John Bolton fired as Trump’s national security adviser – live news

President tweeted about the firing after reports emerged Bolton opposed Trump plan to hold peace talks with the Taliban at Camp David

Trump has taken the stage at the National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week Conference and appears to (so far) be sticking to the teleprompter.

He has touted the importance of HBCUs and celebrated his education secretary, Betsy DeVos, as a champion for the institutions.

Trump is expected to soon start speaking at the National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week Conference. The president was scheduled to take the podium at 2:15 p.m. E.T. but is apparently running behind.

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‘Sharpiegate’ controversy deepens as inspector general reportedly launches inquiry – live

Wilbur Ross said to have issued threats at Noaa after the agency contradicted the president’s false claim on Hurricane Dorian

Trump told his supporters at a rally in North Carolina that he might need an extra term as president, then mocked the idea that news headlines tomorrow will announce that he said he wants an extra term.

“We told you he’s a dictator, we told you,” Trump said, impersonating his critics.

Just as a Republican congressional candidate had started to speak, Trump paused the rally for several minutes and repeatedly said “thank you” to a doctor presumably assisting an audience member who was unwell.

Then the president quipped, “I guess Dan’s speech wasn’t so good,” referring to Dan Bishop, a Republican congressional candidate the president had flown to North Carolina to support.

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Is Congress finally ready to pass gun control legislation?

Retailers such as Walmart have taken a lead and public opinion appears in favour of new curbs but that may still count for little

Congress returns to Washington this week after a summer recess punctured by a string of mass shootings under pressure to confront a uniquely American problem: how to combat the scourge of gun violence?

Though it has been a quarter of a century since Congress passed significant gun control legislation, Democrats and advocacy groups are displaying a fresh sense of resolve as major American retailers heed public calls for action in response to the recent wave of mass shootings.

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Trump: ‘I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world’ – video

The president called himself ‘the least racist person’ after he was accused of racist behaviour once again. In his comments on Tuesday, Trump also accused one of the people he has attacked, the Rev Al Sharpton, of being a racist and claimed his presidency has been a success for African Americans

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2020 Democrats renew calls for impeachment after Mueller testimony

Warren urged House to rise ‘above politics’ and launch proceedings against Trump while Biden said president ‘should be tried’

Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren urged the House of Representatives to rise “above politics” and launch impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump after the former special counsel Robert Mueller testified that his report on Russian election interference did not exonerate the president.

The candidates, speaking on Wednesday at the annual convention of the NAACP, the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights organization, said Mueller’s testimony highlighted the urgency for brining articles of impeachment against a president whose bigotry while in office has harmed communities of color.

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‘It is not a witch-hunt’: Mueller defends Trump-Russia inquiry findings – video highlights

The former US special counsel Robert Mueller insisted on Wednesday that Donald Trump was not exonerated by his report into Russian interference in the 2016 US election and denied his investigation was a 'witch-hunt'. Mueller said the US president could be charged after he leaves office, but offered little new ammunition to boost the case for Trump's impeachment

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Mueller on Trump’s praise of Wikileaks: ‘Problematic is an understatement’ – live

Mueller discussed Trump’s many documented instances of praising the site during testimony before House intelligence committee

Mueller emphasized in his testimony to the House intelligence committee that Russian election interference remains ongoing.

WATCH: Mueller on Russian interference in the 2016 election:

“It wasn’t a single attempt. They’re doing it as we sit here. And they expect to do it during the next campaign.”https://t.co/m9KGQtGMJ7 pic.twitter.com/s1Aa1nyLsU

Trump’s lawyer, Jay Sekulow, said in a statement that Mueller’s testimony revealed the “troubling deficiencies of the special counsel’s investigation.”

“The testimony revealed that this probe was conducted by a small group of politically biased prosecutors who, as hard as they tried, were unable to establish either obstruction, conspiracy, or collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia,” the president’s lawyer said. “The American people understand that this issue is over. They also understand that the case is closed.”

...who, as hard as they tried, were unable to establish either obstruction, conspiracy, or collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. It is also clear that the Special Counsel conducted his two-year investigation unimpeded.

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Mueller’s testimony on Trump and Russia: six of the biggest takeaways

The former special counsel explained Trump was not exonerated and that his team was never going to indict the president

In highly anticipated testimony before the US Congress on Wednesday, the former special counsel Robert Mueller submitted to hours of questioning.

His testimony comes four months after he concluded the two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and the Trump campaign’s ties to Moscow, the findings of which were detailed in a 448-page report released in April.

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Nadler: Mueller has evidence of Trump high crimes and misdemeanours

The eyes of America will be trained on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, as Robert Mueller testifies before two House committees about his report on Russian election interference, links between the Trump campaign and Moscow and potential obstruction of justice by the president.

Related: 'It's a political civil war': Trump's racist tirades set tone for 2020

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Trump says he ‘disagrees’ with racist chant against Ilhan Omar – video

Donald Trump has attempted to distance himself from the racist chanting that broke out at his rally in North Carolina on Wednesday. After the president mentioned Democrat Ilhan Omar, the crowd began chanting: 'Send her back'. Speaking in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said that he started speaking 'very quickly' in an attempt to defuse the chanting. Adding that: 'I was not happy with it - I disagree with it.'

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Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib and Pressley detail conditions in border detention facilities – video

In an emotional testimony to the House oversight committee on Friday, Democratic representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib described conditions at an immigrant detention center, decrying alleged mistreatment happening 'in front of the American flag'. During Ocasio-Cortez's testimony a congressional staffer fainted. The testimony comes as Mike Pence was due to travel to Texas on Friday to tour a facility and participate in a roundtable with border patrol and members of the Senate judiciary committee

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Trump labor secretary Alex Acosta resigns amid Epstein plea deal scandal – live

Acosta was under fire for having granted Jeffrey Epstein immunity from federal prosecution in 2008, following sex trafficking ring investigation

Another big House vote this afternoon.

With a 402-12 vote, Congress approved a bill that would ensure funding for the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund.

Jon Stewart says he looks forward to signing ceremony for bill funding 9/11 first responders compensation fund: "We'll all be here for that one final moment—not of celebration, but of relief. Let them exhale." https://t.co/NkJuIoh4fP pic.twitter.com/p7PI4cLDOc

The House has just voted to limit Trump’s authority to make war in Iran as part of a bill which also restricts the president’s budget request for the Pentagon.

Republicans joined the majority Democrats for a 251-170 vote.

Trump said last month he believes he does not need congressional approval to strike Iran. The vote Friday amounted to a pointed and bipartisan rebuttal — led by strange ideological bedfellows, Representatives Ro Khanna, a liberal Democrat from California, and Matt Gaetz of Florida, one of Trump’s most strident Republican allies in Congress.

“When this passes, it will be a clear statement from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle that this country is tired of endless wars, that we do not want another war in the Middle East,” Khanna said before the amendment vote.

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Omar hits back at ‘racist fool’ Tucker Carlson after Fox News host’s on-air rant

Fox News host railed against Democratic congresswoman in monologue full of anti-immigrant rhetoric and personal insults

The Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar has called the Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson a “racist fool” after he made a racially loaded attack on her live on air.

Related: Trump's Fourth of July event 'bankrupted Washington DC security fund' – live

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Democrats divided as pressure to impeach builds: ‘What are you waiting for?’

Dozens of Democrats have called for Trump impeachment proceedings in wake of Mueller’s report – but Pelosi has remained steadfast in opposing an inquiry

In the House of Representatives the apparently frustrated Democratic congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, had one question for the leadership of her party: when would they impeach Donald Trump?

“The thing that we’re struggling with is that we don’t know what we’re waiting for in terms of a caucus. And folks that are saying, ‘No, not yet. Not yet.’ OK – accepting that that’s your position, what are you waiting for?” the New York socialist said to reporters this week. “Are you waiting for some kind of revelation?”

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Luis Alvarez, September 11 first responder and campaigner, dies at 53

Luis Alvarez, a former New York City police detective who was a leader in the fight for proper support of the September 11th victim compensation fund has died. He was 53.

Related: Jon Stewart demands Congress act for 9/11 responders: 'They did their jobs – do yours'

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Trump on whether US will strike Iran: ‘You will soon find out’ – live

President says ‘stay tuned for next week’ when asked if he will authorize strike against Tehran in retaliation for attack on US drone

Alabama Republican Roy Moore, whose unsuccessful 2017 campaign for US Senate was marred by allegations he sexually assaulted or pursued teenage girls while in his 30s, is going to try again.

The Democratic candidate, Doug Jones, a former federal prosecutor, defeated Moore by a narrow margin in a special election in December 2017 to fill the seat vacated by Republican Jeff Sessions when he became US attorney general. Jones was the first Democrat in a quarter-century to be elected to the US Senate in Alabama.

AP is reporting that Roy Moore will jump into the Alabama Senate race https://t.co/gsALWyjY5v

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders hold narrow leads in a theoretical showdown with President Trump in North Carolina ahead of the 2020 presidential race, according to a new Public Policy Polling survey released Thursday.

From The Hill:

Forty-nine percent of registered voters surveyed said they would back Biden in a match-up against Trump, while 46 percent said they would support the president. Five percent, meanwhile, said they are unsure who they’d back.

In a match-up against Sanders, 48 percent of North Carolina voters said they’d back the Vermont senator, compared with 47 percent who said they would vote for Trump; 5 percent said they were unsure of their pick.

No other candidate leads Trump in the poll.

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Slavery reparations bill debated in US House hearing – video highlights

The actor Danny Glover, writers Ta-Nehisi Coates and Coleman Hughes as well as Senator Cory Booker were among the witness at a congressional hearing on the original sin of the US – the enslavement of 4 million Africans and their descendants – and what can be done to atone for it via reparations

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‘Stain of slavery’: Congress debates reparations to atone for America’s original sin

Danny Glover among witnesses who debated the legacy of slavery – and the modern scourges of inequality and poverty that afflict black Americans

For the first time in more than a decade, a debate has taken place between lawmakers in Congress on the original sin of the United States – the enslavement of 4 million Africans and their descendants – and the question of what can be done to atone for it through reparations.

Related: Nuclear weapons: experts alarmed by new Pentagon 'war-fighting' doctrine

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House holds hearing on ‘deepfakes’ following doctored Pelosi video – live updates

House intelligence committee hearing on national security challenges may also address anticipated Russian interference in the 2020 election

Donald Trump appears to have inadvertently misspelled the Prince of Wales in a rebuttal to his statement to ABC that he would accept information on opponents from foreign governments.

.@realDonaldTrump ‘s knowledge of porpoises (U.K.) is second to none https://t.co/hd6RbAiX8V

•The House intelligence committee is holding a hearing on ‘National Security Challenges of Artificial Intelligence, Manipulated Media and Deepfakes’ at 9am. It comes after a tampered video of Nancy Pelosi – a deepfake – was widely shared in May. Facebook refused to delete the video, which was manipulated to question Pelosi’s competence. They may also address anticipated Russian interference in the 2020 election.

•In other political skullduggery news, Donald Trump has said he would accept incriminating information from Russia or other adversaries on his 2020 election opponent. “It’s not an interference,” Trump told ABC. “They have information — I think I’d take it.” The president said he would call the FBI if approached only “if I thought there was something wrong.”

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Reparations for slavery to get a hearing in Congress

  • Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and Actor Danny Glover to testify
  • House subcommittee will discuss issue on 19 June – ‘Juneteenth’

The topic of reparations for slavery is headed to Capitol Hill for its first hearing in more than a decade with the writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and actor Danny Glover set to testify before a House of Representatives panel.

The House judiciary subcommittee on the constitution, civil rights and civil liberties is scheduled to hold the hearing on 19 June, with its stated purpose “to examine, through open and constructive discourse, the legacy of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, its continuing impact on the community and the path to restorative justice”.

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