First on CNN: FBI interviews Clinton aides including Huma Abedin as part of email probe

(CNN)Some of Hillary Clinton's closest aides, including her longtime adviser Huma Abedin, have provided interviews to federal investigators, as the FBI probe into the security of her private email server nears completion, U.S. officials briefed on the investigation tell CNN. The investigation is still ongoing, but so far investigators haven't found evidence to prove that Clinton willfully violated the law the U.S. officials say.

In recent weeks, multiple aides have been interviewed -- some more than once, the officials said. A date for an FBI interview of Clinton has not been set, these officials said, but is expected in the coming weeks. Abedin has cooperated with the probe, the officials said. Lawyers for Abedin declined to comment. The officials say the interviews of Clinton and her aides would be a routine part of an investigation like this.

The Clinton campaign said Thursday that they've cooperated with the Justice Department review since the beginning.

"From the start, Hillary Clinton has offered to answer any questions that would help the Justice Department complete its review, and we hope and expect that anyone else who is asked would do the same. We are confident the review will conclude that nothing inappropriate took place," Clinton's press secretary Brian Fallon said in a statement.

The probe remains focused on the security of the server and the handling of classified information and hasn't expanded to other matters, the officials said. Spokesmen for the FBI and Justice Department declined to comment. David Kendall, an attorney for Clinton, had no comment.

CNN has previously reported that another former Clinton employee, Bryan Pagliano, who helped set up the server has provided documents and other materials as well as interviews to the FBI, under an immunity agreement. FBI officials overseeing the probe now expect to complete their work in the next few weeks and then turn over the findings to the Justice Department, which will make a final decision on whether to bring charges against anyone. Prosecutors from the Justice Department's national security division and from the U.S. Attorney's office in Alexandria, Va., have helped coordinate the FBI probe, closely overseeing investigative steps, the U.S. officials say.

One of the final and most anticipated steps in the probe is an interview of the former secretary of state. The fact that Clinton is a presidential candidate active on the campaign trail presents some logistical challenges for the FBI, which has been quietly bringing witnesses into an FBI office without drawing attention.

Clinton's security is provided by the Secret Service and she's typically followed by a corps of campaign reporters. The FBI plans to coordinate her interview with her attorneys and security to try to ensure it can be done privately.

In addition, this week, a notorious hacker awaiting trial claimed he infiltrated Clinton's server but law enforcement officials said the FBI investigation into Guccifer found no sign he got into the Clinton server according to law enforcement sources.

Puerto Rico will default on $422 million payment, governor says

 
 
 
 
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© Christopher Gregory / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP | Governor of Puerto Rico Alejandro Garca Padilla speaks at the Governor's Mansion on November 14, 2013

Video by FRANCE 24

Text by NEWS WIRES

Latest update : 2016-05-02

Puerto Rico’s financial crisis deepened Sunday as Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla announced the US commonwealth would default on $422 million in debt.

The governor said that San Juan can’t pay creditors when it needs to fund public sector salaries, health and education budgets, which, if neglected, could unleash a “humanitarian crisis.”

Puerto Rico has been locked in recession for a decade, and already defaulted on some debt payments at the beginning of the year.

Despite sweeping spending cuts and some policy reforms, it has not been able to stop the deterioration of its budget deficit.

Garcia Padilla says he does not want a bailout but simply legal ability to restructure existing debt.

But in order to do so, the US territory in the Caribbean needs the Congress in Washington to act, and it will not for partisan political reasons, the governor said.

“This was a painful decision. We would have preferred to have had a legal framework to restructure our debts in an orderly manner,” he said in a somber televised address.

“I have had to make a choice, and I made a choice,” he added.

“I have decided that your basic needs are more important than anything else,” he told the territory’s 3.5 million residents.

The $422 million in bond obligations is owed by the Government Development Bank (BGF).

Prior defaults by the island were smaller in nature; this one includes debt held by Wall Street bondholders and hedge funds.

With a debt of about $70 billion, the island is basically bankrupt; the BGF only has $562 million in assets.

“We have asked the US Congress time and time again to give us the tools to restructure our debts,” the governor said. “We do not want a bailout, nor has one been offered. We want a process to restructure, which won’t cost US taxpayers anything.”

Residents of this former Spanish colony won by the US in 1898 eventually were given a type of US local government with a legislature and governor.

Island natives have American citizenship but cannot vote in US presidential elections if they are Puerto Rico residents.

Puerto Rico’s relationship with the US federal government is largely handled by the US Interior Department.

Garcia Padilla stressed that he firmly opposed US federal control over locally earned tax dollars.

“That would be reestablishing colonial rule over Puerto Rico, and would be reopening a Pandora’s box with extremely dangerous consequences,” he warned.

(AFP)

Poll says Trump, Clinton are in race to be least unpopular

 
 
 
 
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© Spencer Platt, Win McNamee, Getty Images North America, AFP | A composite photo shows Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton address supporters on April 26, 2016

Text by NEWS WIRES

Latest update : 2016-05-05

It’s the paradox of the 2016 US presidential elections: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are virtually assured of facing off against each other in November, and yet both are widely unpopular.

Two thirds (65 percent) of voters have unfavorable opinions of the Republican billionaire, and only a quarter (24 percent) think positively of him, according to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC survey.

In Clinton’s case, 56 percent are down on her, while only 32 percent see her in a favorable light, the same poll found.

A CNN poll this week put their unpopularity at 56 percent and 49 percent respectively.
“Historically, we haven’t seen this kind of thing before,” said Jeanne Zaino, a political scientist at Iona College. “It would be one thing if you had one, but this is... the two frontrunners.”

Trump, 69, an unpredictable political outsider who has never held elected office, has antagonized substantial portions of the electorate with his insults against women, Mexicans and Muslims.

The very experienced and circumspect Clinton, meanwhile, has struggled to win over many voters who have trouble relating to the 68-year-old White House aspirant.
How in the world did these two become their party’s presumptive nominees?

“It has to do with the way we select candidates,” said Columbia University professor Robert Shapiro.

In 2012, only about 16 percent of Americans eligible to vote participated in party primaries.

“Those who vote in primaries and caucuses are more often activists and extremists within the party. The average American barely votes,” Shapiro said.

With 17 candidates in the race for the Republican nomination, Trump only needed “a very small segment of the American electorate” to become his party’s standard bearer, he added.

Strong opinions

Hillary Clinton profited from the fact that she had little competition, except from Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator who continues to nip at her heels.

“Other capable Democrat candidates decided not to run, because this is a bad year for Democrats to run for president,” said Shapiro, alluding to the difficulty of getting elected to succeed a two-term president from the same party.

Trump and Clinton also suffer from the fact that they are so well known, said Zaino.

“These are two people who have been around a long time, so people have very strong opinions about them on both sides of the aisle,” she said.

Americans know all about them—their strengths, their weaknesses, the trajectory of their lives.

Clinton, who has long dreamt of being the first woman president of the United States, has been in the public eye for more than 20 years: she was first lady during Bill Clinton’s 1993-2001 presidency, senator from New York from 2001 to 2009, and secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

Trump has been a celebrity even longer, famed for his wealth, his skyscrapers, his two divorces and a hit reality TV show, “The Apprentice,” which he hosted for more than 10 years.

“A lot of Democrats feel like the Democratic party has become the party of the Clintons and a lot of people are not happy with that,” said Sam Abrams, an expert at Sarah Lawrence College.

“For many of my students, they have never known an era when a Clinton or a Bush was not president or dominating national politics,” he said.

Something else

Which explains the yearning for something else, particularly among young voters who prefer the 74-year-old Sanders to Clinton by a wide margin.

And while three quarters of Americans say they are unhappy with their political leaders, the White House frontrunners have been battered by their rivals and the bitterness of the campaign itself.

Before calling it quits Tuesday evening, Republican candidate Ted Cruz went so far as to accuse Trump of being a “serial philanderer,” a “pathological liar,” and a “narcissist.”

Sanders, meanwhile, continues to denounce Clinton’s ties to Wall Street and the hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees that she has received from big banks and corporations.

The battle between Clinton and Trump is certain to be at least as brutal.
But on election day, all this will count for little.

That is because Americans will vote, first and foremost against the other side: 51 percent of Democrats who intend to vote for Clinton say they will do it to stop Trump, and only 48 percent to support her candidacy.

And 57 percent of Republicans would vote for Trump to oppose Clinton, and only 43 percent because they want the billionaire to win, according to the CNN poll.

(AFP) 

Massive wildfire sparks evacuation of entire Canadian city

The entire population of the Canadian oil sands city of Fort McMurray, Alberta, has been ordered to evacuate from a wildfire that officials said destroyed whole neighborhoods.

More than 80,000 residents have been ordered to flee as flames continued to make their way into the city Tuesday. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley called it the biggest evacuation in the history of the province. Residents were panicked. Highway 63 is the only road out of the city and flames jumped the road.

Fire chief Darby Allen said they did not have an estimate of the number of homes destroyed, but said the fire is burning in several areas in the city's south end and had destroyed a mobile home park.

There have been no reports of serious injuries and Allen said right now the priority was to keep everyone safe. Allen said they have requested military assistance and expect the army and air force will start sending out troops within a couple of days.

Fort McMurray is the heart of Canada's oil sands region. The Alberta oil sands are the third largest reserves of oil in the world behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Most oil sands projects are well north of the community, while the worst of the flames were on the city's south side.

Allen said they are trying to maintain the crucial infrastructure in the city, including the only bridge across the Athabasca River and Highway 63, the only route to the city from the south.

"We appreciate that some of you have lost properties. We have people working here right now that have lost property, too," he said.

Brian Jean, the leader of Alberta's opposition party and a resident of the city, said much of downtown Fort McMurray is being destroyed by fire, but the fire chief said there had mostly been spot fires which have been extinguished. "My home of the last 10 years and the home I had for 15 years before that are both destroyed," Jean said.

The wildfire, whipped by unpredictable winds on a day of unseasonably hot temperatures, worsened dramatically in a short time and many residents were given little notice to flee.

The worst is not over because of high temperatures and strong winds are expected Wednesday, warned forestry manager Bernie Schmitte.

The blaze, which had burned since Sunday but seemed on its way to being neutralized Tuesday morning, overwhelmed firefighters when winds shifted quickly and drastically in the mid-afternoon to the southwest of the city. Officials said flames stormed along a ravine and roared into the city and the race was on to get out.

Pictures and video on social media depicted a hellish scene. There was fire jumping roads, burning debris pitched into the paths of cars as frantic residents, lined up bumper to bumper, scrambled and fumbled to find their way through the thick grey haze.

"It became chaotic with vehicles trying to swerve and pull out into the ditch," said resident Jordan Stuffco.

Air tankers and helicopters buzzed overhead.

"(With) the heat from the oncoming smoke and the flames, you could see mini-tornadoes forming near the road. It was something out of an apocalyptic movie."

The main road into Fort McMurray, was closed at the southern entrance to the city after flames jumped the road. Pictures posted on Twitter showed long lines of traffic and skies darkened by thick smoke as flames licked the edges of roads.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that he spoke with Notley and said the federal government stands ready to help. He urged residents to follow evacuation orders.

As the afternoon wore on and the fire intensified, more and more sections of the city were ordered evacuated until the entire community was ordered out after 6 p.m.

Carol Christian's home was in one of the neighborhoods under the order to leave. She said it was scary as she drove to an evacuation center with her son and cat.

"When you leave ... it's an overwhelming feeling to think that you'll never see your house again," she said, her voice breaking.

"It was absolutely horrifying when we were sitting there in traffic. You look up and then you watch all the trees candle-topping ... up the hills where you live and you're thinking, 'Oh my God. We got out just in time.'"

Oil sands work camps were being pressed into service to house evacuees as the raging wildfire emptied the city.

Officials were also evacuating non-essential staff at Suncor's base plant. It is 30 kilometers (18 miles) away and one of the closest facilities to the city. Spokesman Paul Newmarch said evacuees were moving into the plant's work camps.

Will Gibson, a spokesman for Syncrude, which also has a plant north of the town, was himself one of the evacuees heading north away from the flames.

Gibson said he had to flee his neighborhood via a grass embankment because the fire had already cut off the road at both ends.

"I left my neighborhood and there were houses on fire," he said. "I don't know if and when I'll be going back."

The large work camps can normally accommodate thousands of workers.

A local radio reporter said a trailer park that had been evacuated on Monday was on fire and flames were advancing toward businesses.

"It's chaos on the roads. People are panicking. It's gridlock on the roads. Flames are right next to a gas station," said Carina Van Heerde with radio station KAOS.

The unseasonably hot temperatures combined with dry conditions have transformed the boreal forest in much of Alberta into a tinder box. The wildfire threat ranged from very high to extreme in different areas. The province was calling in more reinforcements to Fort McMurray, including 100 more firefighters and a giant helicopter that can dump more than 2,000 liters (500 gallons) of water at a time.

(AP)

Kasich drops campaign bid, leaving Trump with no Republican rivals

Donald Trump’s last Republican foe, Ohio Governor John Kasich, ended his presidential campaign on Wednesday, cementing Trump’s remarkable triumph as his party’s presumptive nominee.

Trump’s victory spurred some reluctant Republicans to rally around him, though others agonised over their party’s future.

Trump vowed to unite the splintered GOP, even as he was bitingly dismissive of members who have been critical of his campaign.

“Those people can go away and maybe come back in eight years after we served two terms,” he said on NBC’s “Today” Show. “Honestly, there are some people I really don’t want.”

Clinton, in her first remarks since Trump’s new status was crystalised, said she was more than prepared to handle the kind of deeply personal attacks that helped defeat Trump’s Republican rivals.

“To me, this is the classic case of a blustering, bullying guy,” Clinton told CNN.

The long and chaotic Republican primary came to an abrupt end after Trump’s decisive victory Tuesday in Indiana. His win pushed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, his closest rival, out of the race, with Kasich following a day later.

Trump’s takeover of the GOP marks one of the most stunning political feats in modern political history.

A first-time candidate, he eschewed traditional fundraising and relied more on his own star power than television advertising to draw attention.

He also flouted political decorum with controversial statements about women and minorities, leaving some Republicans convinced he can’t cobble together the diverse coalition needed to win the general election.

“It’s his party between now and November, but I don’t think it’s going to be his party after November,” said Peter Wehner, a former adviser to President George W. Bush. Wehner is among the Republicans vowing to never vote for Trump, even if that means essentially handing Clinton the presidency.

Bob Vander Plaats, an influential evangelical leader who backed Cruz, withheld his support for Trump Wednesday, saying the real estate mogul needs to prove his conservative credentials with his vice presidential pick and more information about what kind of judges he would appoint. “It’s kind of a wait and see moment with Mr. Trump,” he said.

Vander Plaats is among the Republicans clinging to the hope that an alternative option might yet emerge.

Operatives have floated former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse and former Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn as possible candidates for a third party or independent bid. But that path is a long-shot at best, with filing deadlines for getting on state ballots fast approaching.

There was notable silence from major Republican leaders Wednesday. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not comment on Trump. Spokespeople for Bush and Mitt Romney, the party’s 2012 nominee, also did not respond to inquiries.

Still, several GOP governors and senators said Wednesday that they would support Trump, according to a survey by The Associated Press.

“Our first and foremost goal is to elect a conservative, pro-business, strong on national defense, a man who will stand behind our freedoms and our rights, and that person is Donald Trump,”

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said. “It is not Hillary Clinton.”

Clinton has yet to shake Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the democratic socialist who has energised young people and liberals with his calls for sweeping government-run health care and education programs.

Still, Clinton has 93 percent of the delegates she needs to clinch the Democratic nomination and now is focusing the bulk of her attention on Trump.

“He is a loose cannon and loose cannons tend to misfire,” Clinton said Wednesday. Her campaign also released a web ad featuring clips of prominent Republicans, including his former rivals, bashing Trump.

Both Clinton and Trump head into the general election with historically high unfavorable ratings. But Clinton is generally popular within her own party, particularly with women and minority voters who are crucial to winning general election battleground states like Florida, Colorado and Nevada.

Some Republicans fear Trump’s poor standing with those voters will not only cost the party the White House for a third straight term but the GOP’s Senate majority as well.

Some Republican senators in tough races struggled Wednesday to position themselves in a party with Trump at the helm, including New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte who said that while she would support the businessman in a general election, she would not endorse his candidacy.

Trump turned quickly toward the general election, saying he would begin accepting more political donations and was starting to vet potential running mates. He told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that he was inclined to “go the political route” and pick someone with legislative experience.

He later said he could consider Kasich, predicting the Ohio governor would be helpful this fall in any role given his state’s significance in the general election.

Though armed with an extensive resume in politics, Kasich struggled to connect with Republican primary voters in a year dominated by anti-establishment frustration.

He was a more moderate candidate who embraced elements of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul and called for an optimistic and proactive Republican agenda.

(AP)

US House speaker not ready to back Trump as Republican nominee

US House Speaker Paul Ryan, the top Republican in Congress, said Thursday he was not ready to support Donald Trump as the party’s presumptive presidential nominee in November’s general election.

“To be perfectly candid with you, I’m not ready to do that yet,” Ryan told CNN in a bombshell interview that heightened concerns about whether conservatives will be able to rally around Trump in his expected matchup against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Ryan, the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2012, stressed that he hoped he would be able to support Trump in the future, provided the brash billionaire is able to show leadership in unifying the party.

“He’s got some work to do,” Ryan said, noting that the burden was on Trump to begin the healing process after a brutal primary campaign and Trump’s long string of insulting remarks.

Ryan has expressed criticism of Trump before. But Thursday’s comments were all the more startling because Trump has now emerged as the party’s standard bearer and Ryan, as speaker of the House of Representatives, will oversee the Republican presidential nominating convention in July.

“I think that he needs to do more to unify the party... then to go forward and appeal to all Americans from every walk of life and background, and a majority of independents,” Ryan said.

He insisted, however, that no Republicans should support Clinton—as several have pledged to do after Trump’s rivals dropped out.

“To be the party and climb the final hill and win, we need a standardbearer that can unify all—all conservatives and the wings of the party—and then go to the country with an appealing agenda,” he said. “The nominee has to lead in that effort.”

Both Bush presidents—George H.W. Bush and his son George W. Bush—have signalled they will not endorse Trump in 2016, while Mitt Romney, the 2012 nominee on the ticket with Ryan, is reportedly not going to attend the Republican convention.

First US-to-Cuba cruise in decades leaves Miami

Passengers set sail Sunday from Miami on an historic cruise to Cuba, the first in decades to depart from a U.S. seaport for the communist island nation.

Carnival Corp.’s 704-passenger Adonia left port at 4:24 p.m., bound for Havana. Carnival’s Cubacruises, operating under its Fathom brand, will also visit the ports of Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba on the seven-day outing. Several Cuba-born passengers, among hundreds of others, were aboard, it said.

The cruise comes after Cuba loosened its policy banning Cuban-born people from arriving to the country by sea, a rule that threatened to stop the cruises from happening.

Restarting the cruises was an important element of a bid by President Barack Obama’s administration’s to increase tourism to Cuba after the Dec. 17, 2014, decision to restore diplomatic relations and move toward normalization.

The most recent such cruise, from another U.S. port, was in 1978.

When it first announced the cruises, Carnival said it would bar Cuban-born passengers due to the government’s policy. But the Cuban-American community in Miami complained and filed a discrimination lawsuit in response. After that, the company said it would only sail to Cuba if the policy changed, which Cuba did on April 22.

Carnival said the Adonia will cruise every other week from Miami to Cuba. Bookings will start at $1,800 per person and feature an array of cultural and educational activities, including Spanish lessons, Carnival’s website says.

Seventy-three-year-old passenger Rick Schneider told The Sun-Sentinel that he had waited decades for the chance to make the journey. He bought a Cuban flag for the occasion, which he waved from the deck at protesters who opposed the cruises.

He said he once passed up taking a ferry trip to Cuba in 1957, adding “the time is now.”

The cruise is among the many changes in U.S.-Cuban relations since a thaw between the former Cold War foes began in late 2014. The thaw also led to a historic, two-day trip to Cuba in March by Obama, who met with Cuban counterpart Raul Castro and others.

The Cuban government says the shift in policy removes prohibitions enacted when Cuban exiles were launching attacks by sea after the first Cuban revolution.

On Sunday, Arnold Donald, Carnival’s president and CEO, said the company worked and prepared to make the cruises a reality despite the challenges.

“Times of change often bring out emotions and clearly the histories here are very emotional for a number of people,” Donald told reporters.

The Miami Herald reported that a boat carrying some activists protesting the trip to Cuba was nearby in Florida waters before the ship’s departure Sunday. The report said the boat pulled away before the Adonia set sail with an expected Monday arrival in Havana.

Mary Olive Reinhart, a retired parks service ranger, told the paper that she and some friends from the Philadelphia area were drawn to the voyage by the adventure of it all.

The Fathom brand said on its website that the trip was authorized under current people-to-people travel guidelines of the U.S. government and would include meetings with artists, musicians, business owners and families - along with Cuban shore excursions to traditional sites.

“It’s exciting to go places where we’re forbidden. For me, I want to be at home in the world - the whole world,” she added.

(AP)