Dennis Rodman calls President Donald Trump a friend, but he thinks he’d do a better job than his former “Celebrity Apprentice” boss in convincing Kim Jong Un he shouldn’t launch a nuclear attack against the United States.
In an interview with the British TV show “Good Morning Britain,” the former NBA star said he was just the guy to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula, the New York Post reported. That’s because he’s not “crazy sometimes” like Trump, and he’s established a good rapport with the North Korean despot over his five visits to that foreboding, Stalinist nation.
“For me to go over there and see [Kim] as much as I have, I basically hang out with him all the time. We laugh, we sing karaoke, we do a lot of cool things together. We ride horses, we hang out, we go skiing, we hardly ever talk politics and that’s the good thing,” said Rodman, who at 6-foot-7 is a full foot taller than the Korean dictator.
“I just want to try to straighten things out for everyone to get along together,” Rodman said.
Dennis Rodman presents “Trump: The Art of the Deal” to North Korea’s Sports Minister Kim Il Guk in June. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon, File)
Rodman, if you’ll recall, enjoys a strange affinity with Kim, even choosing to ignore the dictator’s brutality to the people under his rule, people who know him told the Chicago Tribune. Rodman’s most recent visit to North Korea was in June. He went on behalf of PotCoin.com, a company that peddles cryptocurrency for buying and selling marijuana, the Tribune said.
When Rodman, 56, returned to the United States, he hawked T-shifts on Twitter. The shirts showed a cartoon image of himself spinning a basketball with with one hand and flashing a peace sign with the other, sandwiched by the words “Ambassador Rodman,” the Tribune said.
Unfortunately, the wanna-be diplomat displayed a disastrous sense of timing. The night before his Twitter display, Otto Warmbier, the University of Virginia student held in North Korea for more than a year and released June 13 in a coma, died at home in Ohio.
Rodman, aka The Worm, later offered “prayer and love” to Warmbier’s family, but also insisted in an interview with “Good Morning America” that his visit helped secure the student’s release. The State Department told the Tribune he had nothing to do with it.
Criticism over Rodman’s June trip hasn’t diminished what friends describe as Rodman’s sincere, if naive, intentions. “He genuinely thinks he’s trying to change the world,” a friend told the Tribune.
However, Rodman’s potential to broker peace depends a lot on what Trump thinks. He said he’d love to be U.S. ambassador to North Korea but he hasn’t actually talked to Trump since their “Celebrity Apprentice” days, Heavy.com reported.
Back in 2013, Trump appeared on “Fox and Friends” and endorsed Rodman’s suggestion that former President Barack Obama and Kim have a phone call.
But when Rodman suggested that Trump take part in that dialogue, Trump called Rodman “delusional.” A year later, Trump tweeted that Rodman was “either drunk or on drugs (delusional)” when he suggested Trump should go with him to North Korea.
Now that Trump is president, he’s the one in charge, but will he turn to Rodman for advice, as he suggested Obama do?
As of now, Trump doesn’t seem to be in any kind of mood to talk with Kim and try to find common ground. Maybe Rodman should realize that by paying more attention to Trump’s recent tweets:
South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!
President Trump, a man of few allegiances who seized control of the Republican Party in a hostile takeover, suddenly aligned himself with Democrats Wednesday on a series of key fiscal issues — and even gave a lift to North Dakota’s embattled Democratic U.S. senator.
Trump confounded his own party’s leaders when he cut a deal with Democratic congressional leaders — “Chuck and Nancy,” as the president informally referred to them — on a short-term plan to fund the government and raise its borrowing limit this month.
Trump’s surprise stance upended sensitive negotiations over the debt ceiling and other crucial policy areas this fall and further imperiled his already tenuous relationships with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.).
The episode is the latest turn in Trump’s extraordinary separation from his own party, as he distances himself to deflect blame for what has been a year of gridlock and missed opportunities for Republicans on Capitol Hill. It follows a summer of presidential stewing over McConnell and Ryan, both of whom Trump views as insufficiently loyal and weak in executing his agenda, according to his advisers.
Trump made his position clear at a White House meeting with both parties’ congressional leaders, agreeing with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on plans for a bill to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling for three months.
That effectively postpones until December a divisive fight over fiscal matters, including whether to fund construction of Trump’s long-promised wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We had a very good meeting with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer,” Trump told reporters Wednesday aboard Air Force One as he traveled to North Dakota. “We agreed to a three-month extension on debt ceiling, which they consider to be sacred — very important — always we’ll agree on debt ceiling automatically because of the importance of it.”
In siding with Democrats, Trump overruled his own Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, who was in the middle of an explanation backing a longer-term increase when the president interrupted him and disagreed, according to a person briefed on the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Trump was “in deal-cutting mode,” the person said.
After the gathering, McConnell said he would add provisions extending government funding and the debt limit through mid-December to legislation passed by the House on Wednesday providing $7.85 billion in Hurricane Harvey relief.
“The president agreed with Senator Schumer and Congresswoman Pelosi to do a three-month [funding extension] and a debt ceiling into December, and that’s what I will be offering, based on the president’s decision, to the bill,” McConnell told reporters. “The president can speak for himself, but his feeling was that we needed to come together to not create a picture of divisiveness at a time of genuine national crisis.”
Trump also threw tacit support behind the Democrats’ push for a “dreamers” bill that would effectively formalize an Obama-era program shielding undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children from deportation.
Trump on Tuesday began phasing out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which GOP hard-liners regard as illegal amnesty, but suggested Wednesday that if Congress passed a dreamers bill he might sign it.
“Chuck and Nancy want to see something happen — and so do I,” Trump said.
Later in the day Wednesday, Trump brought a special guest with him to an oil refinery in Mandan, N.D., to pitch his tax-cuts plan: Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat facing a tough reelection in a solidly Republican state Trump carried in 2016 by 36 percentage points. He welcomed Heitkamp into his traveling delegation, affording her the chance to appear bipartisan by appearing alongside a president popular with North Dakotans.
As Heitkamp stepped onto an outdoor catwalk at the Mandan refinery to join him on stage, Trump delivered play-by-play commentary: “Everybody’s saying, ‘What’s she doing up here?’ But I’ll tell you what: Good woman.”
Trump opened his speech by recounting his “great bipartisan meeting” at the White House. “I’m committed to working with both parties to deliver for our wonderful, wonderful citizens,” Trump said, singling out Schumer and Pelosi by name before mentioning the Republicans who were in attendance.
“Everybody was happy,” Trump said of the meeting. “Not too happy, because you can never be too happy, but they were happy enough.”
By setting up another debt ceiling vote in December — a vote in which Republicans will almost certainly need Democratic help to avoid default — Democrats keep their seat at the table in this fall’s key policy debates.
Had Republicans followed through with their original plan, Democrats would have been stuck trying to extract concessions ahead of debt ceiling votes this week using an empty threat: voting against a legislative package that includes the politically sensitive Harvey aid. Democrats believe pushing the debt-limit debate into December will increase their leverage on several issues, including protection of dreamers and securing funds to help stabilize health-care markets.
Schumer and Pelosi also gained an edge by giving Democrats an aura of strategic command they have lacked since Trump’s election. Instead of McConnell claiming victory, it was Schumer who told reporters, “The nation can breathe a sigh of relief.”
The deal may also benefit Trump by allowing him to revive his threat to shut down the government over wall funding.
At the White House, Republican leaders pushed for an 18-month debt-limit hike, then floated doing a six-month extension, according to two aides briefed on the meeting. But Pelosi and Schumer dismissed the six-month proposal, and Trump then agreed to the three-month hike that Democrats put on the table.
McConnell and Ryan came out of the White House meeting in the weakest position — losing an opportunity to neutralize the debt-ceiling issue before the 2018 midterm elections and to exclude Democrats from major policy debates this fall.
The president’s decision came barely an hour after Ryan panned the idea of a short-term debt hike, accusing Democrats of “playing politics” with much-needed aid for Hurricane Harvey victims.
“I think that’s ridiculous and disgraceful that they want to play politics with the debt ceiling at this moment when we have fellow citizens in need, to respond to these hurricanes so we do not strand them,” Ryan told reporters.
Trump apparently disagreed.
“We essentially came to a deal, and I think the deal will be very good,” Trump said. “We had a very, very cordial and professional meeting.”
Not all Democrats were so thrilled with the deal. Some were upset it did not include protections for the estimated 800,000 Dreamers.
“So Trump attacks our dreamers and the next day the Democrats walk in there and say, ‘Oh, let’s just have a nice time-out,’ while they’re all suffering?” said Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-Ill.). “That is what is wrong with Democrats. They don’t stand up.”
Schumer said he was not finished advocating for Dreamers. “This is not a trade-off for us,” he said. “This is a very important issue that we’re going to fight hard for until we get it done.”
The fiscal agreement would likely force Congress to vote on the debt ceiling by Dec. 15. Negotiators were still working out details late Wednesday, and it is unclear whether the Treasury Department would have flexibility to avoid default after that date. Typically, the department can use emergency steps to avoid default for several months past any debt-ceiling deadline.
The short-term extensions for the debt ceiling and government funding are also expected to further cloud the prospects for enacting major tax cuts, Trump’s top domestic priority. They effectively mean spending and budget fights will continue for months, just as the GOP was hoping to coalesce around a plan to cut taxes.
Trump tried to rally support for his tax plan in North Dakota.
“Anybody that’s going to vote against tax cuts and tax reforms — whether it’s in North Dakota or anybody else or any place else — you’ve gotta vote against them and get them out of office, because it’s so, it is so bad,” Trump said, pausing so that the crowd could cheer. “This is not a close one.”
The White House meeting took place just as the House approved the Harvey aid package, its first major order of business after the August recess.
The measure — providing $7.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $450 million for a disaster loan program for small businesses — passed 419 to 3, with 12 members not voting. Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Justin Amash (R-Mich.) and Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) voted no. It now moves to the Senate, where leaders plan to hold a vote by the end of the week.
Top House Republicans barely veiled their frustration with Trump’s decision to side with Democrats on the debt ceiling. House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) said he “would have not tied the knot so tight” for December, saying an extension till at least February would have been better, but he carefully avoided criticizing Trump.
“We all do it differently,” Sessions said. “I think it was an overly generous answer that he gave our friends the Democrats. But I’m not going to be critical of my president. I support my president.”
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, was among those who warned that Democrats’ short-term debt-limit request could threaten GOP efforts to cut spending.
“Obviously getting a [continuing resolution] and the debt ceiling to not come due at the same time would be the most prudent fiscal decision we could make,” Meadows told reporters.
Rucker reported from Mandan, N.D. Damian Paletta, Abby Phillip, Paul Kane and Jenna Johnson in Washington contributed to this report.
Ellis Cerda hangs storm shutters at Boutique Chrisnelia, a clothing shop, on Tuesday in San Juan, P.R. Credit
Erika P. Rodriguez for The New York Times
This is an overview of Hurricane Irma, reported by journalists throughout the region. To see their latest dispatches from places hit by the storm, go to our live updates.
SAN JUAN, P.R. — Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms ever recorded, battered the islands of the northeast Caribbean early Wednesday, leaving severe damage in its wake as it barreled toward the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Irma, a Category 5 storm packing winds of up to 185 miles an hour, first made landfall at 2 a.m. on Barbuda, and later in the morning passed directly over St. Martin, the National Hurricane Center reported. There were reports of flooding, major damage to buildings, and severed electricity and phone service on those islands and Saint Barthélemy and Anguilla.
The four “most durable” buildings on St. Martin were destroyed, the French interior minister, Gérard Collomb, said at a cabinet meeting in Paris, “which means that in all likelihood the more rustic buildings are probably totally or partially destroyed.”
In the afternoon, the heart of the storm passed over the British Virgin Islands, the Hurricane Center reported. At 2 p.m., the hurricane’s eye was seven miles northwest of Road Town, capital of the territory, and 20 miles northeast of St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
As the hurricane continued to move west-northwest, it was projected to rake northeast Puerto Rico later in the day, with the core of the storm remaining over water north of the island.
Devastating storm surges were expected to put parts of Turks and Caicos and the southern islands of the Bahamas 15 to 20 feet underwater on Thursday.
The storm is one of the strongest ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the center and to Bryan Norcross, a hurricane specialist at the Weather Channel. There have been, however, storms with comparable winds in the Caribbean or the Gulf of Mexico, where warm waters can fuel particularly dangerous hurricanes.
Late Tuesday, wind gusts of around 50 miles an hour arrived in Antigua and Barbuda but picked up significant strength as the center of the storm swirled several dozen miles offshore. The authorities cut off power on those islands before midnight, forcing many residents to listen to the latest forecasts on transistor radios in the darkness.
Residents throughout the Caribbean scrambled on Tuesday to rush out of possible flood zones, stock up on water, food and gas, shutter their homes and brace for what is now, and could remain, a Category 5 hurricane. On Antigua, many residents were spending the night in nearly 40 shelters because of concerns that their homes, even when boarded up, would topple in the destructive winds.
“We have to prepare for an event that we have never experienced here,” Gov. Ricardo Rosselló of Puerto Rico said earlier on Tuesday, calling the hurricane’s arrival imminent and its potential catastrophic.
Irma threatens havoc and widespread destruction across Puerto Rico, a United States territory of 3.4 million people, the island of Hispaniola (home to the Dominican Republic and Haiti), Antigua, St. Kitts and Nevis, and the United States Virgin Islands, among others. Cuba is also threatened.
President Trump declared a state of emergency in Puerto Rico, Florida and the United States Virgin Islands on Tuesday.
Video
Hurricane Irma Pummels Caribbean
One of the strongest Atlantic storms ever recorded has already caused damage on several islands.
By CAMILLA SCHICK on Publish Date September 6, 2017.
Photo by Rinsy Xieng/RCI Guadeloupe, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images.
With Harvey’s destruction still fresh on people’s minds, Florida hustled into action. Gov. Rick Scott activated the state National Guard to help with hurricane preparations, and he suspended highway tolls. On Monday, the governor declared a state of emergency and spoke with Mr. Trump, who offered “the full resources of the federal government,” Mr. Scott wrote on Twitter.
Most of the latest projections have Irma making landfall in Florida by Sunday, although it is unclear where exactly that might happen.
The Florida Keys, an especially vulnerable chain of islands, moved quickly to prepare for crushing winds and possible flooding. On Wednesday, schools will be closed and mandatory evacuations will begin, county officials said. The Keys’ three hospitals started evacuating patients on Tuesday.
Miami-Dade, the state’s largest county, announced that schools would close on Thursday and officials began putting emergency plans into place.
But Puerto Rico and the northern Leeward Islands are expected to be hit before that. It has been nearly a century since Puerto Rico was hit by a Category 5 storm, Mr. Norcross of the Weather Channel said.
Puerto Rican officials have warned that the island’s fragile electrical grid could be shut down for days, weeks or even months in some areas. In his news conference, Mr. Rosselló and emergency officials warned that with such powerful winds expected to thrash the island, infrastructure, houses and the phone system would inevitably be damaged.
For Puerto Rico, the hurricane could not have come at a worse time. The island is in the throes of an economic crisis and does not have money for a long rebuilding process.
“This is not going to be easy,” said Héctor Pesquera, the superintendent of public security in Puerto Rico.
Abner Gómez Cortés, the head of Puerto Rico’s emergency agency, warned that coastal zones were particular vulnerable — not so much because of rain, as with Harvey — but because of storm surges of up to 20 feet.
On Tuesday, the lines for fast-dwindling gas, food, water and hardware seemed interminable and anxiety mounted. One hardware store in San Juan had been nearly picked clean by afternoon.
“This has been like this for the last three days,” said Juan Carlos Ramirez, the store manager. “We’ve sold all of the most necessary items — flashlight, batteries, plywood.”
People standing in line said one of their biggest worries was the expected loss of electricity for long periods. “The infrastructure can’t cope with a hurricane,” Ashley Albelo, a shopper, said.
Outside a Sears, Maria Ruiz could not help but remember Hurricanes Hugo and George, which badly damaged Puerto Rico. “Destruction,” she said. “That is what we can expect based on past experiences, and it’s already a Category 5.’’
Similar fears were apparent on nearby islands. In Antigua, southeast of Puerto Rico, many businesses were closed. Supermarkets were overrun and gas stations were packed.
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Shoppers stocked up on supplies at Walmart in San Juan on Tuesday. Credit
Erika P. Rodriguez for The New York Times
Some island residents sounded stoic and battle-tested. In Guadeloupe, Coralice Line, who was attending the front desk at the Le Creole Beach Hotel Spa, said she was not particularly distressed. “We are not too worried because we are accustomed to it,” she said by phone from the hotel. “Hurricanes are part of life in the Caribbean islands.”
At the Sugar Bay Club hotel in St. Kitts and Nevis, Ophelia Gardiner, the front-desk supervisor, said that while some guests had fled the island on an American Airlines flight, others had decided to stay and ride out the storm.
“Everything is boarded up and put away and all we have to do is wait and see what happens,” Ms. Gardiner said. She laughed nervously. “I don’t know how you can prepare for a hurricane of that magnitude but we’re doing our best.”
In Miami-Dade County, which is still haunted by the ferocity and wreckage of Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 storm, residents worried and began to prepare earlier than usual. For some, a sense of panic began to set in. Many hotels across Florida had already been booked for the weekend by hurricane-wary residents. Most stores had run out of water, flashlights and other key supplies. Gas stations ran out of fuel.
Hurricane Harvey in Texas also weighed heavily on people’s minds.
“I think because of Texas, people are freaking out,” said Yoseyn Ramos, 24, a Miami resident who said she was worried because she could not find gas anywhere.
In Brickell, a Miami neighborhood that abuts both the Atlantic and the Miami River, Lucas Mattout, 22, was dashing around Publix supermarket looking for water. “They are all sold out,” he said. “Of course, with Harvey, no one wants to take a chance.”
Every storm, though, has its rebels. Jose Fonseca, 52, a Coral Gables resident who works at the Mandarin Oriental on Brickell Key, said he had not done or bought anything to prepare for the storm.
“I think people are panicking because of the news from Texas day after day,” he said. “I will buy some water.” Then, he added, “And some beer of course.”
Correction: September 6, 2017
Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article misidentified the island where Hurricane Irma made landfall. It was Barbuda, not Bermuda.
A North Carolina man accused of killing his wife after he told a 911 dispatcher that he thought he committed the crime after taking too much cold medicine could potentially receive the death penalty if convicted, a judge told him today.
Matthew Phelps, 28, who is charged with one count of murder for allegedly fatally stabbing his 29-year-old wife, made his first appearance in a Wake County court this afternoon, but he has not yet entered a plea. A judge told the defendant that, if convicted, he could potentially receive the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole.
ABC News has reached out to Phelps’ attorney, Joseph Cheshire, for comment but did not immediately hear back.
His next court date is set for Sept. 25.
Early Friday morning, police say Phelps called 911 and told the dispatcher, “I had a dream and then I turned on the lights and she’s dead on the floor.”
“I have blood all over me and there’s a bloody knife on the bed,” Phelps said. “I think I did it.”
“I can’t believe this,” he said.
The Raleigh Police Department released the audio from the 911 call but redacted some information and altered the caller’s voice.
Phelps told 911, “I took more medicine than I should have.” He said he “took Coricidin Cough Cold,” explaining, “a lot of times I can’t sleep at night.”
The dispatcher asked if the victim was awake, and Phelps responded, “She’s not breathing. Oh my God.”
The dispatcher asked if the victim was beyond help, and Phelps replied, “I don’t know. I’m too scared to get too close to her. … I’m so scared.”
Sobbing, Phelps said, “She didn’t deserve this.”
Officers responded and found his wife, Lauren Phelps, with stab wounds. She was hospitalized and later died.
The family of Lauren Phelps, whose maiden name was Hugelmaier, said in a statement, “Lauren was all about her family.
Courtesy Lauren Hugelmaier family An undated photo of Lauren Phelps (maiden name Hugelmaier).
“Her four nephews were her whole world. Church was a priority for her. Lauren volunteered and loved the children and youth ministry. She enjoyed fashion and loved finding great deals at Target. Lauren loved her dog, Cooper, like he was her child. She was a very special person to everyone who knew her. The family requests privacy as they cope with this unbearable tragedy.”
According to ABC Durham station WTVD, the couple had been married since last year.
Bayer, the makers of Coricidin, said in a statement, “Bayer extends our deepest sympathies to this family.”
“Patient safety is our top priority, and we continually monitor adverse events regarding all of our products,” Bayer said, adding, “There is no evidence to suggest that Coricidin is associated with violent behavior.”
ABC News’ Doug Lantz and Carrie Stewart contributed to this report.
The Red Sox responded in kind on Tuesday, filing a complaint against the Yankees, claiming that the team uses a camera from its television network, YES, exclusively to steal signs during games.
It is unclear what penalties, if any, Commissioner Rob Manfred will issue against the Red Sox and whether he will order a more expansive investigation to determine the extent of the Red Sox’ sign-stealing system. It is also unclear how he will proceed with the countercomplaint.
Pat Courtney, a spokesman for Major League Baseball, declined to comment on the case. Attempts to reach the Red Sox were not successful. A Yankees official declined to comment on the Red Sox’ claim regarding the YES camera.
Stealing signs is believed to be most effective when there is a runner on second base who can watch what hand signals the catcher is using to communicate with the pitcher and then relay to the batter any clues about what type of pitch may be coming. Such tactics are allowed as long as long as teams do not use any methods beyond their eyes. Binoculars and electronic devices are prohibited to communicate about signs.
In recent years, as cameras have proliferated in major-league ballparks, teams have begun using the abundance of video to help them discern opponents’ signs. Some clubs have had clubhouse attendants quickly relay information to the dugout from personnel monitoring video.
With that approach, the information has to be rushed to the dugout on foot so it can be passed to the runner on second base. The Red Sox seemed to shorten the communication chain — and more quickly get the information to their batters — by sending information electronically to people in the dugout.
The Red Sox told league investigators that team personnel scanning instant-replay video were sending the pitch signs electronically to the trainers, who were then passing the information to the players.
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As part of the inquiry, baseball investigators have interviewed the Red Sox team trainers and outfielder Chris Young, a former Yankees player. The Red Sox told league investigators that the team’s manager, John Farrell, general manager, Dave Dombrowski, and other front-office officials were not aware of the sign-stealing operation, the people said.
In the first game of the series in question, the first time the Red Sox got a runner on second was Xander Bogaerts, in the second inning. Rafael Devers promptly hit a home run, giving the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. The Red Sox went 5 for 8 in the first game when they had a man on second.
Their success when they had a runner on second in the other two games was mixed: 1 for 6 in the second game; and 3 for 10 in the third game.
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Yankees pitcher Sonny Gray pitching in the first inning against the Red Sox on Aug. 20. The Red Sox won that game, 5-1. Credit
Adam Glanzman/Getty Images
The video provided to the commissioner’s office by the Yankees was captured during the first two games of the series and included at least three clips. In the clips, the team’s assistant athletic trainer, Jon Jochim, is seen looking at his Apple Watch and then passing information to outfielder Brock Holt and second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who was injured at the time but in uniform. In one instance, Pedroia is then seen passing the information to Young.
The Red Sox’ tactics will add to their intense rivalry with the Yankees, who closely trail them in the standings. Outside of New England, the case will be reminiscent of the Spygate controversy that erupted a decade ago when the world-beating Patriots were found to have violated N.F.L. rules by spying on opponents to gain an edge.
Mr. Manfred is in a difficult position as he decides how to discipline the team and whether to continue investigating to try to determine if the Red Sox violated rules in other games this season and whether Farrell and other team personnel knew about the scheme.
A decade ago, the N.F.L. commissioner, Roger Goodell, hastily took away a first-round draft pick and fined the Patriots and their coach, Bill Belichick, before conducting a thorough investigation. When more evidence of cheating later emerged, Goodell was accused of trying to minimize the damage and protect one of the sport’s premiere franchises. Congress eventually got involved.
In baseball, the most infamous incident involving sign stealing played out in 1951, when the New York Giants overcame a 13 and one- half game deficit in the standings over the final two months of the season to catch the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Giants went on to beat the Dodgers in a playoff for the pennant when Bobby Thomson hit a home run remembered as the “ Shot Heard Round the World.” Fifty years later, The Wall Street Journal revealed that the Giants had spies in the center-field clubhouse at the Polo Grounds who used a telescope to steal signs from the opposing catcher, which were then relayed to Giants’ players from a backup player in the bullpen.
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In 1997, teams accused the Mets of planting small cameras near home plate in Shea Stadium to spy on catchers. The Mets denied that they had used the cameras to try to steal signs, and the league did not take any action.
More recently, the Philadelphia Phillies faced sign-stealing accusations in 2011, when they were one of the best teams in baseball. Several teams logged complaints with the commissioner’s office that the team used binoculars and other unauthorized methods to steal signs. The Phillies were never sanctioned by Major League Baseball.
Some in baseball would like for Mr. Manfred to take away some of Boston’s victories, a move that would be highly unusual. Others believe that a significant fine and the docking of draft picks would be sufficient.
MOSCOW — In biting remarks, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed Russia’s diplomatic row with the United States on Tuesday, saying Moscow could further cut U.S. diplomatic staffing in Russia and calling U.S. searches of a Russian consulate and other diplomatic properties “boorish.”
“It is hard to conduct a dialogue with people who confuse Austria with Australia, but there is nothing we can do about this. It seems to be the level of political culture in a certain part of the U.S. establishment,” Putin said in his first public statements on the diplomatic dispute that has been deepening since Washington announced the closure of Russia’s consulate in San Francisco, as well as diplomatic properties housing trade missions in New York and Washington.
The comments came during a news conference at an economic summit in the Chinese city of Xiamen. Putin repeated boilerplate language about how he and President Trump each defended their national interests, but he laced his remarks with bitter jokes.
Putin swatted away a question about whether he was “disappointed” with Trump, calling it “naive.”
Trump “is not my bride. I am not his bride, nor his groom. We are running our governments,” Putin told a reporter at the economic summit, which hosted leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Trump spoke glowingly of Putin while on the campaign trail and said he would usher in a period of detente between the two countries. That has largely been derailed by allegations about Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
The United States said the closures of Russian diplomatic property would achieve “parity” in the countries’ respective diplomatic missions, a word borrowed from the Russian side, which cut the U.S. diplomatic mission by 755 employees in July.
Yet the series of tit-for-tat expulsions and punishments seems unlikely to end there, and Russia says it is weighing options. In his remarks, Putin said he had ordered the Russian Foreign Ministry to file a lawsuit in U.S. courts over the seizure of the Russian properties in the United States.
“Strictly speaking, the full parity does not mean 455 U.S. diplomats stationed in Moscow but minus 155 more,” Putin said. “So, we reserve the right to make a decision regarding this number of U.S. diplomats in Moscow. We will not be doing it so far.”
Putin also blasted calls for Russia to join sanctions against North Korea shortly after the United States slapped Russia itself with broad financial sanctions.
Without directly naming the United States, he said that putting pressure on North Korea would be pointless. North Korea would “eat grass but will not stop this program unless it feels safe,” he said.
“The escalation of military hysteria will not do any good. It may lead to a planetary catastrophe and a colossal casualty rate. There is no other way to resolve the North Korean nuclear problem but peacefully and diplomatically,” Putin said. North Korea on Sunday tested what it called a hydrogen bomb that the country’s leaders say can be mounted on a missile capable of reaching the United States.
Trump has previously said that “all options are on the table” concerning U.S. retaliation should North Korea target the United States or any of its overseas territories, including Guam.
In New York, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres on Tuesday urged the members of the U.N. Security Council and the five countries that have negotiated with North Korea in the past — including Russia and the United States — to come together with a united strategy to get Pyongyang to negotiate the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
“The solution must be political,” Guterres said. “The potential consequences of military action are too horrific.”
He condemned Pyongyang for defying the international community and recklessly risking the lives of its citizens.
Carol Morello contributed reporting from Washington.
This story has been updated with the latest National Hurricane Center forecast and model information through 5 p.m. eastern.
Hurricane Irma is an “extremely dangerous” Category 5, barreling toward the northern Lesser Antilles and Southern Florida. It’s already the strongest hurricane ever recorded outside the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, and it’s likely to make landfall somewhere in Florida over the weekend.
If it does, the impact could be catastrophic.
The storm is life-threatening for the United States, including Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and the southeastern Bahamas. Hurricane warnings have been issued for the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos. A hurricane watch covers Haiti and the southeastern Bahamas.
With maximum winds of 185 mph, Irma is tied for the second strongest storm ever observed in the Atlantic.
The hurricane is expected to remain at least a Category 4 for the next few days with minor fluctuations in intensity. It could even become slightly stronger, but has neared the theoretical limit for how strong it can get given ocean temperatures.
It cannot be overstated that Hurricane Irma is extremely dangerous and will produce the full gamut of hurricane hazards across the Caribbean and potentially in South Florida, including a devastating storm surge, destructive winds and dangerous flash flooding.
All of Florida — especially South Florida and the Keys — should be preparing for a major hurricane landfall on Sunday. Tropical-storm-force winds are expected to arrive as soon as Friday.
(National Hurricane Center)
Mainland U.S. landfall threat
Computer models are in strong agreement that by Saturday, Irma will be approaching the Florida Keys — where dangerous storm conditions are likely. Then, they show a sharp northward turn by Sunday morning. The precise timing and location of the turn has huge implications for Florida.
Group of model simulations or ensemble members from the European (red) and American (blue) computer models. (StormVistaWxModels.com)
It is impossible to say with certainty whether Irma will track up along the eastern side of the Florida peninsula, the western side, or straight up the peninsula. Since the weekend, models have generally shifted westward with the storm’s forecast track, which means interests along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico should also closely monitor this storm.
For a major hurricane, the exact track of the storm’s eyewall — the zone surrounding its calm center — is critical as it will determine where the most severe effects tend to concentrate. The most violent winds coincide with the eyewall, and the biggest storm surge occurs just to its right (or north).
But as Irma is such a large and powerful hurricane, very dangerous weather will also occur up to 200 miles away from the eyewall — including coastal surge, flooding rains and potentially damaging winds.
“The hurricane force winds in Irma are wider than Florida,” tweeted Bryan Norcross, hurricane specialist at the Weather Channel. “You won’t need a direct hit to get Wilma-type winds storm surge on both coasts.”
Beyond the weekend, the scenarios really depend on which side of Florida it tracks. But for now, it’s safe to say that the southeast United States, including the Florida panhandle, Georgia and the Carolinas, should also brace for potential impacts, such as flash flooding, storm surge and strong winds.
Impact on the Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico
At 5 p.m. Tuesday, the powerhouse storm was positioned 130 miles east of the island of Antigua in the northern Leewards, where it is forecast to make a direct impact early Wednesday. The storm was moving westward at 15 miles per hour and the Hurricane Center warned weather conditions would soon deteriorate.
Destructive winds as well as heavy rain (8 to 12 inches with isolated amounts of 20 inches) that can produce flash flooding and mudslides are possible in the warning areas. Along the coast, the storm surge height – or rise in water above normally dry air – could reach 7-11 feet – especially just north of the storm center.
Irma is likely to become the strongest hurricane on record to hit the Leeward Islands, even more intense than David, which raked across the central Leeward Islands in 1979. “David was a horrible hurricane for Leeward Islands: 56 fatalities in Dominica,” tweeted Phil Klotzbach, hurricane expert at Colorado State University.
Antigua, Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Anguilla — in particular — are right in the path of the storm.
Areas affected by the core winds near the storm’s eye face devastating wind destruction. The Hurricane Center provides this description of the damage inflicted by Category 5 winds:
A high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.
After passing the northern Leeward Islands, the hurricane will strike the British Virgin Islands with potentially catastrophic effects.
The U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico may remain south of the storm’s center, so less prone to Irma’s most hostile conditions. But even so, damaging winds and torrential rains are likely along with a significant storm surge at the coast.
Irma’s place in history
Irma’s peak intensity so far ranks among the strongest in recorded history, exceeding the likes of Katrina, Andrew and Camille – whose winds peaked at 175 mph.
Among the most intense storms on record, it only trails Hurricane Allen in 1980 which had winds of 190 miles per hour. It is tied for second most intense with Hurricane Wilma in 2005, Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 and the 1935 Florida Keys hurricane.
Here’s where #Irma currently ranks on the list of strongest Atlantic Hurricanes on record. Oddly high pressure compared to the others. pic.twitter.com/sD0m7h3tDW
If Irma makes landfall as a Category 4 or higher in the United States, joining Hurricane Harvey, it will become the first time two storms so strong struck the United States in the same season.
Tropical Storm Jose forms in eastern Atlantic
While all attention is on Hurricane Irma, Tropical Storm Jose formed in the eastern Atlantic Tuesday morning. This storm is also predicted to intensify into a hurricane over the coming days, but the latest track forecast keeps it away from land areas for the most part.
President Trump’s decision to cancel DACA, an executive-branch program giving work permits to illegal immigrants who arrived as minors, is a huge gamble. If the Republican caucus tries to pass a stand-alone fix along the lines of the DREAM Act (which would give full legal status to those covered by DACA), it could be in a lose-lose situation: Either it will succeed and infuriate the GOP base, or it will fail, as numerous attempts to pass the DREAM Act have in the past. If, however, the caucus unifies around a deal trading the DREAM Act for center-right immigration reforms, it could advance conservative policy goals and strengthen its political hand.
Attempting to pass a stand-alone DREAM Act is a massive political trap for Republicans. If the bill succeeds, it could cause a backlash from the Republican grassroots, who would perceive Republicans in Congress as putting a greater priority on amnestying illegal immigrants than on increasing enforcement or reforming legal immigration so that it is more sustainable. Activists might be particularly piqued to see the DREAM Act glide to passage while the reform of the Affordable Care Act languishes. Passing a stand-alone DREAM Act could also fuel more rancorous primary battles and potentially suppress turnout in 2018, especially in crucial battles. For instance, if Arizona’s Jeff Flake hopes to survive reelection, he’ll need a substantial turnout from the Republican base in both the primary and general elections.
But trying to pass the DREAM Act and failing would invite its own political dangers. Polling shows that many Americans are open to granting legal status to those who came illegally as minors. The media, with an assist from some Republicans, will provide a drumbeat of stories showing the plight of especially sympathetic “DREAMers.” In certain key races, the failure of the DREAM Act could be a wedge issue. Especially now that the president rather than the courts has ended DACA, Republicans own the decision, which puts more political pressure on them to find a replacement.
Thus, a stand-alone DREAM Act hurts Republicans whether it succeeds or fails. In a politically polarized time, depressing the grassroots probably harms the GOP’s midterm chances more than disappointing some swing voters does, but both inflict a cost.
Perhaps the surest way to mitigate these political dangers is to bundle the DREAM Act with immigration reforms that measurably advance conservative goals on immigration. What would these conservative goals be? One would be improving immigration enforcement. But an enforcement-only approach to immigration misses the broader importance of reforming the structure of the legal-immigration system. As Reihan Salam has suggested, conservatives should try to reform the immigration system so that it helps immigrants become equal partners in American society and ameliorates rather than exacerbates social divisions. Revising the legal-immigration system so that it prioritizes skills and the nuclear family would seem a crucial step in that direction.
If Republicans can package the DREAM Act with immigration policies that appeal to populist voters, they can reinvigorate their base without alienating swing voters. Moreover, they would show that they can govern.
However, some difficulties face any prospective DACA deal. The first is the exact constitution of this deal. Trading the DREAM Act for some funds for border security — even some funds for fencing — should be viewed as a bad deal. The fact that some in the federal judiciary have discovered a Trump exception to the Constitution (in which President Trump’s actions are subject to unique constitutional scrutiny) means that there is no guarantee that a funded portion of border fencing would actually be built. Lawsuits would spring up to frustrate any effort to erect that fencing, and a member of the judicial “resistance” could stymie the project for years. Moreover, border security does not begin to address the challenges of illegal immigration. A substantial percentage of illegal immigrants crossed the border legally at first — according to a recent report by the Center for Migration Studies, as many as two-thirds of recent illegal immigrants are visa overstayers. No matter how high, no wall will address this problem. This means that merely trading border security for the DREAM Act could be a substantial strategic mistake.
In terminating DACA, President Trump has invited this political battle, so the White House has a particular responsibility to be measured and careful in the way it talks about immigration.
Instead, Republicans might be wise to push for both enforcement and immigration-reform commitments in a DACA deal. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton has offered a plausible framework for this deal: the RAISE Act and universal E-Verify for the DREAM Act. The first would reduce “chain migration” and thus make it easier to make a deal on legalizing illegal immigrants (because newly legalized immigrants wouldn’t be able to sponsor an ever-growing “chain” of relatives); the second would put in place a sustainable mechanism for internal enforcement, requiring all employers to verify the immigration status of their workers. Compromises could be made within that framework; for instance, a first pass of legal-immigration reform might cut only some family preferences in favor of increased skills-based visas. But many grassroots voters would accept a trade of the DREAM Act for an improved enforcement infrastructure and a more integration-oriented immigration system.
Many Senate Democrats up for reelection in 2018 would be hard pressed to vote against such a deal. Voting against increased enforcement and moderate legal-immigration reform could cause a reelection headache for senators such as Claire McCaskill and Heidi Heitkamp — making the DREAM Act part of that package would only increase the political pressure. Republicans have a better-than-decent chance of getting to 60 Senate votes to overcome a filibuster on an immigration package if they maintain a unified front and insist that the only way to get to the DREAM Act is through a deal that includes enforcement and legal-immigration reform.
In many ways, the ball is in the court of the immigration maximalists in the GOP: those pro-business Republicans who prioritize increased immigration, whether legal or illegal, over other immigration-policy concerns. If Senate Democrats sense that the Republican caucus is divided, Democrats — not Republicans — will be in the driver’s seat on immigration. Starting with 48 senators in their caucus, the Democrats need help from 12 of the 52 Republicans to hit 60 votes, not too different from the situation facing Republicans, who need eight Democrats. As long as Republican immigration maximalists express a willingness to pass a stand-alone DREAM Act, they give more policy leverage to the Democrats, who would very much love for Republicans to be consumed in a battle about the DREAM Act. Likewise, the more resistance maximalists offer to increased enforcement or legal-immigration reform, the harder they make it for Republicans to deliver for conservative priorities in a DREAM Act deal. If Republican immigration maximalists are willing to compromise and accept moderate reforms to the immigration system, they can strengthen the hand of their fellow Republicans and help grant citizenship to DREAMers. If they refuse to compromise, they risk torpedoing their fellow Republicans in 2018.
But immigration maximalists are not the only players here. In terminating DACA, President Trump has invited this political battle, so the White House has a particular responsibility to be measured and careful in the way it talks about immigration. Polarizing statements will only make it harder to enact center-right immigration reform.
In their botched effort at health-care reform, Republicans both disappointed the grassroots (no repeal despite many pledges of repeal) and frightened swing voters (with bills making large cuts to health-care subsidies). On immigration, Republicans can avoid making the same mistakes. But they will have to forgo open-borders bromides and instead realize that the health of the nation — and conservatism — depends upon strengthened bonds of civic trust and opportunity.
— Fred Bauer is a writer from New England. He blogs at A Certain Enthusiasm.
