Tough talk at The White House today between President Trump and the Democrats over the government shutdown and the border wall.  The impasse is making things tougher for 800-thousand federal government workers who won’t get paid on Friday.  That’s just one of the stories we’re following at The Reporters’ Roundtable.  We also discuss DC’s homicide rate, R. Kelly, Cyntoia Brown and another black man found dead in the home of billionaire democratic activist Ed Buck.

Guests:

Trump Stalks Out Of Shutdown Talks With Dems.
 
WASHINGTON  — President Donald Trump walked out of his negotiating meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday — “I said bye-bye,” he tweeted— as efforts to end the 19-day partial government shutdown fell into deeper disarray over his demand for billions of dollars to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
In a negotiating session that was over almost as soon as it began, Democrats went to the White House asking Trump to reopen the government. Trump renewed his call for money for his signature campaign promise and was rebuffed. Republicans and Democrats had differing accounts of the brief exchange, but the result was clear: The partial shutdown continued with no end in sight.
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers will miss paychecks on Friday; a little more than half of them are still working without pay. Other key federal services are suspended, including some food inspections. And as some lawmakers expressed discomfort with the growing toll of the standoff, it was clear Wednesday that the wall was at the center.
Trump revived his threat to attempt to override Congress by declaring a national emergency to unleash Defense Department funding for the wall. He’s due to visit the border Thursday to highlight what he declared in an Oval Office speech Tuesday night as a “crisis.” Democrats say Trump is manufacturing the emergency to justify a political ploy.
That debate set the tone for Wednesday’s sit-down at the White House.
Trump insisted at the White House: “I didn’t want this fight.” But it was his sudden rejection of a bipartisan spending bill late last month that blindsided leaders in Congress, including Republican allies, now seeking a resolution to the shutdown.

Illinois officials review R. Kelly-related calls

The state’s attorney’s office for Cook County in R. Kelly’s hometown of Chicago says it is looking into calls it has received after State’s Attorney Kim Foxx asked the public to come forward with information about potential victims of the singer.

Foxx addressed reporters Tuesday after her office had been inundated with calls about abuse allegations in Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary series. Some were tied to Kelly’s Chicago-area home. She said there’s no active investigation of Kelly and launching one would require victims and witnesses.

WMAQ reported that Foxx’s office said Wednesday it has received calls on the matter and is “reviewing and following up” on them, but has no additional information at this time.

The TV station also reported that Chicago police confirmed Wednesday that they conducted a “business check” at Kelly’s recording studio on the city’s West Side but “have no criminal complaints from anyone about the location.”

Sex Trafficked Inmate In Tennessee To Be Released

Cyntoia Denise Brown, a woman serving a life sentence for killing a man who bought her for sex when she was 16 years old, has been granted clemency, the Tennessee governor’s office said Monday. Brown, 30, will be released to parole supervision on August 7 after serving 15 years in prison, Republican Gov. Bill Haslam’s office said in a statement. “This decision comes after careful consideration of what is a tragic and complex case,” Haslam said. “Cyntoia Brown committed, by her own admission, a horrific crime at the age of 16. Yet, imposing a life sentence on a juvenile that would require her to serve at least 51 years before even being eligible for parole consideration is too harsh, especially in light of the extraordinary steps Ms. Brown has taken to rebuild her life. Transformation should be accompanied by hope.”

Political Activist Ed Buck Facing Questions About Death Of 2nd Black Man In His Apartment

For the second time in two years, Los Angeles detectives have found a man dead inside the apartment of Ed Buck, a political activist who rose to national prominence in the late 1980s for his effort to recall the governor of Arizona, the authorities said.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it received a 911 call shortly after 1 a.m. on Monday from a person who claimed that a man inside a West Hollywood apartment had stopped breathing and could not be resuscitated. When emergency responders arrived at the residence, a second-floor unit on Laurel Avenue, they declared the man dead.

The authorities have not determined how the man died, nor have they publicly released his identity other than to say he was an adult black man. A group of protesters rallied outside Mr. Buck’s apartment throughout the day Monday and demanded justice for the man and for another black man, Gemmel Moore, who was found naked and dead of a drug overdose on a mattress in Mr. Buck’s living room in July 2017.

For the second time in two years, Los Angeles detectives have found a man dead inside the apartment of Ed Buck, a political activist who rose to national prominence in the late 1980s for his effort to recall the governor of Arizona, the authorities said.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it received a 911 call shortly after 1 a.m. on Monday from a person who claimed that a man inside a West Hollywood apartment had stopped breathing and could not be resuscitated. When emergency responders arrived at the residence, a second-floor unit on Laurel Avenue, they declared the man dead.

The authorities have not determined how the man died, nor have they publicly released his identity other than to say he was an adult black man. A group of protesters rallied outside Mr. Buck’s apartment throughout the day Monday and demanded justice for the man and for another black man, Gemmel Moore, who was found naked and dead of a drug overdose on a mattress in Mr. Buck’s living room in July 2017.

Eight Homicides In Eight Days In DC

A 46-year-old man was fatally stabbed in Northeast Washington, officials said, bringing the number of homicides in the city to eight within the first eight days of the year.

The killing follows a particularly violent week in the District. There were 160 homicides in the District in 2018.  That’s a 40 percent increase over the previous year’s total of 116.

Although the latest homicide in The District was a stabbing, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Police Chief Peter Newsham attribute the jump to an increased availability of guns on the streets.