The Hill’s 12:30 Report

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The Hill’s 12:30 Report: What the State Department alert means for holiday travel |  ​Krugman and the cat  | Cruz gaining on Trump in Iowa

 

BREAKING NOW: Check TheHill.com for the latest on President Obama’s press conference with French President Francois Hollande.

TWITTER UPDATES:

TIME’s Zeke Miller
Hollande says Obama was the first world leader to call him at 2am after the attacks

National Journal’s Rebecca Nelson
Obama: “Make no mistake: We will win, and groups like ISIL will lose.”

AFP’s Michael Mathes
Obama: “Vive la France.”

The Hill’s Julian Hattem
Obama was first to call Hollande after Paris attacks, Hollande says 

 

WHAT THE STATE DEPARTMENT WARNING MEANS FOR HOLIDAY TRAVEL: The State Department has issued a worldwide, three-month travel alert out of concern about radical Islamic terrorism. But security officials want us to be calm. http://bit.ly/1lGZzdc

— What’s the reason? The alert did not warn of a specific impending attack, just the lingering concern about the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). 

{mosads}— Who’s at risk? U.S. citizens using transportation or at public events should be mindful, in the U.S and abroad. Yes, that’s a very general warning. 

— What exactly is an “alert”? An alert is not necessarily stronger or weaker than a caution. The most recent worldwide travel alerts were December 2014, August 2013, September 2011 and May 2011. http://cnn.it/1kRvjMG

— How will this affect my travel? CBS News sat down with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Scott Brenner to discuss increased security and TSA lines. http://cbsn.ws/1LxnGQ9

— From MSNBC’s Jesse Rodriguez: NBC News: FBI warns cops around US that extremists “could seek to replicate the effects of Paris attacks using similar weapons and tactics” http://bit.ly/1jhT7aN

— Secretary of State John Kerry on NBC’s “TODAY”: “People need to not panic. There is a strategy in place, growing by the day.” http://on.today.com/1HknmJL

Happy Tuesday before Thanksgiving! I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of what you missed this morning — and what’s on tap for the rest of the day. Send story ideas, comments, complaints and holiday traffic reports to cmartel@digital-staging.thehill.com and @CateMartel. 

TO THE RIGHT, TO THE RIGHT (it’s a holiday week, forgive the Beyoncé lyrics): Via The Hill’s Niall Stanage and Amie Parnes, Hillary Clinton is distancing herself from President Obama on the issues of national security and terrorism. She said no-fly zones should be imposed in parts of Syria and suggested some ground groups might be necessary — steps the president has declined to take. http://bit.ly/1Tc3biv

RUSSIAN WARPLANE SHOT DOWN: Via The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes, Turkey said it shot down a Russian warplane that violated Turkish airspace. Russian President Vladimir Putin is calling it a “stab in the back.” The Associated Press reports that while Russia claimed the jet was brought down by artillery fire, Turkey said its F-16s fired on it after the Russian plane ignored 10 warnings in the span of five minutes. http://bit.ly/1Xcc3ue 

​UPDATE: Via Reuters: Two Russian pilots from jet downed near Syrian border believed to be alive: Turkish official​ http://bit.ly/1QGbi8u

​CRUZ BREATHING DOWN TRUMP’S NECK (lovely imagery, huh?): Via The Hill’s Ben Kamisar, in Iowa, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has moved within the margin of error with Donald Trump, 25 to 23 percent. Note: Cruz doubled his support in Iowa since October. Ben Carson takes third at 18 percent (down 10 points since October!), followed by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) at 13 percent. http://politi.co/1IdlugK

I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS: Notice anything odd about the photo in Paul Krugman’s piece in The New York Times? (Look for the cat. Yes, the cat.) http://bit.ly/1lHyvub

UPDATE: Paul Krugman later explained the image. “Yes, I know there’s a cat in the picture; I took it from Slate, “The Cats of War.” I’ve used that image before, to lighten things up slightly. Apparently I didn’t succeed.”

JEB KEEPS RACKING UP CONGRESSIONAL ENDORSEMENTS: Rep. Mike Bishop (R-Mich.) is backing Jeb Bush for president, making this Jeb’s 29th congressional endorsement. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has the second-highest number of Republican congressional endorsements at a distant 17. But do endorsements matter this cycle? Trump, who has been the GOP front-runner since the summer, hasn’t gotten any love from Capitol Hill. Full list: http://bit.ly/1STLS5y

BRUSSELS STILL ON LOCKDOWN: Via CNN’s Tim Hume and Tim Lister, Brussels has been on lockdown because of a terrorist threat, and authorities have requested silence on social media regarding police action (for fear of alerting the targets of raids).

— Where it gets cool: The people of Brussels have flooded social media with countless cat pictures. They’re still showing their sense of humor — and actually burying any legitimate intelligence on police movements that might have been shared. http://cnn.it/1OovDfa

‘TIS THE SEASON: The 2015 Capitol Christmas Tree is up! Here’s a photo, per Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). http://1.usa.gov/1IbJ1P7

REPORTERS LOCKED IN THE PEN 🙁 Via The Washington Post’s Paul Farhi, Trump’s campaign had a conference call with the television networks about restricting reporters at Trump rallies (in a “media pen” under the close watch of Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski). Why now and why just Trump? This follows two incidents when reporters left the “pen” to speak with Trump supporters but were threatened by the campaign. Unfortunately, there was no resolution during the call. http://wapo.st/1NpKxF3

VOTE TO SAVE A TURKEY: The White House released the biographies of the two turkeys that could be pardoned. You can vote – and Obama will pardon the winner tomorrow. ​

Check out the turkeys here (and vote!)​.  http://1.usa.gov/1NNo4f8

 

TWITTER CATCH-UP

Adam Jentleson, deputy chief of staff to Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
“the Senate plans to spend no more than 143 days legislating next year.” // Will almost certainly be fewer. http://bit.ly/1OpLI4a

The Boston Globe’s Matt Viser (with photo)
This is a moment when @MittRomney is probably glad he’s not out campaigning for something. http://bit.ly/1NN3xHI

The Wall Street Journal’s Reid Epstein
Steve King, new Cruz endorser, told me Donald Trump is probably gonna win Iowa http://bit.ly/1PX31LJ

Amanda Reilly, E&E Publishing
Received an ear of corn in mail from National Corn Growers Association. Definitely 1 of weirdest things I’ve ever collected from my mailbox. http://bit.ly/1P5Dxx3

 

ON TAP:

12:30 p.m. EST: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) gives a foreign policy speech at the Council on Foreign Relations. Live stream: http://on.cfr.org/1NojfP8 

5:30 p.m. EST: Obama awards the Presidential Medals of Freedom. The recipients this year include Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Willie Mays, Steven Spielberg, James Taylor and Barbra Streisand. How do you get picked to receive a medal? Well, lobbying the White House doesn’t hurt. Here’s an interesting article on the process: http://wapo.st/1lfMRBq

 

WHAT TO WATCH:

9 p.m. EST: CNN has a special report: “Targeting Terror: Inside the Intelligence War.” http://cnn.it/1N5T5dz

 

Now for the fun stuff…

FACEBOOK WANTS TO HELP WITH YOUR BAD BREAK-UP: Via TIME’s Alexandra Sifferlin, Facebook is testing features to make breaking up easier online. When a user changes their relationship status, Facebook will limit how often that person’s name, photos and posts appear. http://ti.me/1R3Drpg

Today is National Sardines Day (?)

ALL. THE. TURKEY: In eight U.S. states, turkeys outnumber humans. List of states if you’re curious: http://bit.ly/1kQebXr

Because you made it this far, here is the best video of a golden retriever posing for a photo: http://on.fb.me/1I8msjL

If you think you have a dog video that can top this, please, please one-up me. 

—> cmartel@digital-staging.thehill.com I promise to share in future 12:30 Reports!

See you tomorrow!  

 

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