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Trump calls on 'angry majority' send Democrats a message as elections in four states could give early peek into 2020
At a rally on friendly turf in Kentucky Monday night, President Trump urged what he called an "angry majority" of voters to send a powerful "signal" to Democrats and the world by handing the GOP a big victory not only in Tuesday's gubernatorial race there, but also in the pivotal upcoming statewide elections in Virginia, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The result of the showdown in Kentucky -- as well as Tuesday's gubernatorial race in Mississippi and state legislature races in Virginia and New Jersey -- could serve as a barometer this week on whether Trump still has the ability to rally Republicans at the voting booth amid Democrats' ongoing impeachment inquiry.
Top Democrats have acknowledged that Trump's influence helped the GOP sweep key House special elections in North Carolina in September. Amid chants of "USA" at Monday's rally, Trump repeatedly sought to leverage his accomplishments in office, including energy independence and historically low unemployment rates, to boost Republican Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin.
At one point, the president reminded the audience that American special forces had just provided "the world's number-one terrorist a one-way ticket to hell," in a colorful reference to the now-dead Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Click here for more on our top story.
Iran's president announces another break from nuclear deal
Iran's president announced on Tuesday that Tehran will begin injecting uranium gas into 1,044 centrifuges, the latest step away from its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers since President Trump withdrew from the accord over a year ago. The development is significant as the centrifuges previously spun empty, without gas injection, under the landmark 2015 nuclear accord. It also increases pressure on European nations that remain in the accord, which at this point has all but collapsed.
On Monday, during an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of revolutionaries seizing the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran announced it was now operating 60 advanced centrifuges, twice as many as allowed by the accord, and is experimenting with a prototype designed to be 50 times faster than what's allowed by the nuke deal. - Reported by the Associated Press
Dems release first impeachment probe transcripts from closed-door interviews
At his Kentucky rally, Trump stood in front of throngs of attendees wearing "Read the transcript!" shirts -- a reference to the White House's readout of the president July call with Ukraine's leader that is the center of House Democrats' formal impeachment inquiry. On Monday, House Democrats leading the inquiry publicly released the first transcripts from their closed-door interviews, airing concerns from witnesses about the activities of President Trump's associates related to Ukraine.
The panels released testimony from former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and Michael McKinley, a former senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Among revelations in the transcripts: Yovanovitch testified that Ukraine told her about Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s campaign to oust her. Yovanovitch was pushed out of her job in May on Trump's orders.
Republicans, in turn, complained that Democrats were conducting the proceedings in private and were selectively releasing transcripts. Trump has urged Republicans to release their own transcripts. Click here for more.
Former Trump confidant Roger Stone goes on trial
Social media posts? Banned. Video clips from "The Godfather: Part II?" Banned. Transcripts from "The Godfather: Part II?" Not banned. Those are just some of the unusual ground rules set out by Obama-appointed U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson for the widely anticipated trial of former Trump confidant Roger Stone, which begins on Tuesday in Washington.
Stone, a longtime Republican provocateur and part-time fashion critic, is accused of lying about his efforts to obtain Russian-hacked Hillary Clinton emails for political gain. His indictment in January was an offshoot of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, and Judge Jackson ruled that Stone's legal team would have access to most of the redacted materials in Mueller's report in order to prepare his defense.
Stone is not charged with conspiring with WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy website that published emails of Democrats during the 2016 campaign, or with the Russian officers Mueller says hacked them. Instead, he is accused of lying about his interactions related to WikiLeaks' release during probes by Congress and Mueller’s team. Trump, for his part, has said Stone has been unfairly targeted. Some critics considered Stone's arrest unusual and heavy-handed: It took place at the hands of highly-armed police, during a predawn raid and CNN cameras were in place.
United States begins process of withdrawing from Paris climate deal
The United States submitted a formal notification that it will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday, a move that has been widely expected since President Trump announced his intention to do so in 2017. The climate agreement, which went into force Nov. 4, 2016, committed countries that signed the measure to take certain voluntary steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The accord banned countries from announcing their intent to withdraw in its first three years, meaning Monday was the first day the U.S. was allowed to submit its intent to leave the agreement since it went into force in 2016. Trump has previously said that the Paris climate agreement harms the U.S. economy and would hurt American jobs if left to stand.
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SOME PARTING WORDS
Laura Ingraham says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's impeachment push has "empowered the crazies" in the Democratic Party as the radical left has hijacked any chance they had of defeating President Trump in 2020.
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Fox News First is compiled by Fox News' Bryan Robinson. Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! Enjoy your day! We'll see you in your inbox first thing on Wednesday morning.