President Donald Trump will be making a widely anticipated announcement on the government shutdown and border crisis from the White House today.  The speech will likely outline a proposal to end the partial government shutdown.
The president is anticipated to outline a proposal for $5.7 billion for physical border security in exchange for “The Bridge Act” which would extend protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and legislation to extend the legal status of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders.  Anticipated start time 4:00pm EST.
UPDATE: Video Added

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A big day for geopolitical moves.

Earlier today President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean Minister Kim Yong Chol held a 90 minute meeting at the White House discussing ongoing talks and negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea.

Following the meeting the White House announced there would be a second summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un:

“President Donald J. Trump met with Kim Yong Chol for an hour and half, to discuss denuclearization and a second summit, which will take place near the end of February. The President looks forward to meeting with Chairman Kim at a place to be announced at a later date.”  (link)

(Via Fox News) […] The face-to-face came after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Kim Yong-chol, North Korea’s lead negotiator, in the nation’s capital early Friday morning to negotiate terms that could lead to a second nuclear summit between Trump and Pyongyang leader Kim Jong-un.

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President Trump tweeted he will be making a “major announcement” on border security and the partial government shutdown tomorrow at 3:00pm EST:

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in Reagan International Airport, heading out of town, at the time the announcement was made:
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While the media banter relentlessly about their latest resistance angle du jour; it is perhaps a more beneficial discussion to remind and outline the larger strategy at play. Honing the political skills.
The baseline here is that everything the institutional-left does, is sequential and planned. This is what they do.  This is all they do.  None of the characters within the institutions of professional leftism create anything; build anything; have a life purpose for anything, other than organizing their efforts to exploit control of others via politics.  This is all they know how to do.  When you develop your skills to see their patterns you can then see the predictability behind it.

Prior Example: Former FBI Director James Comey briefs president-elect Trump on the two-page salacious dossier aspect; Former DNI James Clapper, knowing the briefing, then discusses the dossier briefing with CNN… this opens the door for the media who are waiting. Once the narrative door is opened, Buzzfeed enters and transmits the story of the unfounded and uncorroborated Steele Dossier. The key point to understand is that everything from the briefing, to Clapper, to CNN, to Buzzfeed, was scripted and planned. This is the pattern. As we have mentioned the pattern becomes predictable.
This predictability is how CTH was able to state in December 2018 that Michael Cohen would most likely be the centerpiece of the first ‘impeachment’ block; and from knowing how the script rolls, CTH was able to predict the exact timing (Thursday after Superbowl, 2/7/19); and the exact committee (Cummings, House Oversight); for the first hearing that will exploit Michael Cohen.
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Yesterday legislative Democrats ran out of Washington DC for an eleven day recess.  Part of the reason for their pre-scheduled exit was their desire to avoid being surrounded by tens-of-thousands of faith-based Americans who show up annually for the March for Life.
March for Life is a cause that celebrates and defends the ultimate right; the first right; the most human of all inherent human rights,…  the right to live.
Vice President Mike Pence, Second Lady Karen Pence and United States President Donald Trump deliver a strong testimonial of support for our First Right:

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President Trump stops military aircraft availability for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just minutes ahead of a previously scheduled foreign trip.  Read below:
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Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer met privately with AG nominee William Barr earlier today.  At the conclusion of the meeting Senator Schumer addresses the media.
Schumer appears conflicted and confused as to how to describe his own highly political desires with the answers he received from Mr. Barr.  It does not appear Schumer was pleased with his overall inability to leverage control over the nominee; and that comes out in the early part of his statement.  That’s a good sign.  Watch:

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The issue of how Mr. Barr would produce a summary document about the completed Mueller investigation is an aspect that deserves some clarity and discussion.
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Amid the ongoing partial government shutdown; and with the unwillingness of Democrats to negotiate on border security funding; and coming on the heels of a massive Puerto Rico junket funded by K-Street lobbyists; it may have been a bridge-too-far for Democrats to start another eleven day vacation on Thursday…..  So they cancelled it, sort of.
House Leader Steny Hoyer technically cancelled (in writing only) the recess (to keep the talking points out of the hands of the opposition), while factually telling membership to go ahead and take the vacation but be prepared to return if needed.

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Everything you need to know about political Democrats is in that interview. •Kate Bourdain never interrupts the talking points. •Hoyer focuses on the optics of politics and maximum political value, not actual policy. •Hoyer frames the narrative without pushback.
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President Trump’s AG nominee William Barr testifies to the Senate Judiciary Committee about his legal views and perspectives.  Overall post-testimonial punditry converges on the outlook Mr. Barr will be easily confirmed with broad bipartisan support.
Rather than agree or disagree with various opinions CTH is providing a full video of the Barr hearing below with a recap video as presented by Global News:

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My own personal view is that William Barr will likely reset the DOJ ‘status quo‘ to the institutional construct that existed prior to the Obama DOJ (Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch) era. That is to say: Barr will attempt to remove obvious weaponization and overt political motives behind every action taken by the U.S. Justice Department.
However, it also appears the most purposeful goal for Mr. Barr, in direct alignment with his close personal friend Robert Mueller, will be the preservation of the DOJ institution as a historic apparatus. That “preserve-the-institution” at all costs means Barr will necessarily have to bury any/all systemic corruption to achieve a larger institutional goal.
I Do not anticipate Barr will deliver any sunlight to expose how badly corrupted the DOJ has become. Instead he’ll likely apply bondo to cover the rot and apply a fresh coat of paint.
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Well, here we are again; another leaked transcript, this time from DOJ Official Bruce Ohr. And as with the prior two transcript leaks, we don’t get the raw information.  So let me first, necessarily, reassert our CTH position on these “leaks”.
Leaking is bad, period; in all directions. Because *leaking* is simply a method, a mechanism, to direct and control the focus of sunlight upon illicit action. Regardless of whether you support or oppose the message within any individual leak; the leak itself does not expose corruption…. only full and unfiltered information can expose corruption.  That means we need the actual raw transcripts to make determinations for ourselves.
As a factual standard for honesty and sunlight, CTH would never describe a transcript where we could not provide the reader with the raw and underlying material.  We have held this standard for many years; most of you know that. The truth has no agenda.

That said, someone is leaking congressional transcripts and a current tug-of-war exists between two opposing narrative engineers.  The heavily promoted New York Times article last Friday, was based on leaks of James Baker Transcripts, from sources who were responding to the leaks from other sources that were given to the Epoch Times.   Each side in the DOJ/FBI corruption story is currently leaking to advance their interests.
Three congressional committees have requested the release of witness transcripts.  HPSCI via Devin Nunes (September 2018); and the joint House Judiciary/Oversight committee (December 2018).  Congressional allies of President Trump (Nunes, Jordan, Meadows and Collins) are being blocked by corrupt cabinet members within the current administration.
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