Thousands join Alec Baldwin, Michael Moore in pre-inauguration protest outside Trump Hotel

Thousands of New Yorkers — led by a star-studded roster of speakers and performers — gathered outside the Trump International Hotel in New York City Thursday evening to protest Donald Trump on the eve of his inauguration.

“This is the beginning of the 100 days of resistance,” declared filmmaker Michael Moore, who led the pre-inauguration rally along with other outspoken Trump critics, including Alec Baldwin, Mark Ruffalo, Rosie Perez and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

For about two hours, the relatively subdued crowd that had assembled between Trump’s Columbus Circle property and Central Park West, listened and applauded as a lengthy lineup of A-listers, joined by local activists and officials, took turns denouncing the president-elect. Robert de Nero, Sally Field, Julianne Moore and Cher shared the dais with Reverend Al Sharpton, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and the AFL-CIO’s Stuart Applebaum.

“[Trump] is a bad example of this country, this city,” said De Niro, before reading several mock tweets that he predicted Trump might write about him later that night.

From healthcare to immigration to islamophobia and LGBT rights, there were almost as many issues addressed at the rally as there were speakers who took the stage. However, the overarching message of the evening was one of unity — and the power in numbers.

“We are the majority,” said Michael Moore, referring to the millions of Americans who voted against Trump. “There’s more of us than there are of them.”

Yet as the parade of public figures on stage vowed one by one to stand up to Trump, it seemed the president-elect had already begun to have an effect on many of the non-famous New Yorkers in the crowd.

The majority of rally-goers who spoke to Yahoo News declined to provide their full names. Asked why, 27-year-old Carol from Queens answered, “paranoia about the incoming administration.”

“Just a general fear based on type of people he’s putting in power and how insecure he is about any criticism,” she continued. “It gives you pause.”

Nearby, a group of New York City public school teachers — with the exception of one man, who identified himself as Jeffrey Ellis-Lee — were equally hesitant to share their names.

Pinned to each of their jackets was a yellow piece of paper with a lowercase letter “i” which, Ellis-Lee explained, “represents that Trump is an illegitimate president.”

One of the teachers, a young woman who declined to give her first or last name, said that beyond their own opposition to Trump and “the things that he said on the campaign trail,” she and her colleagues were motivated to attend Thursday night’s rally because of the fear and concern expressed by many of their immigrant students in the wake of the election.

“We had a number of students crying, freaked out that they would be picked up by somebody because what they understood from the news was that they were not wanted,” she said.

Another teacher, who identified herself only as Emily, chimed in: “If it hasn’t been bad enough nationally, having a population of kids who are directly affected by everything he’s been saying and everything he’s been proposing is very hard to experience.”

Protecting New York City’s immigrants against potential attempts at widespread deportations by the incoming Trump administration was among the ways Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed that he will “stand up against hate” as part of his “pledge for the next 100 days of action.”

But while the celebrity calls to action and resistance were met with cheers and applause from the crowd, for many in attendance the event was more of a comforting farewell to the pre-Trump era than anything else.

“I don’t know how much good this is gonna do on a practical level,” said Carol. “I just feel like I can’t do nothing.”

Carol’s friend Claire, a 26-year-old who works in publishing and also declined to give her last name, agreed, citing her “own personal moral compass” as motivation for participating in Thursday night’s rally.

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Obama posts emotional farewell letter on Facebook

New York, Jan 20 (IANS) As Donald Trump sets to take oath as the 45th President of the United States, outgoing President Barack Obama shared an emotional farewell letter on the social networking site Facebook.

Expressing his gratitude to the US people, Obama wrote on Thursday: "Throughout these eight years, you have been the source of goodness, resilience and hope from which I've pulled strength. I've seen neighbours and communities take care of each other during the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes."

Obama recalled the Charleston Church shooting and said that he had mourned with grieving families searching for answers.

Obama noted that he had watched scientists help wounded war heroes walk again and seen "scientists help a paralysed man regain his sense of touch".

The outgoing President recalled some positive points of his tenure like providing access to healthcare and legalising same-sex marriages.

"I have seen the youngest of children remind us through their actions and through their generosity of our obligations to care for refugees, or work for peace, and, above all, to look out for each other," Obama further wrote.

"When the arc of progress seems slow, remember: America is not the project of any one person. The single-most powerful word in our democracy is the word 'We'. 'We the People'. 'We shall overcome'."

"I'll be right there with you every step of the way," he added.

The 44th US President shared a link on his Facebook post for anyone interested in keeping in touch with his work.

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In farewell, Obama urges Americans to escape their ‘bubbles’

President Obama warned in his farewell address late Tuesday that only renewed citizen engagement can save American democracy from the threats of economic dislocation, racial resentment, and the toxic partisanship that fester inside insulated “bubbles” where everyone looks and thinks the same.

“That’s what our democracy demands: It needs you. Not just when there’s an election, not just when your own narrow interest is at stake, but over the full span of a lifetime,” Obama told a crowd of approximately 18,000 in his adoptive hometown of Chicago.

“If you’re tired of arguing with strangers on the Internet, try talking with one of them in real life. If something needs fixing, then lace up your shoes and do some organizing. If you’re disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clipboard, get some signatures and run for office yourself. Show up. Dive in. Stay at it. Sometimes you’ll win. Sometimes you’ll lose,” the president said. “More often than not, your faith in America — and in Americans — will be confirmed.”

Obama spoke President-Elect Donald Trump’s name just once, and quickly quieted a chorus of boos that swelled from the audience in response. But sections of his speech could be seen as a message to the brash entrepreneur who is just 10 days away from taking the reins — most notably sections about accepting immigrants, beating back anti-Muslim prejudice and keeping American values safe from attack by autocrats and extremists.

The Islamic State “will try to kill innocent people, but they cannot defeat America unless we betray our Constitution and our principles in the fight,” Obama promised. “Rivals like Russia or China cannot match our influence around the world — unless we give up what we stand for, and turn ourselves into just another big country that bullies smaller neighbors.”

Obama’s remarks — part of a goodbye to the nation after eight tumultuous, consequential years — sometimes felt like a victory lap blended with a campaign rally. He came onstage to U2’s “City of Blinding Lights,” his 2008 anthem, and left to the strains of Bruce Springsteen’s “Land of Hope and Dreams,” a 2012 staple.

“Yes we can! Yes we did!” he said.

First lady Michelle Obama and daughter Malia embrace as President Obama praises them during his farewell address.

Obama recited his well-worn list of accomplishments — the steady, though often unsatisfying, economic recovery from the depths of the Great Recession; the raid that killed Osama bin Laden; his outreach to Cuba; the deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program.

But his speech was perhaps more notable for his warnings. Those admonitions recalled past presidential farewells, whether George Washington telling Americans to beware partisanship at home and entangling alliances overseas, or Dwight Eisenhower deploring the influence of a “military-industrial complex” over government.

Obama warned of growing economic inequality and of the coming economic losses of middle-class jobs to automation. He implored Americans not to embrace divisions based on race.

“After all, if every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a hardworking white middle class and undeserving minority, then workers of all shades are going to be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves,” he said.

To cure those ills, the president largely stuck to traditional Democratic calls for investments in education, a more generous safety net, stronger unions and higher taxes on the wealthy.

But his starkest warning was that Americans must stop sorting themselves into homogeneous enclaves.

“For too many of us, it’s become safer to retreat into our own bubbles, whether in our neighborhoods or on college campuses or places of worship or especially our social media feeds, surrounded by people who look like us and share the same political outlook and never challenge our assumptions,” Obama said. “Increasingly, we become so secure in our bubbles that we start accepting only information, whether true or not, that fits our opinions, instead of basing our opinions on the evidence that is out there.”

And this makes the “battle of ideas” at the core of American democracy into a battle over basic realities.

“Without some common baseline of facts; without a willingness to admit new information and concede that your opponent might be making a fair point, and that science and reason matter, we’ll keep talking past each other, and we’ll make common ground and compromise impossible,” he said.

While he leaves office quite popular — nearly 60 percent approve of the job he’s doing, according to recent polls — and quite young, at 55, Obama gave no hint in the speech of his post-presidency plans.

“It has been the honor of my life to serve you,” he said. “I won’t stop; in fact, I will be right there with you, as a citizen, for all my remaining days.”

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Trump given unverified reports that Russia had damaging details about him

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Classified documents that the heads of four U.S. intelligence agencies presented last week to President-elect Donald Trump included claims that Russian intelligence operatives have compromising information about him, two U.S. officials said Tuesday evening.

They told Reuters the claims, which one called "unsubstantiated," were contained in a two-page memo appended to a report on Russian interference in the 2016 election that U.S. intelligence officials presented to Trump and President Barack Obama last week.

Trump responded on Tuesday evening in a tweet calling the reports: "FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!" The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. One of the officials, both of whom requested anonymity to discuss classified matters, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other U.S. agencies are continuing to investigate the credibility and accuracy of the claims.

They are included in opposition research reports made available last year to Democrats and U.S. officials by a former British intelligence official, most of whose past work U.S. officials consider credible.

The official said investigators so far have been unable to confirm the material about Trump financial and personal entanglements with Russian businessmen and others whom U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded are Russian intelligence officers or working on behalf of Russian intelligence. Some material in the reports produced by the former British intelligence officer has proved to be erroneous, the official said.

The FBI declined comment.

SURFACED LAST YEAR

The charges that Russia attempted to compromise New York real estate businessman Trump were presented to the FBI and other U.S. government officials last summer and have been circulating for months.

The FBI initially took the material seriously, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, which was first reported by CNN.

However, the FBI failed to act on the material, and the former British intelligence officer broke off contact about three weeks before the November election, they said.

The warning of information about Russia's compromising claims follows growing U.S. intelligence and law enforcement concerns about what Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has called "multifaceted" Russian influence and espionage operations in Europe and the United States.

In addition to hacking computer networks and spreading propaganda and fake news, it includes efforts to cultivate business and political leaders and find compromising personal, financial and other information on persons of interest, U.S. intelligence officials said.

The classified briefings last week were presented to Obama and Trump by Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers.

U.S. intelligence chiefs included a classified summary of the material to make Trump aware that it is circulating among intelligence agencies, senior members of Congress, government officials and others, one of the officials said.

An unclassified intelligence report released on Friday concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to help Trump's electoral chances by discrediting Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign.

The report said U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that as part of the effort Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, used intermediaries such as WikiLeaks and others to release emails it hacked from the Democratic National Committee and top Democrats.

(Reporting Warren Strobel, Mark Hosenball, Jonathan Landay and John Walcott; Editing by Grant McCool and Lisa Shumaker)

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Michelle, Malia Obama tear up after president’s touching tribute during farewell speech

In his farewell address Tuesday night in Chicago, President Obama’s most poignant moments were touching thank yous to his wife and daughters.

In the same city where Michelle Obama was born, raised and met her husband, the president drew one of the biggest roars of the night for his extended tribute to the first lady.

“Michelle LeVaughn Robinson, girl of the South Side,” said an emotional Obama, “for the past 25 years, you’ve been not only my wife and mother of my children, you have been my best friend. You took on a role you didn’t ask for and you made it your own with grace and grit and style, and good humor. You made the White House a place that belongs to everybody. And a new generation sets its sights higher because it has you as a role model. You’ve made me proud. You’ve made the country proud.”

Michelle sat in the front row as the McCormick Place crowd around her roared, standing for an extended ovation and repeatedly interrupting the speech. One of the appreciative audience members was Malia Obama, who was seated next to her mother and was wiping away tears as her father spoke. The president then turned his attention to his daughters.

“Malia and Sasha,” continued the president, “under the strangest of circumstances, you have become two amazing young women, you are smart and beautiful, but more importantly, kind and thoughtful and full of passion. You wore the burden of years in the spotlight so easily. Of all that I’ve done in my life, I’m most proud to be your dad.”

Sasha Obama did not make the trip to Chicago due to an exam in Washington on Wednesday morning. Michelle sat next to Malia, arm around her shoulder, eyes beginning to water as her husband addressed their children.

Obama saved one more personal tribute for his running mate and vice president of eight years, toasting Joe Biden, who was sitting with his wife, Jill, next to the first family.

“To Joe Biden,” said the president, wiping at a tear on his right eye, “the scrappy kid from Scranton who became Delaware’s favorite son: You were the first choice I made as a nominee, and the best. Not just because you have been a great vice president, but because in the bargain I gained a brother. We love you and Jill like family, and your friendship has been one of the great joys of our lives.”

Biden responded with a finger point and wink.

So proud of @POTUS and all that we've accomplished together. An incredible journey filled with remarkable people. I love you Barack. -mo pic.twitter.com/TFUN3GDLyz

— The First Lady (@FLOTUS) January 11, 2017

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