Amid irregularities, AP unable to declare winner in Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa — The Associated Press said Thursday that it is unable to declare a winner of Iowa’s Democratic caucuses.
With 97% of precincts reporting from Monday’s caucuses, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg leads Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders by three state delegate equivalents out of 2,098 counted. That is a margin of 0.14 percentage points.
However, even as the Iowa Democratic Party’s effort to complete its tabulation of the caucus results continues, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez on Thursday asked the Iowa Democratic Party to conduct a recanvass. That is not a recount, but rather a check of the vote count to ensure the results were added correctly.
Perez sought the recanvass following days of uncertainty about the results reported by the Iowa Democratic Party, which includes technology problems with the mobile phone app used by the party to collect results from caucus sites, an overwhelming number of calls to the party’s backup phone system and a subsequent delay of several days of reporting the results.
The Iowa Democratic Party suggested it may not comply with Perez’s request, issuing a statement that said it would conduct a recanvass if one was requested by one of the candidates.
Trump: U.S. operation killed al-Qaida
leader in Yemen
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that the U.S. at his direction has conducted a counter-terrorism operation in Yemen that killed Qassim al-Rimi, an al-Qaida leader who claimed responsibility for last year’s deadly shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola, where a Saudi aviation trainee killed three American sailors.
Al-Rimi is a founder of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. The affiliate has long been considered the global network’s most dangerous branch for its attempts to carry out attacks on the U.S. mainland. Trump said the U.S. and its allies are safer as a result of his death.
“We will continue to protect the American people by tracking down and eliminating terrorists who seek to do us harm,” Trump said.
While Trump confirmed reports that al-Rimi had been killed, he did not say when the U.S. operation was conducted or offer any details about how it was carried out.
From wire sources
Al-Rimi had said in an 18-minute video that his group was responsible for the Dec. 6 shooting at the base. He called the shooter, Saudi Air Force officer Mohammed Alshamrani, a “courageous knight” and a “hero.” The shooter opened fire inside a classroom at the base, killing three people and wounding two sheriff’s deputies before one of the deputies killed him. Eight others were also hurt.
McConnell remaking Senate in age of Trump, impeachment
WASHINGTON — Long before Donald Trump’s impeachment landed in the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had one piece of advice for the president: Focus on the House.
Gin it up. Use maximum effort. Make sure Republicans are united. And leave the Senate to him.
The Republican leader encouraged the president not to turn attention on wayward GOP senators, like Mitt Romney, who were “troubled” by Trump’s actions toward Ukraine, but to stir the partisan passions of the House.
It was the GOP leader’s central strategy to produce as partisan an impeachment as possible — too polarizing for any centrists to touch — to secure Republican acquittal in the Senate.
“He understood right from the start, this was crooked politics,” said Trump, singling McConnell out for praise Thursday at the White House. “You did a fantastic job.”
