'Sometimes you have to walk': Trump leaves Hanoi with no deal
Hanoi, Vietnam (CNN)President Donald Trump's Hanoi summit with Kim Jong Un, meant to demonstrate his diplomatic gamble with North Korea is working, instead ended with no joint agreement after Kim insisted all US sanctions be lifted on his country.
That was a bridge too far for the US President, who said Kim offered to take some steps toward dismantling his nuclear arsenal but not enough to warrant ending the debilitating sanctions regime on the country.
"Sometimes you have to walk," Trump said during a news conference following the conclusion of the summit, which broke up earlier than planned. "This was just one of those times."
But it was evident from early in the summit that Trump was seeking to tamp down expectations, repeating he's in no rush to strike a deal even as North Korea continues to advance its nuclear weapons program.
"I've been saying very much from the beginning that speed is not that important to me," Trump said earlier Thursday at the summit's outset. "Speed is not important to me. What is important is that we do the right deal."
Trump cast the lack of deal as only a short-term disappointment, even though he'd hoped coming into the talks to be able to point to a new, concrete pathway toward denuclearization. A major agreement struck in Hanoi may also have pushed aside embarrassing headlines about Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen testifying the President is a racist conman.
The President, who said scheduling Cohen's testimony during his summit was a "terrible thing," instead suggested the inconclusive talks with Kim were another step in a lengthy process toward convincing the young leader to abandon his nuclear program.
The personal chemistry that Trump has cultivated -- and loudly trumpeted -- with the young despotic leader remains intact, the President insisted.
And the summit ended amicably, without either man storming away.
"It was a very friendly walk," Trump said.
'Closer'
Still, the absence of a joint agreement reflects an anticlimax for a summit event Trump had hoped would prove naysayers of his diplomacy wrong.
He conceded that US and North Korean officials remain at odds about the precise definition of denuclearization, which is the ostensible goal of his efforts.
"He has a certain vision and it's not exactly our vision, but it's a lot closer than it was a year ago and I think eventually we'll get there," Trump said.
And he described Kim as singularly focused on ending the sanctions that have crippled his economy and helped bring him to the negotiating table in the first place.
Trump said Kim had offered to begin dismantling the Yongbyon nuclear facility, a step that would have amounted to a major concession. But it wasn't enough, Trump said, alluding to additional sites that comprise what is a deeply secretive nuclear program.
"We asked him to do more and he was unprepared to do that," said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who joined Trump on stage for the duration of the news conference. "Everyone had hoped we could do just a little bit better."
US and North Korean negotiators had been in Hanoi for days drafting language of a joint agreement ahead of the talks, and the ceremony was listed on a version of the President's public schedule released Wednesday evening. Stephen Biegun, the President's North Korea envoy, arrived several days before Trump to seal the document.
During an expanded session with aides, Trump and Kim discussed the prospect of opening a US office in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital. Kim said he would welcome the idea, and Trump deemed it a "good idea."
Yet afterward, it appeared the chances for that -- along with any other concessions or agreements -- were dashed, even as the White House insisted the talks were productive.
The two leaders departed the Metropole, the French-colonial hotel where the talks unfolded, around 1:30 p.m. local time, roughly four-and-a-half hours after the talks began.
They also left without participating in a working lunch, even as chefs had been preparing plates of foie gras and snow fish.
Lowered expectations
If the day ended without a triumphant finish, there were extraordinary moments peppered throughout the day.
In unprecedented back-and-forth exchanges with journalists, Kim insisted he was open to denuclearization, though didn't say what he believed that meant.
It's believed to be the first time Kim has answered a question from a foreign journalist, a landmark event for the iron-fisted dictator.
"If I'm not willing to do that I won't be here right now," he said through an interpreter.
Kim, for his part, also expressed cautious optimism earlier in the day that a deal would eventually be struck. But he did not suggest such an accord would come soon.
"It's too early to say," he said in response to a foreign journalist's shouted question. "From what I feel right now, I do have a feeling that good results will come out."
He again responded to journalists later in the day, albeit somewhat begrudgingly.
The two leaders went back-and-forth over the prospect of exchanging liaison officers -- a low level diplomatic partnership -- after the issue was raised by a journalist.
Initially, Kim seemed to reject the question, proposing to Trump that the media be excused from the room. But Trump seemed to goad him to answer, saying it was a good question.
"I would like to hear that answer," Trump said.
Kim responded through his interpreter, saying it would be something that was "welcome-able."
Trump expressed a similar sentiment: "I actually think it's a good idea."
Kim added it would be better for Trump and him to discuss it together in private.
Michael Cohen's shocking picture of Trump's mob-like world
(CNN)Michael Cohen's quest for redemption drew Americans into the mob-like world of Donald Trump. The President's former personal lawyer has painted a cruel and unseemly picture, shocking even with the nation's senses dulled by years of Trump-induced controversy.
In a theatrical day of congressional testimony Wednesday that will become an iconic moment of Trump's presidency, Cohen -- who is about to go to prison -- turned on his ex-client with the world watching.
He made a case that after spending a decade inside Trump's world, he knew the President better than anyone -- seeking to provide context for the flurry of investigations and claims of crimes and wrongdoing surrounding the President.
He sketched a stunning portrait of Trump's organization and conduct in what turned into an extraordinary and unprecedented daylong indictment of the character of a sitting President.
It was either the betrayal of a proven liar who is making up tales to save himself or the courageous act of an unlikely hero rising above his dirty past to provide a national service, depending on which side of the committee room lawmakers sat on.
According to Cohen, Trump's empire was awash in activity that needed a fixer. Cohen told the House Oversight Committee that he now bitterly regrets he blindly took that role, which will ultimately deprive him of his freedom.
"My loyalty to Mr. Trump has cost me everything," Cohen said, in an apparent message to a former patron who was likely watching on the other side of the planet, during his visit to Hanoi, Vietnam.
In Trump's world, the boss knew everything that went on, according to Cohen. Henchmen like Cohen came to know by osmosis what the big man wanted. His currency was threats. And bad tabloid news stories were bought up -- even if they weren't true -- to stop them from sullying Trump's personal image.
There was one law of the Trump jungle that everyone came to understand, including Cohen, in his years as the right hand of the titan of Trump Tower.
"Everybody's job at the Trump Organization is to protect Mr. Trump," he said.
Ominous news for Trump
Wednesday's hearing, which played out amid fiercely partisan scenes, contained revelations that hinted at future and deeper legal exposure for the President. Most notably, Cohen produced a personal check for $35,000 that Trump signed while in office that appears to show that the President reimbursed him for hush payments he made to women who claimed affairs with the then-GOP nominee.
Cohen has already admitted paying off the women in an infringement of campaign finance law. If it is proved that Trump -- who has denied having affairs with the women -- knew he was breaking the law, the President could be in serious trouble, even after he leaves office.
Cohen, a former confidant turned accuser, also revealed that prosecutors in New York were probing Trump's organization for alleged illegality in a previously unpublicized case, underscoring the potential that the biggest threat to the President may come not from special counsel Robert Mueller but from the hard-charging US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
"I think it's ominous news for the President," said former southern district prosecutor Elie Honig on CNN.
Cohen also claimed that he had overheard a call in which Trump's longtime political adviser Roger Stone told the then-GOP nominee in 2016 that WikiLeaks was due to dump a new trove of emails that would be damaging to Hillary Clinton.
And he said Trump knew in advance about a 2016 meeting between a Russian lawyer and his campaign team designed to deliver "dirt" on Clinton.
Since Trump previously told Mueller in sworn written answers that neither of those statements were true, he could be in legal and political jeopardy if Cohen or prosecutors can provide corroboration of Cohen's claims.
R. Kelly has been Charged with 10 Counts of Criminal Sexual Abuse
Is R. Kelly's past finally catching up to him?
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that on Friday morning, R. Kelly was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Cook County.
The singer's attorney, Steven Greenberg, told the paper Friday that he hadn't been told that his client had been charged.
A press conference is due to be held at 3 p.m. ET to announce the charges.
A spokesman at the Cook County clerk of court's office has confirmed to ABC News that R. Kelly has indeed been charged with 10 counts of felony criminal sexual abuse involving four minors. The victims were all between between 13 and 16 years old. He has a court date March 8.
The singer has been facing multiple investigations from at least three different federal law enforcement agencies, looking at everything from his finances to his alleged relationships with underage girls and whether they had been trafficked, sources told ABC News.
Grand juries have begun hearing evidence in both the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the sources said.
The investigations, by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the IRS, have opened in the six weeks since Lifetime aired Surviving R. Kelly, a documentary series about the decades’ worth of misconduct allegations against the star.
The agencies all declined to comment citing policies of not confirming or denying the existence of investigations. R Kelly’s attorney has said his client never intentionally had sex with an underage girl.
HSI is looking at potential crimes involving sex trafficking and child exploitation. The FBI and IRS are examining R Kelly’s finances. The existence of the investigations was first reported by The New Yorker.
As previously reported, on Thursday, two more women came forward to say R. Kelly had preyed on them as teens.
Jussie Smollett in Custody; Arrested for false report of hoax "attack"
Empire star Jussie Smollett has been arrested, and is currently in custody of detectives, according to Anthony Guglielmi, chief communications officer for the Chicago Police Department.
Wednesday night, authorities filed a felony charge of disorderly conduct/filing a false police report against the actor, who claimed he was the victim of an anti-gay hate crime at the hands of "racist" supporters of President Trump on January 29.
The story quickly unraveled, however, when investigators located two brothers known to Smollett. Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo reportedly told police that the actor paid them to orchestrate and carry out the fake attack, after a threatening letter reportedly directed at him wasn't being taken seriously enough.
Meantime, the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are currently investigating whether Smollett played a role in sending the threatening letter himself, two federal officials confirmed to ABC News. If that's confirmed, more charges against the actor are likely.
Following news of the false report charge last night, attorneys for Smollett said in a statement provided to ABC News: "Like any other citizen, Mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked. Given these circumstances, we intend to conduct a thorough investigation and to mount an aggressive defense."
DSS SAFETYNET GETS GAME-CHANGING INTEGRATED COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES
New York City, 6th February 2019 – Domus Semo Sancus (DSS) today announced that SafetyNet.AI – its Artificial Intelligent KYC/AML background checking tool – has been upgraded with secured integrated communications technologies. All versions of SafetyNet (except SafetyNet Developer Edition) will now come standard with “Converse”. an ultra-secure enterprise-grade communications platform, that features, built in Military Grade encryption, Instant Messaging (with read notifications), voice and video chat, and file transfer. Converse is built on top of BlackBerry Spark Communications Services.
“Converse gives organizations a way for their staff to communicate internally and externally, as well as the ability to exchange files, particularly confidential documents, in a highly secure manner” states E. Jay Saunders, Chairman & CEO, DSS. “As Converse is built on top of BlackBerry Spark, which utilizes Peer-To-Peer File Sharing technologies, users can take comfort knowing that the sharing of files happens directly between users, and copies are not stored in the Internet Cloud.” he further stated.
The full details on how DSS is utilizing BlackBerry Spark Communications Services can be found online in BlackBerry’s “With BlackBerry Spark Communications Services, DSS has Created a Game-Changer for Financial Services” Case Study. Commenting on the value that Converse brings to organizations, Saunders stated that “With Global Banks being fined over US$320 Billion in the last 12 years for KYC/AML compliance lapses, Converse is going to be a game changer for them, as it allows organizations to manage KYC/AML risks at the highest level.”
Britain signs trade deal with Switzerland as May sets out Brexit plan to Corbyn
London (CNN)The UK has signed an agreement with Switzerland ensuring the trading relationship between the two nations will continue after Brexit, the British government said.
A deal between the countries was announced in December and ratified in Bern, Switzerland on Monday.
It will replicate current trading arrangements "as far as possible," the government said when it was revealed. But ministers remain under pressure to strike further deals before Britain leaves the European Union on March 29.
"Switzerland is one of the most valuable trading partners that we are seeking continuity for, accounting for more than 32 billion pounds worth of trade a year," Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox said in a statement.
"This is of huge economic importance to UK businesses, so I'm delighted to be here in Bern today, ensuring continuity for 15,000 British exporters," he added.
As a member of the EU, the UK benefits from the EU's trade deals with other nations, but it will lose those deals in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Switzerland is not a member of the EU but is part of its single market.
On Sunday, the director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said the government's failure to secure other continuity of trade deals was an "emergency."
"The prospect is the day after Brexit those deals will disappear," Carolyn Fairbairn told Sky News.
May pens letter to Corbyn
The development marks a temporary victory for British Prime Minister Theresa May, who is battling to pass her withdrawal agreement with the EU through Parliament.
May wrote Sunday to opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, with whom she has talked since her agreement was emphatically defeated in the House of Commons last month. She revealed Parliament will play a bigger role in directing negotiations with the EU.
"We intend to give Parliament a bigger say in the mandate for the next phase of the negotiations to address concerns that... MPs cannot be sure precisely what future relationship it would lead to," May wrote.
She also said she hoped to have further discussions with Labour over the "alternative arrangements" to the backstop to the Northern Irish border which she is seeking to secure with EU leaders.
But she again rejected Corbyn's calls for Britain to remain in the customs union after Brexit, arguing it would diminish the country's ability to strike trade deals.
"I am not clear why you believe it would be preferable to seek a say in future EU trade deals rather than the ability to strike our own deals?" she wrote.
If no new deal has been reached with the EU by Wednesday, May will make a statement to Parliament that day, and table a motion for debate Thursday.
Protesters stone home of Haiti president, clash with police
Protesters have stoned the Haitian president's home and clashed with police, leaving at least one demonstrator dead in the third straight day of demonstrations against economic mismanagement and corruption.
Organizers pledged more protests for Sunday, increasing pressure on President Jovenel Moise, who is calling for negotiations with his opposition.
A crowd of thousands protested in downtown Port-au-Prince Saturday, and an Associated Press journalist saw at least one fatally shot, apparently by nearby police. Protesters in the Petionville neighborhood blocked the road to Moise's house and stoned his property after guards protecting a Moise ally hit a woman's car and beat her near the president's house.
Protesters are angry about skyrocketing inflation and the government's failure to prosecute embezzlement from a multi-billion Venezuelan program that sent discounted oil to Haiti.
2019 Grammy Awards: Michelle Obama, Alicia Keys, Dolly Parton and more highlights
As the 2019 Grammy Awards went underway we were been treated to a few major surprises.
Fifteen-time Grammy-winner Alicia Keys came out and spoke about "love" and "music" in her opening monologue, only to bring out a slew of inspiring women, including Michelle Obama, to support her.
It was a moment that many will be speaking about tomorrow morning.
There have also been a slew of big-name early winners, including Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. And how about the music?
!
Here are the top moments of the show thus far:
'Do you feel the love?'
Keys made her monologue about positivity and "love."
"Music is what we all love ... everybody is out here shining, I'm proud to bring us together to honor this moment," she said. "It's our shared global language."
She then invited her "sisters" on stage with her, and was joined by the power foursome of Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Jada Pinkett Smith and former first lady Michelle Obama.
"They said I was weird, that my look, my choices, my sound, that it wouldn't work, but music told me not to listen to them," Gaga said.
"From the Motown records I wore out on the South Side, to the 'Who Run the World' songs that fueled me through this last decade, music has always helped me tell my story, and I know that's true for everyone here," Obama said to roaring applause.
She continued: "Music helps us hear ourselves, our dignities and sorrows, our hopes and joys, it allows us to hear one another, to invite each other in, music shows us that all of it matters, every story, every note within every song."
The performances
What are the Grammys if not a night of amazing performances?!
Camila Cabello opened with "Havana" joined by Ricky Martin and more than 30 dancers on an amazing, over-the-top stage. It was an epic way to open the night.
Later, Shawn Mendez performed with Miley Cyrus and had the entire arena jamming out.
Janelle Monae also took the stage in black leather with an electric guitar and jammed out to "Make Me Feel," right after Kacey Musgraves' sweet song, "Rainbow."
Cardi B's performance was the definition of fierce. She wore a crazy peacock outfit while performing her song "Money."
Keys herself performed a slew of hits later in the show that she said she "wished she wrote," like songs from Kings of Leon, Lauryn Hill and more.
Gaga performed a passionate version of her son "Shallow" from the Oscar-nominated song, "A Star Is Born." The Grammy winner sure shined like a star in a diamond-studded outfit that glistened behind the bright lights of the stage.
Dollywood!
The Dolly Parton tribute was one that is going to be hard to top.
Kacey Musgraves and Katy Perry kicked things off, before Dolly joined the duo and the three sang "Here you Come Again."
Parton's goddaughter Miley Cyrus came out to sing "Jolene" alongside the icon. The legend then brought the house down with a new song of hers and then her famed song "9 to 5," which left everyone in chills.
Diana Ross celebrate the 'best years of my life'
Diana Ross was also honored Sunday night and performed some of her most iconic songs like, "The Best Years of My Life."
Her grandson introduced her in an adorable fashion, then she came out and said, "Through my life there's always been music and it's power."
She next asked the audience to have their hands in the air as she began to sing, "Reach Out and Touch." She walked into the crowd to sing with some adoring fans, including Jaden Smith of all people.
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James Ingram, R&B singing star, dead at 66
(CNN)James Ingram, the soulful, smooth voice behind R&B hits like "Just Once" and "I Don't Have The Heart," has died at the age of 66.
Ingram's longtime friend and creative partner, Debbie Allen, confirmed the news of his passing to CNN on Tuesday.
"I have lost my dearest friend and creative partner James Ingram to the Celestial Choir," Allen wrote in a tribute on Twitter. "He will always be cherished, loved and remembered for his genius, his love of family and his humanity. I am blessed to have been so close. We will forever speak his name."
The cause of Ingram's death was not revealed.
Ingram, an Ohio native, got his start as a musician with the band Revelation Funk and later played keyboards for Ray Charles. He was nominated for 14 Grammy Awards, winning for best male R&B performance for his song "One Hundred Ways" in 1981 and best R&B performance for a duo or group in 1984 for "Yah Mo B There."
His duet with Patti Austin, "How Do You Keep the Music Playing," earned an Oscar nomination for best original song in 1983.
Over the course of his career, Ingram also had successful collaborations with Linda Ronstadt, Quincy Jones, Barry White and Dolly Parton.
He co-wrote Michael Jackson's hit song "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" with Jones.
Ingram was also nominated for two Golden Globe Awards -- one in 1994 for best original song for "The Day I Fall in Love" and again in the same category the following year for "Look What Love Has Done."
58 dead, at least 300 missing after dam collapse in Brazil
At least 58 people are dead and at least 300 people have been reported missing after a dam collapsed in Brazil on Friday.
Eight of the 58 bodies have been identified, a spokesperson for the southeastern state of Minas Gerais said Sunday. There are still 305 people missing as a torrent of water and mud slammed into Brumadinho, in southeastern Brazil.
More than 260 Vale mining company employees are among the missing, a spokesperson said on Saturday. It's unclear how many have since been rescued. Vale, the company that operates the dam, is the country's largest mining company, according to The Associated Press. Vale employees were eating lunch on Friday afternoon when the dam collapsed.
A spokesperson for Minas Gerais state’s Civil Defense said 366 people have been rescued so far. Twenty-three people have been hospitalized, a spokesperson said.
Rescuers have been digging through mud to find survivors.
"Part of the Vila Ferteco community has also been affected," the mining company said in a statement. "Rescue and care of the wounded is being carried out on site by the Fire Department and Civil Defense. There is still no confirmation as to the cause of the accident.
"The top priority of the company right now is to support the rescue efforts and to help preserve and protect the lives of direct employees, third-party employees and local communities," the statement added.
Nineteen people were killed when the village of Bento Rodrigues, also in Minas Gerais, was destroyed when a dam owned by Samarco, a joint venture by Vale and another Brazilian company, collapsed in November 2015. In the wake of that collapse, Samarco has provided $4.4 billion in compensation to the region over the past three years, according to Vale's annual report.