Source: The Hill

President Trump’s job approval rating is the highest it’s been in two years, boosted by voter optimism about the economy, according to the latest Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll survey.

The survey found that 48 percent approve of the job Trump is doing, compared to 52 percent who said they disapprove. That’s up from 45 percent approval in March. The last time the president’s job approval rating reached 48 percent in the Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll survey was in June of 2017.

Trump appears to be getting a lift from the economy, with a record 62 percent approving of his approach to employment and 59 percent approving of his handling of the economy.

While only 39 percent of voters said the country is on the right track, 51 percent said the economy is heading in the right direction. Seventy-one percent of voters said the economy is very strong or somewhat strong


Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/446347-trumps-approval-rating-hits-highest-point-in-two-years

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48%? Talk about low expectations.

Former Vice President Joe Biden expanded his lead in congressional endorsements Thursday, landing the backing of second-term Rep. Al Lawson of Florida.

“They don’t make ‘em like Joe anymore,” Lawson said in a statement obtained by POLITICO. “We have an opportunity now to meet head on the greatest challenges of our time, and ensure our best days still lie ahead of us and that is why I am endorsing him to be the next president of the United States."

Lawson said Biden “has a long history of doing what’s right and not what’s easy to advance the causes of America’s working families.”

Lawson is the latest in a string of Democrats to line up behind Biden in Florida, which will be a key battleground state in the 2020 presidential election.

More: https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2019/05/30/they-dont-make-em-like-joe-anymore-biden-expands-grip-on-congressional-endorsements-1033673

Source: Tampa Bay Times

Andrew Gillum is a focal point of a recently issued federal grand jury subpoena that demands information on the former Democratic candidate for governor, his campaign, his political committee, a wealthy donor, a charity he worked for and a former employer.

The subpoena, obtained by the Tampa Bay Times and previously unreported, could reflect a new level of federal inquiry into Gillum, the former mayor of Tallahassee who narrowly lost to Republican Ron DeSantis last year.

Throughout his campaign last year, Gillum insisted he was not a target of a sprawling FBI investigation of Tallahassee City Hall, which has taken at least three years and resulted in three arrests. Last year, he told the Tallahassee Democrat: “Twenty-plus subpoenas have been issued and not one of them has anything to do with me.”

But the recent one does. Previously, the investigation had centered on corruption inside Tallahassee government, including during Gillum’s time as mayor. The newer subpoena is more focused on Gillum’s 2018 campaign and people and organizations with clear ties to him, but with less obvious connections to Tallahassee City Hall.

Read more: https://www-tampabay-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/05/30/federal-subpoena-demands-records-on-andrew-gillum-and-his-campaign-for-governor/?amp_js_v=a2&_gsa=1&template=amp#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tampabay.com%2Fflorida-politics%2Fbuzz%2F2019%2F05%2F30%2Ffederal-subpoena-demands-records-on-andrew-gillum-and-his-campaign-for-governor%2F

John Delaney, the former Maryland congressman running for president, sent a letter to Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez on Wednesday asking him to explain the party's decision to change its qualifications for the third primary debate.

Delaney's letter came hours after the DNC announced that it would toughen the requirements for candidates to qualify for the presidential primary debates, beginning with the third debate in September.

To make the stage for the first two debates, slated for June and July respectively, candidates had to collect campaign contributions from 65,000 unique donors or register at least 1 percent in three qualifying polls.

But the new rules raise the threshold, requiring candidates to find at least 130,000 donors or reach at least 2 percent in three polls. In his letter, Delaney demanded to know how the DNC settled on those new requirements.

More: https://thehill-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/thehill.com/homenews/campaign/445972-delaney-asks-dnc-to-explain-decision-to-toughen-debate-qualifications?amp_js_v=a2&_gsa=1&#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fcampaign%2F445972-delaney-asks-dnc-to-explain-decision-to-toughen-debate-qualifications

ABC News, in partnership with Univision, will host the third Democratic presidential debate in September, the Democratic National Committee announced Wednesday, saying it was raising both the polling and fundraising bars for candidates to qualify.

The debate is set for Sept. 12 and could extend to a second night, Sept. 13, if enough candidates meet the threshold to participate. The location and moderators have not yet been announced.

Like the first two Democratic presidential debates — which are set for next month on NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo and for July on CNN — the September debate and a fourth, to be held in October, will cap participants at 10 per night.

But it will be more difficult for the nearly two dozen 2020 Democratic hopefuls to make the stage.

More: https://www-politico-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.politico.com/amp/story/2019/05/29/abc-univision-democratic-debate-1346099?amp_js_v=a2&_gsa=1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fstory%2F2019%2F05%2F29%2Fabc-univision-democratic-debate-1346099

Source: The Hill

U.S. fighter jets Tuesday intercepted Russian bombers and other aircraft off the coast of Alaska for the second time in two days.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement that four F-22 stealth jets intercepted two Russian Tu-95 bombers Tuesday that had crossed into the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone, which extends approximately 200 miles off Alaska's western coast.

The bombers returned to the area with two Su-35 fighter jets and were again intercepted.

"The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and at no time entered U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace," NORAD tweeted.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/444962-us-intercepts-russian-bombers-near-alaska-for-second-time-in-two-days?amp&__twitter_impression=true

Source: The Hill

Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) said at a Wednesday congressional hearing that she believes deaths of migrant children at the U.S.-Mexico border are "intentional."

Her comments, made to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan as he testified to the House Committee on Homeland Security, come days after the announcement that a Guatemalan teen was the fifth minor to die at the border since December.

"With five kids that have died ... the evidence is really clear that this is intentional, it's a policy choice being made on purpose by this administration and it's cruel and inhumane," the freshman Democrat, who is a nurse, told McAleenan.

McAleenan argued that an increase in funds to the agency would have prevented the deaths. He said that the influx of immigration at the border is draining resources for the agency to be able to adequately respond, which is why he is asking for more money in the FY2020 budget.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/445027-dem-rep-evidence-is-clear-that-migrant-child-deaths-are-intentional?amp&__twitter_impression=true

Joe Biden collected $2.2 million this week from two Florida fundraisers, underscoring the former vice president’s pull with big-dollar Democratic donors and his front-runner status in a crowded presidential primary.

The twin fundraisers in the Miami and Orlando areas capped a month-long coast-to-coast cash dash by Biden, who spent the eve of his campaign announcement fretting about whether he could raise the money to prove he was the real deal. Biden then went on to shatter first-day fundraising records, as his campaign built an online small-dollar fundraising machine to complement his pursuit of traditional donors who can write max-out checks of $2,800 per election.

Biden’s huge two-day financial haul in Florida highlights the still-ample power of big donors in a Democratic primary field that has put more emphasis on digital dollars. The fundraising schedule and courting of donors by Biden used to be as common for a presidential campaign as printing mailers, but it now stands out as an increasingly vocal progressive wing and its favored candidates — Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders — have cast Biden’s fundraising in a negative light, which his donors resent.

“It’s sour grapes, like saying they wouldn’t join a club that wouldn’t have them as a member anyway,” said John Morgan, the Orlando-area trial lawyer who hosted a Biden fundraiser at his home on Tuesday and said after the event that he had collected $1.8 million in donations and future pledges to Biden.

More: https://www.politico.com/amp/story/2019/05/21/biden-florida-fundraising-blitz-1338088?__twitter_impression=true

Source: BBC News

A Frenchman has been sentenced to death for drug trafficking in a shock verdict after prosecutors had asked for a 20-year prison term.

Félix Dorfin, 35, was convicted of trafficking about 3kg (6.6lb) of various drugs into the Indonesian holiday island of Lombok.

He was arrested in September last year at the island's airport.

Indonesia has some of the world's strictest drug laws - including death for some traffickers.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48340209

Source: BBC News

All ministers from Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) have resigned, throwing the government into chaos.

The Freedom Party's leader Heinz-Christian Strache, who was also vice-chancellor, was forced to resign at the weekend after a video sting.

Mr Strache was filmed proposing to offer government contracts to a supposed Russian oligarch's daughter.

The FPÖ threatened a mass resignation earlier on Monday if Interior Minister Herbert Kickl was also forced out.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48335316