Week In The News: Immigration Policy, Markets, Jeffrey Epstein And More

With David Folkenflik

The Trump Administration toughens immigration policy. The markets tumble. And the DOJ investigates the jail that held Jeffrey Epstein. The weekly roundtable is here.

Ginger Gibson, national political correspondent for Reuters. (@GingerGibson)

Toluse Olorunnipa, White House reporter for the Washington Post. (@ToluseO)

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst. (@JackBeattyNPR)

Reuters: "Fed remains a target as economy falls short of Trump's ambitious goals" — "It has become a jarring and frequent contradiction. President Donald Trump blames the Federal Reserve for putting the U.S. economy at risk while data shows an economy in 'reasonably good' shape, as the head of the central bank recently said.

"But behind that confusing dance between a norm-breaking Republican president and a stick-to-its-knitting Fed lies a dilemma for Trump.

"'Reasonably good' is not what Trump promised to deliver during his 2016 campaign, and at this point he heads into a reelection year short of the key economic goals he set and worried a recession could undermine his bid for a second term.

"Growth is ebbing and well below the 3% annual rate he said his administration would hit; the trade deficit has widened and there is no sign of the 'easy' victory he said would come in a trade war with China; far from the surge in investment he promised would follow a corporate tax cut, business capital spending of late has been a drag on growth overall."

Washington Post: "Trump energy speech in Pennsylvania sounded more like a campaign rally" — "President Trump criticized the media, mocked his Democratic challengers, critiqued the Academy Awards, lamented losing money while president and boasted of his poll numbers while visiting a construction site here to give remarks about U.S. energy production.

"The president spoke for more than an hour, meandering between his prepared remarks and a campaign-style speech listing grievances and currying votes. He touched on his 2016 victory in Pennsylvania, his love of trucks, 'fake news,' China, trade, immigration, the Green New Deal, windmills, the Paris climate accord, former president Barack Obama’s $60 million book deal, Iran, veterans and New York energy policies.

"Standing in a room full of construction workers in the middle of the day, many wearing their fluorescent work vests, Trump urged them to support his reelection and to convince their union leaders to do the same."

Los Angeles Times: "U.S. appeals court appears likely to rule for Trump on ending protections for many immigrants" — "A federal appeals court on Wednesday appeared likely to allow the Trump administration to end humanitarian protections for immigrants from Haiti, Sudan, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

"During a hearing, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals expressed skepticism of an injunction handed down last year by a federal judge in San Francisco preventing the administration from lifting the protections.

"About 300,000 immigrants from those four countries have been allowed to live and work in the United States because of unsafe conditions in their homelands. Most have lived in the U.S. for decades, and many have children who are U.S. citizens.

"Once their designated protected status is removed, the immigrants would be subject to removal after 120 days."

Washington Post: "Autopsy finds broken bones in Jeffrey Epstein’s neck, deepening questions around his death" — "An autopsy found that financier Jeffrey Epstein suffered multiple breaks in his neck bones, according to two people familiar with the findings, deepening the mystery about the circumstances around his death.

"Among the bones broken in Epstein’s neck was the hyoid bone, which in men is near the Adam’s apple. Such breaks can occur in those who hang themselves, particularly if they are older, according to forensics experts and studies on the subject. But they are more common in victims of homicide by strangulation, the experts said.

"The details are the first findings to emerge from the autopsy of Epstein, a convicted sex offender and multimillionaire in federal custody on charges of sex trafficking. He died early Saturday morning after guards found him hanging in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan and he could not be revived."

Anna Bauman produced this hour for broadcast.