Image caption
The heavily guarded Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) divides the two Koreas
Kim Jong-un will on Friday become the first North Korean leader since the war to cross the military demarcation line that divides the Korean peninsula.
He will be meeting South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in, the first such diplomacy in more than a decade.
In newly announced details, South Korea said Mr Moon would meet Mr Kim at the border at 09:30 local time (00:30 GMT).
The historic talks will focus on the North’s recent suggestions it could be willing to give up its nuclear weapons.
But Seoul has warned reaching an agreement on this will be “difficult”, because North Korea’s nuclear and missile technology has advanced so much since the sides last held talks.
The landmark summit is a breakthrough after years of mounting tension on the peninsula. It is the result of months of improving relations between the two Koreas and paves the way to a possible meeting between Mr Kim and US President Donald Trump.
As well as addressing Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, the leaders are expected to discuss a path to peace on the peninsula to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War, as well as a series of economic and social issues.
How the summit will unfold
Mr Moon will personally meet Mr Kim at the border, South Korea’s presidential spokesperson Im Jong-seok told reporters on Thursday.
Official talks between Mr Moon and Mr Kim will begin at 10:30 local time (01:30 GMT) at the Peace House in Panmunjom.
The pair will break after the first session and will have lunch separately, with the delegation from the North crossing back to their side of the border.
At an afternoon ceremony, Mr Moon and Mr Kim will plant a pine tree using soil and water from both countries, to symbolise “peace and prosperity”.
Would the signature Trump bling break through the looming gray clouds on the night of his administration’s first state dinner? The answer on Tuesday was yes.
On an already symbolic evening that carried the added pressure of being the Trumps’ foray into official diplomatic branding, the first couple managed to pull off the glitzy party in honor of French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, without any major glitches. There were the bigwigs gussied up in black tie, the fine china decorated in gold, the long red carpet, the thoughtful toasts. All in all it was a state dinner, but in and of itself that is something.
Remember back on the campaign trail when then-candidate Trump denounced state dinners altogether? Speaking about “China and others” who allegedly “ripped off” the United States, Trump said that the White House should “forget the state dinners that cost, by the way, a fortune.” Hamburgers, which POTUS unabashedly enjoys, and a conference table were all the pomp and circumstance he needed, so the campaign bombast went, to iron things out.
My, how things have changed. Turns out a little grandeur is good for the gander.
In the lead up to the Trumps’ debut as a diplomatic duo, much was made of Mrs. Trump’s taste, her classiness, her “design background,” her general elegance. The night was basically marketed as Melania’s moment — an opportunity for the first lady, who has appeared reluctant in the role, to show off a little. She tweeted about the “months of preparation” her team had put in and even posted a brief behind-the-scenes video showing the East Wing hard at work. This was her chance to shine. So did she?
Melania Trump, a former model, made her grand entrance on the North Portico of the White House wearing haute couture Chanel. The silver frock was hand painted and embroidered with crystals and sequins. The choice was unsurprisingly high fashion (a black Givenchy tuxedo cape and custom-made Hervé Pierre hat also made cameos during this visit) and Mrs. Trump seemed wholly at ease in the part she played Tuesday night.
The president himself made it a point to highlight the first lady’s efforts during his opening toast.
“To America’s absolutely incredible first lady, thank you for making this an evening we will always cherish and remember,” said Trump in a toast that went on to honor America and France’s centuries-long friendship and encouraged the two countries to “work together every day to build a future that is more just, prosperous and free.”
When second lady Karen Pence was asked by the waiting press pool how Mrs. Trump was doing as first lady, Vice President Pence answered for her: “Breathtaking,” he said as the second couple made their way to the State Dining Room, a formal and intimate setting. So it would seem that the first lady earned a solid A-plus for her first diplomatic outing.
The rest of the 130 or so guests appeared more taken with the French than anything else.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said he planned “to thank the people of France for selling Louisiana to the United States.”
When asked if she spoke French, the president’s elder daughter Ivanka Trump, special adviser to 45, answered, “Oui, un petit peu.” Translation: “Yes, a little bit.”
Instagram’s favorite political spouse Louise Linton, who arrived wearing a Cavalli gown and her husband, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, said she was looking forward to “everything French.”
Earlier in the evening, U.S. Attorney General Jerome Adams struck a more serious note. He said he was excited about chatting about the opioid epidemic with the French president. Okay, at least someone there meant business. Adams’s wife Lacey, though, was less diplomatic: “I wanna see who’s on the guest list.” Don’t we all.
The list was fairly standard for events like these, filled mostly with White House officials, cabinet members, the diplomatic corps and a smattering of surprise faces.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo breezed past the press without answering any questions about his nomination for secretary of state. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards was one of the few Democrats who made the cut. Apple CEO Tim Cook brought along former Obama administration EPA chief and current Apple environmental director Lisa Jackson. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch arrived with his wife, former model Jerry Hall, who said she was looking forward to “seeing the French president.” Managing head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde, who is French, was slightly less enthused. “This is my third French dinner,” she said.
The most unexpected (and perhaps joy-filled) moment came when a seemingly unrecognizable couple arrived at the White House. (Don’t worry: their last name wasn’t Salahi.)
“Are we supposed to stop?” asked the man as he conferred with the woman standing next to him. To help jog the press’s memory “in case you guys don’t know who we are,” the pair pulled two giant medals seemingly out of nowhere. Still nothing? Remember the Olympics? In South Korea? Which would have been a “total failure” without President Trump? These two — curler John Shuster and ice hockey player Meghan Duggan — were there and won gold.
So do you guys travel with those everywhere? “Pretty much,” laughed Shuster before eventually heading down a hallway decorated with giant sprays of nearly 1,200 cherry blossom branches to the State Dining Room. Dripping with the first couple’s particular brand of style, which leans heavily toward the ornate, the room was decorated in cream and gold. Tall tapered candles illuminated tables draped with heavy damask-like tablecloths placed with china that included a 24-karat gold engraved pattern introduced by then-first lady Hillary Clinton. Low-set tightly massed centerpieces of sweet peas and white lilacs decorated each table. Menu cards embossed with a gold fleur de lis were a nod to the guests of honor. The effect was understated but with a touch of that recognizable Trump flash.
The three-course meal — “a showcase of the best of America’s cuisines,” according to the East Wing — featured rack of lamb served alongside jambalaya, a traditional Louisiana dish with heavy French influences. The Post’s food critic Tom Sietsema described the main course as “a lovely nod to the American South.” The wine that was paired with dinner all hailed from the West Coast and not from the president’s own winery in central Virginia.
After dinner, the Washington National Opera entertained guests. Another big fan of opera? Jacqueline Kennedy, one of the past first ladies who Mrs. Trump has said she admires (the other being Michelle Obama).
The night was a success for the Trumps as much as for the Macrons — two couples that, according to the French president’s own toast, have disrupted the establishment. “On both sides of the ocean,” Macron said, “some two years ago very few would have bet on us being here together today. But as matter of fact, we share the same determination and the willingness.”
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note hit 3% for the first time since 2014 in a vote of confidence for the economic expansion, but warnings from large companies that profits were peaking helped send the Dow industrials to their fifth straight decline.
Investors on Tuesday dealt with two conflicting messages. The rise in bond yields early in the day was a signal that the Federal Reserve might have to raise interest rates more rapidly to respond to economic growth and the prospect of more inflation. That could add fuel…
A D.C. federal judge has delivered the toughest blow yet to Trump administration efforts to end deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants, ordering the government to continue the Obama-era program and — for the first time since announcing it would end — reopen it to new applicants.
U.S. District Judge John D. Bates on Tuesday called the government’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program “virtually unexplained” and therefore “unlawful.” However, he stayed his ruling for 90 days to give the Department of Homeland Security a chance to provide more solid reasoning for ending the program.
Bates is the third judge to rule against Trump administration attempts to rescind DACA, which provides two-year, renewable work permits and deportation protections for about 690,000 “dreamers,” undocumented immigrants brought to this country as children.
In his decision, Bates said the decision to phase out the program starting in March “was arbitrary and capricious because the Department failed adequately to explain its conclusion that the program was unlawful.”
“Each day that the agency delays is a day that aliens who might otherwise be eligible for initial grants of DACA benefits are exposed to removal because of an unlawful agency action,” Bates wrote.
Federal judges in California and New York have also blocked the administration’s plans on those grounds, and ordered the administration to renew work permits for immigrants enrolled in the program.
But the ruling by Bates, an appointee of President George W. Bush, is far more expansive: If the government does not come up with a better explanation within 90 days, he will rescind the government memo that terminated the program and require Homeland Security to enroll new applicants, as well. Thousands could be eligible to apply.
The cases were brought by the NAACP, Microsoft, Princeton University and a student.
“We are pleased and gratified . . . but we’re not out of the woods yet,” said Bradford Berry, general counsel for the NAACP. “The government still has an opportunity to try to save their rescission of the program.”
Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber added that “While the decision does not fully resolve the uncertainty facing DACA beneficiaries, it unequivocally rejects the rationale the government has offered for ending the program and makes clear that the DHS acted arbitrarily and capriciously.”
Brad Smith, the president of Microsoft, said, “We hope this decision will help provide new incentive for the legislative solution the country and these individuals so clearly deserve. As the business community has come to appreciate, a lasting solution for the country’s dreamers is both an economic imperative and a humanitarian necessity.”
The Trump administration said it is reviewing the decision. In a statement, the Justice Department pointed out that a similar Obama-era program for immigrant parents failed to survive a court challenge, and said ending DACA was part of its efforts to protect the border and enforce the rule of law.
“Today’s order doesn’t change the Department of Justice’s position on the facts: DACA was implemented unilaterally after Congress declined to extend benefits to this same group of illegal aliens,” spokesman Devin O’Malley said in a statement. “The Justice Department will continue to vigorously defend this position.”
The Trump administration says it decided to end DACA because Texas and other states had threatened to sue over it, and the government believed the program would not survive a court challenge. Bates ruled that the government’s “meager legal reasoning” — and the threat of a lawsuit — did not justify terminating the program.
Congress failed to pass legislation this year protecting DACA recipients and other dreamers. Trump had hoped to use the young immigrants as a bargaining chip in the last round of budget negotiations, offering legal residency for them in exchange for money for a border wall and strict new immigration limits.
After negotiations collapsed, he declared DACA “dead.”
His administration this year has renewed more than 55,000 work permits for immigrants enrolled in the program, as the courts required.
The program has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, allowing them to get driver’s licenses, qualify for in-state tuition, buy homes and attend college and graduate school. They must meet educational and residency requirements and cannot have serious criminal records.
Just one day after his wife was buried, former president George H.W. Bush contracted an infection that spread to his blood and was hospitalized. On Monday, a family spokesman said Bush is responding to treatments and appears to be recovering.
The 93-year-old’s health has been in decline for years, yet on Saturday, Bush sat front and center at Barbara’s funeral in Houston. Confined to a wheelchair, Bush sat steadfastly as family and friends highlighted his 73-year marriage to the former first lady and her remarkable life.
Included in those tributes was a brief account of one of the first times George Bush — now America’s oldest living president — faced his own mortality. More than seven decades ago, Bush confronted death not from an intensive care unit or at his dying wife’s bedside, but floating alone in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean.
A high school senior on Dec. 7, 1941, Bush was walking the campus of Phillips Academy Andover when he first heard the news that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. According to Bush biographer and presidential historian Jon Meacham, Bush’s immediate reaction was to serve.
“After Pearl Harbor, it was a different world altogether,” Bush would later recall for Meacham’s biography, Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush. “It was a red, white, and blue thing. Your country’s attacked, you’d better get in there and try to help.”
Bush initially decided he wanted to become a pilot — and fast. He briefly considered enlisting in the Royal Air Force in Canada because, as Bush told Meacham, he “could get through much faster.” But Bush was lured by naval service, inspired by the grandeur of the Navy’s power, and its reputation for camaraderie and purpose. A combination of flying and the Navy fit just right.
That winter, Bush was not yet 18 years old. He’d go home for his last Christmas out of uniform. And at a Christmas dance, he’d set his eyes on Barbara.
On June 12, 1942, Bush turned 18 and graduated from Andover. After commencement, he left for Boston to be sworn into the Navy. Nearly one year later, Bush became an officer of the United States Naval Reserve and earned his wings as a naval aviator. Meacham speculates that Bush was likely the Navy’s youngest flying officer just days shy of his 19th birthday. He was assigned to fly torpedo bombers off aircraft carriers in the Pacific theater.
At dawn on Sept. 2, 1944, Bush was slated to fly in a strike over Chichi Jima, a Japanese island about 500 miles from the mainland. The island was a stronghold for communications and supplies for the Japanese, and it was heavily guarded. Bush’s precise target was a radio tower.
At about 7:15 that morning, Bush took off through clear skies along with William G. White, known as “Ted,” and John “Del” Delaney. Just over an hour later, their plane was hit. Meacham wrote that smoke filled the cockpit and flames swallowed the wings. Bush radioed White and Delaney to put on their parachutes.
“My God,” Bush thought to himself, “this thing is going to blow up.”
Choking on the smoke, Bush continued to steer the plane, dropping bombs and hitting the radio tower. He told White and Delaney to parachute out of the plane, then climbed through his open hatch to maneuver out of the cockpit.
“The wind struck him full force, essentially lifting him out the rest of the way and propelling him backward into the tail,” Meacham wrote. “He gashed his head and bruised his eye on the tail as he flew through the sky and the burning plane hurtled toward the sea.”
As Bush floated out of the sky, he saw his plane crash into the water and disappear below. Then he hit the waves, fighting his way back up to the surface and kicking off his shoes to lighten his load.
“His khaki flight suit was soaked and heavy, his head was bleeding, his eyes were burning from the cockpit smoke, and his mouth and throat were raw from the rush of salt water,” Meacham wrote.
Fifty feet away bobbed a life raft that Bush managed to inflate and flop onto. But the wind was carrying him towards Chichi Jima, so Bush began paddling in the opposite direction with his arms. Bush would later learn of horrific war crimes committed against American captives at Chichi Jima, including cannibalism.
“For a while there I thought I was done,” Bush told Meacham.
He was alone, vomiting over the side of the life raft and slowly grasping that White and Delaney were gone. Hours passed. He cried and thought of home. Barbara would soon receive a letter from him saying “all was well,” but she had no true way of knowing. The letter was dated before George’s plane had been hit.
Bush thought he was delirious when suddenly, a 311-foot submarine rose from the depths to rescue him.
“Welcome aboard, sir,” greeted a torpedoman second class.
“Happy to be aboard,” replied the future commander in chief.
Google parent Alphabet Inc. posted surging profits as advertisers kept swarming to the search giant amid a global debate about internet privacy that threatens to affect its main revenue generator.
Alphabet’s earnings also got a multibillion-dollar boost from the company’s stakes in startups including Uber Technologies Inc. but were tempered by the costliest spending spree in its 14-year history as a public company.
The carnage was reminiscent of deadly attacks by Islamic State supporters using vehicles that have shaken up Nice, France, Berlin, Barcelona, London and New York. But late Monday, Canada’s public safety minister, Ralph Goodale, said this time appeared to be different.
“The events that happened on the street behind us are horrendous,” he said, “but they do not appear to be connected in any way to national security based on the information at this time.”
With the driver under arrest, the Canadian authorities began the process of reconstructing how — and why — a day filled with the promise of early spring became a scene of horror. The authorities released few details about Mr. Minassian on Monday night.
“There were a lot of pedestrians out, a lot of witnesses out, enjoying the sunny afternoon,” said Peter Yuen, the deputy chief of the Toronto police service.
John Flengas, the acting E.M.S. supervisor for Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, which said it received 10 victims from the scene, described it as “pure carnage.” He told CTV News on Monday that he had seen “victims everywhere.”
One witness said the van had mowed down everything in its path: pedestrians, mailboxes, electrical poles, benches and a fire hydrant. Another, who rushed to help the pedestrian struck while crossing the street, said, “Pieces of the van went flying everywhere.”
Meaghan Gray, a spokeswoman for the Toronto police, said the authorities received a report at 1:30 p.m. on Monday that the van had mounted a curb near Yonge Street and Finch Avenue West. Stephan Powell, a spokesman for the Toronto Fire Department, said pedestrians were struck at “at least two locations.”
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Ten victims were taken to the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Dr. Dan Cass, its executive vice president, said at a news conference. Two were declared dead on arrival, five were in critical condition and three were in serious condition, he said.
Dr. Cass said that he did not have information about the nature of the victims’ injuries and that the hospital had not yet confirmed the identities of the dead.
In a statement on Monday, John Tory, the mayor of Toronto, said, “My thoughts are with those affected by this incident and the front-line responders who are working to help those injured.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “We’re monitoring the situation closely.”
Yonge Street is Toronto’s main artery, and is widely celebrated as the longest street in Canada. It cuts through the city from Lake Ontario through downtown before reaching the suburbs and then into farmland.
The deaths occurred in the far north, a densely populated part of the city surrounded by many new condominium towers. On Monday, many shops in the area remained closed, at the request of the authorities. And a makeshift memorial was developing at a stone wall just south of Finch Avenue.
Konstantin Goulich, a local resident, appeared with bags of markers and rolls of cardboard from a dollar store.
PhotoA rented van on a sidewalk about a mile from where several pedestrians were killed. Credit
Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press
“Guys please come and write how you’re feeling: your wishes for the victims, if you’d like to say something. Every bit of support counts,” Mr. Goulich said to passers-by.
“If you can’t write in English, write in your own language write in Chinese, write in Korean,” he said.
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Late in the day, well south of the scene of the killings, extra security was obvious around the Air Canada Centre in downtown Toronto, where the Toronto Maple Leafs were playing Boston in a playoff game. Large municipal dump trucks, apparently filled with sand and gravel, were used to block off roads, including one major thoroughfare near the ice rink.
After the game, which Toronto won, jubilant fans streamed out of the arena, but the only sign of the day’s events on Yonge Street were clutches of police officers wearing bulletproof vests. Some fans expressed shock about the carnage that had taken place earlier in the day.
“We don’t expect this in Canada,” said one fan, Luca Pitsocia, a 21-year-old aspiring paramedic.
PhotoResidents on Yonge Street in Toronto gathered at a makeshift memorial for victims struck by a man driving a van on Monday. Credit
Cole Burston/Getty Images
The van used in the rampage was stopped about a mile south of where it took place, said Dan Fox, a civil servant who passed the vehicle on his way to work on Monday. He said it had “significant damage.”
“It looked like the side of the van had scraped along the side of the building,” Mr. Fox said in a phone interview, the sound of police sirens wailing behind him. “The driver-side door was open, but I didn’t see anyone in or around the van.”
The episode in Toronto appeared to be the deadliest use of a vehicle in Canada to deliberately mow down pedestrians.
Last October, a police officer in Edmonton was struck with a car and stabbed, and four other people were later deliberately hit by a U-Haul truck. The driver of both vehicles, a Somali immigrant, was arrested in what Prime Minister Trudeau called a terrorist attack.
In 2014, a driver in the Montreal area struck two members of the Canadian armed forces and was shot and killed by the police, who described the attack as Islamist terrorism. One of the victims died.
The criminal cases heard around the world are officially over. Michigan Judge Janice Cunningham sentenced Larry Nassar to 40 to 125 years in prison. USA TODAY
Martha and Bela Karolyi conceded the training environment at the ranch where they built the U.S. gymnastics team into a powerhouse was intense. But in their first interview since sexual abuse allegations against former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar became public, the couple denied creating an environment that was abusive or that enabled his abuse.
In an hourlong NBC News Dateline special on Sunday, the Karolyis responded to criticism from several gymnasts and that have been laid out in two lawsuits against them. They also said they didn’t know Nassar was sexually abusing gymnasts.
“I feel extremely bad,” said Martha Karolyi, the longtime national team coordinator, on Dateline. “I don’t feel responsible, but I feel extremely hurt that these things happened and it happened everywhere but it happened here, also.”
The extent of what happened at the ranch and of Nassar’s abuse of hundreds of gymnasts over two decades, both in his role at USA Gymnastics and as a physician at Michigan State, has engulfed the sport.
McKayla Maroney, a member of the Fierce Five that won gold at the 2012 London Olympics, gave Dateline some of her most detailed comments on the abuse she says Nassar inflicted on her from the first time he treated her.
Maroney is one of more than 260 athletes who has accused Nassar of abusing them under the guise of medical treatment. Olympic champions Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and Jordyn Wieber also have said Nassar abused them.
Nassar, 54, is serving a 60-year federal sentence for child pornography charges. He was convicted of 10 counts of sexual assault in Michigan and faces a minimum of 40 years in prison after his federal sentence is over.
The Indianapolis Star, which is part of the USA TODAY Network, first made public the allegations against Nassar in August 2016 after being contacted by Rachael Denhollander, who said she’d been abused by Nassar.
Maroney came forward in October, and she gave a statement that was read during one of Nassar’s sentencing hearings in Michigan.
She told Dateline of abuse she endured every time Nassar treated her. Like many other gymnasts and parents, she criticized USA Gymnastics for not prioritizing athlete well-being.
“All they cared about was their reputation, money, gold medals and that was it,” Maroney said. Asked who “they” was, Maroney said, “Martha, the camp, everybody, every single person that worked there.”
The Karolyis, both now retired, conceded the atmosphere at the ranch was “intense.”
“It’s a very serious atmosphere to try to come as close as possible as perfection,” Martha Karolyi said. “You have to find out who are the best ones, who are the best ones who are able to stand the pressure?”
The environment the Karolyis created and how that led to Nassar’s abuse are part of two lawsuits filed against them in 2016. The lawsuits allege the Karolyis hit or scratched gymnasts, that they withheld food and water and that they made comments about gymnasts’ weight.
In their Dateline interview, the Karolyis denied those claims.
“Verbally, we were not abusive. Emotionally, it depends on the person. You have to be a strong person to be able to handle the pressure,” Martha Karolyi said.
“Maybe you say a little overweight, but in order to be a good gymnast, you need to have the right ratio between strength and weight.”
The Karolyis first made a name for themselves as Romania’s coaches at the 1976 Olympics, where Nadia Comaneci scored the first perfect 10 in history, a feat she would go on to duplicate six times in Montreal. But the Karolyis fell out of favor after Bela Karolyi criticized the judging at the Moscow Olympics, and the couple defected to the United States in early 1981.
They eventually opened a gym in Houston and, in 1984, Mary Lou Retton became the first U.S. woman to win the Olympic all-around title, gymnastics’ biggest prize.
The Karolyis retired after the 1996 Games, where Martha Karolyi was head coach of the Magnificent Seven, the first U.S. women’s team to win Olympic gold. But after a series of disappointing results, USA Gymnastics asked them to come back and take over the U.S. women’s program.
In late 1999, Bela Karolyi became the first national team coordinator and implemented a semi-centralized training system, where gymnasts trained at home but came to the Karolyi ranch outside of Houston once a month for national team camps. Bela Karolyi stepped down after the Sydney Olympics, and Martha Karolyi replaced him in early 2001 and stayed in the role until after the Rio Olympics in 2016.
In the Dateline interview, Bela Karolyi said the couple did not hit gymnasts in the U.S. system.
“Probably about 50 years ago in Romania when … even slapping or spanking, that was a common procedure, yes,” Bela Karolyi said. “I never touched anybody (in the United States) and if anybody comes up with that one, that’s a dirty lie.”
While the Americans became the world’s most dominant team under the Karolyis, winning 97 world championship and Olympic medals, some have said their exacting standards fostered an atmosphere in which gymnasts and their coaches were afraid to speak up. It was that culture that allowed Nassar to prey on young gymnasts, some have said.
“Larry acted like our friend. He always had a sympathetic ear for complaints about our coaches,” Wieber said Wednesday during an appearance before a Senate subcommittee investigating sexual abuse in the Olympic movement. “He would bring us food, candy and coffee at the Olympics when we were hungry. I didn’t know that these were all grooming techniques that he used to manipulate and brainwash me into trusting him.”
In their Dateline interview, the Karolyis said they didn’t know of Nassar’s abuse. Martha Karolyi said she “never, ever (heard), not one single complaint” about the doctor.
“I heard during the testimonies that some of the parents were in the therapy room with their own child and Larry Nassar was performing this,” Martha Karolyi said. “And the parent couldn’t see. How I could see?
“The whole gymnastics community couldn’t recognize this,” she added. “Everybody said Larry Nassar is a good doctor, Larry Nassar is a good guy.”
Maroney, who said Nassar abused her at the ranch and on national team trips that included the world championships and Olympics, expressed doubt about the Karolyis in the Dateline interview.
“They just want to say, oh, we didn’t know. You knew what I ate. You controlled what I wore. You controlled what I said. How could you not know?” she said. “That’s what everybody says, that it’s not their responsibility. They were the leaders of everything.”
USA Gymnastics has previously planned to purchase the ranch from the Karolyis and maintain it as their national training center. But after Biles, a five-time Olympic medalist in Rio, questioned returning to the site where so many gymnasts were abused, USA Gymnastics said in January that it would no longer hold training camps there.
USA Gymnastics has come under heavy criticism for its handling of the Nassar case as well as other sexual misconduct complaints. Former CEO Steve Penny was forced to resign in March 2017, and the entire board stepped down after the U.S. Olympic Committee threatened to decertify the federation.
The USOC also has asked Ropes Gray to investigate how it and USA Gymnastics responded to the Nassar allegations. This follows a report last summer by former federal prosecutor Deborah Daniels, who found that “a complete cultural change” was needed because USA Gymnastics had not done enough to educate its staff, members and athletes about protecting children from sexual abuse.
USA Gymnastics, which asked Daniels to investigate the organization, is in the process of implementing her 70 recommendations. It also required athletes to be accompanied by a chaperone other than a coach at training camps and international assignments this spring.
President Donald Trump tempered his optimism on North Korea on Sunday, saying that “only time will tell” how things turn out, as U.S. lawmakers sounded skeptical about promises made by Pyongyang ahead of possible historic talks between the countries’ leaders.
“We are a long way from conclusion on North Korea, maybe things will work out, and maybe they won’t — only time will tell,” Trump said Sunday on Twitter.
In another sign that a successful outcome with North Korea is far from assured, the Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday that Trump won’t be willing to make concessions, such as lifting economic sanctions, until North Korea has substantially dismantled its nuclear arsenal. The Journal cited U.S. officials it didn’t identify.
In an earlier tweet, the president criticized NBC journalist Chuck Todd for suggesting that the U.S. had given too much ground to North Korea in negotiations ahead of the potential meeting with Kim: “Wow, we haven’t given up anything they have agreed to denuclearization (so great for World), site closure, no more testing!”
Symbolic Move
Sunday’s comments followed those from Trump on Friday after Kim pledged to halt nuclear testing in what was seen as a largely symbolic gesture aimed at softening the ground for talks between the two leaders. Trump hailed “big progress” and said he looked forward to the summit with North Korea’s leader, which could go ahead in May or June.
This satellite image shows the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in March 2018.
Kim told a ruling party meeting in Pyongyang on Friday his regime would suspend tests of atomic bombs and intercontinental ballistic missiles after achieving its goal of building a nuclear arsenal, the official Korean Central News Agency reported. North Korea will shutter its Punggye-ri test site, a secluded mountain facility believed to be damaged after a hydrogen bomb test in September.
However, the reclusive state’s media has steered clear of using the term “denuclearization” to describe Pyongyang’s offer. Kim has made no commitment to give up the estimated 60 nuclear bombs and the unknown number of intercontinental ballistic missiles he already has — and that could be the sticking point for the White House.
Pompeo Vote
Trump was back on Twitter after returning to Washington from Florida Sunday afternoon. “Funny how all of the Pundits that couldn’t come close to making a deal on North Korea are now all over the place telling me how to make a deal!”
White House legislative director Marc Short said Sunday that the administration has “cautious optimism” about North Korea.
The ongoing negotiations with Pyongyang reinforce the need for a fast vote to confirm Mike Pompeo as the new U.S. Secretary of State, Short said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Michael Pompeo
Pompeo, in his role as CIA director, recently traveled to North Korea in secret to lay the groundwork for Trump’s potential meeting with Kim.
U.S. lawmakers sounded more skeptical than optimistic on Sunday.
Easily Reversible
On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said Kim’s efforts should be met with caution. The Republican, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said North Korea’s leader has staged a “great public relations effort” to woo Trump.
Corker’s committee will vote Monday on Pompeo’s nomination, which would then move to the full Senate. The former Kansas lawmaker is nearing the votes he needs for confirmation after Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota said she’ll cross party lines to back him.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, termed North Korea’s pledge to suspend missile testing was “a beginning.”
“The question is whether it lasts or not,” Feinstein said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.” “The reputation of the North Koreans has been that they don’t necessarily keep their agreements.”
Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas and a close ally of Trump, said Friday’s announcement by North Korea was easily reversible. “It’s better than continued testing, but it’s not much better than that,” Cotton, a member of Senate’s intelligence and armed services committees, said on CBS.
Authorities have identified the victims of Sunday’s shooting that left four people dead at a Waffle House in Tennessee. They were identified as 29-year-old Taurean C. Sanderlin, 20-year-old Joe R. Perez, 21-year-old DeEbony Groves and 23-year-old Akilah Dasilva.
Two patients were receiving care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on Sunday, one was listed in critical condition and the other in stable.
Nashville Mayor David Briley described the shooting as “a tragic day” for the city.
“My heart goes out to the families friends of every person who was killed or wounded,” Briley said in an statement. “I know all of their lives will be forever changed by this devastating crime.”
Taurean C. Sanderlin, 29
Taurean Sanderlin of Goodlettsville was a restaurant employee and was killed outside.
DeEbony Groves, 21
DeEbony Groves, 21
DeEbony Groves of Gallatin was inside the restaurant and was fatally shot.
Local media writes that Groves was remembered as a brilliant young woman and tenacious basketball player. She was an exceptional student and star athlete at Gallatin High before enrolling at Belmont University where she placed on the dean’s list.
“She was a brilliant young lady, very, very intelligent and a very hard worker,” former Gallatin High School basketball coach Kim Kendrick said of Groves. “She was a very likable young lady. She was one of three seniors on her team, and she was a great role model for the other players because of her hard work and dedication to her studies and to her school.”
Groves was a senior at Belmont University majoring in social work.
CBS affiliate WTVF-TV posted a statement from the university saying the campus community is “shocked and devastated”:
“DeEbony Groves was a senior at Belmont University majoring in social work. The entire campus community is shocked and devastated by how such senseless violence has taken the life of this young woman, an individual full of immense potential. We extend our thoughts and prayers to her family and friends as they come to terms with unimaginable grief. Belmont will be offering counseling and other support services to members of our campus in the coming hours and days.”
Joe R. Perez, 20
Joe Perez of Nashville was at the restaurant at the time of the shooting and was killed outside.
Perez’s mother posted on Facebook that “today is the hardest day of my life. Me, my husband and sons are broken right now with this loss. Our lives are shattered.”
Joe Perez, 20
Akilah DaSilva, 23
Akilah DaSilva, 23
Akilah DaSilva of Antioch was critically wounded inside the restaurant and later died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
DaSilva’s mother, Shaundelle Brooks, told CBS News her son was a student at Middle Tennessee State University where he pursued a career in musical engineering.
“He meant the world us. He was humble, kind, compassionate, outgoing and very creative. We could describe him in so many words. He spoke through his creativity and he entertained the world through his music,” she said. “Akilah … meaning the intelligent one who reasons.”
DaSilva’s family said he was one of six siblings and “hopes that in the midst of this senseless act of terrorism and hate, his life will not be in vain.”
“He had a smile that could light up a room and a laugh that would warm your heart,” his family said. “He embodied compassion and had a zeal for life. A loving son and selfless friend, he was a beacon of hope, love, and strength in his family.”
They added: “We hope that this tremendous loss will spark tangible action in true gun law reform so no other family would ever have to experience this sort of tragedy.”
A verified GoFundMe page has been setup in DaSilva’s honor.
The family said his girlfriend, 21-year-old Shanita Waggoner, was one of those wounded in the shooting. They said she underwent surgery and doctors were “trying to save her leg.”
CBS News’ Gisela Perez contributed to this report.
