PRESENTED BY the Stop The HIT Coalition

Good morning! Here’s your Daily News for Wednesday, December 5.

 

1. One last time.

• Today is a National Day of Mourning for former President George H.W. Bush.
• The national memorial service is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Eastern / 10:00 a.m. Central at National Cathedral in Washington.
• You can watch, well, most anywhere.
• Former President George W. Bush will deliver the eulogy for his father.
• President Trump said today the service “is not a funeral, this is a day of celebration for a great man who has led a long and distinguished life. He will be missed!”
• Thousands of mourners continued to visit the Capitol Rotunda Tuesday to pay their respects. The line wrapped around 2nd Street and I’m told the wait was five hours or longer with temperatures in the 30s.
• Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole paid his respects by being helped out of his wheelchair and issuing a military salute. If you haven’t seen that incredibly moving video, you really need to.
• After the service, Bush’s casket will travel via railroad to Houston, Texas. Interestingly, Alabama’s Progress Rail had a role to play in building the special locomotive that will drive the president’s train, as YellowHammer’s Sean Ross reports.
• Read more about the memorial service, who is attending, and how you can watch HERE.

 

2. Shelby speaks after Saudi briefing.

• “Somebody should be punished.”
• That’s what Sen. Richard Shelby told reporters after walking out of a closed-door briefing with CIA director Gina Haspel about the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
• Shelby was one of a handful of Senators in the briefing, most of who came away convinced that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is responsible for the grisly killing and dismemberment of Khashoggi.
• Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said that if presented with the same evidence, a jury would convict MBS “in about 30 minutes.”
• Sen. Lindsay Graham said there was no “smoking gun,” per se, but “a smoking saw,” referring to reports that Saudi agents used a bone saw to dismember Khashoggi after he was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
• Graham said “you have to be willfully blind” not to conclude that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the crown prince’s command.
• But, it’s not that easy, Shelby acknowledged.
• “Now, the question is, how do you separate the Saudi crown prince and his group from the nation itself,” he said.
• “This is conduct that none of us in America would approve of in any way.”
• Corker also acknowledged that the United States had to be careful in not undermining American interests.
• What are those interests? Keeping Iran in check. The Saudis are some of our strongest allies in pushing back against the Iranian regime as it tries to exert its influence in the Middle East.
• That’s one reason Trump Administration officials are asking Senators not to pass a resolution curtailing U.S. backing for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
• The Senate passed a procedural motion to allow debate on the bill. House Speaker Paul Ryan has said the House won’t pass it.
• Full story HERE.

A Message from the Stop The HIT Coalition

• The Stop The HIT Coalition thanks Senator Doug Jones for protecting Alabama small businesses, middle-class families and seniors from the 2020 Health Insurance Tax.
• This costly, unfair and hidden tax increases the cost of health insurance in the small business market, needlessly stifles economic growth and should be repealed.
• Senator Jones joined a bipartisan group in urging Senate leadership to prioritize urgent cost savings for hardworking Alabamians before the tax returns.
• Thank Senator Jones for working for Alabama small businesses and families by supporting efforts to stop the 2020 Health Insurance Tax.

 

 

3. Another night of protests in Hoover.

• Dozens of protesters took to Walmart, a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, and finally the Interstate Tuesday in continued protest of the killing of E.J. Bradford.
• Bradford was shot by police responding to an incident at Riverchase Galleria Thanksgiving night. Tuesday’s protests were near the Galleria, but not on the property.
• Activists are also attempting to release the name of the Hoover Police officer involved in the shooting, but media outlets are not publishing it.
• Read more from AL.com’s Carol Robinson and watch coverage from WBRC Fox 6’s Alan Collins, both of whom followed the protesters through the businesses and finally to the I-459 exchange where they succeeded in shutting down traffic for a time.
• ALEA is continuing to investigate the incident and neither the state nor city police will release the video evidence until the investigation is complete.
• Meanwhile, shooting suspect Erron Brown has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder. His lawyer says he is not responsible, but did not elaborate.

 

4. Skip Tucker: Nuts! D.T. has a little fun with his northern guest.

• As promised, Skip Tucker has more tales of his protagonist “D.T.” from Walker County.
• Having been offended by a condescending northern visitor, the imaginative D.T looked for ways to have a little good-natured country fun with his guest as they were walking through the woods.
• Here’s an excerpt:

• Read Skip’s full column HERE.

 

5. News Briefs.

• President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser has been cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller since his decision to plead guilty for lying to the FBI a year ago.
• Flynn has provided so much information to the Russia investigation that prosecutors say he shouldn’t do any prison time, according to a court filing that describes Michael Flynn’s cooperation as “substantial.”
• The filing provides the first details of Flynn’s assistance in the Russia investigation, including that he participated in 19 interviews with prosecutors and cooperated extensively in a separate and undisclosed criminal probe. But the filing’s lengthy redactions also underscore how much Mueller has yet to reveal.
• Remember, Flynn spent a lot of time in Russia doing speaking engagements and other security work. That doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Trump, but he probably knows a lot about what the Russians could have been up to.
• Read more HERE.

• China has yet to confirm President Trump’s assertion that Beijing has committed to cut auto tariffs and buy more American farm exports.
• That, coupled with some conflicting statements by U.S. officials, reduced the optimism that existed on Monday and triggered a triggered a tumble in U.S. stock prices.
• The president took to Twitter to try to explain his tough trade policies, calling himself a “Tariff Man” and discussing how he uses the import duties to fight unfair behavior.
• He also said any agreement with China has to be the “Real Deal”
• Full story HERE.

• With so many new faces in the Alabama Legislature this coming year, the makeup of House and Senate Committees will likely be a lot different.
• As previously noted, Republicans in the House will actually pick up seats on committees while Democrats will lose them.
• In the Senate, there are a few plum committee chairmanships up for grabs.
• Legislative leadership is being tight-lipped about assignments, but Inside Alabama Politics (subscription) reports today that Sen. Greg Albritton could be assuming the chairmanship of Finance & Taxation – General Fund after the retirement of Sen. Trip Pittman.
• That would be a big get for Mr. Albritton.

 

Headlines.

 

Front Pages (images link to newspaper websites, which you should visit and patronize)