AFN
NEWS
Thursday, December 13, 2018
1)
From ABC News, I’m Scott Goldberg. Politically
wounded Theresa May has survived the
confidence vote within her own party. By a vote of 200-117, her ruling
conservative party colleagues have given Theresa May lukewarm support to carry
on, but the road ahead remains incredibly steep and fraught with the yet more political
dangers. The next hurdle, trying to get her UK exit from Euro plan through Parliament
over the next few weeks. Something few here think will happen. ABC’s Tom Rivers at the foreign desk in London.
2)
Tomorrow in the French Parliament, President Emmanuel Macron faces a confidence vote. It follows weeks of
violent anti-government protests.
3)
President Trump’s former personal lawyer and right-hand man Michael Cohen will soon be headed to federal
prison. He was sentenced today by a judge to three years behind bars after Cohen
pleaded guilty to a number of crimes including paying hush money to two women who
claimed to have had affairs with the President. “Make no mistakes. The
President of the United States was front and center in this proceeding today.
He talked about being in mental incarceration from the moment that he met the
President of the United States, and that he acknowledged again that he did
these acts at the direction of the President of the United States.” ABC’s chief
justice correspondent Pierre Thomas talking
about Michael Cohen. In addition to Cohen’s sentence, federal prosecutors said
the publisher of The National Enquirer won’t be prosecuted for killing an unflattering
story about President Trump.
4)
The National Enquirer’s corporate parent AMI
admitted the purpose of buying former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story of an affair with Donald Trump and never
publishing it was to help the Trump campaign. The practice known as “catch and
kill” costs $150,000 and at the time AMI coordinated with President Trump’s former
fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen. ABC’s Aaron
Katersky.
*
AMI = American Media Inc.
5)
A senior White House official says Republican Congressman Mark Meadows, North Carolina, is out of the running for the next
White House Chief of Staff. They said the President told him he needs Meadows
in Congress. You’re listening to ABC News.
…………………………………………..
From
the Fox Business Network; on Wall Street, major averages closing in the green.
Stocks rising on investor optimism about U.S.-China trade relations. Among the
gainers today, tech and energy companies, while real estate and utilities were
among the laggards. Trade sensitive stocks like Boeing and Caterpillar were
among the Dow gainers, while Verizon
and Walmart were among the Dow
losers with the Dow closing in the green but paring from session high closing
up 157 points, the NASDAQ up 66, S&P 500 up 14, and Verizon was among the
Dow laggards today with the stocks falling over 2 and 1/2 percent after the
Telecom giant said it would take a $4.6 billion hit for Oath media and expensive Internet venture that never panned out.
Verizon is taking a charge in the fourth quarter to cover weak revenue and
earnings from Oath. It says that the benefits from integrating Yahoo and AOL with
the enterprise were less than expected. With the Fox Business Report, I’m Hilarie Barsky.
