Today in Trump: March 11, 2017
Today in the Trump Administration
U.S. Attorney “fired”
Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney in New York who earned a reputation for battling corruption and white-collar crime, says he has been fired by the Trump administration after refusing to tender his resignation. “I did not resign,” Bharara said Saturday afternoon on Twitter. “Moments ago I was fired. Being the US Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life.” Bharara’s departure comes as Attorney General Jeff Sessions looks to secure the resignations of 46 U.S. Attorneys who were holdovers from the Obama administration.
Revised travel ban already faces legal challenges
President Trump’s revised travel ban goes into effect Thursday. It bars new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries and temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program.
Just like the original travel ban, version 2.0 is facing legal challenges.
Pence in Louisville
Vice President Mike Pence is visiting Louisville to talk about the Republican health care plan.
White House intruder
The U.S. Secret Service confirms an intruder breached the White House perimeter Friday night. According to the Secret Service, “an individual scaled the outer perimeter fence by the Treasury Building and East Executive Avenue.” Uniformed Secret Service officers arrested the individual, and the individual’s backpack was screened and “found to be free of any hazardous materials.” Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has been briefed on the matter.
White House plans meeting with Saudi prince amid terror threats
The Trump Administration is planning a meeting this coming week with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, CBS News has learned. Salman is a powerful force within the royal family, second in line to the throne, and currently serves as defense minister. The White House has not yet announced the visit, as it is still confirming details.
The visit comes as the U.S. expands its military mission against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen, a country on the brink of widespread famine and torn apart by civil war involving Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The U.S. has been providing support and precision training to a Saudi-led military coalition fighting those rebels.
Trump promotes Obamacare reform amid questions over Michael Flynn
The president used the bully pulpit this week to promote what is the first major piece of legislation of his administration - reforming Obamacare. This comes while his administation is still trying to field lingering questions about links between Mr. Trump’s associates and foreign entities, CBS News correspondent Errol Barnett reports.
Schedule
The president is at the White House.
What you missed yesterday
Trump says 2017 “would be a disaster for Obamacare”
“’17 would be a disaster for Obamacare, that’s the year it was meant to explode, because Obama won’t be here,” Trump claimed, according to the network pool, in a meeting with conservative leaders. “That was when it was supposed to be [inaudible]. As bad as it is now, it will get even worse.”
What’s next for the GOP Obamacare replacement?
The House Budget Committee will be the third congressional panel to mark up the legislation proposed by House Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare.
The committee is expected to take up the measure next Wednesday, following the two markups this week by the House Ways and Means Committee and House Energy and Commerce Committee, which advanced the bill.
Civil liberties groups urge DHS to not require log-in info as part of “extreme vetting” procedures
Civil liberties and human rights groups are urging Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly not to require people applying for U.S. visas to provide log-in information to their social media accounts.
“We urge you to reject any proposal to require anyone to provide log-in information to their online accounts as a condition of entry into the United States. Demanding log-in information is a direct assault on fundamental rights and would weaken, rather than promote, national security,” the groups wrote in a letter to Kelly on Friday.
GOP lawmaker asks why men have to pay for prenatal coverage through Obamacare
Rep. John Shimkus, R-Illinois, suggested during a markup of the GOP Obamacare replacement bill Thursday that men don’t like the current health care law because they have to pay for prenatal care.
During the House Energy and Commerce Committee markup, Rep. Michael Doyle, D-Pennsylvania, asked Shimkus what mandate in Obamacare he took issue with.
“Certainly not with pre-existing conditions, or caps on benefits or letting your child stay on the policy until 26, so I’m curious what is it we’re mandating?” Doyle said.
“What about men having to purchase prenatal care? Is that not correct? And should they?” Shimkus said.
“The Takeout”
Most election forecasters found themselves in a social media buzzsaw the day after Donald Trump stunned the country with his triumph over Hillary Clinton. Major political oddsmakers had predicted a Clinton win, and famed numbers savant Nate Silver announced the day before the election, “Clinton is a 71 percent favorite to win the election.” He wasn’t alone, though, and since then, analysts, academics and number crunchers have been trying to figure out why they were wrong.
“Freakonomics” co-founder Stephen Dubner brings a different lens to the argument, though, suggesting in this week’s episode of “The Takeout” podcast that we may all just be looking at this the wrong way.
Watch “The Takeout” with Major Garrett and Steve Chaggaris on CBSN -- Fridays at 9 p.m. -- or on the CBS News app on iPhones and Android devices, as well as Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, Playstation, Xbox and Chromecast.
For more from Dubner’s conversation with Garrett and CBS News Senior Political Editor Steve Chaggaris, listen to “The Takeout” podcast, available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and CBSNews.com. And follow “The Takeout” on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter: @TakeoutPodcast.
Carter Page’s ties to the Trump campaign draw scrutiny
For months, President Donald Trump and his advisers have tried to distance themselves from Carter Page, a little-known investment banker who briefly served as a foreign policy adviser on the Republican’s presidential campaign.
This week, Page - who is at the center of the swirling controversy over Trump associates’ connections to Russia - painted himself as a recurrent visitor to Trump Tower, the New York skyscraper that housed Trump’s campaign offices.
Trump Schedule
Discusses health care bill with key committee members, 11:30 a.m.; speaks with Mahmoud Abbas by phone, 12:15 p.m.; lunch with Tillerson, 12:45 p.m.; meets with Ben Carson, 3:30 p.m.