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Trump won’t say if he’s spoken to Putin, but “if I did, it’s a smart thing”
Former President Donald Trump says he’s not commenting on the question of whether he’s spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin since he left office, after journalist Bob Woodward reported in his new book that the former president has had as many as seven conversations with the Russian leader.
At the Economic Club of Chicago Tuesday, Trump, in a conversation with Bloomberg News editor-in-chief John Micklethwait, was asked whether he’d spoken with Putin. Trump first said he had no comment before going on to defend any conversation with Putin, if it had occurred.
“Well, I don’t comment on that, but I will tell you that, if I did, it’s a smart thing,” Trump said. “If I’m friendly with people, if I have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing, in terms of a country. He’s got 2,000 nuclear weapons, and so do we. China has a lot less, but they’ll catch us within five years. If I have a relationship, I don’t talk about, I don’t talk about —.”
“— That sounds like you talk to him,” Micklethwaite said.
“No, I don’t talk about that,” Trump replied. “I don’t ever say it, but I can tell you what, Russia has never had a president that they respect so much.”
Micklethwait asked Trump about his economic plans, but he received no detailed answers. He challenged Trump on the feasibility of the high tariffs he talks about on the campaign trail, noting that he has talked about tariffs as high as 100% or 200% “on things you don’t really like,” as well as 10%-20% for other countries. “That is going to have a serious effect on the overall economy,” Micklethwait said, adding, “the overall effect could be massive.”
“I agree — it’s going to have a massive effect, positive effect,” Trump replied, before telling Micklethwait, “It must be hard for you to, you know, spend 25 years talking about tariffs as being negative, and then have somebody explain to you that you’re totally wrong.”
Micklethwait also confronted Trump with an analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget that estimated his economic plan would cost twice Vice President Kamala Harris’ plan. Trump dismissed criticism of his economic plan by saying his plan is about “growth” and claiming Harris has “got no growth, whatsoever.”
Asked if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power, Trump responded, “I went to Florida, and you had a very peaceful transfer.” And Trump, referring to the Jan. 6, 2021 rioting, claimed, “Not one of those people had a gun. Nobody was killed, except for Ashli Babbitt. She was killed. She was killed. She was shot in the head by a policeman … So, I think we should be allowed to disagree on that.” He went on at length, telling Micklethwait that “lot of strange things happened there, a lot of strange things with people being waved into the Capitol by police, with people screaming, ‘Go in’ with that never got into trouble.” He did not answer the question.
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McDonald’s investing $100 million to lure customers back to the fast food giant after E. coli outbreak
McDonald’s is investing $100 million to bring customers back to stores after an outbreak of E. coli food poisoning tied to onions on the fast-food giant’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers.
The investments include $65 million that will go directly to the hardest-hit franchises, the company said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that slivered onions on the Quarter Pounders were the likely source of the E. coli. Taylor Farms in California recalled onions potentially linked to the outbreak.
The E. coli outbreak has sickened 104 people in 14 states, federal health officials said in an update on Wednesday.
At least 34 people have been hospitalized, and four developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious condition that can cause kidney failure. An 88-year-old man who resided in Grand Junction, Colorado, died, as previously reported. The illnesses began at the end of September, and the most recent onset of illness occurred as of Oct. 21, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The Food and Drug Administration has said that “there does not appear to be a continued food safety concern related to this outbreak at McDonald’s restaurants.”
However, the outbreak hurt the company’s sales.
Quarter Pounders were removed from menus in several states in the early days of the outbreak.
In a statement Wednesday obtained by CBS News, McDonald’s said it had found an “alternate supplier” for the approximately 900 restaurants that had temporarily stopped serving Quarter Pounders with slivered onions.
“Over the past week, these restaurants resumed the sale of Quarter Pounder burgers with slivered onions,” McDonald’s said.
CBS News reached out to McDonald’s on Saturday for a statement regarding the reported investment.
Health officials said Saturday they have confirmed the first U.S. case of a new form of mpox that was first seen in eastern Congo.
The person had traveled to eastern Africa and was treated in Northern California upon return, according to the California Department of Public Health. Symptoms are improving and the risk to the public is low.
Mpox is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that’s in the same family as the one that causes smallpox. It is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals.
Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of mpox in Africa that was spread through close contact including through sex.
More than 3,100 confirmed cases have been reported just since late September, according to the World Health Organization. The vast majority of them have been in three African countries – Burundi, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Since then, cases of travelers with the new mpox form have been reported in Germany, India, Kenya, Sweden, Thailand, Zimbabwe, and the United Kingdom.
Health officials earlier this month said the situation in Congo appears to be stabilizing. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated Congo needs at least 3 million mpox vaccines to stop the spread, and another 7 million vaccines for the rest of Africa.
The current outbreak is different from the 2022 global outbreak of mpox where gay and bisexual men made up the vast majority of cases.
