NATION/WORLD
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 7A
Trump son-in-law Kushner to be top White House adviser
By JONATHAN LEMIRE
and JULIE PACE
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Pres-
ident-elect Donald Trump
appointed his influential
son-in-law Jared Kushner
as a White House senior
adviser Monday, putting the
young real estate executive
in position to exert broad
sway over both domestic and
foreign policy, particularly
Middle East issues and trade
negotiations.
Trump has come to rely
heavily on Kushner, who is
married to the president-elect’s
daughter Ivanka. Since the
election, the political novice
has been one of the transition
team’s main liaisons to foreign
governments, communicating
with Israeli officials and
meeting Sunday with Britain’s
foreign minister. He’s also
huddled with congressional
leaders and helped interview
Cabinet candidates.
Ivanka Trump, who also
played a significant role
advising her father during the
presidential campaign, will
not be taking a formal White
House position. Transition
officials said the mother of
three young children wanted
to focus on moving her family
from New York to Washington.
Kushner’s own eligibility
for the White House could
be challenged, given a 1967
law meant to bar government
officials from hiring relatives.
Kushner
lawyer
Jamie
Gorelick argued Monday
that the law does not apply
to the West Wing. She cited
a later congressional measure
to allow the president
“unfettered” and “sweeping”
authority in hiring staff.
In a statement, Trump said
Kushner will be an “invalu-
able member of my team as I
set and execute an ambitious
agenda.”
Kushner will resign as
CEO of his family’s real estate
company and as publisher of
the New York Observer. He
will also divest “substantial
assets,” Gorelick said. The
lawyer said Kushner would
not be taking a salary. Ivanka
Trump will also be leaving her
executive roles at the Trump
Organization — her father’s
real estate company — and
her own fashion brands.
Kushner, who turns 36
on Tuesday, emerged as one
of Trump’s most powerful
campaign advisers during
his father-in-law’s often
unorthodox presidential bid
— a calming presence in an
otherwise chaotic campaign.
Soft-spoken and press-shy,
he was deeply involved in the
campaign’s digital efforts and
was usually at Trump’s side
during the election’s closing
weeks.
He has continued to be a
commanding presence during
the transition, working along-
side incoming White House
chief of staff Reince Priebus
and senior adviser Steve
Bannon. He’s played a key
role in coordinating Trump’s
contacts with foreign leaders
and has been talking with
foreign government officials
himself, according to a person
with knowledge of the conver-
sations.
Last week, Kushner and
Bannon — the controversial
conservative media executive
— met with British Foreign
Minister Boris Johnson.
Kushner and Bannon have
also worked closely on issues
related to Israel, including
discussions over moving the
U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem,
which could inflame tensions
in the Middle East, and on
the Trump administration’s
response to a United Nations
Security Council measure
condemning Israeli settle-
ments.
Kushner is also weighing
in on domestic policy. He
joined other Trump advisers
Monday night for a meeting
with House Speaker Paul
Ryan, R-Wis., on tax reform.
He championed the pick of his
friend Gary Cohn, the presi-
dent of Goldman Sachs, for
a top White House economic
post, and Cohn’s influence
within Trump’s team is said
to be growing. He’s been a
conduit between Trump’s
team and the private sector,
a role transition officials said
would continue in the White
House.
AP file photo
Donald Trump is joined by his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner as he speaks during
a news conference at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester, June 7, 2016, in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.
Trump unfiltered: Tweets reveal interests, insecurities
By LISA LERER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — His message
came at the start of one of the busiest
weeks of Donald Trump’s transition
to the White House. It’s a week when
he and his team are preparing eight
Cabinet picks for confirmation hearings,
finalizing appointments and gearing up
for his first news conference as presi-
dent-elect.
But at 6:29 a.m. on Monday, Trump
was focused on what seemed like a less
presidential problem: a five-minute
Golden Globes speech in which actress
Meryl Streep had suggested he was a
“bully.”
“One of the most overrated actresses
in Hollywood,” Trump tweeted out to
his 19.2 million followers.
For better or worse, the presi-
dent-elect’s social media feed is offering
a daily glimpse into the interests, insecu-
rities and insults that weigh on the next
leader of the free world.
Many presidents have privately bris-
Nuke site reopens but work remains
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.
(AP) — The reopening of the
nation’s only underground
nuclear waste repository
nearly three years after a
radiation leak marks a key
step toward cleaning up a
decadeslong legacy of bomb-
making and research, but the
U.S. energy secretary said
more needs to be done before
a backlog of contaminated
material starts heading to the
New Mexico desert again.
The radiation release
halted work at the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant and
derailed a multibillion-dollar
cleanup program, raising
questions about oversight
across the U.S. nuclear
weapons
complex
and
leading waste to build up at
sites around the country.
Energy Secretary Ernest
Moniz told The Associated
Press that sweeping changes
have been made to improve
safety and that hard work by
employees and technological
advancements over the last
three years should bolster
public confidence in cleanup
efforts following the 2014 leak.
“We are very, very excited
about getting at least a
resumption of operations,” he
said during an interview late
Sunday. “I do want to caution
we will not be at full speed
yet for a few years.”
Moniz, Gov. Susana
Martinez, members of the
state’s congressional dele-
gation and others gathered
Monday to formally mark
the reopening of the site in
southern New Mexico.
Officials shut down the
repository in February 2014
after a chemical reaction
Sam Christensen/Nuclear Waste Partnership via U.S. Energy Department
Workers move waste underground at the Waste Isola-
tion Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M.
inside a drum of inappropri-
ately packed waste caused
the lid to burst, contaminating
some disposal vaults, corri-
dors and air shafts.
The facility is carved out
of an ancient salt formation
about a half-mile below the
desert surface, with the idea
that eventually the shifting
salt will entomb the waste.
Moniz
acknowledged
that the closure caused a
backlog of waste at sites
including northern New
Mexico’s Los Alamos
National Laboratory, the
birthplace of the atomic
bomb, and the Savannah
River Site in South Carolina,
where the basic materials
used to fabricate nuclear
weapons were produced.
The secretary is hopeful
shipments can resume later
this year, but work to move
the waste underground takes
more time now because of the
extra clothing, respirators and
heavy monitoring devices
that workers must wear to
protect against the contam-
Wine country hit hard by Calif. storms
FORESTVILLE, Calif.
(AP) — Emergency crews in
rescue boats and helicopters
rushed to take advantage of a
one-day break between storms
Monday to rescue stranded
people and assess damage
after the heaviest rain in a
decade overwhelmed parts of
California and Nevada.
Wine country in Sonoma
County, California, was
among the hardest hit areas,
with up to 13 inches of rain
since Friday. Rolling hills and
vineyards along the scenic
route known as River Road
were submerged Monday
with just the tips of vines
visible in completely flooded
fields.
The Russian River in
Sonoma rose to its highest
level since 2006, spilling
over its banks and forcing the
closure of schools and roads.
ination. Limited ventilation
also slows the work.
While no schedule has
been finalized, officials
expect the repository will be
accepting about five ship-
ments a week later this year.
tled at the attacks, criticism and mockery
the office can bring. They’ve fumed
behind the walls of the Oval Office and
complained about slights to their aides
and wives. But Trump’s use of Twitter is
giving Americans and the world some-
thing they’ve never seen before.
“This is unprecedented access to
the president. The presidency usually
has a firewall,” said Timothy Naftali, a
professor of history and public service
at New York University. “By using
Twitter, Mr. Trump has decided to
remove the filter that has served so
many of his predecessors so well.”
From his gleaming Manhattan
skyscraper, Trump fires off messages
starting at dawn. In the past week,
he’s slammed the “dishonest” media,
insulted Senate Minority Leader Chuck
Schumer as his party’s “head clown,”
praised 16-year-old Inauguration singer
Jackie Evancho and ripped Arnold
Schwarzenegger for low ratings on
“The Celebrity Apprentice.”
The tweets, which frequently feature
commentary about specific media
reports, give a sense of what Trump is
reading and watching.
They ricochet across the globe and
news networks. The Streep tweet alone
was reposted more than 27 million times,
prompting dozens of news reports and
hours of television commentary. Even
his spelling errors have prompted news
coverage: Last month, he was mocked
for using the word “unpresidented”
instead of “unprecedented.”
Unfettered, stream-of-consciousness
commentary is not new for Trump,
who began harnessing the social media
network to further his brand long before
running for president. But, as president,
his missives will now carry global
ramifications.
Last week, Xinhua, the Chinese
state run news agency, published a
commentary begging Trump to stop
commenting online, saying that foreign
policy “isn’t child’s play.” The piece
came after Trump repeatedly jabbed
Beijing on Twitter.
“Indulging in ‘Twitter diplomacy’ is
undesirable,” said the headline.
Manhunt underway after killing of Orlando cop
ORLANDO,
Fla.
(AP) — An Orlando police
sergeant was shot and killed
Monday after approaching
a suspect wanted for ques-
tioning in the murder of his
pregnant ex-girlfriend.
A second law enforce-
ment officer was killed in
a motorcycle crash while
responding to a massive
manhunt for the suspect.
More than a dozen
schools were placed in lock-
down during the manhunt,
and authorities were
offering a $60,000 reward
for information leading
to the arrest of Markeith
Loyd, the 41-year-old
suspect wanted in the
killing of Master Sgt.
Debra Clayton.
Officers and deputies
focused their manhunt
on an apartment complex
in northwest Orlando,
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Tuesdays • 4:30 - 6:30pm
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PREVENT TYPE 2 INFO SESSION
One out of every three American adults has prediabetes - and 90%
don't know it! Learn how the Prevent T2 program can help prevent
or delay the progression to type 2 diabetes. (Prevent T2 classes will
be scheduled to meet participants needs.) FREE.
Attend one of the times listed below
4:00pm - 5:00pm OR 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Wednesday, January 11
Must pre-register, call 541-667-3509
LIVING WELL: BETTER
CHOICES, BETTER HEALTH
Have you been diagnosed with high blood pressure, heart
disease, arthritis or another long-term health condition? Find
practical ways to living well by making a step-by-step plan to
improve your health...and your life. 6 weekly FREE classes,
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6 weekly sessions
Starting Jan. 26 • 4:30-6:30pm
OR starting April 6 - 2:30-5:00pm
Must pre-register, call 541-667-3509
Information or to register
call (541) 667-3509
or email
healthinfo@gshealth.org
www.gshealth.org
and dozens of residences
had been searched. Resi-
dents who were evacuated
from their homes sat on
a sidewalk along a street
with heavily armed officers
and deputies and a parked
SWAT team truck.
Clayton, 42, was killed
outside a Wal-Mart store
in northwest Orlando
early Monday, and Orange
County Sheriff’s Office
Deputy First Class Norman
Lewis was killed in a crash
while responding to a
manhunt for Loyd.
Another Orlando police
officer was involved in a
crash while responding to
the shooting but had only
minor injuries.
Authorities said Loyd
previously was a suspect in
the murder of his pregnant
ex-girlfriend in December.
BMCC ABE, GED,
Winter Term 2017
Students new to the program must attend
ORIENTATION to REGISTER.
For more information contact Debbie Merrill at
541-278-5803 or email dmerrill@bluecc.edu.
The following is the Orientation Schedule for
ABE/GED classes starting in February:
Monday • February 13 • 2017 • 2:00 PM
• HERMISTON - Classes will meet
Monday/Wednesday 2:00-4:00 PM
Monday • February 13• 2017 • 5:30 PM
• BAKER CITY - Classes will meet
Monday/Wednesday 5:30-7:30 PM
؏ BOARDMAN - Classes will meet
Monday/Wednesday 5:30-7:30 PM
؏ HERMISTON - Classes will meet
Monday/Wednesday 5:30-7:30 PM
؏ MILTON FREEWATER - Classes will met
Monday/Wednesday 5:30-7:30 PM
؏ PENDLETON - Classes will meet
Monday/Wednesday 5:30-7:30 PM
Tuesday • February 14 • 2017 • 9:00 AM
؏ PENDLETON - Classes will be
Tuesday/Thursday 9:00-11:00 AM