
Trump Says Epstein Poached Young Women From Mar-a-Lago - CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip - Podcast on CNN Podcasts
MAGA defended the president, claiming he cut ties with a friend over dark secrets, but Donald Trump is ditching that defense. Turns out, one included a young Epstein victim. Plus, one group declares the man-made crisis in Gaza a famine, as one man gaslights and another demands credit. Also, conservatives insist other nations pay the tariffs. One Republican wants Americans to get rebate checks to ease the pain, but not all Americans. And New York's deadliest shooting in a quarter century sparks reaction about guns, immigrants, crime, and mental health. Plus, tsunami alert for entire U.S. West Coast after quake.

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UPI
18 minutes ago
- UPI
Rwanda accepts 250 U.S.-deported migrants
Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Rwanda on Tuesday agreed to accept hundreds of U.S.-deported migrants as part of a broad effort by the Trump administration to get African nations to take in deportees. "Rwanda has agreed with the United States to accept up to 250 migrants, in part because nearly every Rwandan family has experienced the hardships of displacement," Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo told Politico and The New York Times. Rwanda's societal values, Makolo claimed in a statement, were "founded on reintegration and rehabilitation." Rwanda's foreign minister Olivier J.P. Nduhungirehe initially confirmed the talks in May. Its notorious 1994 genocide that killed over 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu peoples and later recovery made the small African country stand on its own in the eyes of the global community. The Trump administration issued requests to at least 15 African nations, including South Sudan and Eswatini, to accept illegal migrants supposedly unable to return to their native country. A second Rwandan government official told said the United States will provide funding but declined to outline a figure. Last month, an internal memo out of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement indicated the federal agency intended to expand its effort to deport immigrants to other countries abroad where they do not hold citizenship. The White House previously signed off on a $6 million infusion of U.S. dollars to El Salvador to imprison Venezuelan and Salvadoran citizens. Meanwhile, Rwandan officials said the U.S.-infused money will support further work and training programs by its immigration authority. The Rwandan official granted anonymity indicated its government agreed to demands as an opportunity to form closer ties to Washington. In early July, President Donald Trump met at the White House with the leaders of Senegal, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Gabon to talk over trade. Within days the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the administration was permitted to deport eight migrants to war-torn South Sudan held at a U.S. military base in neighboring Djibouti. The anonymous Rwandan government official said Tuesday that as a small country, "any time you can find a way consistent with your own policies and values, to be able to talk to a major country about something that it is interested in and not just asking them to take an interest in your issues," that it creates a "more productive" and a "more balanced" diplomatic relationship "that's good for both sides." However, the official did state that it's an "obviously not equal" relationship.

USA Today
20 minutes ago
- USA Today
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker rallies with Texas Democrats, calls Trump a ‘cheater'
Joined by national and state Democratic leaders, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker accused President Donald Trump and Republicans of trying to cheat American democracy ahead of the 2026 midterm elections by redrawing Texas' congressional maps. The 60-year-old Illinois leader, a possible presidential contender, said Democratic governors cannot ignore Trump's aggressive steps, which under the Texas GOP plan would push as many as five House Democrats out of office. Such a move would provide national Republicans with a slightly heftier cushion next year to protect their slim majority in the House of Representatives as they prepare to defend Trump's agenda and other controversial moves. "Donald Trump is a cheater... and if they're going to cheat, then all of us have to take a hard look at what the effect of that cheating is on democracy, and that means we've all got to stand up and do the right thing," Pritzker said at an Aug. 5 press conference, flanked by Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin along with Texas Democrats and others. "So as far as I'm concerned, everything is on the table," he added. The comments underscore a noticeable shift within the Democratic ranks among even institutionally-minded party and elected leaders who have been hesitant to embrace the mantra of "fighting fire with fire." But many grassroots progressives and their allies have demanded for months that the party take a more aggressive approach, citing how the administration and its MAGA-aligned allies have been bending several U.S. institutions to their will since Trump's return to power. Asked if Texas is providing Democratic-controlled state leaders with a roadmap on how to draw their own maps, Martin told reporters at the press conference that the party will fight back in the same way. "Our constitution is under assault. Voting rights are being completely violated," he said. "Now is not the time for one party to play by the rules while the other party has completely ignored it." Earlier in the day, Trump, appearing on CNBC by telephone, said Republicans were "entitled" to the five new seats drafted by a Texas House committee on Aug. 2, and called out the group of Texas Democrats who fled to liberal-leaning states, saying those places have been using the same tactics when crafting their congressional districts. "Do you notice they go to Illinois for safety, but that's all gerrymandered," he said. "California is gerrymandered. We should have many more seats in Congress. It's all gerrymandered." This story will be updated.

Los Angeles Times
20 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Nebraska Republican is shouted down by hostile crowd at a town hall on Trump's tax cuts
LINCOLN, Neb. — Rep. Mike Flood has gotten an earful during a public meeting in Lincoln aimed at discussing his support for the massive tax breaks and spending cuts bill that passed Congress and was signed into law by President Trump. Flood, a second-term Republican who represents the GOP-leaning district that includes the University of Nebraska, on Monday braved the ire of a college town audience dominated by hundreds of people intent on expressing their displeasure chiefly with cuts to Medicaid benefits and tax reductions tilted toward the wealthy. He described the law as less than perfect but stood firm on its Medicaid and tax provisions, fueling a 90-minute barrage of jeers and chants in a scenario House Republican leaders have specifically advised GOP members to avoid. 'More than anything I truly believe this bill protects Medicaid for the future,' Flood said, setting off a shower of boos from the audience of roughly 700 in the University of Nebraska's Kimball Recital Hall. 'We protected Medicaid.' How voters receive the law, passed with no Democratic support in the narrowly GOP-controlled House and Senate, could go a long way to determine whether Republicans keep power in next year's midterm elections. Flood was resolute on his position but engaged with the audience at times. During his repeated discussions of Medicaid, he asked if people in the audience thought able-bodied Americans should be required to work. When many shouted their opposition, he replied, 'I don't think a majority of Nebraskans agree with that.' Dozens formed a line to the microphone to speak to Flood, most asking pointed questions about the law, but many others questioning moves by the Trump administration on immigration enforcement, education spending and layoffs within the federal bureaucracy. Some came prepared to confront him. 'You said in Seward you were not a fascist,' one man stood in line to say. 'Your complicity suggests otherwise.' Flood shot back, 'Fascists don't hold town halls with open question-and-answer sessions.' Asked if he would block the release of files related to the sex trafficking case involving the late Jeffrey Epstein, Flood said he supports their release as a co-sponsor of a nonbinding resolution calling for their publication. Flood also said he supports requiring a deposition from Epstein's convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, who argues she was wrongfully prosecuted. Flood's audience was gathering more than an hour before the doors opened. And as people lined up in the warm August air, he sauntered by, introducing himself, shaking hands and thanking people, including retired Lincoln teacher and school administrator Mary Ells, for attending. 'I believe Congressman Flood listened in a socially appropriate way,' Ells said after expressing concerns to Flood about her grandchildren's future. 'I do not believe he listens in a responsive, action-oriented way for citizens in Nebraska that do not agree with the national playbook written elsewhere but being implemented here.' Inside the hall, much of that decorum vanished. During Flood's discussion of his support of the law's tax provisions, which he argued would benefit the middle class, the audience exploded in a deafening chant of 'Tax the rich.' Other refrains included 'Vote him out!' and 'Free Palestine!' Hecklers often drowned out Flood, creating a rolling cacophony with only occasional pauses. Republican lawmakers' town halls have been few and far between since the bill passed early last month, in part because their leaders have advised them against it. Trump and others say the law will give the economy a jolt, but Democrats feel they've connected with criticism of many of its provisions, especially its cuts to Medicaid and tax cuts tilted toward the wealthy. Flood later downplayed the confrontation as 'spirited' but 'part of the process' during an impromptu press conference. 'It doesn't mean you can make everybody happy,' he said. 'But, you know, if you feel strongly about what you're doing in Congress, stand in the town square, tell them why you voted that way, listen to their questions, treat them with respect and invite them to continue to communicate.' Unlike dozens of other Republicans in competitive districts, Flood hardly has to worry, as Republicans brace for a challenge to their razor-thin majority in the House next year. Elected in 2022, Flood was reelected to the seat last year by winning 60% of the vote in a district that includes Lincoln in Democratic-leaning Lancaster County but also vast Republican-heavy rural tracts in 11 counties that ring the Omaha metropolitan area. Beaumont writes for the Associated Press.