May 17, 2018

Sanders doubles down on Trump's "animals" comment

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on Thursday defended President Trump's comment when he referred to MS-13 gang members as "animals," explaining it was not in reference to unauthorized immigrants.

"The president was very clearly referring to MS-13 gang members who enter the country illegally and whose deportations are hamstrung by our laws. ... If the media and liberals want to defend MS-13 they're more than welcome to. Frankly, I don't think the term the president used is strong enough."

— Sanders to reporters at a press briefing

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Fadel Allassan

19 mins ago - World

Kremlin says Trump discussed inviting Russia to G7 in call with Putin

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at their bilateral meeting at the G20 Osaka Summit 2019, in Osaka, Japan in 2019. Photo: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on Monday about Trump's plans to expand September's G7 meeting in Washington to include Russia, according to the Russian government's readout of the call.

The big picture: The phone call between the two leaders, which the Kremlin says was initiated by Trump, comes amid six consecutive days of mass unrest in the U.S. over police brutality and racial inequality. The White House confirmed the call took place and said a readout was forthcoming.

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Scott Rosenberg, Ina Fried

58 mins ago - Technology

Facebook employees stage "virtual walkout"

Screenshot of an image some Facebook employees are adding to their internal profiles, with or without the hashtag, to protest company policy.

"Dozens" of Facebook employees staged a "virtual walkout" Monday over the company's decision not to take action against President Trump's provocative messages in the face of nationwide protests against police violence, the New York Times reports.

Why it matters: While Twitter added fact-check labels and hid the president's most inflammatory tweet — "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" — Facebook has said Trump's statements do not violate its policies, and that the platform aims to promote free speech.

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Axios

Updated 1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Trump lashes out at governors, urges them to "dominate" protesters

President Trump berated the nation’s governors in a video teleconference call Monday, calling many of them "weak" and demanding tougher crackdowns on the protests that erupted throughout the country following the killing of George Floyd, according to multiple reports.

The big picture: Trump blamed violence on the "the radical left" and told the governors, who were joined by law enforcement and national security officials, that they have to "dominate" protesters and "arrest people" in order to bring an end to the unrest.

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