Teacher Flogs Primary 3 Student To Death For Not Reading A Sentence

Joy Wangare, from Macadamia Primary School in Solio Settlement Scheme, kenya has died after she was caned by her teacher.

A complaint filed with the police indicates that the 10-year old student died over the weekend following a beating by a teacher on Thursday.

Witnesses claimed she was caned for failing to read a sentence as directed by the teacher. Kieni East OCPD Michael Mbaluku said the report made at Naro Moru Police Station indicated that after the caning, the teacher invited other pupils to punish the girl further.

"The girl's grandmother reported an assault case against the teacher and we gave her a note so she could seek medical treatment. The reports we have indicate that she was admitted for a few days before dying while undergoing treatment at Mary Immaculate Mission Hospital in Mweiga," said Mr Mbaluku.

Angry parents stormed the school demanding the arrest and prosecution of the suspect teacher.

Mbaluku said investigations into the death had commenced and appealed to the parents to be patient.

"We cannot rule out murder because the circumstances surrounding her death are still within the time frame provided by the law, but we are urging residents to be patient and await the outcome of the investigations, including a postmortem report," he said.

Source: Standard Media

President Donald Trump has fired the US Attorney General for not Defending his Immigration Orders | White House calls her “weak”

According to several reports, President Trump has fired the US attorney general for defiance of his Immigration Orders.
Telegraph reports that Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she ordered Justice Department lawyers to stop defending the president’s controversial immigration orders.
Sally Yates, who had been appointed by former President Obama, said she was “not convinced that the executive order is lawful”.
A couple of hours ago she had sent a letter to the Justice Department Lawyers saying ““I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right. At present, I am not convinced that the defence of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities.”
The White House press office said in a statement that Yates “has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States.”

The statement called Ms Yates an Obama administration appointee “who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration.”

Tight security at DSS as Suleiman arrives with 30 lawyers

THERE was drama, yesterday, as the Department of State Services, DSS, rescheduled its appointment with the embattled  Senior Pastor of the Omega Fire Ministry, OFM, Apostle Johnson Suleiman, twice.

The was tight security at DSS as Suleiman arrives with 30 lawyers,Interrogated, released by 10.30pm last night. 

We are with him, his harassment premeditated —CAN. 

BREAKING :Many feared killed as suicide bomber attacks worshippers opposite UNIMAID

There was a suicide attack on worshippers on Tuesday as a suspected male suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) during congregational Morning Prayer at a mosque in Dalori quarter opposite the University of Maiduguri.
According to report, many worshippers feared killed and injured.
The spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency,NEMA, Sani Datti confirmed the incident in a message.
"There was a reported case of explosions at Dalori quarters, Maiduguri, Borno State. Our Search and Rescue officers are already on their way to the scene, detail later," he said

Apostle Suleiman :Talk to your boys, Fulani herdsmen, to stop the killing of Christians in Kaduna.

The General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministry, Apostle Johnson Suleman has said that Kaduna state Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai knows the Fulani herdsmen doing the killings in Kaduna state. The cleric said since the Governor had also confessed that he paid the herdsmen to stop killing Christians in the state, he must therefore be made to produce them to answer to crimes of murder and other crimes.

Suleman had also asked the Federal Government to compel Governor El-Rufai to produce the Fulani herdsmen so as to disabuse the minds of Nigerians that Christians are not the target of President Muhammadu’s administration.

Apostle Suleman and Governor El-Rufai

He said that failure to compel El-Rufai to produce the herdsmen who purportedly collected money from the Kaduna State Government is an indication of the insincerity of the Buhari administration.

“The Governor of Kaduna State confessed that he paid money to some Fulani herdsmen as compensation to stop the killings in Southern Kaduna.

“That means he knows those who have committed atrocities against Christians. He must be made to produce them to answer to charges of murder and other crimes,” the Apostle said.

Recall that following the reported utterances of the apostle wherein he told his members to defend themselves should any herdsmen come to attack them in the church, the Department of States Services, DSS invited Suleman to report at its office in Abuja on Monday. as at the time of filing this report, Apostle Suleman has reported at the DSS office in Abuja for interrogation.

However, Some Christian youths under the aegis of Christian Youths Project have condemned the invitation to the Apostle by the Department of State Services(DSS). The Christian youths said that the utterance of the Pastor on the pulpit should not warrant any arrest, adding that there was no need to misconstrue the statement of the Apostle.

The National President of the Project, Mr Pepple Ibiwari-Junior, made the call in a press briefing on Monday in Port Harcourt .

He noted that the utterance of the man of God was a wakeup call on Christians to be on the alert in case of any possible attack.

He advised the relevant authorities not to ridicule or cause any public embarrassment to the clergy held in high esteem by members of the public.

“ We strongly and unequivocally condemn in totality the ridicule and public embarrassment of Apostle Suleman Johnson by the DSS,” he added.

Ibiwari-Junior urged the DSS not to treat the Apostle as a common criminal but to accord him some respect.

He said that religious matters were of delicate nature and as such should be treated with caution to avoid misrepresentation of facts.

The president stressed that his members condemned the continued killing of Christians .

Ibiwari-Junior called on Christians to be vigilant and to be security conscious always to avoid being victims of religious killings and other forms of attack.

“The gospel of Jesus Christ advocates love and peace and not violence, Christian youths do not subscribe to violence or killings under any guise.

“ While we appreciate the DSS and other security agencies in ensuring peace and security in Nigeria, we call for an intensified effort to put a final stop to the killings of innocent Christians by Fulani herdsmen, ‘’ he said.

The president urged the authorities to arrest and prosecute those responsible for the killing of innocent Christians in the north and in other parts of the nation.

2face, you are a bloody illiterate, says Prof Akindele

Nigerian professor, Akindele Adetoye, blasts 2face for planning to lead protest against the FG Read what what he wrote on his social media profile, below "You are a bloody illiterate. You had sex with all manners of girls without using condoms. You impregnated them and made babies all over the place. You now want to lead protest against the government because of lack of governance! Have you governed your own personal life? Charity, they say begins at home. Nonsense!"

Gunmen Kidnap Catholic Priest in Delta

Gunmen have abducted a Catholic priest in-charge of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Eku in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, Rev. Fr. Joseph Oghenekevwe Ojakorotu.
Ojakorotu was said to have been whisked away by the daredevil gunmen along the Sapele-Eku Road in Sapele Local Government Area while returning from a journey on Friday.
It was gathered that the abductors contacted some of his worshippers and demanded N10m ransom.
A member of the church told Punch that the priest was accosted at a bad portion of the road by his assailants who dragged him out of the car.
The spokesman for the police in the state, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, confirmed the incident, adding that the command was making efforts to rescue the cleric.
Aniamaka said, “I can assure you that we shall not let criminals succeed in the state. We have dispatched security operatives to the area to ensure that the priest is rescued unhurt. We shall surely arrest the perpetrators to face the law. Crime does not thrive in Delta.”
He also urged family members of the abducted priest not to pay ransom to the hoodlums, assuring that the cleric would regain his freedom in no distant time.

Oscar Nominee Asghar Farhadi Won’t be Able to Attend the Award

Asghar Farhadi , the Oscar-nominated director of the movie The Salesman , reportedly won’t be able to attend the 2017 Academy Awards happening next month due to President
Donald Trump’s “Muslim ban.”
The United States President , is refusing access to the United States for people from seven Muslim countries. There is an indefinite ban for everyone from Syria and there is a 90-day ban on visas for people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Farhadi , who hails from Iran, is already an Oscar winner after his movie A Separation won the award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012. He’s nominated again this year in the same category for The Salesman.

DELE MOMODU : WHO WANTS PRESIDENT BUHARI DEAD

Fellow Nigerians, please allow me to say wherever two or more Nigerians are gathered these days the topic of discussion must, naturally, dovetail to our dear President’s state of health and the consequential suggestion that our country is ailing as a result. This controversy didn’t start today. I remember how Governor Peter Ayodele Fayose, the enfant terrible of Ekiti State, raised a horrific alarm, just before the 2015 election that eventually catapulted Major General Buhari back to power. He had screamed to the whole world, indeed to high heavens, that the then APC Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, had suffered brain damage and that he had to be flown abroad in an air ambulance for treatment. I was in London at that time and I remember making frantic calls to impeccable sources who I believe would know the truth. I was able to obtain pictures of visitors to the modest apartment General Buhari was staying at the time, which was somewhere in the high brow Mayfair. The visitors included Nasir El Rufai and Kayode Fayemi and they were able to dispel the ugly rumour even if some doubting Thomases still believed the worst had happened as Fayose continued to spur them on.

It is about two years since that happened and it doesn’t seem much has changed. The only difference is that Buhari is now the President of Africa’s biggest nation and any news about him would be of greater interest to Nigerians, wherever they may be, and indeed the rest of the world. Since assuming power as Executive President, whenever the President has travelled abroad on vacation, the rumour mill has gone into overdrive with all manner of people espousing their own theories as to what is wrong with the President and the sort of treatment he has gone to receive. This trip is no different. It has been compounde by the fact that it was announced oin this occasion that the President was going on a medical vacation as he would take the opportunity of his holiday to see his doctors. This is why I believe the President’s information managers should try harder to dispel the rumours. They left the door ajar with the small piece of information they provided. Mischief makers would make capital out of this once nothing more was said about the matter. There is no big deal telling us how the President is spending his holiday, where he is staying and so on. If indeed he is seeing doctors for a routine check up or worse still his health is failing like happens to all mortals, there is nothing to be ashamed of. We should be provided with the information and updated regularly with what is happening. If the President had routinely gone into hospital Nigerians should know the hospital as a matter of right what hospital he has gone to and if possible the doctors attending to him. The doctors should be allowed to inform the public as much as possible without jeopardising his right to the little privacy that he has left. The citizens of Nigeria and the rest of the world are anxious to know every little information about the President of the most populous black nation and they should be obliged.

What seems clear to me is that those in charge of disseminating information about the President do not seem to realise that once you become President of Nigeria, especially now in the era of social media, you become a gold fish with no hiding place.  The President of Nigerian is no longer a private person upon assumption of office.  His life belongs to Nigeria and Nigerians.  That is the simple truth that the President and his publicists must realise and accept. It was in the dark ages when people think that they are protecting the President and Nigerians by not telling us about things happening to the President and around him.

If the President’s PR people are not obliging Nigerians then, the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo should take charge properly by addressing the public and allaying the fears of the people. He is a very cerebral person who must appreciate the debilitating effect that the kind of stories being peddled about is having on the polity and the economy.  The has led to people even carrying some salacious tales that some infernal cabal have asked Professor Yemi Osinbajo to resign in order that a Northerner can act as President and to prevent a Yoruba man from becoming President in the event that the worst happens to the President.  The reason that such fiction is able to thrive is because people feel that the Vice President has not come out powerfully enough to demonstrate that he is truly the Acting President. For many, his body language leaves too many questions unanswered. They claim that he either appears like someone in the dark about events around him or that he is just being too careful not to send wrong signals. The way we disseminate news still leaves much to be desired. We seem to treat power with too much trepidation and thus allow touts to take over and rule the airwaves and cause confusion all over the place.  I know that is not the case because the Vice President is not that kind of person.  He is a careful but deliberate man who brings his intelligence and experience to bear on all that he is doing.  However, it is clear to me that he has not been faced with this kind of dilemma before. I am sure that the Vice President knows that neither the President nor himself have any real private life again. It is clear that President’s handlers do nt know this.  I was surprised to hear what my brother, the Special Adviser to the President, Femi Adesina, had to say about this matter suggesting that it was left to the President to tell us what he wished about himself, his vacation and his health.

Silence is not always golden. It can be somewhat destructive if care is not taken. I’m reasonably certain that President Buhari is on a short vacation as announced when he was travelling. Even if I do not know exactly where he is, I believe he is resting and possibly seeing his doctors for an annual check up. Why make a sog and dance or fetish of this? President Buhari is human after-all. It is sad that we often make mountains out of molehills by our actions, inactions and ill-actions. Nigeria ought to have learnt useful lessons from the days prior to the death of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. This was how Nigeria was thrown into total confusion in 2010 because of the inordinate ambitions of a few people. I believe we have come a long way since then.  I thought we had established that our public officers, especially our leaders, are in the spotlight and the full glare of the citizenry.  That is the price you pay for leadership. You cannot expect to be in that role and then want to be a private citizen.  If you want that, then you stay in the confines of your sitting room or the “other room”!  You certainly do not aspire to public office, if that is your desire.  There are very good reasons why we need to know what is happening to our leaders, especially the President and the Vice President. Our Leaders forget that they are Public servants. Emphasis being on the word “Public”.  They are being maintained by our hard earned money, tax payers money, whether they are on holiday, or on a routine medical check or a major medical operation. We therefore have a right to the information that is presently being hidden from us. If the President does not care as some of his aides are suggesting, we care! It is our country and we asked him to lead us.

The state of health of the President, Vice President, and other major leaders in the executive, the legislature and the judiciary are of paramount concern to us.  If they are ill and unable to govern, legiste or dispense justice, we, the people, must know.  They cannot be patched up.  It is them, the elected leaders, and not their cohorts, associates and acolytes that we elected to govern and legislate for us. Those associates, kitchen cabinet members or other surrogates cannot overreach the Constitution and govern on behalf of the President or Governors.  That is what almost happened during President Yar’Adua’s last days. We vigorously resisted those that sought to hijack the government at that time and succeeded in driving them out of Aso Rock.  Nobody can take us back to those dark days. We are not prepared for anybody to set us back.

The Nigerian Constitution is clear on what would happen in case of any eventuality to the President. No Jupiter can change that unilaterally, not even the Vice President. Fortunately, Prof Osinbajo is an esteemed and erudite lawyer.  I am positive that he will not allow the Constitution to be suborned.  He is a God-fearing and courageous man and will defend the laws of our land as he has pledged to do. I expect that President Buhari will do the same.  That is why he has consistently transmitted a message to the Senate that the Vice-President is to act for him when he is away on vacation.

What happened in The Gambia just last week should have shown clearly that the days of reckless rascality in government and governance in Africa are gone forever. Fortunately, Nigeria and its leaders have taken the lead in enthroning democracy in other countries, cue Charles Taylor and Liberia, Gbagbo and Ivory Coast and now Jammeh and The Gambia, and so cannot now turn around to do the opposite in our own country.

On a more serious note, someone needs to talk some sense to the ruling party, APC. In case, the party apparatchik are still living in denial, it should be told in very clear terms that APC is flailing and floundering aimlessly and dangerously. The party is not living up to expectations. Nigerians are suffering and crying. No excuse can change the fact that most of the promises we made have not been kept. Volunteers and non-party members like us are being harassed and confronted on the streets by those who feel let down by a government we helped to midwife. It is shocking that a party which coasted to power on the wave of a significant majority of popular votes has virtually wasted and frittered away its goodwill so fast. Something drastic and urgent has to be done to arrest the slide into oblivion. The best and most charitable friends of APC would admit privately, if not publicly, that this government has failed to sparkle, in fact, that it has been too lacklustre and sluggish. It is as if it feels it has all the time in the world. Why is APC unable to fly?

There are just too many questions begging for answers and APC has stubbornly refused to own up to its many shortcomings and seek help from within and outside. If you not know the way forward, one should be able to retrace his steps before it is too late. Those who invested in APC did so in the hope that it was coming to demolish the behemoth called PDP and make life better for most Nigerians. Never did we campaign that the journey was going to be an Israelite one that would take a total of 40 years instead of four. I believe Nigerians are very patient and understanding people but they often justifiably get impatient whenever they feel someone has taken them for a ride. This is why it may seem they are kicking fitfully and restlessly against the APC and unable to endure the hardships they currently face.

True change is needed and maybe the way to start being accountable is to publish details of the President’s state of health so we truly know where we are!

Source :ThisDay Newspaper 

10 Best Celeb Quotes This Week

"Losing my anonymity after Easy A, it was like being 7 years old all over again … It terrified me."
—Emma Stone, on struggling with fame , to The Hollywood Reporter

2 of 10
"I work out. I do my best to eat well. I love the skin I'm in. And I'm not ashamed of a few lumps, bumps or cellulite … and you shouldn't be either."
—Ashley Graham, on embracing her shape , on Instagram

3 of 10
DRAFTHOUSE FILMS/AP
"We got married very fast. We didn't hesitate for a second. We're completely compatible."
—Joe Manganiello, on his relationship with wife Sofia Vergara , to HOLA!

4 of 10
"The romantic idea of meeting your person and having a storybook family life that looks like the model you grew up with — that doesn't really exist for me."
—Michelle Williams, on being a single parent at age 36 , to WSJ. Magazine

5 of 10
XAVIER COLLIN/IMAGE PRESS AGENCY/SPLASH NEWS ONLINE
"Things don't just happen. It's all connected."
—Janelle Monáe, on her transition from singing to acting , to The Guardian

6 of 10
JOHN SHEARER/GETTY IMAGES FOR ACM
"I'm gonna work out really hard for two and a half weeks and then think about dresses — because I just ate all the food."
—Kelsea Ballerini, on finding her Grammys gown, to PEOPLE

7 of 10
"I tell my son that he belongs to himself, and I'm here to mentor him and that I'm in charge right now, but that he'll be his own person one day."
—Jewel, on being honest with her son, to PEOPLE

8 of 10
RICK ROWELL/ABC VIA GETTY
"There was a real significance in the way that people saw me, but also in the way that I carried myself and that I saw myself."
—Mandy Moore, on ditching her blond hair , to
Entertainment Weekly

9 of 10
RINDOFF PETROFF/GETTY
"He will always be my father … People that knew him really well say they see him in me, that it's almost scary."
—Paris Jackson, on her late father, Michael Jackson , to Rolling Stone.

10 of 10
"One minute you're weirdly obsessed with this baby, like 'Don't take him out of my sight,' and the next you're kind of blue, you're a little sad and a little freaked out … I actually prefer the adoption way because I wasn't subject to hormones."
—Katherine Heigl, on her pregnancy experience , in this week's issue of PEOPLE

RIP...John Hurt, Elephant Man and Harry Potter Star, Dies at 77

Legendary actor John Hurt has died at the age of 77, according to his agent.
He is survived by his wife of 12 years, Anwen Rees-Myer.
Close friend Richard E. Grant was heartbroken by the news, tweeting, “So so sad to have lost such an extraordinary talent and friend. Sir John Hurt. R. I. P.”
So so sad to have lost such an extraordinary talent and friend. Sir John Hurt. R. I. P.

Hurt was diagnosed with cancer in 2015, but later said he was clear of the disease.
Hurt’s career spanned over six decades. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2014 and has been twice nominated for an Academy Award – for 1978’s Midnight Express , and for playing the title role of John Merrick in David Lynch’s 1980 biopic The Elephant Man .
“The role stretched me to the limits,” he once told PEOPLE of the latter film. He has also starred in dozens of other movies, including The Naked Civil Servant, Alien, and three films in the Harry Potter franchise.
Most recently, Hurt starred alongside Natalie Portman in the Oscar-nominated Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis film Jackie.
Speaking about his pancreatic cancer diagnosis, Hurt
told PEOPLE in 2015, “I am undergoing treatment and am more than optimistic about a satisfactory outcome, as indeed is the medical team.”
In an August 2015 interview with Radio Times, Hurt spoke about his death, saying, “I hope I shall have the courage to say, ‘Vroom! Here we go! Let’s become different molecules!'”
He added, “I can’t say I worry about mortality, but it’s impossible to get to my age and not have a little contemplation of it. We’re all just passing time, and occupy our chair very briefly.”
Source People

FROM EW : Stranger Things Star Millie Bobby Brown Set for Godzilla Sequel

Millie Bobby Brown has already proven she can rap like a monster — now it’s time to see if she can hang with the biggest beast of them all. The Stranger Things breakout is set to star in Godzilla: King of the Monsters , Legendary’s sequel to its 2014 kaiju reboot, EW has learned.
Michael Dougherty is directing the movie and co-wrote the script with Zach Shields, his collaborator on the holiday horror movie Krampus .
Plot and character details have yet to emerge for King of the Monsters , which has a March 22, 2019 release date.
Brown will reprise her role of Eleven in a second season of Netflix’s huge summer series Stranger Things, for which she earned two Screen Actors Guild nominations, one for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, and one with the sci-fi series’ ensemble cast.
Source : People

Malala Yousafzai: President Donald Trump, Do Not Close U.S. Doors To Defenceless Refugee Children Seeking Asylum

Malala Yousafzai took to Facebook on Friday asking President Donald Trump to not close U.S. doors to defenseless refugee children seeking asylum in the country.
Her plea comes after Trump signed an executive order that indefinitely suspends entry for Syrian refugees and limits the entry flow of other refugees into the U.S. by what the president calls “extreme vetting,” according to CNN.
Malala Yousafzai's statement on President Trump's latest executive order on refugees:
"I am heartbroken that today President Trump is closing the door on children, mothers and fathers fleeing violence and war. I am heartbroken that America is turning its back on a proud history of welcoming refugees and immigrants — the people who helped build your country, ready to work hard in exchange for a fair chance at a new life.
I am heartbroken that Syrian refugee children, who have suffered through six years of war by no fault of their own, are singled-out for discrimination.
I am heartbroken for girls like my friend Zaynab, who fled wars in three countries — Somalia, Yemen and Egypt — before she was even 17. Two years ago she received a visa to come to the United States. She learned English, graduated high school and is now in college studying to be a human rights lawyer.
Zaynab was separated from her little sister when she fled unrest in Egypt. Today her hope of being reunited with her precious sister dims.
In this time of uncertainty and unrest around the world, I ask President Trump not to turn his back on the world’s most defenseless children and families."
Source : People

Buhari’s latest picture in London attracts social media comments

A cross section of Nigerians have continued to comment on the new latest pictures of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently on a 10-day working leave in London, UK.
The new picture, which was posted on Friday night, showed the president in a relax mood with some of his visitors, including Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun.
Others in the picture are some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The picture shows Buhari live in London, contrary to malicious rumours by some Nigerians in the social media that he was either dead or ‘under intensive care’.
Some of the comments captured over the sudden emergence of the picture include: “Despite all attempts to debunk the rumours, the wicked mischief makers have continued to spread their falsehood about President Buhari.
“Here he is, in fulfillment of their death wish under intensive care.”
Mr Kingsley Nwaeze, a social commentator, condemned those spreading dangerous rumours about the president’s health conditions.
He said on his twitter post: “My dear don’t mind the fools. They are the enemies of this country and we shall overcome them. I stand with my President.
“Imaging the stupidity of some people to wish death for a president of their country. How callous?
“There are two things that you don’t mock anybody with.. Death and old age…Nobody can stop them from happening…you become old and eventually die! May God save guard and protect PMB now and always.’’
Mr Usman Mohammed Ismail in his post said: “Have you heard about the guy that wrote R.I.P on Buhari’s Photo on twitter?
“The Guy was arrested and taken to court and the Judge asked him what he meant by R.I.P? The Guys says he meant REMAIN IN POWER’’.
Buhari, who left Nigeria on January 19, is scheduled to return home on Feb. 6.

Sexual Harassment: Indian Governor resigns after Staff Accuse him of turning his Office into a “Young Ladies Club”

V. Shanmuganathan

The Governor of India’s North-eastern state of Meghalaya, V. Shanmuganathan has resigned from his post in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct, officials said on Friday.
The allegation of sexual misconduct was leveled at him by his staff and a female job applicant.
The 67-year-old Shanmuganathan tendered his resignation on Thursday night.
Nearly 100 members of his staff petitioned to the federal government that Shanmuganathan had “compromised the dignity’’ of the governor’s office and turned it into a “young ladies club’’.
The letter accused Shanmuganathan of hiring or posting only women in his staff and turning the Raj Bhavan (Governor’s office) into a place where “young ladies come and go at will with direct orders from the Governor’’.
The letters were sent to the Indian president, prime minister and home minister seeking the removal of the governor.
Shanmuganathan has denied the allegations.
Ahead of his resignation, women activists and civil society staged a protest in Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya, against Shanmuganathan asking him to step down.
The allegations of sexual harassment against Shanmuganathan were reported in local media as well.
A local newspaper, Highland Post from Meghalaya carried a report accusing Shanmuganathan of molesting a woman during an interview for job at the governor’s office.
“The governor allegedly made advances by hugging and kissing her and even offering her part time or full time job inside the Raj Bhavan,’’ the newspaper, quoting the victim as saying.
The woman said the incident took place in a fancy room in Raj Bhavan and no staff was present at the time.
Shanmughanathan was appointed the governor of Meghalaya in 2015.
Prior to assuming the office, Shanmughanathan was senior member of Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) , the ideological fountainhead of India’s ruling
Bhartiya Janta Party.
Photo Credit: Hindustan Times

See Photos :Evolution of the Selfie

Lol..... See photos on Evolution of the Selfie below :

We are expecting more discovery from this rare breed in  the nearest future.... Lolz

Declassified CIA files reveal Babangida would overthrow Buhari in 1985 (See evidence)

Fresh revelations from declassified files of the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) show that the Americans knew exactly how then Head of State General Muhammadu Buhari would be removed from power in the 1980s and who would do it.

In 1984, the CIA predicted correctly that Babangida would lead the coup that would overthrow Buhari.

According to information in the files in NAIJ.com’s possession, the CIA predicted correctly the ouster of Buhari by a coup and the fact that it would be carried out by former military head of state Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida who the files also tipped as the next head of state.

The CIA report, which was compiled in December 1984, noted that Buhari’s removal was imminent because of the declining political and economic situation of Nigeria at the time and which Buhari has could not improve on.

Front page of the declassified CIA files on Babangida overthrowing Buhari in 1984.

This development had brought disaffection among the ranks of the military officers holding political offices at the time, and the CIA predicted that Buhari had just a short time in power because the younger officers were ready for a change.

The Declassified files showing CIA's submission on Babangida in the overthrow of Buhari in 1980s.

Recall that earlier CIA files analysed by NAIJ.com predicted that General Buhari would last only a short time in office because of the growing resentment of his style of leadership among younger officers including those from the southern part of the country.

Source :naij 

Photos: Jubilation as Gambia's President Adama Barrow returns home

Gambia's new President Adama Barrow returned home after two weeks in Senegal. He received a tumultuous and well-fitting welcome at the Banjul International Airport and escorted by thousands of waiting Gambians and other people standing by the highway side clapping and waving at him while he appears on top of his car equally waving the crowd. Some Gambians were seen along wide avenues leading to the airport, wearing T-shirts with Barrow's picture blowing whistles, drumming and singing in Fula language.

Under heavy security by the ECOMOG, President Barrow was escorted to his residence at TAF Estate in Brufut town where he will live for the meantime while the State House is under sanity checks by the ECOWAS forces to ensure safety. He was sworn-in last week on January 19th at the Gambian embassy in Dakar, Senegal, when former President Yahya Jammeh remained defiant and refused to hand over power

.
Jammeh departed The Gambia for Equitorial Guinea on Saturday after final mediation efforts by Presidents Mohamed Ouid Abdel Aziz of Mauritanian and Alpha Conde of Guinea.

Mother of two kills self over MMM in Benue

Popular ponzi scheme, MMM, has been fingered for the death of a 34-year-old mother of two, Mrs Gloria Samson in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.

It was  reported that a woman had taken loans from 4 different places in December and just few days after investing the money with hopes of getting massive returns, the controversial scheme announced the freeze in December.

MMM Logo

The woman was said to have left her home on December 28, 2016 to drown herself in River Benue and sadly, her body was discovered on January 2, 2017 by police. When she was leaving the house on the said day before her alleged death, she was said to have asked for forgiveness from her two children. She also sent the children to plead with their dad on her behalf to forgive her.

According to the deceased’s neighbors at Vandeikiya street, High level in Makurdi, she had borrowed about N400,000.00 from different micro finance banks and invested it in MMM only for the scheme to announce a freeze on cashing out a few days after her investment.

“What we gathered is that she had borrowed money from four different places and invested in MMM but shortly after MMM suspended payment to subscribers, she withdrew to her shell,”one of the neighbors said.

Samson David, the deceased’s widower confirmed that he was aware that his wife took loans, but he could not confirm if she actually invested it in MMM.

“Towards November and December, 2016, 

I discovered she took loan from four places over N400,000.00, but I don’t know what she actually did with the money because this time there was nothing in the shop to suggest that she invested the money into her business but truly she took loans”.

The state police spokesman, ASP Moses Yamu confirmed that the police actually recovered the body of a woman from River Benue. She was laid to mother earth on Friday, January 20, at the Ankpa ward public cemetery.

Sad!
Source :naija.com 

US Appeals Court Upholds Kashamu’s Extradition For Drug Offence

A US Appeals Court on Monday said Senator Buruji Kashamu must face drug charges leveled against him.
Chicago prosecutors accuse Kashamu, representing Ogun East Senatorial District at the National Assembly, of heading a heroin trafficking ring in the 1990s.
Kashamu, elected to the Senate on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform in 2015 despite being a fugitive from US justice since 1998, argues that prosecutors want his dead brother instead.
In an April 2015 filing, the 68-year-old asked a district court to prevent his “abduction abroad by US authorities.”
The US court, however, dismissed the complaint, and the US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling Monday.
It said US agents’ attempt to arrest Kashamu in coordination with local authorities would not constitute “an attempted abduction.”
Judge Richard Posner wrote that nothing in the law prevents US agents from “being present when foreign officers are effecting an arrest or from assisting foreign officers who are effecting an arrest.”

So Sad. ...Borno Students Sacrifices His Life to Protect Hundreds From Suicide Bomber

Yakubu Muhammad Fannami, a student of Darussalam Science and Islamic Academy, has been announced dead by the school.
According to a message posted on the school's Facebook wall, he died after he sacrificed his life to protect the lives of hundreds of Muslims worshiping at a mosque at Kaleri Borno state who were been targeted by a female suicide bomber.
He reportedly fought the suicide bomber who tried to enter the mosque.
Here's the message posted:
The management and the entire academic and non-academic staffs of DARUSSALAM SCIENCE AND ISLAMIC ACADEMY, wishes to announce the death of its student Yakubu Muhammad Fannami, who courageously sacrificed his life to protect the lives of over hundred Muslim ummah in a mosque at kaleri.
The deceased made his encounter with a female suicide bomber who tried to force herself into the mosque and detonate the explosive device at the early hours of today Wednesday, 25th January 2017. May aljannatul firdaus be his final abode. Ameen.
Announcer:
Management

Man Sets Lover, Rival Ablaze, Poisons Self

A Lagos-based building engineer identified only as Ogundare has reportedly killed his lover, Oriyomi Folarin and his rival, Akinade Omole, aka Currency for allegedly jilting him.
The incident, which happened on Ebijimi Street in the Meiran area of the state, has left residents in awe.
Ogundare and Folarin had been in a romantic relationship for years until sometime in 2016 when he (Ogundare) reportedly had financial challenges and could no longer meet his lover ’s needs.
Before their relationship went sour, Ogundare had allegedly rented a shop for the woman and rented an apartment for her in the Agbado area of Ogun State.
The woman, a divorcee popularly called Iya Corner, operated a beer parlor on the street and had three children.
The Punch is reporting that Ogundare, on Sunday had seen a Highlander Jeep that Omole parked at a filling station a few metres away from the beer parlour and had allegedly trailed him to his lover’s shop.
He stormed the shop with a gallon of petrol, allegedly poured the content on the woman and his rival and set them ablaze.
The fire was also said to have spread to Ogundare’s hand while fleeing the scene.
It was learnt that Omole and Folarin died in a hospital in the community on Monday from the burns they suffered.
Confirming the incident on Wednesday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the police had launched a manhunt for Ogundare.
The PPRO said, “Two victims are dead; the suspect is missing but believed to be on the run.
“Effort is on to track him, although, we are yet to confirm if he is still alive as news have it that he poisoned himself to death.
“The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, SCIID, Yaba for further investigation,” the PPRO added.

16-year-old Sentenced To Jail For Slashing Policeman’s Throat

A German Court sentenced a 16-year-old girl to six years jail on Thursday for an attack on a Police Officer.
The prosecutors described it as the first assault ordered by Islamic State in the country.
The teenager, identified as Safia S, was 15 years old when she slashed the police officer in the neck with a vegetable knife at the main railway station in Hanover in February 2016.
The 34-year-old policeman was severely injured but survived the attack.

Bank teller accused of stealing $164,000 acquitted Stanbic fails to bring CCTV footage to court

A STANDBIC Bank teller was accused of stealing $164,000 from cash vaults was Wednesday acquitted after a Harare court ruled that prosecutors failed to prove their case.
Aaron Rashama, 45, of New Bluffhill in Harare was facing theft of trust property charges and out of custody on $1000 bail.
Despite insisting that Rashama was captured on CCTV taking the money, prosecutors failed to produce the video footage in court.
“Whether it was deliberate or pure ineptitude one cannot tell,” magistrate Elijah Makomo said.
“It is alleged that the accused could be seen entering the vault on his own on the CCTV video footage but no one cared to bring the footage leaving the court to doubt as to whether the accused was indeed captured entering the vault on the day in question.”
According to the State, Rashama was in charge of the cash vault and his duties included cashing and deposits, vault custody, foreign exchange and query resolution.
Prosecutors alleged that on January 18 last year, Rashama received and signed for $245,060 and $14,173, 75 vault and canister cash respectively.
Court heard that the money reflected in Rashama’s cash register as well as on the bank’s computer system.
On May 24, Rashama reported for work as usual, but left immediately without the branch manager’s permission.
After realising that he had taken too long coming back, the branch manager Joyce Mhlanga phoned Rashama on his mobile phone but the phone went unanswered and was later on switched off.
Court heard that Mhlanga notified the Stanbic’s head of financial crime control, Continue Mudekwa, and the investigations manager, Stanley Shaninga.
The pair visited the branch and noticed that Rashama had also taken with him keys to the vault and canister.
Using spare keys, they discovered that $4,252 was in the vault instead of the $154,560 reflecting in the cash register while the canister had $3,323 instead of $20,404 also reflecting in the cash register.
It was also alleged that the sealed bundles Rashama was keeping in the vault were made up of $1 bills instead of $100, $50 and $20 notes.
The bank lost $164,389 and nothing was recovered.
Source :Newzimbabwe

Zimbabwe stands still as President vacations off the grid

HARARE: It was an urgent matter for President
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe : His approval was needed so that a loyal supporter who had just died could be buried at a cemetery for national heroes.
But with Mugabe off on his extended annual holiday in Asia this month, it took the acting president a couple of days to track him down, en route from Beijing to his Asian base in Singapore.
“I phoned the president telling him about the death, and he told me that he had learned about it through the first lady, who had read about it on the internet,” said the acting president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, one of Mugabe’s two vice presidents.
Mugabe’s annual holidays are one of the unusual aspects of the rhythms of political life in Harare. Every year, from mid-December through the end of January, Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years with a tight grip, seemingly releases it. He vanishes in Asia, going off grid, becoming at times unreachable to his own deputies.
A couple of years ago, one of Mugabe’s sons posted photos on Instagram showing the family at a high-end Japanese restaurant in Singapore, apparently enjoying teppanyaki. But the Mugabes have otherwise remained discreet about their holiday activities, sensitive perhaps to criticism back home that they are wasting public money while government coffers are nearly empty.
So committed has Mugabe been to staying away from Zimbabwe that even when he interrupts his long Asian holiday with an official trip to an African nation — as he did in mid-January by traveling to Mali — the presidential plane, Air Zimbabwe Flight 1, has made a beeline right back to Asia.
In Harare, government decisions, big and small, are put off. It’s a slow month and half for political journalists, even as rumors fill the vacuum. But even in Mugabe’s absence, the grip of the only leader Zimbabwe has ever known never really loosens.
“When Mugabe goes on holiday, he goes on holiday with the state,” said Pedzisai Ruhanya, a political analyst and the director of the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute, a research group. “Mugabe’s behaviour is inconsistent with practices in other countries, with general state practices. This is kind of strange.”
This time, Mugabe left for Asia immediately after his party’s annual conference in mid-December, which was dominated by his wife, Grace Mugabe, 51. Mugabe, the world’s oldest head of state, who will be 93 in February, slept through most of the conference but was selected as his party’s candidate in next year’s presidential election.
His party is increasingly divided by fighting over succession, and Mugabe has lost the support of longtime allies like veterans of the country’s war of liberation. Zimbabwe’s financial state remains so precarious that government workers were paid late in December, after Christmas, and have yet to receive their year-end bonuses.
“Under normal circumstances, when things are not O.K. in your house, you wouldn’t leave for such a long time,” said John Masuku, a journalist who worked for 27 years at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, including as a presidential correspondent.
And yet, even in increasingly frail health, Mugabe has not cut short his annual holidays. The reality, allies and rivals alike say, is that he has secured the loyalty of the political class through patronage, eviscerated the opposition and installed relatives and close associates in important posts in the army and the police.
Unlike less-secure strongmen who rarely venture abroad, Mugabe sticks to his annual routine, leaving Zimbabwe at the same time every year, and he has even lengthened his holidays in recent years.
“He feels quite comfortable,” said Rugare Gumbo, who was a longtime ally of Mugabe and is now in the opposition. “No one can take a chance by raising any controversial issue because he would be accused of trying to overthrow the old man.”
Indeed, when Mnangagwa, the acting president, was shown recently in Facebook photos holding a mug with the words, “I Am the Boss,” the attacks against him by party rivals were immediate and relentless. Accused of wanting to push Mugabe aside, Mnangagwa had to issue a statement to the contrary.
Mugabe, a well-known Anglophile, used to spend his annual holidays in London or elsewhere in Europe. But sanctions imposed by Western governments after the seizure of white-owned farms in 2000 pushed the Mugabes to look elsewhere.
The Mugabes have vacationed in Malaysia and Hong Kong as well as in the Middle East, mostly in Dubai. But Mugabe has settled in recent years on Singapore, which, in addition to having excellent Japanese food, has a leading medical tourism industry — and, perhaps most important, is a former British colony.
“He finds it congenial to be in a former British colony than in any other country,” Gumbo said. “If you can’t get pleasure in London, you might as well get it in its colonies.”
With Mugabe gone, neither the government nor the ruling party bothers to hold high-level meetings.
“We didn’t hold cabinet meetings in Mugabe’s absence because he is the one who chairs the meetings,” said Didymus Mutasa, who served as a minister to Mugabe for many years and is now in the opposition. “When Mugabe goes on leave, some of his ministers also go on leave.”
Tendai Biti, an opposition leader who served as finance minister in a coalition government from 2009 to 2013, said that Mugabe’s annual holidays have long been a drain on Zimbabwe’s finances. In a system established before independence, government officials traveling overseas are given hard currency, usually American dollars, upon authorisation from the Finance Ministry, Biti said.
During Biti’s tenure, Mugabe typically asked for $3 million for his annual holidays, and Biti said he authorised from $800,000 to $1.2 million.
“The money comes as cash,” Biti said. “But whether they put it in suitcases or whatever, I don’t know. That was not my job.”
Unspent money — from Mugabe’s annual holidays or his frequent trips outside Zimbabwe — is not returned to the state.
“It has become a vehicle for looting,” Biti said.
Most high-ranking government and ruling party officials refused to comment on Mugabe’s annual holidays.
But Tshinga Dube, Mugabe’s minister for war veterans, said that he carried out his duties the same way whether Mugabe was in or out of the country.
Describing himself as an “ambassador” serving under “a Julius Caesar,” Dube said, “You cannot do things differently just because he is not there.”
Asked about popular criticism that Mugabe is out of touch by taking such long and costly holidays while the country’s economy teeters, Dube said that it was “a matter of personal opinion.”
“It is very difficult,” he added, “to talk, to comment about your boss, especially on issues that relate to his health, his age, and things of that nature."

Source : The New York Times

Sex Blackmail Scandal: Court Issues Warrant For Arrest of Jyoti and Kiran Matharoo

Weeks after it was reported that Toronto Sisters, Jyoti and Kiran Matharoo, have been allowed to leave Nigeria, the Yaba Magistrate Court in Lagos has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of two sisters.
READ: Jyoti, Kiran Matharoo Quietly Leave Nigeria With Naked Photos of Billionaires,Politicians
The case, with file no. A/203/2016, which is between the Lagos state commissioner of police and the 3 defendants following a petition filed to the police by Otedola, was called up at about 10:03 am on Wednesday according to Nigeria Politics.
Justice E.A Ojo also placed an order for their sureties to show cause. Justice Ojo then filed for the case to be transferred to the Federal high court in Lagos.
The matter has been adjourned to the 1st of March 2017.

MMM Introduces New Measures as Top Guilder Flees NigeriaDiscussion

As Ponzi scheme, MMM, continues to make improvements and complete its much anticipated new model, some measures are being put in place to make MMM better.

The information below was posted on the MMM Nigeria team support Facebook group:

1. We are targeting sustainability. Not to destabilize the community. So we cannot work faster than we are doing now.

2. About fake proof of payment (POP), when things are normal, we will introduce a new model where if you attach fake POP (proof of payment), you will be blocked immediately. No matter if you pay the money later.

3. Do not promote other products that are copycats. Believe in the community because programmers are finished with the new model and soon you will see it.

4. Participants who promote other projects will be blocked, some have been blocked already more will still be blocked.

5. Next week, SMS notifications will be turned on for orders. Everyone is to ensure their phone numbers are working.

6. A new measure will be implemented to reduce the long PH (provide help) queue in the system to make it shorter and restore the confidence of the people back.

7. We will make announcements in your PO this week to make clarifications.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s top guider, Chuddy Ugorji, has reportedly fled the country. It was gathered that Ugorji, left Nigeria with his wife to the Philippines.

He fled the country when many investors were waiting to be paid their money with the accrued interest, the News Agency of Nigeria reported

Jammeh Congratulates Barrow, Offers Sincere Advice

Gambian former President Yahya Jammeh has congratulated President Adama Barrow.

Jammeh extended his felicitation in a message read on Gambian state TV over the weekend.

“I hereby wish President Adama Barrow all the best from the bottom of my heart. The Almighty Allah has decided, and I will be found wanting if I as a Muslim and a former president do not sincerely wish him and his administration all the best,” Jammeh said.

He added: “For the welfare of all Gambians, anytime my advice and support is needed by President Adama Barrow, I am ready to offer him sincere advice and services.

Two killed in tyre explosion in Ghana (Photo)

Two Ghanaians have been confirmed dead after a tyre they were fixing exploded at Hwidiem in the Asante Akyem North District of Ashanti Region on Tuesday. The deceased persons, a steel welder and a tricycle rider died on the spot. While two other persons who were standing close-by the scene of the accident also suffered injuries from the explosion.

According to the Agogo Police, the welder with the assistance of the motorbike rider ignored the safety precaution of deflating the tyre before working on it. Few minutes later, the tyre exploded and chopped off the head of the steel welder and also mutilated that of the motorbike rider beyond recognition.

The two other persons at the scene of the accident, a 14-year-old boy, and a 30-year old man are currently responding to treatment at the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital.

The bodies of the two have been deposited at the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital morgue.

Suleiman: What does the Quran teach about self defence?

Apostle Suleiman, senior pastor of Omega Fire Ministries recently received phone calls twice, alerting him of imminent attack on his church by Fulani herdsmen and orchestrated assassination of his person. Then said he to his aides, in his narrative to his Sunday morning congregation ; “any Fulani herdsmen you see around you or in the church premises, kill him…

Donald Trump Deports 92 Africans From United States

The stiffness of Donald Trump's policy on illegal immigrants in the United States seem to have been playing out already.
Daily Nation, a Kenyan newspaper reports that Ninety nationals of Somalia and two Kenyans arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Kenya, on Wednesday, after being deported from the US.
The deportees were said to have arrived at the airport at midday aboard Omni, an American Charter Airline.
The Somalis reportedly boarded a Juba Airways flight that left for Mogadishu, capital of Somalia, at 3pm.
Sources at the airport were quoted to have said the travellers were accompanied by security officers from the US.
Zipporah Waweru, an official of Jomo Kenyatta airport, confirmed that there had been a plane carrying Somalis in transit to Mogadishu, but she could not confirm whether they were deportees.
'They have left and to me, they looked happy so I cannot for sure tell you that they were deported or not,” she said.
The deportees are the first set of Africans to be affected by the immigration policy of President Donald Trump, who has vowed to crack down on millions of immigrants in the US.
Trump had earlier disclosed his plans to sign executive orders which would lead to the imposition of visa ban on 7 predominantly Islam nations – three from Africa.
The countries targeted are Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yem

“I said the Christians must not go after them, but if they come after us, then defend yourself” – Apostle Suleiman

Senior Pastor of Omega Fire Ministries (OFM) Worldwide, Apostle Johnson Suleiman , has said that he did not instruct Christians to go after Muslims, adding that his statement was taken out of context.
A couple of days ago, a video surfaced online where he told his Church members to “kill any Fulani herdsman” who enters the church to cause harm.
Following the message, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) in the early hours of Tuesday stormed a hotel the clergyman was lodged in Ado-Ekiti after his crusade, to arrest him.
Vanguard reports that a Director in the hotel, who pleaded anonymity said when the DSS arrived the Hotel, they told the receptionists that they had a message for the Apostle from the Presidency.
The receptionists passed the message to the Apostle’s Personal Assistant and his Security details who informed their boss of the mission of his guests.
The Director added that a few minutes later he saw a convoy drove into the hotel premises and Governor Fayose emerged from one of the vehicles in the convoy, went straight to the preacher’s hotel room and left with Apostle, who had got his bags already packed.
Speaking in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday, Suleiman said that he preached on the need for Christians to always defend themselves, adding that it was sinful to tell anyone to kill God’s creation.
“They said I preached in Auchi two weeks ago which they said implied that I was instigating Christians against Muslims. I have always been an advocate of peace and I can’t stay around and be saying such. There are widows and orphans for us to take care of just because of these senseless killings, no leader will see his sheep being killed and be happy.
Later, I got anonymous calls from Fulani Herdsmen about what I said. What I said was that, if gunmen came around church to attack churches, you must defend yourself, but if they come to pray, don’t attack. But they quoted me out of context. I am not stupid, I live among the crowd and I am not senseless. Time for self defence has come. Whether you are a Muslim or Christian, someone can’t just come to your house and kill your children and you will keep quiet.
I said the Christians must not go after them, but if they come after us, then defend yourself. This is what they twisted. I am hearing different versions of the story. I was in Abuja for three days why didn’t they come after me. But now that I am in Ekiti, they wanted to lump me up with a man they think was against them. It could have been easier to pick me up in Abuja, I don’t live here.
If this will make them to clarify what I meant, I can present the video of my preaching. A town in Aviele in Edo State, Muslims rushed into the church and chased away all church members and started calling for Islamic prayers there. I have always been preaching that youths must not kill. It was even wrong for the police or security agency to be coming around me and be saying I preached that I said Christians should kill Muslims without any verifiable facts.
The only thing I am seeing is that we must learn how to investigate. I am not happy because of the way Christian community have been reacting. They are even saying they will protests abroad in all Nigerian embassies. I will never be alive and see Christians destroying property of Muslims because there will be problem.
If they had called me and say I should tone down what I said, I would have gone back to do that. I have never been invited, but if I am invited I will come but that will be at my own time. I was not stopped from preaching.
This Kaduna crisis confirmed that there was deliberate attempt to frustrate Christians. The National Assembly must not fold their arms and see this happen. But I have no grudge against Buhari or DSS. They are only doing their job, but the DSS did it wrongly,” Suleiman said.

Donald Trump confirms he is Considering Reactivating Torture Techniques for Terror Suspects | Read the Full Transcript of his First Presidential Interview

In a White House interview done with ABC News last night, President Donald Trump has confirmed that he is considering reactivating torture techniques for terror suspects. This comes days after it was reported that he is considering a law to stop America from issuing visas to seven Islamic countries.
In the interview, he also talks about the Mexico border wall and he says that construction will begin in months.
The exclusive one-hour television interview with ABC News anchor David Muir was filmed in the White House and is Donald Trump’s first interview as President.
President Trump also said he will launch an investigation into alleged voter fraud following his unsubstantiated claims that millions of people illegally cast ballots during the 2016 election.
He says “You have people that are registered who are dead, who are illegals, who are in two states. You have people registered in two states. They’re registered in a New York and a New Jersey. They vote twice. There are millions of votes, in my opinion. When you look at the people that are registered: dead, illegal and two states, and some cases maybe three states — we have a lot to look into.”
Watch a clip from the interview below.
#POTUS #Trump confirms that he is considering reactivating torture techniques for terror suspects. He was interviewed by ABCNEWS last night. Video: @oaktvonline
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Read the transcript of the interview below!
***
DAVID MUIR: Mr. President, it’s an honor to be here at the White House.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much, David.
DAVID MUIR: Let me ask you, has the magnitude of this job hit you yet?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: It has periodically hit me. And it is a tremendous magnitude. And where you really see it is when you’re talking to the generals about problems in the world. And we do have problems in the world. Big problems. The business also hits because the — the size of it. The size.
I was with the Ford yesterday. And with General Motors yesterday. The top representatives, great people. And they’re gonna do some tremendous work in the United States. They’re gonna build plants back in the United States. But when you see the size, even as a businessman, the size of the investment that these big companies are gonna make, it hits you even in that regard. But we’re gonna bring jobs back to America, like I promised on the campaign trail.
DAVID MUIR: And we’re gonna get to it all right here.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Good.
DAVID MUIR: Mr. President, I want to start — we’re five days in. And your campaign promises. I know today you plan on signing the order to build the wall.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Correct.
DAVID MUIR: Are you going to direct U.S. funds to pay for this wall? Will American taxpayers pay for the wall?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Ultimately it’ll come out of what’s happening with Mexico. We’re gonna be starting those negotiations relatively soon. And we will be in a form reimbursed by Mexico which I will say …
DAVID MUIR: So, they’ll pay us back?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, absolutely, 100 percent.
DAVID MUIR: So, the American taxpayer will pay for the wall at first?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: All it is, is we’ll be reimbursed at a later date from whatever transaction we make from Mexico. Now, I could wait a year and I could hold off the wall. But I wanna build the wall. We have to build the wall. We have to stop drugs from pouring in. We have to stop people from just pouring into our country. We have no idea where they’re from. And I campaigned on the wall. And it’s very important. But that wall will cost us nothing.
DAVID MUIR: But you talked — often about Mexico paying for the wall. And you, again, say they’ll pay us back. Mexico’s president said in recent days that Mexico absolutely will not pay, adding that, “It goes against our dignity as a country and our dignity as Mexicans.” He says …
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: David, he has to say that. He has to say that. But I’m just telling you there will be a payment. It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form. And you have to understand what I’m doing is good for the United States. It’s also going to be good for Mexico.
We wanna have a very stable, very solid Mexico. Even more solid than it is right now. And they need it also. Lots of things are coming across Mexico that they don’t want. I think it’s going to be a good thing for both countries. And I think the relationship will be better than ever before.
You know, when we had a prisoner in Mexico, as you know, two years ago, that we were trying to get out. And Mexico was not helping us, I will tell you, those days are over. I think we’re gonna end up with a much better relationship with Mexico. We will have the wall and in a very serious form Mexico will pay for the wall.
DAVID MUIR: What are you gonna say to some of your supporters who might say, “Wait a minute, I thought Mexico was going to pay for this right at the start.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I’d say very simply that they are going to pay for it. I never said they’re gonna pay from the start. I said Mexico will pay for the wall. But what I will tell my supporters is, “Would you like me to wait two years or three years before I make this deal?” Because we have to make a deal on NAFTA. We have to make a new trade deal with Mexico because we’re getting clobbered.
We have a $60-billion trade deficit. So, if you want, I can wait two years and then we can do it nice and easily. I wanna start the wall immediately. Every supporter I have — I have had so many people calling and tweeting and — and writing letters saying they’re so happy about it. I wanna start the wall. We will be reimbursed for the wall.
DAVID MUIR: When does construction begin?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: As soon as we can. As soon as we can physically do it. We’re …
DAVID MUIR: Within months?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I would say in months. Yeah, I would say in months. Certainly planning is starting immediately.
DAVID MUIR: People feel …
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’ll be having some really good, really solid plans within a short period of time.
DAVID MUIR: When people learn of the news of this wall today there are gonna be a lot of people listening to this. And I wanna ask about undocumented immigrants who are here — in this country. Right now they’re protected as so-called dreamers — the children who were brought here, as you know, by their parents. Should they be worried — that they could be deported? And is there anything you can say to assure them right now that they’ll be allowed to stay?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: They shouldn’t be very worried. They are here illegally. They shouldn’t be very worried. I do have a big heart. We’re going to take care of everybody. We’re going to have a very strong border. We’re gonna have a very solid border. Where you have great people that are here that have done a good job, they should be far less worried. We’ll be coming out with policy on that over the next period of four weeks.
DAVID MUIR: But Mr. President, will they be allowed to stay?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I’m gonna tell you over the next four weeks. But I will tell you, we’re looking at this, the whole immigration situation, we’re looking at it with great heart. Now we have criminals that are here. We have really bad people that are here. Those people have to be worried ’cause they’re getting out. We’re gonna get them out. We’re gonna get ’em out fast. General Kelly is — I’ve given that as his number one priority.
DAVID MUIR: Senator Jeff Sessions, your pick for attorney general, as you know during his confirmation hearing said that ending DACA, this is President Obama’s policy protecting the dreamers — that, “Ending it certainly would be constitutional.” That you could end the protection of these dreamers. Is that a possibility?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’re gonna be talking with — attorney general. He will soon be the attorney general. He’s done fantastically well. We’re all very proud of him. I thought he was treated very, very unfairly. He’s a brilliant man and he’s a very good man. He’ll do a fantastic job. I’ll be speaking to him as soon as he’s affirmed.
DAVID MUIR: So, it’s a possibility.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We will be talking to the attorney general.
DAVID MUIR: I wanna ask you about something you said this week right here at the White House. You brought in congressional leaders to the White House. You spoke at length about the presidential election with them — telling them that you lost the popular vote because of millions of illegal votes, 3 to 5 million illegal votes. That would be the biggest electoral fraud in American history. Where is the evidence of that?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: So, let me tell you first of all, it was so misrepresented. That was supposed to be a confidential meeting. And you weren’t supposed to go out and talk to the press as soon as you — but the Democrats viewed it not as a confidential meeting.
DAVID MUIR: But you have tweeted …
(OVERTALK)
DAVID MUIR: … about the millions of illegals …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Sure. And I do — and I’m very …
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: … and I mean it. But just so you — it was supposed to be a confidential meeting. They turned it into not a con… Number two, the conversation lasted for about a minute. They made it — somebody said it was, like, 25 percent of the … It wasn’t. It was hardly even discussed.
I said it. And I said it strongly because what’s going on with voter fraud is horrible. That’s number one. Number two, I would’ve won the popular vote if I was campaigning for the popular vote. I would’ve gone to California where I didn’t go at all. I would’ve gone to New York where I didn’t campaign at all.
I would’ve gone to a couple of places that I didn’t go to. And I would’ve won that much easier than winning the electoral college. But as you know, the electoral college is all that matters. It doesn’t make any difference. So, I would’ve won very, very easily. But it’s a different form of winning. You would campaign much differently. You would have a totally different campaign. So, but …
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: … you’re just asking a question. I would’ve easily won the popular vote, much easier, in my opinion, than winning the electoral college. I ended up going to 19 different states. I went to the state of Maine four times for one. I needed one.
I went to M– I got it, by the way. But it turned out I didn’t need it because we ended up winning by a massive amount, 306. I needed 270. We got 306. You and everybody said, “There’s no way you get to 270.” I mean, your network said and almost everybody said, “There’s no way you can get to …” So, I went to Maine four times. I went to various places. And that’s the beauty of the electoral college. With that being said, if you look at voter registration, you look at the dead people that are registered to vote who vote, you look at people that are registered in two states, you look at all of these different things that are happening with registration. You take a look at those registration for — you’re gonna s– find — and we’re gonna do an investigation on it.
DAVID MUIR: But 3 to 5 million illegal votes?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we’re gonna find out. But it could very well be that much. Absolutely.
DAVID MUIR: But …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: But we’re gonna find out.
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: In fact, I heard one of the other side, they were saying it’s not 3 to 5. It’s not 3 to 5. I said, “Well, Mr. Trump is talking about registration, tell–” He said, “You know we don’t wanna talk about registration.” They don’t wanna talk about registration.
You have people that are registered who are dead, who are illegals, who are in two states. You have people registered in two states. They’re registered in a New York and a New Jersey. They vote twice. There are millions of votes, in my opinion. Now …
DAVID MUIR: But again …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I’m doing an …
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: … investigation. David, David, David …
DAVID MUIR: You’re now, you’re now president of the United States when you say …
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Of course, and I want the voting process to be legitimate.
DAVID MUIR: But what I’m asking …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: The people that …
DAVID MUIR: … what I’m asking that — when you say in your opinion millions of illegal votes, that is something that is extremely fundamental to our functioning democracy, a fair and free election.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Sure. Sure. Sure.
DAVID MUIR: You say you’re gonna launch an investigation.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Sure, done.
DAVID MUIR: What you have presented so far has been debunked. It’s been called …
(OVERTALK)
DAVID MUIR: … false.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, it hasn’t. Take a look at the Pew reports.
DAVID MUIR: I called the author of the Pew report last night. And he told me that they found no evidence of voter …
(OVERTALK)
DAVID MUIR: … fraud.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Really? Then why did he write the report?
DAVID MUIR: He said no evidence of voter fraud.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Excuse me, then why did he write the report?
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: According to Pew report, then he’s — then he’s groveling again. You know, I always talk about the reporters that grovel when they wanna write something that you wanna hear but not necessarily millions of people wanna hear or have to hear.
DAVID MUIR: So, you’ve launched an investigation?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’re gonna launch an investigation to find out. And then the next time — and I will say this, of those votes cast, none of ’em come to me. None of ’em come to me. They would all be for the other side. None of ’em come to me. But when you look at the people that are registered: dead, illegal and two states and some cases maybe three states — we have a lot to look into.
DAVID MUIR: House Speaker Paul Ryan has said, “I have seen no evidence. I have made this very, very clear.” Senator Lindsey Graham saying, “It’s the most inappropriate thing for a president to say without proof. He seems obsessed with the idea that he could not have possibly lost the popular vote without cheating and fraud.” I wanna ask you about something bigger here. Does it matter more now …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: There’s nothing bigger. There’s nothing bigger.
DAVID MUIR: But it is important because …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Let me just tell you, you know what’s important, millions of people agree with me when I say that if you would’ve looked on one of the other networks and all of the people that were calling in they’re saying, “We agree with Mr. Trump. We agree.” They’re very smart people.
The people that voted for me — lots of people are saying they saw things happen. I heard stories also. But you’re not talking about millions. But it’s a small little segment. I will tell you, it’s a good thing that we’re doing because at the end we’re gonna have an idea as to what’s going on. Now, you’re telling me Pew report has all of a sudden changed. But you have other reports and you have other statements. You take a look at the registrations, how many dead people are there? Take a look at the registrations as to the other things that I already presented.
DAVID MUIR: And you’re saying …
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: And you’re gonna find …
DAVID MUIR: … those people who are on the rolls voted, that there are millions of illegal votes?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I didn’t say there are millions. But I think there could very well be millions of people. That’s right.
DAVID MUIR: You tweeted though …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: And I also say this …
DAVID MUIR: … you tweeted, “If you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally, I won the popular vote.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: David, and I also say this, if I was going for the popular vote I would’ve won easily. But I would’ve been in California and New York. I wouldn’t have been in Maine. I wouldn’t have been in Iowa. I wouldn’t have been in Nebraska and all of those states that I had to win in order to win this. I would’ve been in New York, I would’ve been in California. I never even went there.
DAVID MUIR: Let me just ask you, you did win. You’re the president. You’re sitting …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: That’s true.
DAVID MUIR: … across from me right now.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: That’s true.
DAVID MUIR: Do you think that your words matter more now?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes, very much.
DAVID MUIR: Do you think that that talking about millions of illegal votes is dangerous to this country without presenting the evidence?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, not at all.
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Not at all because many people feel the same way that I do. And …
DAVID MUIR: You don’t think it undermines your credibility if there’s no evidence?
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, not at all because they didn’t come to me. Believe me. Those were Hillary votes. And if you look at it they all voted for Hillary. They all voted for Hillary. They didn’t vote for me. I don’t believe I got one. Okay, these are people that voted for Hillary Clinton. And if they didn’t vote, it would’ve been different in the popular.
Now, you have to understand I — I focused on those four or five states that I had to win. Maybe she didn’t. She should’ve gone to Michigan. She thought she had it in the bag. She should’ve gone to Wisconsin, she thought she had it because you’re talking about 38 years of, you know, Democrat wins. But they didn’t. I went to Michigan, I went to Wisconsin. I went to Pennsylvania all the time. I went to all of the states that are — Florida and North Carolina. That’s all I focused on.
DAVID MUIR: Mr. President, it does strike me though that we’re relitigating the presidential campaign, the election …
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, no. We’re looking at it for the next time. No, no, you have to understand, I had a tremendous victory, one of the great victories ever. In terms of counties I think the most ever or just about the most ever. When you look at a map it’s all red. Red meaning us, Republicans.
One of the greatest victories ever. But, again, I ran for the electoral college. I didn’t run for the popular vote. What I’m saying is if there are these problems that many people agree with me that there might be. Look, Barack Obama — if you look back — eight years ago when he first ran — he was running for office in Chicago for we needed Chicago vote.
And he was laughing at the system because he knew all of those votes were going to him. You look at Philadelphia, you look at what’s going on in Philadelphia. But take a look at the tape of Barack Obama who wrote me, by the way, a very beautiful letter in the drawer of the desk. Very beautiful. And I appreciate it. But look at what he said, it’s on tape. Look at what he said about voting in Chicago eight years ago. It’s not changed. It hasn’t changed, believe me. Chicago, look what’s going on in Chicago. It’s only gotten worse.
But he was smiling and laughing about the vote in Chicago. Now, once he became president he didn’t do that. All of a sudden it became this is the foundation of our country. So, here’s the point, you have a lot of stuff going on possibly. I say probably. But possibly. We’re gonna get to the bottom of it.
And then we’re gonna make sure it doesn’t happen again. If people are registered wrongly, if illegals are registered to vote, which they are, if dead people are registered to vote and voting, which they do. There are some. I don’t know how many. We’re gonna try finding that out and the other categories that we talk about, double states where they’re — registered in two states, we’re gonna get to the bottom of it because we have to stop it. Because I agree, so important. But the other side is trying to downplay this. Now, I’ll say this — I think that if that didn’t happen, first of all, would — would be a great thing if it didn’t happen. But I believe it did happen. And I believe a part of the vote would’ve been much different.
DAVID MUIR: And you believe millions of illegal votes …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we’re gonna find out.
DAVID MUIR: Let me ask you this …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’re gonna find out. And — and, by the way, when I say you’re gonna find out. You can never really find, you know, there are gonna be — no matter what numbers we come up with there are gonna be lots of people that did things that we’re not going to find out about. But we will find out because we need a better system where that can’t happen.
DAVID MUIR: Mr. President, I just have one more question on this. And it’s — it’s bigger picture. You took some heat after your visit to the CIA in front of that hallowed wall, 117 stars — of those lost at the CIA. You talked about other things. But you also talked about crowd size at the inauguration, about the size of your rallies, about covers on Time magazine. And I just wanna ask you when does all of that matter just a little less? When do you let it roll off your back now that you’re the president?
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: OK, so I’m glad you asked. So, I went to the CIA, my first step. I have great respect for the people in intelligence and CIA. I’m — I don’t have a lot of respect for, in particular one of the leaders. But that’s okay. But I have a lot of respect for the people in the CIA.
That speech was a home run. That speech, if you look at Fox, OK, I’ll mention you — we see what Fox said. They said it was one of the great speeches. They showed the people applauding and screaming and — and they were all CIA. There was — somebody was asking Sean — “Well, were they Trump people that were put–” we don’t have Trump people. They were CIA people.
That location was given to me. Mike Pence went up before me, paid great homage to the wall. I then went up, paid great homage to the wall. I then spoke to the crowd. I got a standing ovation. In fact, they said it was the biggest standing ovation since Peyton Manning had won the Super Bowl and they said it was equal. I got a standing ovation. It lasted for a long period of time. What you do is take — take out your tape — you probably ran it live. I know when I do good speeches. I know when I do bad speeches. That speech was a total home run. They loved it. I could’ve …
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: … gotten …
DAVID MUIR: You would give the same speech if you went back …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Absolutely.
DAVID MUIR: … in front of that wall?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: People loved it. They loved it. They gave me a standing ovation for a long period of time. They never even sat down, most of them, during the speech. There was love in the room. You and other networks covered it very inaccurately. I hate to say this to you and you probably won’t put it on but turn on Fox and see how it was covered. And see how people respond to that speech.
That speech was a good speech. And you and a couple of other networks tried to downplay that speech. And it was very, very unfortunate that you did. The people of the CIA loved the speech. If I was going to take a vote in that room, there were, like, 300, 350 people, over 1,000 wanted to be there but they couldn’t. They were all CIA people. I would say I would’ve gotten 350 to nothing in that room. That’s what the vote would’ve been. That speech was a big hit, a big success — success. And then I came back and I watched you on television and a couple of others.
DAVID MUIR: Not me personally.
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: And they tried to demean. Excuse me?
DAVID MUIR: Not me personally.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Not you personally but your network — and they tried to demean the speech. And I know when things are good or bad. A poll just came out on my inauguration speech which was extraordinary that people loved it. Loved and liked. And it was an extraordinary poll.
DAVID MUIR: I guess that’s what I’m getting at. You talked about the poll, the people loving your inaugural speech and the size of your …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, because you bring it up.
DAVID MUIR: I’m asking, well, on day one you …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, you just brought it up. I didn’t bring it up. I didn’t wanna — talk about the inauguration speech. But I think I did a very good job and people really liked it. You saw the poll. Just came out this morning. You bring it up. I didn’t bring it up.
DAVID MUIR: So, polls and crowd size and covers on Time, those still matter now that you’re here as president.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, you keep bringing it up. I had a massive amount of people here. They were showing pictures that were very unflattering, as unflattering — from certain angles — that were taken early and lots of other things. I’ll show you a picture later if you’d like of a massive crowd.
In terms of a total audience including television and everything else that you have we had supposedly the biggest crowd in history. The audience watching the show. And I think you would even agree to that. They say I had the biggest crowd in the history of inaugural speeches. I’m honored by that. But I didn’t bring it up. You just brought it up.
DAVID MUIR: See, I — I’m not interested in the inaugural crowd size. I think the American people can look at images side by side and decide for themselves. I am curious about the first full day here at the White House, choosing to send the press secretary out into the briefing room, summoning reporters to talk about the inaugural crowd size. Does that send a message to the American people that that’s — that’s more important than some of the very pressing issues?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Part of my whole victory was that the men and women of this country who have been forgotten will never be forgotten again. Part of that is when they try and demean me unfairly ’cause we had a massive crowd of people. We had a crowd — I looked over that sea of people and I said to myself, “Wow.”
And I’ve seen crowds before. Big, big crowds. That was some crowd. When I looked at the numbers that happened to come in from all of the various sources, we had the biggest audience in the history of inaugural speeches. I said the men and women that I was talking to who came out and voted will never be forgotten again. Therefore I won’t allow you or other people like you to demean that crowd and to demean the people that came to Washington, D.C., from faraway places because they like me. But more importantly they like what I’m saying.
DAVID MUIR: I just wanna say I didn’t demean anyone who was in that crowd. We did coverage for hours …
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, I think you’re demeaning by talking the way you’re talking. I think you’re demeaning. And that’s why I think a lot of people turned on you and turned on a lot of other people. And that’s why you have a 17 percent approval rating, which is pretty bad.
DAVID MUIR: Mr. Trump, let’s talk about many of the things that have happened this week. Chicago. Last night you tweeted about the murder rate in Chicago saying, “If Chicago doesn’t fix the horrible carnage going on I will send in the feds.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.
DAVID MUIR: You will send in the feds? What do you mean by that?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: It’s carnage. You know, in my speech I got tremendous — from certain people the word carnage. It is carnage. It’s horrible carnage. This is Afghanistan — is not like what’s happening in Chicago. People are being shot left and right. Thousands of people over a period — over a short period of time.
This year, which has just started, is worse than last year, which was a catastrophe. They’re not doing the job. Now if they want help, I would love to help them. I will send in what we have to send in. Maybe they’re not gonna have to be so politically correct. Maybe they’re being overly political correct. Maybe there’s something going on. But you can’t have those killings going on in Chicago. Chicago is like a war zone. Chicago is worse than some of the people that you report in some of the places that you report about every night …
DAVID MUIR: So, I will send …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: … in the Middle East.
DAVID MUIR: … you mentioned federal assistance. There’s federal assistance and then there’s sending in the feds. I’m just curious would you take action on your own?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I want them to fix the problem. You can’t have thousands of people being shot in a city, in a country that I happen to be president of. Maybe it’s okay if somebody else is president. I want them to fix the problem. They have a problem that’s very easily fixable.
They’re gonna have to get tougher and stronger and smarter. But they gotta fix the problem. I don’t want to have thousands of people shot in a city where essentially I’m the president. I love Chicago. I know Chicago. And Chicago is a great city, can be a great city.
DAVID MUIR: And if they’re unable to fix it?
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: It can’t be a great city. Excuse me. It can’t be a great city if people are shot walking down the street for a loaf of bread. Can’t be a great city.
DAVID MUIR: And if they are unable to fix it, that’s when you would send in the feds?
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: But so far they have been unable. It’s been going on for years. And I wasn’t president. So, look, when President Obama was there two weeks ago making a speech, very nice speech. Two people were shot and killed during his speech. You can’t have that.
DAVID MUIR: Let me ask …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: They weren’t shot at the speech. But they were shot in the city of Chicago during his speech. What — what’s going on? So, all I’m saying is to the mayor who came up to my office recently — I say, “You have to smarten up and you have to toughen up because you can’t let that happen. That’s a war zone.”
DAVID MUIR: So, this is an “or else.” This is a warning?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I want them to straighten out the problem. It’s a big problem.
DAVID MUIR: Let me ask you about a new report that you were poised to lift a ban on so-called CIA black sites of prisons around the world that have been used in the past. Is that true?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I’ll be talking about that in about two hours. So, you’ll be there and you’ll be able to see it for yourself.
DAVID MUIR: Are you gonna lift the ban?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: You’re gonna see in about two hours.
DAVID MUIR: The last president, President Obama, said the U.S. does not torture. Will you say that?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I have a general who I have great respect for, General Mattis, who said — I was a little surprised — who said he’s not a believer in torture. As you know, Mr. Pompeo was just approved, affirmed by the Senate. He’s a fantastic guy, he’s gonna be the head of the CIA.
And you have somebody fabulous as opposed to the character that just got out who didn’t — was not fabulous at all. And he will I think do a great job. And he is — you know, I haven’t gone into great detail. But I will tell you I have spoken to others in intelligence. And they are big believers in, as an example, waterboarding.
DAVID MUIR: You did tell me …
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Because they say it does work. It does work.
DAVID MUIR: Mr. President, you …
(OVERTALK)
DAVID MUIR: Mr. President, you told me during one of the debates that you would bring back waterboarding and a hell of a lot worse.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I would do …
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I would do — I wanna keep our country safe. I wanna keep our country safe.
DAVID MUIR: What does that mean?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: When they’re shooting — when they’re chopping off the heads of our people and other people, when they’re chopping off the heads of people because they happen to be a Christian in the Middle East, when ISIS is doing things that nobody has ever heard of since Medieval times, would I feel strongly about waterboarding?
As far as I’m concerned we have to fight fire with fire. Now, with that being said I’m going with General Mattis. I’m going with my secretary because I think Pompeo’s gonna be phenomenal. I’m gonna go with what they say. But I have spoken as recently as 24 hours ago with people at the highest level of intelligence. And I asked them the question, “Does it work? Does torture work?” And the answer was, “Yes, absolutely.”
DAVID MUIR: You’re now the president. Do you want waterboarding?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I don’t want people to chop off the citizens or anybody’s heads in the Middle East. Okay? Because they’re Christian or Muslim or anything else. I don’t want — look, you are old enough to have seen a time that was much different. You never saw heads chopped off until a few years ago.
Now they chop ’em off and they put ’em on camera and they send ’em all over the world. So we have that and we’re not allowed to do anything. We’re not playing on an even field. I will say this, I will rely on Pompeo and Mattis and my group. And if they don’t wanna do, that’s fine. If they do wanna do, then I will work for that end.
I wanna do everything within the bounds of what you’re allowed to do legally. But do I feel it works? Absolutely I feel it works. Have I spoken to people at the top levels and people that have seen it work? I haven’t seen it work. But I think it works. Have I spoken to people that feel strongly about it? Absolutely.
DAVID MUIR: So, you’d be okay with it as …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I wanna keep …
DAVID MUIR: … president?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: … no, I wanna — I will rely on General Mattis. And I’m gonna rely on those two people and others. And if they don’t wanna do it, it’s 100 percent okay with me. Do I think it works? Absolutely.
DAVID MUIR: Mr. President, I wanna ask you about refugees. You’re about to sign a sweeping executive action to suspend immigration to this country.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.
DAVID MUIR: Who are we talking about? Is this the Muslim ban?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’re talking about — no it’s not the Muslim ban. But it’s countries that have tremendous terror. It’s countries that we’re going to be spelling out in a little while in the same speech. And it’s countries that people are going to come in and cause us tremendous problems. Our country has enough problems without allowing people to come in who, in many cases or in some cases, are looking to do tremendous destruction.
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: You look at what’s happening …
DAVID MUIR: Which countries are we talking about?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: … you’ll be hearing about it in two hours because I have a whole list. You’ll be very thrilled. You’re looking at people that come in, in many cases, in some cases with evil intentions. I don’t want that. They’re ISIS. They’re coming under false pretense. I don’t want that.
I’m gonna be the president of a safe country. We have enough problems. Now I’ll absolutely do safe zones in Syria for the people. I think that Europe has made a tremendous mistake by allowing these millions of people to go into Germany and various other countries. And all you have to do is take a look. It’s — it’s a disaster what’s happening over there.
I don’t want that to happen here. Now with that being said, President Obama and Hillary Clinton have, and Kerry have allowed tens of thousands of people into our country. The FBI is now investigating more people than ever before having to do with terror. They — and it’s from the group of people that came in. So look, look, our country has a lot of problems. Believe me. I know what the problems are even better than you do. They’re deep problems, they’re serious problems. We don’t need more.
DAVID MUIR: Let me ask you about some of the countries that won’t be on the list, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia. Why are we going to allow people to come into this country …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: You’re going to see — you’re going to see. We’re going to have extreme vetting in all cases. And I mean extreme. And we’re not letting people in if we think there’s even a little chance of some problem.
DAVID MUIR: Are you at all …
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We are excluding certain countries. But for other countries we’re gonna have extreme vetting. It’s going to be very hard to come in. Right now it’s very easy to come in. It’s gonna be very, very hard. I don’t want terror in this country. You look at what happened in San Bernardino. You look at what happened all over. You look at what happened in the World Trade Center. Okay, I mean, take that as an example.
DAVID MUIR: Are you at all …
(OVERTALK)
DAVID MUIR: … concerned — are you at all concerned it’s going to cause more anger among Muslims …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Anger?
DAVID MUIR: … the world?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: There’s plenty of anger right now. How can you have more?
DAVID MUIR: You don’t think it’ll …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Look, David …
DAVID MUIR: … exacerbate the problem?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: … David, I mean, I know you’re a sophisticated guy. The world is a mess. The world is as angry as it gets. What? You think this is gonna cause a little more anger? The world is an angry place. All of this has happened. We went into Iraq. We shouldn’t have gone into Iraq. We shouldn’t have gotten out the way we got out.
The world is a total mess. Take a look at what’s happening with Aleppo. Take a look what’s happening in Mosul. Take a look what’s going on in the Middle East. And people are fleeing and they’re going into Europe and all over the place. The world is a mess, David.
DAVID MUIR: You brought up Iraq and something you said that could affect American troops in recent days. You said, “We should’ve kept the oil but okay maybe we’ll have another chance.” What did you mean by that?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we should’ve kept the oil when we got out. And, you know, it’s very interesting, had we taken the oil, you wouldn’t have ISIS because they fuel themselves with the oil. That’s where they got the money. They got the money from leaving — when we left, we left Iraq, which wasn’t a government. It’s not a government now.
And by the way, and I said something else, if we go in and do this. You have two nations, Iraq and Iran. And they were essentially the same military strength. And they’d fight for decades and decades. They’d fight forever. And they’d keep fighting and it would go — it was just a way of life. We got in, we decapitated one of those nations, Iraq. I said, “Iran is taking over Iraq.” That’s essentially what happened.
DAVID MUIR: So, you believe we can go in and take the oil.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We should have taken the oil. You wouldn’t have ISIS if we took the oil. Now I wasn’t talking about it from the standpoint of ISIS because the way we got out was horrible. We created a vacuum and ISIS formed. But had we taken the oil something else would’ve very good happened. They would not have been able to fuel their rather unbelievable drive to destroy large portions of the world.
DAVID MUIR: You’ve heard the critics who say that would break all international law, taking the oil. But I wanna get to the words …
(OVERTALK)
DAVID MUIR: … that you …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Wait, wait, can you believe that? Who are the critics who say that? Fools.
DAVID MUIR: Let, let me …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I don’t call them critics. I call them fools.
DAVID MUIR: … let me talk about your words …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We should’ve kept — excuse me. We should’ve taken the oil. And if we took the oil you wouldn’t have ISIS. And we would have had wealth. We have spent right now $6 trillion in the Middle East. And our country is falling apart.
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Our roads — excuse me. Our roads, our bridges, our schools, it’s falling apart. We have spent as of one month ago $6 trillion in the Middle East. And in our country we can’t afford to build a school in Brooklyn or we can’t afford to build a school in Los Angeles. And we can’t afford to fix up our inner cities. We can’t afford to do anything. Look, it’s time. It’s been our longest war. We’ve been in there for 15, 16 years. Nobody even knows what the date is because they don’t really know when did we start. But it’s time. It’s time.
DAVID MUIR: What got my attention, Mr. President, was when you said, “Maybe we’ll have another chance.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, don’t let it get your attention too much because we’ll see what happens. I mean, we’re gonna see what happens. You know, I told you and I told everybody else that wants to talk when it comes to the military I don’t wanna discuss things.
I wanna let — I wanna let the action take place before the talk takes place. I watched in Mosul when a number of months ago generals and politicians would get up and say, “We’re going into Mosul in four months.” Then they’d say, “We’re going in in three months, two months, one month. We’re going in next week.”
Okay, and I kept saying to myself, “Gee, why do they have to keep talking about going in?” All right, so now they go in and it is tough because they’re giving the enemy all this time to prepare. I don’t wanna do a lot of talking on the military. I wanna talk after it’s finished, not before it starts.
DAVID MUIR: Let me ask you, Mr. President, about another promise involving Obamacare to repeal it. And you told The Washington Post that your plan to replace Obamacare will include insurance for everybody. That sounds an awful lot like universal coverage.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: It’s going to be — what my plan is is that I wanna take care of everybody. I’m not gonna leave the lower 20 percent that can’t afford insurance. Just so you understand people talk about Obamacare. And I told the Republicans this, the best thing we could do is nothing for two years, let it explode. And then we’ll go in and we’ll do a new plan and — and the Democrats will vote for it. Believe me.
Because this year you’ll have 150 percent increases. Last year in Arizona 116 perecent increase, Minnesota 60 some-odd percent increase. And I told them, except for one problem, I wanna get it fixed. The best thing I could do as the leader of this country– but as wanting to get something approved with support of the Democrats, if I didn’t do anything for two years they’d be begging me to do something. But I don’t wanna do that. So just so you unders– Obamacare is a disaster.
It’s too expensive. It’s horrible health care. It doesn’t cover what you have to cover. It’s a disaster. You know it and I know it. And I said to the Republican folks– and they’re terrific folks, Mitch and Paul Ryan, I said, “Look, if you go fast — and I’m okay in doing it because it’s the right thing to do. We wanna get good coverage at much less cost.” I said, “If you go fast we then own Obamacare. They’re gonna put it on us. And Obamacare is a disaster waiting to explode. If you sit back and let it explode it’s gonna be much easier.” That’s the thing to do. But the right thing to do is to get something done now.
DAVID MUIR: But you …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: So I wanna make sure that nobody’s dying on the streets when I’m president. Nobody’s gonna be dying on the streets. We will unleash something that’s gonna be terrific. And remember this, before Obamacare you had a lot of people that were very, very happy with their health care.
And now those people in many cases don’t even have health care. They don’t even have anything that’s acceptable to them. Remember this, keep your doctor, keep your plan, 100 percent. Remember the $5 billion website? Remember the website fiasco. I mean, you do admit that I think, right? The website fiasco.
Obamacare is a disaster. We are going to come up with a new plan ideally not an amended plan because right now if you look at the pages they’re this high. We’re gonna come up with a new plan that’s going to be better health care for more people at a lesser cost.
DAVID MUIR: Last question because I know you’re gonna show me around the White House. Last question on this. You’ve seen the estimate that 18 million Americans could lose their health insurance if Obamacare is repealed and there is no replacement. Can you assure those Americans watching this right now that they will not lose their health insurance or end up with anything less?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: So nobody ever deducts all the people that have already lost their health insurance that liked it. You had millions of people that liked their health insurance and their health care and their doctor and where they went. You had millions of people that now aren’t insured anymore.
DAVID MUIR: I’m just asking about the people …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, no.
DAVID MUIR: … who are nervous and watching …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We …
DAVID MUIR: … you for reassurance.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: … here’s what I can assure you, we are going to have a better plan, much better health care, much better service treatment, a plan where you can have access to the doctor that you want and the plan that you want. We’re gonna have a much better health care plan at much less money.
And remember Obamacare is ready to explode. And you interviewed me a couple of years ago. I said ’17 — right now, this year, “’17 is going to be a disaster.” I’m very good at this stuff. “’17 is going to be a disaster cost-wise for Obamacare. It’s going to explode in ’17.”
And why not? Obama’s a smart guy. So let it all come do because that’s what’s happening. It’s all coming do in ’17. We’re gonna have an explosion. And to do it right, sit back, let it explode and let the Democrats come begging us to help them because it’s on them. But I don’t wanna do that. I wanna give great health care at a much lower cost.
DAVID MUIR: So, no one who has this health insurance through Obamacare will lose it or end up …
PRESIDENT TRUMP: You know, when you …
DAVID MUIR: … with anything less?
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: … say no one I think no one. Ideally, in the real world, you’re talking about millions of people. Will no one. And then, you know, knowing ABC, you’ll have this one person on television saying how they were hurt. Okay. We want no one. We want the answer to be no one.
But I will say millions of people will be happy. Right now you have millions and millions and millions of people that are unhappy. It’s too expensive and it’s no good. And the governor of Minnesota who unfortunately had a very, very sad incident yesterday ’cause he’s a very nice guy but — a couple of months ago he said that the Affordable Care Act is no longer affordable.
He’s a staunch Democrat. Very strong Democrat. He said it’s no longer affordable. He made that statement. And Bill Clinton on the campaign trail — and he probably had a bad night that night when he went home — but he said, “Obamacare is crazy. It’s crazy.” And you know what, they were both right.
DAVID MUIR: Mr. President, thank you.
(OVERTALK)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
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