Tune into CNN this hr for a piece of my intv w/ Sec Blinken in Beijing. He said there’s evidence of China attempting “to influence & arguably interfere” in US elections.. & “it’s a concern” that China is seeking to mirror Russia’s playbook of influence campaigns in the US.

Interestingly TikTok did not come up in Sec Blinken's meetings in China, he tells reporters. These talks were just days after congress passed a bill that could ban TikTok unless it is sold off from its Chinese parent company, and many suspect China would prevent the sale.

'I made clear that if China does not address this problem we will,' says Sec Blinken in Beijing of China's support for Russia's defense industrial base which is enabling Russia to continue pursuing its assault on Ukraine war.

Chinese FM Wang Yi to Sec Blinken today in Beijing: 'Should China and the US keep to the right direction of moving forward with stability or return to a downward spiral? This is a major question before our two countries, and tests our sincerity and ability.'

Sec Blinken meets this AM in Beijing w/ his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi & says that moving forward on the Biden-Xi agenda requires 'active diplomacy' there's no substitute 'for face-to-face diplomacy,' adding that its important to articulate differences to avoid miscalculations.

Sec Blinken visited students at NYU’s Shanghai campus today. He said educational exchanges are “the best way to make sure that we start by hopefully understanding one another & that's a really important thing to make sure that we avoid miscommunications, misperceptions.”

New this AM from ⁦MJ Lee⁩: Biden campaign makes new digital ad buy in Pennsylvania to court Nikki Haley supporters cnn.com/2024/04/25/pol…

Graham began debriefing Biden officials after his mtgs with foreign leaders in the Middle East.

Graham told me he's met directly w/ Biden on this at least twice & that he speaks regularly with Jake Sullivan, as well as on occasion w/ special envoy Amos Hochstein & Tony Blinken

Trump looms large over Biden’s long-shot talks on Israel-Saudi normalization, but as of now he’s not trying to stand in the way of the deal. Sen. Graham - a Trump ally - is urging this to happen under the Biden admin, it time is running out. cnn.com/2024/04/24/pol…

.Secretary Antony Blinken has arrived in China, where he is expected to issue a strong warning to Chinese leaders about the country’s support for Russia’s efforts to ramp up weapons production as the war in Ukraine continues.

Story with Kylie Atwood & Nectar Gan
cnn.com/2024/04/24/pol…

US is now ramping up sanctions against Israeli settlers/extremists, today announcing new ones against 2 groups and 1 individual. W/ Jennifer Hansler Kylie Atwood cnn.com/2024/04/19/pol…

Biden administration secures key agreement for aid distribution from US military pier being built off Gaza coast, w/ Jennifer Hansler Natasha Bertrand Alex Marquardt cnn.com/2024/04/19/pol…

'We were not involved in any offensive operations,' says Sec Blinken after the Israeli strikes against Iran overnight. He does not say if US was given a heads up and or gave Israel a green light, he refers to strikes overnight as 'reported events.'

Italian FM Tajani tells reporters at the G7 in Capri that Israel informed the US before its overnight Iran attack:

'The United States were informed the last minute but there was no involvement on the part of the United States, it was simply information that was provided.'

United States will on Thursday vote against a Palestinian request for full United Nations membership, blocking the world body from effectively recognizing a Palestinian state, State Dept Vedant Patel just confirmed. shorturl.at/kpyKM

The airman accused top officials at the U.S. Embassy in Niger’s capital of Niamey of having “intentionally suppressed intelligence” as they seek to maintain the “facade of a great country-to-country relationship.”

At least two Palestinians were killed by Israeli settlers when they rampaged across West Bank villages over the weekend, according to residents, monitoring groups and paramedics. The IDF made little effort to stop the violence, according to eyewitnesses. wapo.st/3xyBCyS

US rolls out new iran sanctions today. The sanctions target executives of an engine manufacturer that supplies Iran’s Shahad-131 drones, which were used in Tehrans attack on Israel over the weekend. cnn.com/2024/04/18/pol…

Speaking from United Steelworkers headquarters today, Biden will call on US Trade Representative Katherine Tai to “consider tripling” the existing 7.5% tariff rate on Chinese steel & aluminum through a review of the Section 301 tariff rate, pending the conclusion of a 4yr review.

NEW: As Johnson’s position weakens, internal discussions are underway about who could replace him this Congress or next if he can’t hang on to the job

Proxies close to Emmer gauging interest, Emmer repairing Trump relationship

W/Melanie Zanona Manu Raju

cnn.com/2024/04/16/pol…