Aug 21, 2018

Go deeper: Trump denies considering blocking Obama from intel briefings

Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

President Trump denied on Tuesday a New Yorker report about his consideration of blocking former President Barack Obama from intelligence briefings.

The big picture: The New Yorker's Adam Entous reported that the "extraordinary step" of booting Obama from intelligence briefings had been suggested to Trump, but that he hadn't taken it.

What Trump said: "Fake News, of which there is soooo much (this time the very tired New Yorker) falsely reported that I was going to take the extraordinary step of denying Intelligence Briefings to President Obama. Never discussed or thought of!"

What the New Yorker reported: Adam Entous wrote that some of Trump's advisers suggested that he "take the extraordinary step of denying Obama himself access to intelligence briefings." But, per Entous, Trump decided against it at the recommendation of former national security adviser H.R. McMaster.

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Orion Rummler

Mass shooting in Milwaukee: What we know so far

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in 2012. Photo: John Gress/Corbis via Getty Images

Six people died in a shooting at the Molson Coors Brewing Company in Milwaukee Molson Coors on Wednesday, including the 51-year-old gunman, Mayor Tom Barrett told reporters at an evening press conference with local police.

Details: All of the victims worked at the brewery complex, as did the shooter who died of "an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police confirmed in a statement late Wednesday.

Go deeperUpdated 46 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Axios

Coronavirus updates: U.S. probes case with no clear links, virus hits more countries

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens.

The CDC said Wednesday "astute" U.S. clinicians found the novel coronavirus in a person who did not recently return from a foreign country nor knowingly have contact with anyone infected, as six more countries reported their first cases.

The big picture: COVID-19 has killed more than 2,800 people and infected over 82,000 others. The number of new cases reported outside China exceeded those inside the country for the first time on Tuesday, the WHO said Wednesday. South Korea has the most, with 1,595 infections confirmed by Wednesday night. Europe's biggest outbreak is in Italy, where 453 cases have been confirmed.

Go deeperUpdated 1 hour ago - Health

Rebecca Falconer

WHO official leads criticism of Trump's coronavirus response

President Trump with members of the new coronavirus task force, including Vice President Mike Pence at the White House on Wednesday. Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, special advisor to the director general of the World Health Organization, told MSNBC Wednesday he found "most" of what President Trump said at his briefing on the novel coronavirus "incoherent."

The big picture: As the number of confirmed cases reaches 60 in the U.S., the top health professional — who was a health policy adviser in the Obama administration — is among several leading figures, in particular, Democrats, to criticize the president for his response to the outbreak.

Go deeper2 hours ago - Health