Biden and Trump both see opportunity in June debate, but they’re preparing in different ways
CNN
Two presidents have never debated before. And neither of these two presidents has debated anyone in almost four years — not since the last time they faced each other.
Two presidents have never debated before. And neither of these two presidents has debated anyone in almost four years — not since the last time they faced each other. Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are confident they can take the other down in next month’s CNN debate, people who’ve spoken to them said, and each camp is convinced the other’s diminishment from four years ago will be overwhelming to voters throughout 90 minutes of live TV. Both believe the debate could move the needle for that thin slice of undecided voters who don’t like either candidate and are primed to oppose whoever comes across worse. But Biden and Trump are gearing up in very different ways. Between the president’s two multi-day trips scheduled for Europe to commemorate D-Day and for the annual G-7 summit and a fundraising swing to California, Biden aides have plans for extensive prep sessions that will likely include a sequestered stretch, possibly at Camp David. Trump’s advisers, however, insist there have been no formal conversations about preparation for next month’s debate, particularly with the candidate himself. Trump, who is facing the end of his hush money criminal trial in New York next week and waiting for a verdict, has several events and a California fundraising swing of his own planned. Biden aides believe the president’s task on stage will be straightforward: both needling and taunting Trump, and repeatedly calling on his opponent to answer and explain comments he’s made and positions he has taken.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Elena Kagan are well matched, rhetorically forceful opposites. And they have been clashing for more than a decade over an increasingly relevant question of presidential power: How easy should it be for the president to fire the heads of independent agencies?
The Army gynecologist described in a recent lawsuit as a “predator in uniform” is now being held in the Bell County Jail in Texas, “after apparently violating conditions of liberty imposed by his commander,” according to an Army spokesperson.
Brian Walshe on Thursday came face-to-face for the first time with the man who had been having an affair with his wife before her death, as he took the stand to testify in Walshe’s murder trial.
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Texas to use a congressional map that will boost President Donald Trump’s effort to keep Republicans in control of Congress, blocking a lower court decision that found the new boundaries were likely unconstitutional because they were drawn based on race.
The US military carried out a strike Thursday on a suspected drug boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing four people on board, according to a social media post from US Southern Command.
A grand jury voted against indicting New York Attorney General Letitia James after being asked to look at the mortgage fraud case against her a second time, according to multiple people familiar with the development Thursday.
National Guard troops deployed to Washington, DC, can remain there for now, after a federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily froze a judge’s ruling that would have soon required them to leave the city’s streets.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bad week just got worse. That’s after the long-awaited release Thursday of an inspector general’s report on his sharing of highly sensitive military attack plans on the unclassified app Signal earlier this year.
President Donald Trump has hired a new architect for the White House ballroom amid disputes between the president and his architect originally contracted to complete the project, several sources have told CNN.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.
If nothing else, the controversy over the Trump administration’s second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean has surfaced a long-overdue debate about its already legally dubious first strikes.
Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.
Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.