UPDATE: Transcript Added Below – Following a joint U.S. and Japan Security Conference on North Korea, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis hold a joint press conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori.
The primary topic within the conference is the security of Japan and the ongoing issues with North Korea.  However, Secretary Tillerson also gave remarks on Barcelona and questions surrounding comments made yesterday by Mr. Stephen Bannon from the White House.

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[Transcript] SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, good afternoon. I’d like to start by acknowledging the incident in Barcelona which has the hallmarks, it appears, of yet another terrorist attack. We offer our condolences to the loss of life and the injuries that have occurred to so many innocent people yet again. We will continue to monitor the situation. We stand ready to assist law enforcement, national security authorities in Spain. Our consulates in Barcelona and our entire Mission Spain team are currently assisting Americans in Spain who are affected by these events. We ask U.S. citizens in the area to let your loved ones know you are safe. Terrorists around the world should know the United States and our allies are resolved to find you and bring you to justice.
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At least 13 people have been killed and dozens injured after a van in Barcelona Spain ploughed into pedestrians in a busy tourist street.  The attack happened in the area around Las Ramblas, a busy shopping and business promenade in the center of the city.

Local and national media are reporting that one suspect named Driss Oukabir, apparently from Morocco, has been arrested. A second suspect was been killed after a shootout on the outskirts of the city with police. It remains unclear how many attackers were involved in the incident, which is being treated by police as a terrorist attack.
Horrific footage recorded at the scene shows dozens of victims lying injured on the pavement. Police have confirmed that at least 64 people are hurt. Catalonia’s interior minister Joaquim Forn stated it is ‘very possible’ the number of dead will rise because of the ‘very serious’ wounds to victims.
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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

Based entirely on what can be pulled from Government Accounts and media interviews of the participants involved in NAFTA negotiations, I’m going to try and summarize each day as it can be determined through those sources.
Additionally, for those who might be interested in a perspective I’m going to give a rating of my confidence that a tri-national agreement is possible.
On a scale of zero to 10 – where zero is NAFTA will dissolve and parties will be at irreconcilable differences, and 10 is confidence an agreement will be reached, at the end of Day #1, today, I’d asses the likelihood of an agreement at “3”.
Outlook not too good.
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Political Strategist Steve Bannon gives an exclusive interview to a far-left progressive media outlet where he asserts the big picture issue that matters above all other current policy issues, is the economic war between China and the U.S.

(Via Prospect) […] To me,” Bannon said, “the economic war with China is everything. And we have to be maniacally focused on that. If we continue to lose it, we’re five years away, I think, ten years at the most, of hitting an inflection point from which we’ll never be able to recover.”
Bannon’s plan of attack includes: a complaint under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act against Chinese coercion of technology transfers from American corporations doing business there, and follow-up complaints against steel and aluminum dumping. “We’re going to run the tables on these guys. We’ve come to the conclusion that they’re in an economic war and they’re crushing us.”

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A new poll of economic sentiment provided by YouGov shows that almost twice as many people have a favorable view of the current economic climate amid the U.S. general population.  [Full pdf Available Here]
As noted in the chart below when comparing July 2016 to August 2017 the number of people with a favorable view of their own personal and national economic outlook has almost doubled.

(click to enlarge)

Question: Overall do you think the economy is getting better or worse?

• The Democrats who said things were “Getting Better” decreased from 28% to 14%.
• The number of Republicans who said “Getting Better” jumped from 5% to 53%.
• The total of the general public saying “Getting Better” jumped from 17% to 30%.

Appearing in Miami-Dade, earlier today U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivered remarks about sanctuary cities and the Department of Justice intentions to hold them to account for violations of immigration law.

[Transcript] Thank you Tom, for that introduction. I have great respect for the work you are doing. We have many members of your team here and I want to thank each and every one of you. Thank you. And thank you to all the law enforcement personnel I see out here.
Mayor Carlos Giménez, thank you for your tremendous hospitality and thank you for your commitment to the rule of law and tireless work to keep the people of Miami-Dade safe.
I also want to recognize our acting United States Attorney Ben Greenberg. Your team here has done a fabulous job.
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I find it interesting that Chinese TV is more interested in NAFTA renegotiation than most U.S., Canada or Mexico media.  Against the backdrop of China exploiting NAFTA as a backdoor into the U.S. market we accept this disparate level of interest is not accidental. China is specifically the “third party dumper” mentioned by Robert Lighthizer.
The negotiations can have as many as six rounds; each round lasting 5 days; two rounds in each nation, over the course of three months, with each round tackling a different economic sector.
It is also entirely possible they could also end sooner, much sooner.
The introductory remarks by Trade representatives from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. can be considerably enlightening for those who review the transparent political agendas behind the trade discussions.  I have a spidey sense these first round negotiations might not even make it to Sunday.
In the video below it is interesting to watch Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, outline her priorities (also here in more detail).  Ms. Freeland gives her remarks in English, Spanish and French.  If you can watch Freeland without A.) Laughing hysterically, or B.) punching your TV/Computer screen, well, you’re Job.
Through Ms. Freedlan’s leadership – Canada is focused on ensuring a “progressive trade agenda”.  She is demanding a focus on LGBTQ, and specifically transgender rights in the trade deal, in addition to cultural sensitivity aspects, and climate change. Go figure.
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President Donald Trump has cancelled the Manufacturers Council and the Strategic Economic Advisory Board.  There are trillions of dollars at stake.  The members of the boards, and their representative companies, were being targeted by left-wing groups like Move-On.Org with boycotts and opposition.

There are massive international corporate and financial interests who are inherently at risk from President Trump’s “America-First” economic and trade platform.  Believe it or not, President Trump is up against an entire world economic establishment.
I will outline how it works below; and when you understand how it works in the modern era you will understand why the agents within the system are so adamantly opposed to U.S. President Trump.
The biggest lie in modern economics, willingly spread and maintained by corporate media, is that a system of global markets still exists.
It doesn’t.
Every element of global economic trade is controlled and exploited by massive institutions, multinational banks and multinational corporations.  Institutions like the World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Bank control trillions of dollars in economic activity.  Underneath that economic activity there are people who hold the reigns of power over the outcomes.  These individuals and groups are the stakeholders in direct opposition to principles of national economics.
The modern financial constructs of these entities have been established over the course of the past three decades.  When you understand how they manipulate the economic system of individual nations you begin to understand understand why they are so fundamentally opposed to President Trump.
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