California law requiring Trump tax returns | Senate panel approves three spending bills MORE is visiting Washington this week to meet with lawmakers, including at least one of his company’s biggest critics.

“Mark will be in Washington, D.C., to meet with policymakers and talk about future internet regulation,” Facebook spokesman Andy Stone told The Hill. “There are no public events planned.”

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One of those meetings will be with Sen. Josh HawleyJoshua (Josh) David HawleyHillicon Valley: Zuckerberg courts critics on Capitol Hill | Amazon makes climate pledge | Senate panel approves 0M for state election security Zuckerberg woos Washington critics during visit Missouri Republican wins annual craft brewing competition for lawmakers MORE (R-Mo.) on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the plans. Hawley is one of the most outspoken Facebook critics in the GOP, and has criticized the Federal Trade Commission’s $5 billion fine against the company in a privacy settlement for not being harsh enough.

Axios first reported Zuckerberg’s visit.

It’s unclear who else Zuckerberg will be meeting with or what exactly he plans to discuss. A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiPatagonia says to shut stores for a few hours during Global Climate Strike Overnight Health Care — Presented by Partnership for America’s Health Care Future — Pelosi unveils signature plan to lower drug prices | Trump says it’s ‘great to see’ plan | Progressives pushing for changes Progressives push for changes to Pelosi drug pricing plan MORE (D-Calif.) said that she would not be meeting with him and that Facebook did not seek out a meeting.

Context: Congress is exploring the possibility of a bipartisan consumer privacy bill, which would put into place the nation’s first federal privacy law regulating social media companies’ data practices.

Zuckerberg has encouraged policymakers to get involved with regulating Silicon Valley. In March he published an op-ed in the Washington Post, arguing that there needs to be more legal clarity in four areas: “harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability.”

Read more on his visit here. 

 

WE’RE DOING BETTER, WE PROMISE: Facebook, Google and Twitter tried to assure skeptical senators on Wednesday that they are improving their efforts to find and remove violent and hateful content on their platforms.

The social media companies have been sharply criticized over the issue after a spate of mass shootings this year that appeared to be inspired by online extremism and in some cases were even broadcast on the internet.

The three companies sent executives to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday for a hearing on “mass violence, extremism and digital responsibility.”

“In today’s internet-connected society, misinformation, fake news, deep fakes and viral online conspiracy theories have become the norm,” said Sen. Roger WickerRoger Frederick WickerHillicon Valley: Zuckerberg to meet with lawmakers | Big tech defends efforts against online extremism | Trump attends secretive Silicon Valley fundraiser | Omar urges Twitter to take action against Trump tweet Tech giants defend efforts against extremist content The 13 Republicans needed to pass gun-control legislation MORE (R-Miss.), the committee’s chairman. “This hearing is an opportunity for witnesses to discuss how their platforms go about identifying content and material that threatens violence and poses a real and potentially immediate danger to the public.”

What tech is doing: The executives told lawmakers that they were collaborating with each other and other tech companies on the issue and that they had made strides using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect hateful and violent content.

Facebook has “updated our proactive detection systems and reduced the average time it takes for our AI to find a violation on Facebook Live to 12 seconds — a 90 percent reduction in our average detection time from a few months ago,” said Monica Bickert, Facebook’s vice president of global policy management. “Being able to detect violations sooner means that in emergencies where every minute counts, we can assist faster.”

“Over 87 percent of the 9 million videos we removed [from YouTube] in the second quarter of 2019 were first flagged by our automated systems,” added Derek Slater, Google’s director of information policy. “More than 80 percent of those auto-flagged videos were removed before they received a single view. And overall, videos that violate our policies generate a fraction of a percent of the views on YouTube.”

And Twitter’s director of public policy strategy, Nick Pickles, told the committee that its “proactive measures” account for 90 percent of the suspensions it has carried out under its terrorism policies.

But lawmakers want more: Lawmakers made it clear they expected tech companies to follow through.

“I welcome that you’re doing more and trying to do it better,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) during the hearing. “But I would suggest that even more needs to be done and it needs to be better.”

Read more here.

 

Pressure on Trump as well…: Rep. Max RoseMax RoseDemocrats bicker over strategy on impeachment Hillicon Valley: Zuckerberg to meet with lawmakers | Big tech defends efforts against online extremism | Trump attends secretive Silicon Valley fundraiser | Omar urges Twitter to take action against Trump tweet House Democrat urges Trump to address online extremism at UN MORE (D-N.Y.) is urging President TrumpDonald John TrumpMarine unit in Florida reportedly pushing to hold annual ball at Trump property Giuliani clashes with CNN’s Cuomo, calls him a ‘sellout’ and the ‘enemy’ Giuliani says ‘of course’ he asked Ukraine to look into Biden seconds after denying it MORE to address the issue of online extremism at the United Nations General Assembly this month, according to a letter provided exclusively to The Hill.

The New York Democrat, who heads the House Homeland Security Committee’s counterterrorism panel, said the president and the United Nations should push the social media companies to invest in their efforts to stop extremist content from spreading.

“I know you share my concerns that terrorists are using social media to spread their ideologies across the world, to recruit future terrorists, to find funding, and to plan and disseminate terrorist attacks,” Rose wrote in the letter to Trump.

In the wake of the El Paso, Texas, shooting last month, which left 22 dead and dozens injured, the White House has been honing in on the issue of online radicalization while Democrats have pushed for new gun control legislation.

In the letter, Rose said the top social media companies could stave off the spread of extremist content by building out the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), a 2017 initiative by Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube aimed at curbing the spread of Islamic terrorist content online.

Right now, the GIFCT is mainly an effort by the companies to share digital footprints for specific pieces of terrorist content. But Rose is pushing to build it into its own organization with a dedicated staff.

Read more here. 

 

TRUMP’S SILICON VALLEY FUNDRAISER: President Trump on Tuesday attended a closely guarded fundraiser in Silicon Valley, his first visit to the liberal enclave since he took office.

The fundraiser took place at a private residence in Portola Valley, Calif., in a swanky home atop a hill where attendees were out of sight from the press and members of the public.

“The President participated in a roundtable [with] approximately 25 supporters, then moved to a larger area and spoke to a couple of hundred supporters about the many accomplishments of his Administration,” press secretary Stephanie GrishamStephanie GrishamHillicon Valley: Zuckerberg to meet with lawmakers | Big tech defends efforts against online extremism | Trump attends secretive Silicon Valley fundraiser | Omar urges Twitter to take action against Trump tweet Trump attends secretive Silicon Valley fundraiser marred by protests Trump names finalists for national security adviser MORE said in a statement after the event.

Limited information was made public about the host location in advance, but dozens of protesters who caught wind of the event lined the road leading to the residence to greet the president’s motorcade.

They set up large “Trump Chicken” and “Trump Baby” balloons and carried signs that read “resist” and that decried Trump as corrupt.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the host of the event, which was expected to bring in $3 million for the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee, was Sun Microsystems co-founder Scott McNealy.

The news outlet reported that the exact location of the event was not disclosed in advance in an effort to avoid mass protests.

Read more here. 

 

LATEST DEM PUSH ON ELECTION SECURITY: Congressional Democrats renewed their call for election security legislation during a national day of action on Tuesday, as a Senate Appropriations subcommittee left funding for it out of its annual spending bill.

Democrats including Sens. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and Ron WydenRonald (Ron) Lee WydenOvernight Health Care — Presented by Partnership for America’s Health Care Future — Pelosi unveils signature plan to lower drug prices | Trump says it’s ‘great to see’ plan | Progressives pushing for changes Trump: ‘Great to see’ Pelosi plan to lower drug prices Pelosi unveils signature plan to lower drug prices MORE (Ore.) argued on Tuesday that time is running out to implement election security upgrades such as replacing outdated voting machines with just over a year left prior to the 2020 elections. 

“Congress has essentially until the end of October to pass legislation that can still make an impact in time for the general election in 2020, so we have to move, and the fact is that the window may have already closed to secure some of the 2020 primaries,” Wyden, who has sponsored multiple election security bills, told reporters during a press conference.

Blumenthal added that he is “deeply alarmed” about the small amount of time remaining before the 2020 elections.

“The simple mechanics of purchasing new machines, training personnel, assuring that systems are implemented absolutely takes time, and the urgency of the effort now, and the reason we are having this call and speaking out — we are, in effect, every day trying to advance this agenda and sound the alarm to the American people that elections are just like any other critical infrastructure,” Blumenthal said.

Wyden and Blumenthal’s comments were made on the same day that election security advocates around the country held around 40 gatherings outside of the offices of members of Congress to promote taking action on election security. Activists gathered outside the district offices of members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, including Sens. John CornynJohn CornynZuckerberg woos Washington critics during visit Paul objection snags confirmation of former McConnell staffer GOP signals unease with Barr’s gun plan MORE (R-Texas), Amy KlobucharAmy Jean KlobucharDemocrats will not beat Trump without moderate policy ideas Harris revamps campaign presence in Iowa Sanders, Yang to miss CNN’s town hall on LGBTQ issues MORE (D-Minn.), and John ThuneJohn Randolph ThuneThe Hill’s Morning Report – Pompeo condemns Iran for ‘act of war’ while Trump moves with caution Hillicon Valley: Zuckerberg to meet with lawmakers | Big tech defends efforts against online extremism | Trump attends secretive Silicon Valley fundraiser | Omar urges Twitter to take action against Trump tweet NRA says Trump administration memo a ‘non-starter’ MORE (R-S.D.). 

Klobuchar, Blumenthal, and Wyden have championed legislation related to election security, with all three involved in a sustained push to pressure Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellPatagonia says to shut stores for a few hours during Global Climate Strike Overnight Health Care — Presented by Partnership for America’s Health Care Future — Pelosi unveils signature plan to lower drug prices | Trump says it’s ‘great to see’ plan | Progressives pushing for changes On The Money: House votes to avert shutdown, fund government through November | Judge blocks California law requiring Trump tax returns | Senate panel approves three spending bills MORE (R-Ky.) to bring bills on the topic to the Senate floor for a vote. 

Read more here.

 

A NEW ELECTION SECURITY BILL: Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Jack ReedJohn (Jack) Francis ReedNegotiators kick off defense bill talks amid border wall, Iran debates Hillicon Valley: Zuckerberg to meet with lawmakers | Big tech defends efforts against online extremism | Trump attends secretive Silicon Valley fundraiser | Omar urges Twitter to take action against Trump tweet Senate Democrats introduce legislation to limit foreign interference in elections MORE (D-R.I.) introduced legislation on Wednesday meant to combat foreign influence in U.S. elections through the establishment of a response center that coordinates intelligence sharing. 

The Combating Foreign Influence Act would require the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to establish a Malign Foreign Influence Response Center.

This center would be the primary group responsible for compiling and analyzing intelligence on foreign influence operations and campaigns directed against U.S. elections.

The center would also help coordinate intelligence sharing between agencies including the FBI, and the departments of Homeland Security, Defense and State. The center would be required to submit an annual report to Congress detailing how its work is addressing privacy and civil liberties issues. 

“We currently have numerous agencies and departments independently working to combat foreign influence, and it’s past time that our intelligence community comes together to fight these threats,” Klobuchar said in a statement.

“The creation of this Response Center at the ODNI will help our intelligence community coordinate to better secure our democracy,” she added.

Reed noted in a statement that “Russian information warfare and malign foreign influence operations are ongoing and pose a serious threat to both our national security and democracy. The U.S. must step up efforts to counter this increasingly sophisticated and evolving threat.”

Read more here. 

 

ONE CYBERSECURITY COORDINATOR PLEASE: Rep. Bennie ThompsonBennie Gordon ThompsonHillicon Valley: Zuckerberg to meet with lawmakers | Big tech defends efforts against online extremism | Trump attends secretive Silicon Valley fundraiser | Omar urges Twitter to take action against Trump tweet Homeland Security chairman calls on new Trump aide to reestablish cyber coordinator House Democrat urges Trump to address online extremism at UN MORE (D-Miss.), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is urging President Trump’s new national security adviser Robert O’Brien to prioritize reestablishing the White House cybersecurity coordinator position.

The post was eliminated in 2018 following the departure of former Cybersecurity Coordinator Rob Joyce. 

Former National Security Advisor John BoltonJohn BoltonTrump job approval rises amid record partisan gap: Gallup The Hill’s Morning Report – Pompeo condemns Iran for ‘act of war’ while Trump moves with caution Hillicon Valley: Zuckerberg to meet with lawmakers | Big tech defends efforts against online extremism | Trump attends secretive Silicon Valley fundraiser | Omar urges Twitter to take action against Trump tweet MORE then formally eliminated the position, which was originally created by President Obama in 2009 to help coordinate cyber efforts across federal agencies. 

With President Trump’s designation of O’Brien, who previously served as the chief hostage negotiator for the State Department, as the new national security adviser on Wednesday, Thompson called on O’Brien to immediately bring back the cybersecurity coordinator position.

“[T]hreats facing the nation have evolved and our adversaries are exploiting cyberspace in new ways to advance their economic ambitions, assert influence, and undermine U.S. power,” Thompson said in a statement.

Read more here. 

 

FACEBOOK TECH AND THE ISLAMIC STATE: New details from an updated complaint expected to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suggest that Facebook’s auto-generation technology is continuing to be used to boost extremist groups such as the Islamic State and al Qaeda.

The nonprofit National Whistleblower Center’s updated complaint accuses Facebook of having provided a tool allowing dozens of pages to be produced that promote or represent the two extremist groups. The update was first reported by the Associated Press.

The filing states that nearly 200 auto-generated pages reference the Islamic State while dozens more point to al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. The AP reported that the nonprofit plans to file the update to its complaint this week.

The report comes as members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee were slated to question representatives from a number of social media platforms on Wednesday including Monika Bickert, who is in charge of Facebook’s attempts to curtail extremist messaging.

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“Our priority is detecting and removing content posted by people that violates our policy against dangerous individuals and organizations to stay ahead of bad actors,” a Facebook spokesperson told the AP. “Auto-generated pages are not like normal Facebook pages as people can’t comment or post on them and we remove any that violate our policies. While we cannot catch every one, we remain vigilant in this effort.”

Read more here.

 

ALEXA, DONATE: Amazon announced Wednesday that Alexa, the company’s popular virtual assistant, will now be able to donate money to campaigns of candidates running for president.

The new feature, dubbed Alexa Political Contributions, activates when an Alexa user says, “Alexa, donate to [candidate name].” Candidates must sign up for the program, but if they do, they’ll be able to receive donations of up to $200 starting in October, according to Amazon’s website. 

Alexa can already answer basic questions about the presidential campaigns such as who endorses a particular candidate, how a candidate is polling, when the Iowa caucuses are and more.

Read more here.

 

OMAR PUSHES TWITTER OVER TRUMP TWEET: Rep. Ilhan OmarIlhan OmarHillicon Valley: Zuckerberg to meet with lawmakers | Big tech defends efforts against online extremism | Trump attends secretive Silicon Valley fundraiser | Omar urges Twitter to take action against Trump tweet Omar asks Twitter what it’s doing in response to Trump spreading ‘lies that put my life at risk’ Trump seeks to expand electoral map with New Mexico rally MORE (D-Minn.) on Wednesday asked what Twitter would do about “lies that put my life at risk” after President Trump promoted a false claim that a video of her and Rep. Ayanna PressleyAyanna PressleyDemocrats blast HUD for removing LGBT language from grant competition Hillicon Valley: Zuckerberg to meet with lawmakers | Big tech defends efforts against online extremism | Trump attends secretive Silicon Valley fundraiser | Omar urges Twitter to take action against Trump tweet Omar asks Twitter what it’s doing in response to Trump spreading ‘lies that put my life at risk’ MORE (D-Mass.) dancing was filmed on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

“This is from a CBC event we hosted this weekend to celebrate black women in Congress. The President of the United States is continuing to spread lies that put my life at risk. What is Twitter doing to combat this misinformation?” Omar tweeted after Trump quote-tweeted a tweet from user Terrence K. Williams falsely claiming the Sept. 13 video was taken on Sept. 11.

The clip of the two dancing to Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” initially went viral on Saturday after it was first tweeted, with the rapper and singer, who, like Omar, is from Minneapolis, retweeting it.

After the quote-tweet from the president, which Williams also retweeted, Williams apparently deleted the original. The Hill has reached out to Williams for comment. A Twitter spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that the tweet was not deleted as a result of any action by the company.

Trump previously retweeted Williams when he suggested the Clintons had ordered the killing of financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Read more here. 

 

A LIGHTER CLICK: A reporter on a busy news day

 

AN OP-ED TO CHEW ON: America faces fresh challenges to technology innovation leadership

 

NOTABLE LINKS FROM AROUND THE WEB: 

U.S. cyber offensive against ISIS continues and eyes are now on Afghanistan (CyberScoop)

Huawei suspended from global forum meant to prevent cyber breaches (The Wall Street Journal)

Poll finds two-thirds of Americans support breaking up big tech companies (Vox)

Facebook introduces Portal TV, a video chat camera accessory for your television. (The Verge)

The Department of Defense (DOD) has finalized nearly $2.5 billion in contracts to build a portion of President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump conversation with foreign leader part of complaint that led to standoff between intel chief, Congress: report Pelosi: Lewandowski should have been held in contempt ‘right then and there’ Trump to withdraw FEMA chief nominee: report MORE‘s wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, the Pentagon’s top spokesman said Thursday.

The amount means that, as of this week, 129 miles worth of projects in New Mexico, Arizona and California “has been obligated and is on contract,” Jonathan Hoffman told reporters at the Pentagon.

All but $3 million of that money remains unobligated but will be used before the end of the month, Hoffman said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in April and May had awarded the funding for border wall projects after the Trump administration declared a national emergency and sought to reallocate the money from a DOD fund meant to combat drug trafficking. 

The dollars then became caught in a legal battle, with the Supreme Court ruling 5-4 in July that the Trump administration could start using the funds to construct a wall while litigation continues to play out.

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Defense Secretary Mark EsperMark EsperOvernight Defense: Trump says he has ‘many options’ on Iran | Hostage negotiator chosen for national security adviser | Senate Dems block funding bill | Documents show Pentagon spent at least 4K at Trump’s Scotland resort Documents show Pentagon spent at least 4,000 at Trump’s Turnberry resort in Scotland Senate panel advances Trump’s nominees to lead Air Force, Army MORE also earlier this month authorized $3.6 billion in Pentagon dollars, to be redistributed from military construction projects across the globe, to build 175 miles of wall along the southern border.

To move forward on such wall projects, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt on Wednesday transferred 560 acres of land to the Army for about 70 miles of barrier in Arizona, California and Texas.

Asked how long it will take to have that $3.6 billion fully contracted out, Hoffman said there was no timeline but acknowledged that “it’s going to take months.”

The administration’s goal is to have completed more than 450 miles of wall construction by the end of 2020, Hoffman added.

“It’ll take a little while, as we do the planning, we buy the property, we do the environmental assessments … and then you’ll see a rapid increase in the amount. Right now, we’re at a pace of about a mile a day and we’ll see that continue to go up,” he said. 

A group of college students who wish to evangelize visitors and pass out free religious literature in Chicago’s Millennium Park are suing the city over rules prohibiting the practice. 

Four students at Wheaton College who say they want to spread the word of God at the “Bean” — Chicago’s famous sculpture, formally called Cloud Gate — filed the lawsuit on Wednesday, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The lawsuit stems from a group of students with Wheaton College’s Chicago Evangelism Team, who would meet for dinner on Friday evenings and pray before taking a roughly hourlong train trip to Chicago.

“We are there to share the greatest news of all time, which is that sinful people can be saved, and they can be reconciled to God by faith in Jesus who died on the cross to save all sinners,” Jeremy Chong, a sophomore at Wheaton College, told the newspaper.

In December, they were allegedly stopped by a park security guard who told them they were not allowed to preach or distribute free documents or religious literature at the site.

The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events officially updated rules for the park in April that include prohibiting “the making of speeches and passing out of written communications” in certain areas, the outlet noted. 

The park, located off the Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago, was divided up into 11 “rooms” or sections.

Passing out fliers or giving public lectures is prohibited in 10 out of the 11 rooms — including the area where the massive tourist attraction is located. It is only authorized in the Wrigley Square section of the park. 

The rules also reportedly ban “conduct that objectively interferes” with visitors being able to enjoy the park’s displays or interrupt pedestrian traffic.

John Mauck, the plaintiffs’ attorney, told the Tribune that the new limits have posed restrictions on the college students. 

“The Bean is one of the highest tourist attractions in the United States … that’s where you want to get your message out,” he said.

The college students are asking for Millennium Park to be declared a free speech area and have the city stop enforcing the rules.

“This isn’t just about evangelists,” he said. “This is for politicians campaigning, political activists and whoever else wants free speech.”

The Hill has reached out to the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs for comment.

Law Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey told the Chicago Tribune that the city would not comment on the litigation because it has not been received by officials as of Thursday morning.

“However, the new rules protect First Amendment rights while also respecting the rights of patrons to use and enjoy the park,” he said in an email to the outlet.

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