Wake Up To Politics - January 19, 2016
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Tuesday, January 19, 2016
13 Days until the Iowa Caucuses
294 Days Until Election Day 2016 I'm Gabe Fleisher for Wake Up To Politics, and reporting from WUTP world HQ in my bedroom - Good morning: THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL!!!
To send me questions, comments, tips, new subscribers, and more: email me at wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com. To learn more about WUTP and subscribe, visit the site: wakeuptopolitics.com, or like me on Twitter and Facebook. More ways to engage with WUTP at the bottom. Waking Up To Politics
Who’s waking up to politics happily today…and who’s not?
Sweet Dreams Hillary Clinton is waking up to politics HAPPILY today, after the Michael Bay movie “13 Hours,” about the Benghazi attack, which many Republicans seized on to assail Clinton, fared poorly in the box office. The film opened with about $19.6 million, significantly less than past movies opening on the same weakened, such as “American Sniper” in 2015 ($107.2 million) and “Lone Survivor” in 2014 ($37 million).
Nightmares Donald Trump is waking up to politics BADLY today, after a Monday debate in the British Parliament on a petition calling for Trump to be banned from the United Kingdom. While the debate did not end in a vote, many members of Parliament attacked Trump, flinging insults at him: from “buffoon” to “demagogue,” “fool” to “wazzock”.
White House Watch
The President’s Schedule At 11:20am, President Barack Obama will meet with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia.
The two leaders, who will hold a bilateral meeting and a working lunch, will discuss a range of issues, including the Islamic State group, the U.S.-Australian trade relationship, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, and other events in Asia and the Pacific.
This is President Obama’s first meeting with a foreign head of state of 2016; this is also Turnbull’s first U.S. visit since taking office last September, while in Washington, D.C., the Prime Minister will also meet Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at the Capitol today.
At 4:30pm, the President will meet with Secretary of State John Kerry.
Capitol Hill News
Today: Senate The upper chamber returns today, after a three-day weekend break.
At 5:30pm, the chamber will vote on the nomination of Wilhelmina Marie Wright to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the District of Minnesota. Wright, who currently serves as an Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, will become the first African-American female federal judge in Minnesota history if confirmed.
Wright was nominated for the federal judgeship over nine months ago, in April 2015, for a seat that has been vacant since August 2015. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved her nomination last September, and it has been lingering before the full Senate since then. Wright’s nomination is finally being voted on as part of a deal between Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid to confirm five judicial nominees before President’s Day recess next month.
House: Today Meanwhile, the lower chamber is on a District Work Period, and will only be meeting in pro forma sessions until Monday, January 25, as per H.Con.Res.107.
2016 Central
Today on the Trail Where are the 2016 presidential candidates today?
IOWA Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Bernie Sanders, Rick Santorum, Donald Trump
NEW HAMPSHIRE Ted Cruz, John Kasich
HIGHLIGHT Donald Trump is holding a “major announcement” with a “special guest” at an Ames, Iowa rally today on the Iowa State University campus. Trump’s campaign has only confirmed that the guest will be someone endorsing Trump, immediately setting of speculation as to their identity.
After Free Republic bloggers uncovered a private jet flying from Des Moines, Iowa (near Ames) to Tulsa, Oklahoma (where Trump will be Wednesday), many guessed that the person inside that jet was the secret endorser. The jet’s point of origin? Anchorage, Alaska: home of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Others have speculated that the “special guest” could be Jerry Falwell, Jr., president of Liberty University, where Trump spoke Sunday, which was founded by evangelical leader Jerry Falwell, Sr.
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