National Politics

By Kylie Atwood, CNN Two Americans who had been held by Russian-backed forces for more than three months were back on US soil Friday afternoon. Americans Alexander John-Robert Drueke and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh arrived in New York City after they were released earlier this week in a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine that

By Eric Bradner, Donald Judd and Omar Jimenez, CNN Tudor Dixon, the Republican challenging Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, made light of the 2020 kidnapping plot against Whitmer on Friday, telling a crowd that the Democratic governor “sure is good at taking business hostage and holding it for ransom.” During a pro-Dixon super PAC event in

By Katie Lobosco, CNN West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin recently released a proposal that intends to streamline the federal permitting process for energy projects, as well as fast-track a pipeline that would impact his home state. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer intends to add the legislative text to a short-term spending bill that must pass

By Jason Morris, CNN Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced on Friday that his office is replacing the voting equipment in Coffee County following “unauthorized access” of its election system after the 2020 presidential election. Installation of the new voting equipment will begin on Monday and is expected to be completed in a day,

By Maegan Vazquez, Phil Mattingly and Sam Fossum, CNN A growing number of White House officials are publicly criticizing David Malpass, the Trump-appointed World Bank President, after he caught flak for dodging a question about climate change. Malpass has faced calls to resign after appearing on a panel during which he did not directly answer

By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN An alarming trend is emerging in south Florida where officials are seeing a rising number of migrants, primarily Haitians and Cubans, journeying to US shores on makeshift boats. US Coast Guard crews have intercepted more than 6,000 Cubans since last October, according to the agency, the most in a fiscal year

By Katie Bo Lillis, CNN The intelligence community is restarting work on both the classification review and the so-called damage assessment related to former President Donald Trump’s storage of classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago residence and resort, according to a statement of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The ODNI had temporarily paused

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi “had a direct and honest exchange on matters related to Taiwan” Friday, a US senior administration official said. The two diplomats met for nearly 90 minutes in New York, and their conversation primarily focused on Taiwan, the official said.

By Sam Fossum and Maegan Vazquez, CNN President Joe Biden on Friday criticized Republicans and House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy’s proposed midterm agenda, describing the plan as a “thin series of policy goals” in his latest campaign speech. Biden’s speech is part of a broader, ramped up effort by the President and the Democratic Party

By Dan Merica and Michael Warren, CNN The race for North Carolina’s open Senate seat features two leading candidates who have taken opposing paths in their bids for higher office. Democrat Cheri Beasley, the first Black woman to be a major-party Senate nominee in North Carolina, has served for two decades as a judge and

By Katelyn Polantz and Tierney Sneed, CNN A federal judge in Arizona has decided the court can’t block a House January 6 committee subpoena for GOP state chair Kelli Ward and her husband Michael’s cell phone data, a ruling that may deliver more information in the probe about the state-level backing for Donald Trump after

By Whitney Wild and Annie Grayer, CNN Employees of the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General’s office are calling on President Joe Biden to fire Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, according to a letter obtained by the Project on Government Oversight. “The mission of DHS OIG is to provide independent oversight and promote excellence, integrity, and

By Em Steck, CNN The Republican candidate aiming to run Nevada’s elections has called to end mail voting by falsely claiming the voting method is rife with fraud. But public voting records reviewed by CNN’s KFile show he voted by mail multiple times, including while living in one state and voting in another. Jim Marchant,