By Shawna Mizelle, CNN President Joe Biden issued a proclamation this week recognizing June as Black Music Appreciation Month, celebrating the music as “intricately woven into the tapestry of our Nation.” “Perhaps no music has had as profound and powerful an impact in shaping America’s musical score as Black music,” Biden said in the proclamation
Continue Reading By Kevin Liptak and Kaitlan Collins, CNN President Joe Biden issued a fervent appeal Thursday for stricter gun laws — including a ban on assault weapons, tougher background check laws and a higher minimum age of purchase — as a spate of gun massacres have left the nation shaken and prompted new discussions on Capitol
Continue Reading By Zachary Cohen and Ryan Nobles, CNN The House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection of the US Capitol formally announced Thursday that its first public hearing will take place on June 9 at 8 p.m. ET. The advisory does not list any witnesses for the hearing but says additional details will be released
Continue Reading By Zachary Cohen and Ryan Nobles, CNN The House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection of the US Capitol formally announced Thursday that its first public hearing will take place on June 9 at 8 p.m. ET. The advisory does not list any witnesses for the hearing but says additional details will be released
Continue Reading By Manu Raju, CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Senate Democrats are ready to drop some of their most pressing demands to restrict access to guns amid the nationwide onslaught of massacres. But even that may not be enough to reach a deal with Republicans. “I’m certainly prepared for failure,” Sen. Chris Murphy, the Connecticut Democrat helping
Continue Reading By Zachary B. Wolf, CNN When the Department of Education announced massive loan forgiveness for former students of the for-profit Corinthian Colleges system on Wednesday, it was the largest single effort by the Biden administration to help Americans pay down their student debt. The administration’s actions so far have largely focused on students who were
Continue Reading By Phil Mattingly, CNN President Joe Biden’s director of rapid response will soon depart the White House for the Treasury Department, becoming the latest West Wing aide to shift to a more senior role in another part of the administration. Mike Gwin, an Ohio native who would inevitably end up in a key communications role
Continue Reading By Jamie Gangel, Jeremy Herb and Elizabeth Stuart, CNN Within minutes of the US Capitol breach on January 6, 2021, messages began pouring into the cell phone of White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Among those texting were Republican members of Congress, former members of the Trump administration, GOP activists, Fox personalities — even
Continue Reading By Natasha Bertrand, Kevin Liptak, MJ Lee and Alex Marquardt, CNN President Joe Biden and Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, are planning to meet later this month after two key deals were reached on Thursday following months of diplomatic heavy lifting by the US. Speaking Friday, Biden confirmed a meeting
Continue Reading By Nikki Carvajal, CNN Covid-19 vaccination shots for the youngest Americans could begin as soon as June 21, the White House said on Thursday. The vaccination program for children younger than 5 would come more than 18 months after vaccines were first authorized for adults. Dr. Ashish Jha, White House coronavirus response coordinator, laid out
Continue Reading By Tami Luhby, CNN Americans will stop receiving their full Social Security benefits in about 13 years if lawmakers don’t act to address the pending shortfall, according to an annual report released Thursday by the Social Security and Medicare trustees. That’s when the combined Social Security trust funds — which help support payouts for the
Continue Reading By Gabby Orr, CNN Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Arizona Senate hopeful Blake Masters in a move that aides believe will give the Republican significant momentum ahead of the state’s August primary. Calling Masters “a great modern-day thinker,” Trump praised the tech entrepreneur Thursday in a statement that underscored the candidate’s commitment to the
Continue Reading By Kristin Fisher, CNN The US Air Force’s decision-making process to move Space Command headquarters from Colorado Springs to Alabama had “significant shortfalls in its transparency and credibility,” according to a report released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Space Command is the nation’s newest warfighting combatant command, responsible for all military operations in
Continue Reading By Sean Lyngaas, CNN Cyber Command, the US military’s hacking unit, has conducted offensive cyber operations in support of Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s invasion, the head of the command has confirmed. The disclosure underscores how important projecting power in cyberspace — in support of Ukraine’s defenses and to potentially deter Russia from
Continue Reading By Steve Contorno, CNN The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday declined to take up a challenge to the state’s new congressional map, making it increasingly likely that elections this year will be conducted under the aggressively partisan congressional boundaries championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The 4-1 decision represents a setback for Democrats and voting
Continue Reading By Ella Nilsen, CNN The Biden administration unveiled a plan Thursday to undo Trump-era rule changes to a key section of the Clean Water Act, essentially giving states, territories and tribes more say on fossil fuel or industrial projects that could pollute their watersheds. The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule centers on Section 401 of
Continue Reading By Jamie Gangel, Jeremy Herb and Elizabeth Stuart, CNN Within minutes of the US Capitol breach on January 6, 2021, messages began pouring into the cell phone of White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Among those texting were Republican members of Congress, former members of the Trump administration, GOP activists, Fox personalities — even
Continue Reading By Zachary Cohen and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN Former Attorney General William Barr on Thursday met with the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol as CNN spotted him inside a room used by the panel to conduct interviews. Barr met with the panel for just over two hours today, according
Continue Reading By Daniella Diaz, Betsy Klein and Brenda Goodman, CNN The infant formula shortage has affected millions of families across the country and left the Biden administration scrambling to figure out what went wrong after clear miscommunication and mishandling by the US Food and Drug Administration. President Joe Biden conceded Wednesday he didn’t understand how big
Continue Reading By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN Being familiar never makes the feeling less dreadful: White House aides emailing each other during one of President Joe Biden’s stops on the road, tracking who’s covering what he’s saying, which TV channels are taking the speech live — and realizing a number of times that the answer was none. “You
Continue Reading