Politics

By Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt returned to the podium with little fanfare Thursday, giving her first full briefing to reporters since she went on maternity leave at the end of April. “Let’s get back to work,” she said as she kicked off her remarks. Back to business. No

By Manu Raju, Alison Main, CNN (CNN) — Sen. John Fetterman bluntly warned on Thursday that he would leave the Democratic Party if it adopts an anti-Israel policy — one of his most direct threats yet amid the first-term Pennsylvanian’s intensifying battle with progressives over the direction of their party. Fetterman attacked the progressive left,

CNN By Hannah Rabinowitz, MJ Lee, CNN (CNN) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and survivors of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein held a tense meeting Thursday afternoon as he attempts to shore up support for his nomination as attorney general. Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican whose yes vote would be needed to advance Blanche’s nomination

By Hannah Rabinowitz, MJ Lee, CNN (CNN) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and survivors of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein held a tense meeting Thursday afternoon as he attempts to shore up support for his nomination as attorney general. Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican whose yes vote would be needed to advance Blanche’s nomination in

By Kevin Liptak, Evan Perez, Zachary Cohen, Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — Trump administration officials have intensely debated the White House’s push to declassify certain documents related to alleged foreign interference in US elections, a move many see as part of a push by President Donald Trump to sow mistrust in the system and undercut

By David Wright, CNN (CNN) — CNN and the Bangor Daily News will no longer hold a July 23 debate ahead of Maine Democrats’ convention to pick a replacement Senate nominee, after Troy Jackson consolidated the support of a majority of delegates and several of his rivals dropped out. Jackson effectively locked down the Democratic

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio and top White House adviser Stephen Miller on Thursday sought to paint a dark picture of the threat of “far-left terror” to the United States as they urged diplomats from around the world to “defend” their civilizations against the “scourge.” In remarks focused almost

By Zachary Cohen, CNN (CNN) — The investigation into a US strike that hit a school in Iran has sat for months with a military command while leaders have held off on ordering a critical, standard intelligence review to help determine what happened, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Within a week of

By Jennifer Hansler, Alejandra Jaramillo, CNN (CNN) — An American woman held in Iran since 2024 was allowed to leave the country, President Donald Trump and her US-based lawyer said Wednesday. Trump said the woman, later identified by her lawyer as Dena Karari, had been wrongfully detained and was “now safely outside of Iran, and

By Alejandra Jaramillo, CNN (CNN) — Vice President JD Vance said the Trump administration “absolutely screwed up the comms” around the Jeffrey Epstein files and should have released everything immediately, while insisting the administration was not trying to conceal information. “I say this with all candor, like we absolutely screwed up the comms of the

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — More than 100 House Democrats voted to block billions of dollars in military aid to Israel — an ultimately unsuccessful effort that highlighted the growing division in their party on the issue. On Wednesday 103 Democrats voted in support of an amendment to block aid that had been proposed

By Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump has been receiving options for expanding the military operation in Iran, according to two people familiar with the matter, including during a Situation Room meeting on Tuesday that centered on ways to intensify efforts to loosen Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has publicly

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — Several years ago, a family came to the United States and took up a terrifying new endeavor: smuggling young, poor women from Central and South America into the country and forcing them into prostitution. The scheme was rather straightforward, according to court documents. One or two members of the

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Katie Bo Lillis, Holmes Lybrand, Katelyn Polantz, Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — In twin hearings Wednesday, two nominees integral to executing President Donald Trump’s agenda worked to convince senators that they were up to the task: Todd Blanche for attorney general, and Jay Clayton to lead the US Intelligence community. The men