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Friday, March 31, 2017
Trump executive orders tackle trade abuses ahead of meeting with Chinese president
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Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump on Friday will make the next move in his bid to reshape US trade policy, signing two executive orders aimed at combating foreign trade abuses that contribute to the US's half-trillion-dollar trade deficit.
Trump's executive orders will initiate a large-scale review of the causes of the US's trade deficits with some of its largest trading partners and order stricter enforcement of US anti-dumping laws to prevent foreign manufacturers from undercutting US companies by selling goods at an unfair price. They show the administration's ongoing efforts to shift toward policies aimed at bolstering US manufacturing and making good on Trump's campaign rhetoric decrying other countries for taking advantage of the US's free trade policies.
The signing comes a week before Trump is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. China, the largest source of the US's trade deficit, has repeatedly run afoul of the US's anti-dumping laws, and Trump has repeatedly accused the country of hurting the US economy through unfair trading practices.
Briefing reporters at the White House on Thursday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro, director of the National Trade Council, insisted the measures were not aimed at putting China on notice ahead of that first hotly anticipated meeting between the two world leaders.
"These actions are designed to let the world know that this is another step in the president fulfilling his campaign promise to (tackle trade abuses)," Ross said.
Still, both Ross and Navarro made clear that both executive orders would tackle the sources of the US's trade deficit with China, which Trump argues has led to the loss of millions of US jobs and the decline of US manufacturing.
Both Ross and Navarro pointed to steel dumping as an issue affecting the US trade deficit. China is a primary source of steel dumping in the US, which has disrupted the domestic market for steel and hurt US steel manufacturers. Navarro also noted that China accounts for about one-third of anti-dumping cases.
As a result of the first executive order, the Commerce Department and US trade representative will compile a thorough accounting of the US's trade deficits with its top trading partners within 90 days. The report will look to determine the extent to which the US trade deficit is a factor of cheating, unfair trading practices and currency imbalances.
Ross said the report would "form the basis" for further actions by the Trump administration to tackle trade imbalances.
"It will demonstrate the administration's intention not to hip shoot, not to do anything casual, not to do anything abruptly, but to take a very measured and analytical approach," said Ross, adding that the administration might take actions before the report has been fully compiled.
The second executive order will seek to bolster US agencies' authority to combat dumping by foreign companies and countries, which is a form of trade cheating.
Navaro said $2.8 billion in import taxes imposed against violators of US anti-dumping laws have gone uncollected since 2001.
Navaro said the new measures would target US agencies' failure to collect those duties "like a laser" to collect all anti-dumping taxes owed to the US and "deter the cheaters."
Navarro called the executive orders a "historic moment."
"For the first time, we're looking at what's been the source of the large and persistent trade deficit that has contributed to job losses," Navarro said.
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Trump executive orders tackle trade abuses ahead of meeting with Chinese president
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Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump on Friday will make the next move in his bid to reshape US trade policy, signing two executive orders aimed at combating foreign trade abuses that contribute to the US's half-trillion-dollar trade deficit.
Trump's executive orders will initiate a large-scale review of the causes of the US's trade deficits with some of its largest trading partners and order stricter enforcement of US anti-dumping laws to prevent foreign manufacturers from undercutting US companies by selling goods at an unfair price. They show the administration's ongoing efforts to shift toward policies aimed at bolstering US manufacturing and making good on Trump's campaign rhetoric decrying other countries for taking advantage of the US's free trade policies.
The signing comes a week before Trump is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. China, the largest source of the US's trade deficit, has repeatedly run afoul of the US's anti-dumping laws, and Trump has repeatedly accused the country of hurting the US economy through unfair trading practices.
Briefing reporters at the White House on Thursday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro, director of the National Trade Council, insisted the measures were not aimed at putting China on notice ahead of that first hotly anticipated meeting between the two world leaders.
"These actions are designed to let the world know that this is another step in the president fulfilling his campaign promise to (tackle trade abuses)," Ross said.
Still, both Ross and Navarro made clear that both executive orders would tackle the sources of the US's trade deficit with China, which Trump argues has led to the loss of millions of US jobs and the decline of US manufacturing.
Both Ross and Navarro pointed to steel dumping as an issue affecting the US trade deficit. China is a primary source of steel dumping in the US, which has disrupted the domestic market for steel and hurt US steel manufacturers. Navarro also noted that China accounts for about one-third of anti-dumping cases.
As a result of the first executive order, the Commerce Department and US trade representative will compile a thorough accounting of the US's trade deficits with its top trading partners within 90 days. The report will look to determine the extent to which the US trade deficit is a factor of cheating, unfair trading practices and currency imbalances.
Ross said the report would "form the basis" for further actions by the Trump administration to tackle trade imbalances.
"It will demonstrate the administration's intention not to hip shoot, not to do anything casual, not to do anything abruptly, but to take a very measured and analytical approach," said Ross, adding that the administration might take actions before the report has been fully compiled.
The second executive order will seek to bolster US agencies' authority to combat dumping by foreign companies and countries, which is a form of trade cheating.
Navaro said $2.8 billion in import taxes imposed against violators of US anti-dumping laws have gone uncollected since 2001.
Navaro said the new measures would target US agencies' failure to collect those duties "like a laser" to collect all anti-dumping taxes owed to the US and "deter the cheaters."
Navarro called the executive orders a "historic moment."
"For the first time, we're looking at what's been the source of the large and persistent trade deficit that has contributed to job losses," Navarro said.
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Li Na Land, reality TV and fashion — what China’s tennis pioneer did next
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(CNN)She may have hung up her tennis racket more than two years ago, but two-time grand slam champion Li Na is still winning big in business.
China's first major singles champion, Li has been busy since she quit tennis in 2014 following a string of injuries.
Now 35, Li has since had two children with her husband and former coach, Jiang Shan. Business interests include movie and book deals, her own clothing line in China with long-time sponsor Nike, appearances in reality television shows and possibly her own tennis academy in China.
"We pass on many things," Max Eisenbud, Li's long-time agent at IMG, told CNN. "It is just crazy how much interest there is."
Li Na Land
Starting her own tennis academy in China to help young Chinese players is "a huge priority" Eisenbud said.
"My idea is to create a 'Li Na Land' where you have a restaurant, a hotel and spa resort," he said.
Although Eisenbud said he's still looking for the right location, the project was "getting nearer."
"We're not interested in just getting an academy and putting her name on it," he said. "Li Na wants a very good school system to go with it. But then you have to partner with the right school, because we're not going to run the school."
French Open
Li became a household name in China, the world's second largest economy, when she beat Italy's Francesca Schiavone on the clay of Roland Garros in 2011. That match was watched by over a million people in China alone.
Li, who also won the 2014 Australian Open and rose to a career-high No. 2 in the world that same year, is still one of China's most popular stars, with more than 23 million followers on Chinese social network Weibo.
Known for her aggressive game style on the court and dry wit off it, Li often clashed with the Chinese tennis federation over issues, including prize money.
But her historic win in Paris helped put the sport on the map in her home country, where some 15 million people now play tennis, according to the International Tennis Federation. That's up from one million in 1988.
After her French Open victory, Li signed a string of endorsements and became the world's second best-paid female athlete after Maria Sharapova, who is also represented by Eisenbud.
'True pioneer'
Even in retirement, Li is still a marketing force to be reckoned with.
Last year, she made more than $20 million, according to Eisenbud, from projects and endorsements with blue chip companies, including Nike, Mercedes Benz and Swiss luxury watch brand Rolex.
That's $2 million more than in her final year on the women's Tour. when her off-court earnings were calculated at $18 million by Forbes.
"She comes from one of the wealthiest countries in the world," Eisenbud said. "And I always call her the Billie Jean King of that country, she's a true pioneer."
Reality TV
Li and her husband, whom she often refers to as Dennis, have also been taking advantage of China's growing appetite for reality television.
"That business has boomed in China and she's made some really big money doing that," Eisenbud said.
Li is in the process of starting her own television production company, which may produce a reality show starring the former player and her husband taking up different sports alongside other famous athletes in China.
A movie based on Li's life, directed by Chinese filmmaker Peter Chan and on which she is acting as a consultant, will start filming this year.
Although Li often said her main goal once she retired was to become a housewife, she has barely sat still since chronic knee injuries forced her to end her career.
"She has just really surprised me in how much she really wanted to do and grow businesses," Eisenbud said.
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Kentucky’s last abortion clinic sues to stay open
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(CNN)The only abortion provider in Kentucky could be required to close its doors Monday.
EMW Women's Surgical Center, based in Louisville, received a letter "out of the blue" on March 13 from the state's Cabinet for Health and Family Services that said the center would lose its license in 10 days, according to court records. The Cabinet granted an extension until April 3.
EMW, later joined by the ACLU, filed a lawsuit in Western District of Kentucky to stop the closure. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services has not responded to a request for comment.
The letter from the state, which was included in the lawsuit, said the surgical center's agreements with a local hospital and ambulance are "deficient." The agreements are required in case of an emergency.
The cabinet's letter of notice says that the chair of the department of obstetrics, gynecology and women's health is "not authorized" to sign the hospital agreement and that the agreement with the ambulance company does not offer "certainty" that a patient would receive a medically appropriate transfer in case of an emergency.
"Failure to cure these deficiencies will result in an immediate revocation of the Abortion Facility license," the letter said.
In its complaint, EMW said there were no previous issues with its hospital agreement, which has been unchanged since 2014, and its emergency services agreement, which has been virtually unchanged since 2009. EMW's license was renewed last year and was valid until May 2017, according to the center's attorney, Don Cox.
"What is so disturbing is the basis for rejection of our rights to continue to be licensed are the very issues that were resolved in our favor a year ago" during the licensing process, Cox told CNN.
"The state's bureaucratic sleight of hand is fooling no one. This is an attempt to ban abortion in Kentucky, plain and simple. We are fighting to keep this from happening," Brigitte Amiri, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project, said in a statement. The ACLU is also a plaintiff in the case.
Laws signed by Republican Gov. Matt Bevin this year put tighter restrictions on abortions in the state. The state now requires that the physician or technician conducting the abortion perform an ultrasound, describe and display the ultrasound images to the mother, and provide audio of the fetal heartbeat to the mother before she may have an abortion. The ACLU and EMW filed a separate lawsuit this year against the provisions. The case is ongoing.
EMW filed a request for a temporary restraining order on Thursday to stop the closure until further hearings can be held about the case. No hearing has been scheduled for a judge to approve or deny the temporary restraining order, according to Cox.
EMW was founded in the 1980s, according to the complaint. In addition to providing both medical and surgical abortions to women, the center provides reproductive health care for women.
The loss of the center would result in a loss of reproductive freedom in Kentucky, according to Cox, and could have national ramifications.
"I think it is sort of the end game for all of this legislation that's being adopted around the country and that is to shut down all clinics that provide abortions," Cox said. "Throughout the country, people who are opposed to abortions are coming up with all manner of regulatory burdens that have nothing to do with the health of the women and everything to do with the politics of the moment."
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Li Na Land, reality TV and fashion — what China’s tennis pioneer did next
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(CNN)She may have hung up her tennis racket more than two years ago, but two-time grand slam champion Li Na is still winning big in business.
China's first major singles champion, Li has been busy since she quit tennis in 2014 following a string of injuries.
Now 35, Li has since had two children with her husband and former coach, Jiang Shan. Business interests include movie and book deals, her own clothing line in China with long-time sponsor Nike, appearances in reality television shows and possibly her own tennis academy in China.
"We pass on many things," Max Eisenbud, Li's long-time agent at IMG, told CNN. "It is just crazy how much interest there is."
Li Na Land
Starting her own tennis academy in China to help young Chinese players is "a huge priority" Eisenbud said.
"My idea is to create a 'Li Na Land' where you have a restaurant, a hotel and spa resort," he said.
Although Eisenbud said he's still looking for the right location, the project was "getting nearer."
"We're not interested in just getting an academy and putting her name on it," he said. "Li Na wants a very good school system to go with it. But then you have to partner with the right school, because we're not going to run the school."
French Open
Li became a household name in China, the world's second largest economy, when she beat Italy's Francesca Schiavone on the clay of Roland Garros in 2011. That match was watched by over a million people in China alone.
Li, who also won the 2014 Australian Open and rose to a career-high No. 2 in the world that same year, is still one of China's most popular stars, with more than 23 million followers on Chinese social network Weibo.
Known for her aggressive game style on the court and dry wit off it, Li often clashed with the Chinese tennis federation over issues, including prize money.
But her historic win in Paris helped put the sport on the map in her home country, where some 15 million people now play tennis, according to the International Tennis Federation. That's up from one million in 1988.
After her French Open victory, Li signed a string of endorsements and became the world's second best-paid female athlete after Maria Sharapova, who is also represented by Eisenbud.
'True pioneer'
Even in retirement, Li is still a marketing force to be reckoned with.
Last year, she made more than $20 million, according to Eisenbud, from projects and endorsements with blue chip companies, including Nike, Mercedes Benz and Swiss luxury watch brand Rolex.
That's $2 million more than in her final year on the women's Tour. when her off-court earnings were calculated at $18 million by Forbes.
"She comes from one of the wealthiest countries in the world," Eisenbud said. "And I always call her the Billie Jean King of that country, she's a true pioneer."
Reality TV
Li and her husband, whom she often refers to as Dennis, have also been taking advantage of China's growing appetite for reality television.
"That business has boomed in China and she's made some really big money doing that," Eisenbud said.
Li is in the process of starting her own television production company, which may produce a reality show starring the former player and her husband taking up different sports alongside other famous athletes in China.
A movie based on Li's life, directed by Chinese filmmaker Peter Chan and on which she is acting as a consultant, will start filming this year.
Although Li often said her main goal once she retired was to become a housewife, she has barely sat still since chronic knee injuries forced her to end her career.
"She has just really surprised me in how much she really wanted to do and grow businesses," Eisenbud said.
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Kentucky’s last abortion clinic sues to stay open
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(CNN)The only abortion provider in Kentucky could be required to close its doors Monday.
EMW Women's Surgical Center, based in Louisville, received a letter "out of the blue" on March 13 from the state's Cabinet for Health and Family Services that said the center would lose its license in 10 days, according to court records. The Cabinet granted an extension until April 3.
EMW, later joined by the ACLU, filed a lawsuit in Western District of Kentucky to stop the closure. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services has not responded to a request for comment.
The letter from the state, which was included in the lawsuit, said the surgical center's agreements with a local hospital and ambulance are "deficient." The agreements are required in case of an emergency.
The cabinet's letter of notice says that the chair of the department of obstetrics, gynecology and women's health is "not authorized" to sign the hospital agreement and that the agreement with the ambulance company does not offer "certainty" that a patient would receive a medically appropriate transfer in case of an emergency.
"Failure to cure these deficiencies will result in an immediate revocation of the Abortion Facility license," the letter said.
In its complaint, EMW said there were no previous issues with its hospital agreement, which has been unchanged since 2014, and its emergency services agreement, which has been virtually unchanged since 2009. EMW's license was renewed last year and was valid until May 2017, according to the center's attorney, Don Cox.
"What is so disturbing is the basis for rejection of our rights to continue to be licensed are the very issues that were resolved in our favor a year ago" during the licensing process, Cox told CNN.
"The state's bureaucratic sleight of hand is fooling no one. This is an attempt to ban abortion in Kentucky, plain and simple. We are fighting to keep this from happening," Brigitte Amiri, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project, said in a statement. The ACLU is also a plaintiff in the case.
Laws signed by Republican Gov. Matt Bevin this year put tighter restrictions on abortions in the state. The state now requires that the physician or technician conducting the abortion perform an ultrasound, describe and display the ultrasound images to the mother, and provide audio of the fetal heartbeat to the mother before she may have an abortion. The ACLU and EMW filed a separate lawsuit this year against the provisions. The case is ongoing.
EMW filed a request for a temporary restraining order on Thursday to stop the closure until further hearings can be held about the case. No hearing has been scheduled for a judge to approve or deny the temporary restraining order, according to Cox.
EMW was founded in the 1980s, according to the complaint. In addition to providing both medical and surgical abortions to women, the center provides reproductive health care for women.
The loss of the center would result in a loss of reproductive freedom in Kentucky, according to Cox, and could have national ramifications.
"I think it is sort of the end game for all of this legislation that's being adopted around the country and that is to shut down all clinics that provide abortions," Cox said. "Throughout the country, people who are opposed to abortions are coming up with all manner of regulatory burdens that have nothing to do with the health of the women and everything to do with the politics of the moment."
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#TBT: Margaret Chase Smith and her ‘place in the sun’
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(CNN)It's hard to say what Margaret Chase Smith is best remembered for. During her three decades in Congress, Chase served in both chambers and gave one of the Senate's most memorable speeches. If that wasn't enough of a mark, she also ran for president.
Margaret Chase was born in Maine in 1897. She worked as a teacher, a telephone operator and at a newspaper. She married Clyde Smith in 1930, six years before the Maine Republican won a seat in the US House.
Margaret got her first taste of Washington while working in her husband's office, and when he died in 1940, she ran in a special election to finish out his term. According to a House biography, she beat her Republican primary challenger 10-to-one. Without a Democratic challenger, she won her late husband's seat, becoming the state's first female member of Congress.
That year, 1940, was also an election year, and Smith almost immediately turned her attention to the general election. While it was almost a symbolic tradition at the time for women to finish out their late husband's term in office, running for office in their own right was still rare. Nevertheless, she ran -- and won. She proceeded to win reelection three more times.
In 1948, Smith decided to run for Senate, as one does after a successful career in the House. But Smith was a woman, and for women in politics at the time, nothing was typical. According to the Senate records, Smith's eventual victory made her the first woman to win a seat in the Senate without having first served as a Senate appointee or winning a special election to fill a vacancy in that chamber. She also became the first woman elected to both chambers of Congress.
The military drew most of Smith's legislative focus during her time in the Senate. She became a high-ranking member on both the Armed Services and Appropriations committees. But Smith choose not to emphasize the fact that she was a woman in what was (and still is) a majority male Congress.
"If we are to claim and win our rightful place in the sun on an equal basis with men, then we must not insist upon those privileges and prerogatives identified in the past as exclusively feminine," she said.
Despite this lack of emphasis on the "feminine" in her daily work, Smith fought for women in the military. She was the driving force behind the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, which, when signed into law by President Harry S. Truman in 1948, granted women serving in the military regular status.
What can perhaps be called Smith's brightest moment in the national spotlight came in 1950, when Smith spoke out on the Senate floor against anti-Communist Sen. Joseph McCarthy in her "Declaration of Conscience" speech.
"Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism -- the right to criticize. The right to hold unpopular beliefs. The right to protest. The right of independent thought. The exercise of these rights should not cost one single American citizen his reputation or his right to a livelihood nor should he be in danger of losing his reputation or livelihood merely because he happens to know someone who holds unpopular beliefs," Smith said on June 1, 1950.
While she didn't mention McCarthy by name -- even she lamented the Senate rule against that -- it was clear that her speech was directed at him. The famed speech helped break the Cold War-era Red Scare fever.
The only way to outdo that kind of mic drop was clearly to run for president, which Smith did in 1964. Smith was in her mid-sixties at the time, and her sex and age were counted against her by opponents and the press. Just for some context, President Ronald Reagan and President Donald Trump were both older than Smith was when they took office.
At the 1964 Republican National Convention, Smith became the first woman to be submitted for the nomination of a major party in the US. She received 27 delegate votes and lost to Barry Goldwater. He went on to lose the general election to President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Smith suffered her second loss in 1972, when she lost her Senate seat. Her House biography says that she was considering retirement until people started saying the 74-year-old was too old to run again.
The move highlighted a sentiment she had shared during her 1964 presidential bid: "When people keep telling you you can't do a thing, you kind of like to try."
After decades in Washington, Smith retired to Maine. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1989 and passed away in 1995.
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US signals openness to Assad staying put
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(CNN)The Trump administration doubled down Thursday on prioritizing the fight against ISIS over ending the Syrian civil war and getting rid of its main protagonist, President Bashar al-Assad -- a suggestion that was swiftly criticized by hawks on the Hill.
Indicating a possible shift in US policy on the war in Syria from the days of the Obama administration, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on a trip to Turkey that the "longer-term status of President Assad will be decided by the Syrian people."
And in New York, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley was even stronger about the Trump administration's decision not to push for Assad's departure. "Our priority is no longer to sit and focus on getting Assad out," Haley told wire reporters Thursday, according to AFP.
"Do we think he's a hindrance? Yes," she said. "Are we going to sit there and focus on getting him out? No."
However, a US official told CNN that Haley's remarks were misunderstood. The official said the US ambassador was not giving Assad a free pass, and she called Assad a "war criminal" in an appearance Wednesday at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City.
The official explained to CNN that the priorities of the administration now are not exclusively about Assad, but also defeating ISIS, stopping the spread of Iran's influence, protecting US allies in the region and trying to end the Syrian civil war.
If the US does definitively abandon the policy of requiring Assad's departure -- a position articulated by the Obama administration -- it would put its policy closer in line with Russia, which supports Assad, and at odds with allies in Europe and in Turkey, where Tillerson downplayed frictions that are already straining that alliance.
The comments drew heavy criticism from Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, Republicans who have long advocated for an increased US military presence in Syria against Assad and his Russian allies.
"This overlooks the tragic reality that the Syrian people cannot decide the fate of Assad or the future of their country when they are being slaughtered by Assad's barrel bombs," Arizona's McCain said in a statement.
Meanwhile, South Carolina's Graham said, "If the press reports are accurate and the Trump Administration is no longer focusing on removing Assad, I fear it will be the biggest mistake since President Obama failed to act after drawing a red line against Assad's use of chemical weapons."
In Turkey, Tillerson's fledgling diplomatic skills were put to the test in his most challenging diplomatic mission since taking office. He met for two hours behind closed doors with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the eve of a massive push against ISIS' Syrian stronghold of Raqqa. Tillerson's goal was to persuade Erdogan that the Kurds -- the Turks' sworn enemy -- are critical partners in the effort to defeat the terror organization.
The top US diplomat dodged questions at the news conference about US support for the Kurdish militia YPG, which the US considers the strongest fighters to go after ISIS, but said the two countries discussed "alternatives." His Turkish counterpart signaled that US support for the YPG remains one of a few stumbling blocks in US-Turkey relations.
"What we discussed today are options that are available to us," Tillerson said after a meeting with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. "They are difficult options. Let me be very frank. It isn't easy. They are difficult choices that have to be made."
Cavusoglu decried the US insistence on seeing Turkish Kurds at war with Turkey as separate from the YPG militia in Syria, which has received arms and support from Washington. He told reporters, "It is a sorrow for us that this sort of support has been extended (by the US to the YPG)."
A senior State Department official told CNN before the talks that Tillerson's message to Erdogan would be that the US is committed to working with the Kurds in the offensive against Raqqa.
Tillerson was set to tell the Turks that "we are going to do what we have to do," the official said. "It's not a happy message and they aren't going to like it, but this is what he has to tell them." The official continued that Tillerson also told them that "our priority is the long-term relationship with the Turks -- but at the moment, the emerging crisis requires us to use the folks who will fight."
Cavusoglu said that US support for the Kurdish forces belonging to the YPG militia, which it considers terrorists, has saddened Turkey and harmed efforts to reset the US-Turkey relationship after the election of President Donald Trump.
"We can fight Daesh together," Mr. Cavusoglu said, using the Arabic word for ISIS. But he added that "it is not correct to fight against one terrorist organization while co-operating with another."
He said there was no difference between the YPG militias working with the United States in Syria and the PKK, a group that has launched terror attacks against Turkey and which the US has branded a terrorist organization. While Tillerson noted Turkey had suffered attacks at the hands of PKK, he did not equate the group with the YPG.
Kurds aren't the only source of friction in the US relationship with Turkey, a NATO ally that hosts two US military bases.
Key among them is that the US has yet to hand over the Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, a US resident whom Erdogan accuses of orchestrating a coup attempt last summer.
Turkey's demand that Washington extradite Gulen, whom Turkey blames for leading last year's failed coup, loomed over Tillerson's talks. Gulen denies involvement in the attempt.
Cavusoglu said Turkey provided ample evidence to the US and said that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had pledged to "evaluate the documents meticulously." He said Turkey wants to see "concrete steps," and asked for the US to issue a provisional arrest warrant for Gulen while the extradition process moves forward
"We need to take mutual steps to put relations with the United States back on track," he said.
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#TBT: Margaret Chase Smith and her ‘place in the sun’
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(CNN)It's hard to say what Margaret Chase Smith is best remembered for. During her three decades in Congress, Chase served in both chambers and gave one of the Senate's most memorable speeches. If that wasn't enough of a mark, she also ran for president.
Margaret Chase was born in Maine in 1897. She worked as a teacher, a telephone operator and at a newspaper. She married Clyde Smith in 1930, six years before the Maine Republican won a seat in the US House.
Margaret got her first taste of Washington while working in her husband's office, and when he died in 1940, she ran in a special election to finish out his term. According to a House biography, she beat her Republican primary challenger 10-to-one. Without a Democratic challenger, she won her late husband's seat, becoming the state's first female member of Congress.
That year, 1940, was also an election year, and Smith almost immediately turned her attention to the general election. While it was almost a symbolic tradition at the time for women to finish out their late husband's term in office, running for office in their own right was still rare. Nevertheless, she ran -- and won. She proceeded to win reelection three more times.
In 1948, Smith decided to run for Senate, as one does after a successful career in the House. But Smith was a woman, and for women in politics at the time, nothing was typical. According to the Senate records, Smith's eventual victory made her the first woman to win a seat in the Senate without having first served as a Senate appointee or winning a special election to fill a vacancy in that chamber. She also became the first woman elected to both chambers of Congress.
The military drew most of Smith's legislative focus during her time in the Senate. She became a high-ranking member on both the Armed Services and Appropriations committees. But Smith choose not to emphasize the fact that she was a woman in what was (and still is) a majority male Congress.
"If we are to claim and win our rightful place in the sun on an equal basis with men, then we must not insist upon those privileges and prerogatives identified in the past as exclusively feminine," she said.
Despite this lack of emphasis on the "feminine" in her daily work, Smith fought for women in the military. She was the driving force behind the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, which, when signed into law by President Harry S. Truman in 1948, granted women serving in the military regular status.
What can perhaps be called Smith's brightest moment in the national spotlight came in 1950, when Smith spoke out on the Senate floor against anti-Communist Sen. Joseph McCarthy in her "Declaration of Conscience" speech.
"Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism -- the right to criticize. The right to hold unpopular beliefs. The right to protest. The right of independent thought. The exercise of these rights should not cost one single American citizen his reputation or his right to a livelihood nor should he be in danger of losing his reputation or livelihood merely because he happens to know someone who holds unpopular beliefs," Smith said on June 1, 1950.
While she didn't mention McCarthy by name -- even she lamented the Senate rule against that -- it was clear that her speech was directed at him. The famed speech helped break the Cold War-era Red Scare fever.
The only way to outdo that kind of mic drop was clearly to run for president, which Smith did in 1964. Smith was in her mid-sixties at the time, and her sex and age were counted against her by opponents and the press. Just for some context, President Ronald Reagan and President Donald Trump were both older than Smith was when they took office.
At the 1964 Republican National Convention, Smith became the first woman to be submitted for the nomination of a major party in the US. She received 27 delegate votes and lost to Barry Goldwater. He went on to lose the general election to President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Smith suffered her second loss in 1972, when she lost her Senate seat. Her House biography says that she was considering retirement until people started saying the 74-year-old was too old to run again.
The move highlighted a sentiment she had shared during her 1964 presidential bid: "When people keep telling you you can't do a thing, you kind of like to try."
After decades in Washington, Smith retired to Maine. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1989 and passed away in 1995.
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