The Senate Looks to End the Trump Administration’s Unconditional Subservience to Saudi Arabia.

1. The US Senate just initiated a bill that may force the withdrawal of US support of the Saudi-led war in Yemen. The bill, co-sponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Mike Lee (R-UT), was advanced for debate on the Senate floor by a vote of 63–37. This is the first step towards a full resolution, one which would require a similar measure in the House, a distant prospect with the current Congress, but a likely one when Democrats take over in January. The White House has already signaled it would veto any resolution, however, which would then require a two-thirds majority to override the veto.

The move comes days after the heads of five international aid agencies called on the United States to stop its military and financial support of the Saudi-backed coalition, saying it has only exacerbated the conflict that has led to the world’s worst famine in recent memory. In what may be the first time aid agencies place blame on the US government for a humanitarian crisis, the agencies castigated the Trump administration’s policies in Yemen, saying “By providing such extensive military and diplomatic support for one side of the conflict, the United States is deepening and prolonging a crisis that has immediate and severe consequences for Yemen, and civilians are paying the price.”

The US has been providing support to Saudi forces in their fight against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen since the outset of the war in 2014 and has conducted strikes against Al-Qaeda targets before that. The Trump administration has recently called for a ceasefire and negotiations to end the conflict and even moved to end refueling of Saudi aircraft. However, it is not clear that the administration takes its role in the conflict seriously, or that it has any interest in true peace talks. Just this morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a Trump-like tweet in which he praised Saudi Arabia and placed all the blame on Iran.

2. The bill will also probably not do much to end the Trump administration’s steadfast protection of Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. In a largely shambolic hearing in the Senate today, with cabinet members roundly denying any link between Mr. Khashoggi’s death and MBS. The stonewalling reach absurd levels, with national security advisor John Bolton claiming there was no need to listen to a recording of Mr. Khashoggi’s murder because he didn’t speak Arabic. Notably missing from the hearings was CIA director Gina Haspel, who was barred by President Trump from testifying, yet is the only member of the administration who has purportedly listened to the tape. This has angered the Senate on both sides of the aisle. Senator Lindsey Graham, ever the Trump lackey, even said he would be withholding his vote from other important bills until the CIA briefs the Senate.

3. A bunch of stuff happened on the Mueller front:

• Prosecutors investigating Russian collusion have disclosed that former Trump campaign official Paul Manafort had lied to them, breaking his plea deal. For more on the Manafort case, check out Rantt’s analysis.
• President Trump said a pardon for Paul Manafort may not be off the table. Such a move would be grounds for impeachment.
• On MSNBC’s The Beat with Ari Melber, Roger Stone associate Jerome Corsi also rejected a Mueller plea deal, saying that, while he knows ke may go to jail for the rest of his life, he would have lied to protect himself under the deal. However, Corsi openly admitted to attempting to get information about the stolen Clinton emails

4. The floodgates of human gene-editing have apparently been opened, with huge changes for human reproduction as we know it. He Jiankui, a Chinese scientist, has claimed to have created the first set of genetically modified humans, two twin girls, in order to make them resistant to the HIV virus. Using a technique known as CRISPR Cas-9, he allegedly took out a portion of the girls’ DNA that is known to be associated with HIV contraction (their father is HIV positive) while they were just a single-celled embryo. The scientist spoke at a conference in Hong Kong, defending his work, yet to be verified, but received sharp rebukes from colleagues in the field. His work has also been condemned by the scientific community in China and the West alike.

The case has drawn widespread controversy, to say the least, as Mr. He’s actions are grossly out of line with established medical ethics when it comes to human genome editing and experimentation. The science behind gene editing is still not well enough understood to undertake the type of procedure Mr. He claims to have done in a safe and ethical manner. There is no telling how these girls will develop if genes were indeed removed from them, particularly ones associated with one’s immune system, as is allegedly the case. The Chinese government is investigating Mr. He’s actions, amid reports he improperly obtained the parents’ consent. Other scientists have raised issues with the fact that there are much safer, established ways to prevent HIV transmission.

Even if Mr. He was unsuccessful in his endeavor, it is only a matter of time until someone is. The notion of genetically edited humans is at our doorstep, without any real framework to even talk about the issue, much less regulate it. The prospect of designer babies edited for preference of height, hair color, personality, race, and other traits associated with genetics is no longer a work of science fiction. We need to start talking about the implications of this on the human race.

5. The Trump administration has re-engaged in negotiations with its Chinese counterparts over the sides’ tariff war, according to Trump economic advisor Larry Kudlow. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet on the sidelines on this weekend’s G20 summit in Buenos Aires. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, however, Trump signaled that he would press ahead with planned tariffs of 25% on $200 billion of goods. These tariffs will hurt American as well as Chinese producers, and there is hardly any economic evidence that they will be beneficial to the US economy. Trump’s stubbornness indicates that a hoped-for agreement with China may not happen anytime soon.