Feb 3, 2019

Trump says he wants to keep troops in Iraq to "watch" Iran

Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

President Trump told CBS' "Face the Nation" in an interview released Sunday that he wants to keep an unspecified number of U.S. troops in Iraq to "watch Iran," calling it "a vicious country that kills many people."

Backdrop: The nation's top intelligence chiefs released an assessment last week stating that Iran had remained compliant with its nuclear deal and was not currently working to develop nuclear capabilities. Trump, who also advocated against "endless wars" in the "Face the Nation" interview, fired back on Twitter, calling his intelligence heads "extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran" and urging them to "go back to school!"

Go deeper: All the times Trump's intelligence officials contradicted him

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Rebecca Falconer

Updated 13 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Updates: George Floyd protests nationwide

Police officers wearing riot gear push back demonstrators outside of the White House on Monday. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AFP via Getty Images

Protests over the death of George Floyd and other police-related killings of black people continued for a seventh day across the U.S., with President Trump threatening on Monday to deploy the military if the unrest continues.

The latest: "Widespread looting" occurred in Manhattan, including at "Macy's flagship store in Herald Square and luxury stores along Fifth Avenue" as the 11 p.m. curfew began Monday, per the New York Times.

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Axios

Updated 50 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 6,273,402 — Total deaths: 375,683 — Total recoveries — 2,697,873 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 1,811,277 — Total deaths: 105,147 — Total recoveries: 458,231 — Total tested: 17,340,682 — Map.
Public health: Nearly 26,000 coronavirus deaths in nursing homes have been reported to federal health officials —Coronavirus looms over George Floyd protests across the country.
Federal government: Trump lashes out at governors, calls for National Guard to "dominate" streets.
World: Former FDA commissioner says "this is not the time" to cut ties with WHO.
🎧 Podcast: The virus didn't go away.

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Ursula Perano

Updated 2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

St. John's clergy: Trump used church as prop, Bible as symbol of division

Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Clergy of the historic St. John's Episcopal Church expressed furor and confusion over President Trump's visit on Monday, which he claimed was to honor the establishment after George Floyd protestors sparked a small fire on the property Sunday night.

The big picture: Park rangers and military police deployed tear gas and physical force to disperse peaceful protestors from Lafayette Park, which surrounds the White House, so Trump could walk to "pay respects" to the church — and a St. John's rector on the scene revealed in a Facebook post that she was left "coughing" from the tear gas.

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