Happening Today: ‘One China' Policy, García de Rayos, Travel Ban, Oldest American

What to Know

  • President Donald Trump confirmed his support for the "one China" policy in a call with the country's leader
  • García de Rayos, who has become the face of undocumented immigrants facing deportation under Trump, was deported to Mexico
  • A monstrous winter storm that dumped more than a foot of snow across swaths of the Northeast left a brutal cold in its wake

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*This daily briefing will be off Monday and Tuesday, returning on Wednesday, Feb. 15.

Trump Reaffirms “One China” Policy

President Donald Trump has reaffirmed America's long-standing “one China policy” in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, potentially alleviating concerns about a major shift in Washington's relations with Beijing. The White House and China's state broadcaster CCTV said the two spoke by phone on Thursday evening. Trump has accused Beijing of unfair trade practices, criticized China's military buildup in the South China Sea and accused Beijing of doing too little to pressure North Korea.

Woman Who Sparked Protests Deported

Immigration officials deported a mother who had been in the U.S. illegally since she was 14 years old on Thursday, in what some activists say is the first deportation under the new immigration policies of President Trump. Guadalupe García de Rayos was removed from the country to Nogales, Mexico after authorities attempted to deport her late Wednesday, NBC News reported. They were unable to move the van she was in because protesters were blocking it. One man wedged himself in the wheel well.

Court Won't Reinstate Travel Ban

A federal appeals court has handed a resounding victory to Washington state and Minnesota in their challenge of President Trump's travel ban, finding unanimously that a lower court ruling suspending the ban's enforcement should stay in place while the case continues. The 3-0 decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the states on nearly every issue presented. Some legal scholars who reviewed it said the Justice Department could face long odds in any immediate appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, though that won't necessarily stop the administration from trying. Trump tweeted "SEE YOU IN COURT" after the ruling came out Thursday.

Kellyanne Conway “Counseled” After Plug

An aide to President Trump was "counseled" after she urged Americans to "go buy Ivanka's stuff" during a television interview, prompting a wave of backlash for potentially violating ethics rules governing the executive branch. But House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz says that's not enough, calling what Kellyanne Conway did "wrong, wrong, wrong, clearly over the line, unacceptable." In a Thursday morning interview with "Fox and Friends" from the White House briefing room, Conway urged people to "go buy Ivanka's stuff," boasting that she was giving the brand "a free commercial here."

Divide Senate Confirms Trump Health Secretary

Republicans won Senate confirmation of President Donald Trump's choice for health secretary early Friday in the testy chamber's fourth consecutive brawl over Cabinet picks. Senators approved Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., to head the Health and Human Services Department by a strictly party-line 52-47 vote in the dead of night. Republicans see Price, an orthopedic surgeon and seven-term House veteran, as a knowledgeable leader who will help scuttle Obama's health care overhaul. Democrats describe an ideologue with a shady history of trading health care stocks and whose policies will snatch insurance coverage from Americans.

Massive Snowstorm Moves out

The biggest storm to hit the Northeast this winter dropped a foot or more of snow along the New York-to-Boston corridor Thursday, turning roads treacherous, grounding flights and giving millions of people weather whiplash a day after temperatures soared into the 50s and 60s. Scores of accidents were reported as drivers confronted blowing snow and slick highways. Stretches of Interstate 95 in Rhode Island were closed in the afternoon after tractor-trailers got stuck. Schools closed in cities big and small, including New York City, Philadelphia and Boston, and government offices told non-essential workers to stay home.

Oldest American Dies at 114

A New Jersey woman who was the oldest American person has died at age 114. Adele Dunlap died Sunday at a hospital near Flemington, according to the Martin Funeral Home. She had become the country's oldest person in July 2016 following the death of 113-year-old Goldie Michelson, of Worcester, Massachusetts. A group that tracks long-living people says the oldest known person living in the U.S. is now 113-year-old Delphine Gibson, of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.

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