Monday morning news: January 21, 2019

Democrats reject President Trump’s offer to end the government shutdown » Democratic leaders have soundly rejected President Trump’s offer to break the stalemate and end the partial government shutdown.

As part of a deal for border wall funds, the president over the weekend offered to extend protections for so-called Dreamers.

TRUMP: Three years of legislative relief for 700,000 DACA recipients brought here unlawfully by their parents at a young age many years ago.

But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters on Sunday…

SCHUMER: Offering some of those protections that he took away back in exchange for the wall is not a compromise, but hostage taking. 

In 2017, the Trump administration announced it would phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program—or DACA. That effort is currently caught up in the courts.

Many Democrats say reopen the government first, then negotiate and Democratic leaders insist the president must give up on the wall entirely.

Meanwhile, in a Sunday tweet President Trump said he would be open to negotiating a much bigger immigration deal, possibly involving all 11 million unauthorized immigrants residing in the U.S.

White House moving closer to second summit with Kim Jong Un » The White House says plans are coming together for a second summit between President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

The president said the two countries have picked a location for the meeting, and will announce that, as well as the date of the summit, soon.

TRUMP: Kim Jong Un is looking very forward to it and so am I. We’ve made a lot of progress that has not been reported by the media, but we’ve made a lot of progress. 

And Vice President Mike Pence said the White House is clear about its objective in a second summit between the leaders.

PENCE: We will be laying out our expectation for North Korea to take concrete steps to begin to make real the denuclearization that Kim Jong Un committed to. 

Pyongyang has repeatedly called for the U.S. to begin easing economic sanctions immediately. The Trump administration insists the U.S. will not do that until North Korea completely abandons nuclear weapons.

Giuliani says claim in BuzzFeed report is false » President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani spoke out Sunday about a controversial BuzzFeed News report from last week.

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office issued a rare statement over weekend, shooting down unspecified elements of the story. It had claimed Mueller’s team found that President Trump directed his former lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress.

Giuliani told NBC’s Meet the Press that assertion is entirely false.

GIULIANI: Categorically I can tell you, his counsel to Michael Cohen throughout that entire period was tell the truth. We thought he was telling the truth.

BuzzFeed based the story on two anonymous sources it said were inside the Mueller investigation.

A spokesman for Mueller’s office responded by saying, “BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the special counsel’s office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office” are not accurate.

Buzzfeed said it stands by its reporting and called on Mueller’s office to specify what in the story was inaccurate.

OCR finds California illegally discriminated against pregnancy resource centers » The Department of Health and Human Services says the state of California violated federal conscience protection laws over its treatment of crisis pregnancy centers.

Multiple pregnancy resource clinics say the state hit them with fines after they refused to refer women to abortion facilities or advertise for them.

California recently enacted a law, known as the FACT Act, that forces such centers to post notices informing patients of the availability of abortion services elsewhere.

The HHS Office for Civil Rights says the state violated amendments that bar state and local governments that receive certain federal funds from discriminating against healthcare entities that don’t perform or refer people for abortions.

In a statement the office also noted a 2018 Supreme Court decision “finding that the FACT Act likely violated the First Amendment rights of pregnancy resource centers.”

Stage Set for Super Bowl LIII » The stage is set for Super Bowl LIII (53).

The L.A. Rams stunned the New Orleans Saints in Sunday’s NFC championship game with a 57-yard field goal in overtime.

AUDIO: The hold is down. The kick clears the line, and Greg Zuerlein sends the Rams to the Super Bowl!

The final score 26 to 23.

Hours later in AFC, the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots battled into overtime as well.

After winning the coin toss in overtime, the Patriots never gave the Chiefs’ offense a chance. Rex Burkhead capped a drive with a 2-yard touchdown…

AUDIO: Brady under center, the give to Burkhead – runs in left for the win! Touchdown Patriots in their battle for Super Bowl LIII! 

That sealed New England’s 37-to-31 victory over the Chiefs.

This will be the Patriots’ third straight trip to the Super Bowl. For the Rams, it’s been nearly two decades. They beat the Titans in Super Bowl 34 back in 2000.

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019. 

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