National Politics

By Kevin Liptak, CNN President Joe Biden was “expressing solidarity” with protesters when he said at a campaign event late Thursday that “we’re going to free Iran,” a White House spokesman clarified on Friday. The comment sparked an indignant response from the government in Tehran and went beyond the president’s previous statements, which had been

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on two Haitian politicians accused of involvement in drug trafficking. The US Treasury Department levied financial sanctions against Joseph Lambert, “the sitting President of the Haitian Senate (who) has held political positions in Haiti for 20 years” and Youri Latortue, “a former Haitian Senator

By Lauren del Valle, Kara Scannell and Sonia Moghe, CNN Tom Barrack, a longtime ally of Donald Trump, was acquitted on all federal foreign lobbying charges at a courthouse in Brooklyn on Friday. The acquittal is a defeat for the Justice Department, which in recent years has launched a crackdown on individuals for undisclosed contacts

By Alex Marquardt and Sean Lyngaas, CNN Ukraine’s fears that its troops  may lose access to Elon Musk’s crucial Starlink internet service deepened in the past week after 1,300 of the military’s satellite units went offline, according to two sources familiar with the outage. The small, easy-to-use satellite dishes made by Musk’s private rocket company

By Paula Reid Kash Patel, an adviser to Donald Trump, testified on Thursday before a federal grand jury investigating the handling of records taken to the former president’s Mar-a-Lago home and resort, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN. A federal judge had ordered Patel to testify before the grand jury, granting him immunity

By Greg Krieg, CNN New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday accused Republican challenger Rep. Lee Zeldin of using crime concerns to cynically attack her, but also acknowledged that the issue was rooted in sincere worries among the voters who will decide her political fate next week. “We’re dealing with people’s feelings here. And

By Gabby Orr and Kristen Holmes, CNN Top aides to former President Donald Trump have discussed the third week of November as an ideal launch point for his 2024 presidential campaign if Republicans fare well in the midterm elections next week, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. Two sources said Trump’s team has specifically

By Melanie Zanona, Manu Raju and Annie Grayer, CNN House Republicans are in active discussions to immediately hit the ground running if they take power on Tuesday and target what has become one of their top priorities: Investigating President Joe Biden’s son. On November 9 — the day after the midterm elections — Rep. James

By Shawna Mizelle, CNN Marijuana legalization is on the ballot in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota on Tuesday, a reflection of the growing momentum nationwide to lift penalties once associated with the drug. If approved, the states would join the 19 (along with Washington, DC) where recreational use is currently legal. Thirty-seven

By Maeve Reston, CNN Nowhere in the country has the struggle between election denialists and democracy defenders played out in more vivid detail than in Arizona, where Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly’s ability to hold off late momentum from Trump-backed GOP nominee Blake Masters will be key to Democrats’ hopes of defending their narrow Senate majority.

By Natasha Bertrand, CNN Iran is seeking Russia’s help to bolster its nuclear program, US intelligence officials believe, as Tehran looks for a backup plan should a lasting nuclear deal with world powers fail to materialize. The intelligence suggests that Iran has been asking Russia for help acquiring additional nuclear materials and with nuclear fuel

By Phil Mattingly and MJ Lee, CNN As White House officials prepared for the last jobs report before the midterm elections set to be released Friday morning, the last thing they wanted to see is a blowout hiring number. It’s the political paradox that loomed over the last major piece of economic data before Election