| | | | Resistance to Trump's travel ban mounts | | President Donald Trump enters the second week of his presidency facing a growing political backlash -- with protesters in the streets, lawsuits mounting and his own party fracturing over his executive order banning travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority nations.
The resistance is offering an early and immediate preview of the dynamics of the Trump administration: It tests the opposition's strength and durability, the White House's crisis management capabilities and Capitol Hill Republicans' willingness to stomach the controversy that accompanies Trump's efforts to fulfill his campaign promises.
The White House made three significant damage control moves tonight to tamp down the controversy. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said green card holders' lawful status "will be a dispositive factor in our case-by-case determinations." Trump issued a statement saying: "This is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion -- this is about terror and keeping our country safe." And Trump also took to Twitter to lay into his two strongest GOP critics, Arizona Sen. John McCain and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham -- and warn other Republicans about the costs of crossing him.
How McCain and Graham drew Trump's ire: They issued a joint statement calling Trump's executive order "a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism" and saying: "This executive order sends a signal, intended or not, that America does not want Muslims coming into our country. That is why we fear this executive order may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security."
Trump's comeback: | | Three things we're watching this week:
1. Will protests slow down? The two top Democrats on Capitol Hill, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer, are leading a 6 p.m. ET protest of Trump's travel ban outside the Supreme Court Monday night. It will be a useful gauge of whether Trump can find ways to take any wind out of his opponents' sails.
2. Changing the topic: Trump had previously planned to announce his nominee for the Supreme Court on Thursday. Now, officials say, that announcement looks like it's moving up to Tuesday.
3. Confirmation votes: Democrats are eyeing secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson's vote as their best opportunity to slow things down and battle the Trump administration over its travel ban. Still, Democrats don't have the votes to stop the week from ending with much more of Trump's Cabinet in place.
The big question on Capitol Hill: Will the mounting Republican resistance to Trump's travel ban turn into legislation that actually limits Trump's ban?
The big question in America: How is this all going over in the Midwest? Last week, we talked about the alternate universes of the Trump presidency -- one where he's beset by self-defeating stumbles, and one where his meetings with leaders in business and labor, the praise from union leaders, his withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and his jump-starting of the Keystone XL pipeline have him off to a strong start. Will blue-collar workers in suburban and rural America reject Trump's travel ban, too?
One barometer to read: Mitch Daniels, the president of Purdue University and Mike Pence's highly popular predecessor as governor of deep-red Indiana, issued a stinging condemnation of Trump today, calling his ban "a bad idea, poorly implemented, and I hope that he will promptly revoke and rethink it."
In Democrats' dreams ... Former President Barack Obama comes off the sidelines and weighs in on Trump's travel ban in the days ahead.
But the anti-Trump opposition is strong without an individual leader: | | | Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, teared up over what he called a "mean-spirited and un-American" executive order at a news conference today. | | GOP lands one challenger for Manchin in 2018 | | From John King's "Inside Politics" forecast: Being friendly with President Donald Trump is not going to spare West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin from being a prime 2018 Republican target. GOP establishment forces are claiming a big recruiting win. These sources, speaking to CNN on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said GOP Rep. Evan Jenkins has committed to seeking the Senate seat.
Jenkins would undoubtedly face a GOP primary. The state's attorney general is among those who have said they are looking at the race. Jenkins is viewed by the establishment forces as the strongest general election candidate, and they are following a strategy used successfully in several 2016 Senate contests, promising fundraising and other help, like super PAC support. | | "Everyone suffered in the Holocaust, including the Jewish people." -- Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, in what otherwise would have been this weekend's big controversy. The Trump administration made no mention of Jews in its Holocaust Remembrance Day statement Friday. CNN's Jake Tapper explains why that's problematic. | | | | CNN's Jake Tapper looks at Donald Trump's first week as a White House resident in today's "State of the Cartoonion." | | 3 things you might have missed this weekend | | 1. Service member dies in Yemen: A US service member died of wounds suffered during a raid in Yemen against al Qaeda -- the first American combat death under Trump, US Central Command said.
2. 'Hysterical voices' on TV: White House policy director Stephen Miller told top agency officials yesterday that President Donald Trump is deeply committed to the executive order and the public is firmly behind it -- urging them not to get distracted by what he described as hysterical voices on TV, CNN's Jake Tapper reports.
3. Democrats' opposition plans: The Washington Post's Dave Weigel and Ed O'Keefe have a good look at the Democratic resistance efforts to Trump's travel ban. | | | Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine cast the Trump administration as Holocaust deniers over the White House's remembrance statement, which omits reference to Jews. ... Former Barack Obama adviser Susan Rice says the way President Donald Trump has rearranged a national security panel is "stone cold crazy." ... In South Dakota, voters approved an anti-corruption ballot measure in November's election. Now, state lawmakers are repealing it. | | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out Five Things for Your New Day, CNN's morning newsletter. Give us five minutes, and we'll brief you on all the news and buzz people will be talking about. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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