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• How CNN’s Peter Bergen Landed Historic Interviews With Osama bin Laden, Barack Obama

  02-05-2016 22:42
  
  The Obama administration has given CNN’s Peter Bergen unprecedented access to the White House for a special commemorating the fifth anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden. Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst who interviewed bin Laden back in 1997, one of only two interviews the terrorist mastermind ever granted to Western TV news organizations. “We Got Him,” the special that Obama hand-picked Bergen to host, airs tonight at
  
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• Medicare won't cover anti-obesity GLP-1 drugs as Biden admin proposed

  05-04-2025 00:29 via thehill.com
  
  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Friday it will not be finalizing a rule proposed by the Biden administration that would have allowed Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries access to anti-obesity drugs such as the highly in-demand GLP-1 medications.In November last year, the Biden administration proposed a new rule that would allow drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound to be covered by Medicare and Medicaid, expanding access for roughly 3.4 million Medicare users and about 4
  
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• Ousted FDA vaccine director calls Kennedy's start 'very scary'

  05-04-2025 00:17 via thehill.com
  
  Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official pressured to resign over his disagreements with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., warned in an interview published Friday that Kennedy's tenure at the HHS has been "very scary" so far.Marks announced his resignation toward the end of March, reportedly having been given the choice to be fired or resign. In his resignation letter, Marks said he had been "willing” to work to address Kennedy’s "co
  
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• Energy Department considers more than 40 percent of its staff nonessential as layoffs loom

  05-04-2025 00:06 via thehill.com
  
  The Energy Department (DOE) considers more than 40 percent of its staffers to be nonessential — meaning these people could be on the chopping block — as mass layoffs loom at the agency and across the federal government.A document viewed by The Hill on Friday states that out of the agency’s current headcount of 15,994 positions — 9,004 are essential, meaning some 7,000 other positions are not. The approximately 16,000 total positions listed by the agency does include
  
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• Energy Department considers more than 40 percent of its staff non-essential as layoffs loom

  05-04-2025 00:06 via thehill.com
  
  The Energy Department considers more than 40 percent of its staffers to be nonessential — meaning these people could be on the chopping block — as mass layoffs loom at the agency and across the federal government.A document viewed by The Hill on Friday states that out of the agency’s current headcount of 15,994 positions — 9,004 are essential, meaning some 7,000 other positions are not. The approximately 16,000 total positions listed by the agency does include nearly
  
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• Federal judge orders case of Tufts student in ICE custody moved to Vermont

  04-04-2025 23:53 via thehill.com
  
  A federal judge issued a Friday order transferring the case involving Rumeysa Özturk, a Tufts graduate student detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to a jurisdiction in Vermont in the “interest of justice.”“The government asserts that this Court lacks jurisdiction over the Petition as Özturk, unknown to anyone but the government, was in Vermont, not Massachusetts at the time the Petition was filed and, as of 2:35 p.m. on March 26, 2025, was in Louisi
  
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• Carville: Law firms making deals with Trump will be remembered as 'collaborators'

  04-04-2025 22:48 via thehill.com
  
  Democratic strategist James Carville on Friday compared law firms that signed a deal with President Trump to Nazi regime “collaborators” in Europe.Several firms tied to past investigations of the president have agreed to forgo diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practices in line with Trump’s executive order and donate millions to causes of his choice through legal aid. “Maybe you need to go in history and see what happened in Au
  
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• Hundreds of law firms, former judges sign onto briefs in support of Perkins Coie

  04-04-2025 22:43 via thehill.com
  
  Hundreds of law firms and former judges have signed onto friend-of-the-court briefs in support of Perkins Coie as the law firm challenges President Trump’s executive order targeting it.  More than 500 law firms and 300 retired judges asked for leave to file two amicus briefs condemning Trump’s order stripping security clearances from and severing government ties with the major law firm, which previously did work for Democrats. “Although we do not take this step lightl
  
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• GOP lawmaker criticizes Trump's ouster of NSA chief

  04-04-2025 21:59 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) criticized President Trump’s ouster of the director of the National Security Agency, arguing that Gen. Timothy Haugh’s firing will hinder the country’s Cyber and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) operations. “General Tim Haugh is an outstanding leader and was doing a superb job at Cyber Command and National Security Agency," Bacon said in a Friday morning post on social media platform X. “He was fired with no public explanation. This action
  
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• Judge blocks Trump’s takeover of Inter-American Foundation 

  04-04-2025 21:51 via thehill.com
  
  A federal judge blocked President Trump’s takeover of a federal agency that invests in Latin America and the Caribbean, finding Friday that he likely went beyond his authority. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan ordered the administration indefinitely reinstate Sara Aviel, the ousted president of the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), and stop various other efforts to gut the foundation as her lawsuit proceeds. “Because accepting Defendants’ arguments
  
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• House Democrat demands written explanation for ouster of NSA director

  04-04-2025 21:45 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) is demanding that the Trump administration provide a written explanation of its rationale for firing the director of the National Security Agency alongside its deputy.Director Gen. Timothy Haugh was ousted late Thursday along with his civilian deputy Wendy Noble, a decision that followed the firing of several top national security staffers earlier that day.Trump fired at least three senior staffers and two junior officials at the White House National Security C
  
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• Judge orders Maryland man mistakenly deported released from Salvadoran prison

  04-04-2025 21:30 via thehill.com
  
  A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to return to the U.S. a Maryland man it mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador.Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who resides in Maryland, was protected from removal by a judge in 2019.The Trump administration admitted in court filings earlier this week that it sent him to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, also known as CECOT, due to an “administrative error.”The order from U.S. Dis
  
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• Russia: World economy 'in turmoil'

  04-04-2025 21:12 via thehill.com
  
  In the view of the Russian government, the world economy is “in turmoil” following President Trump’s rollout of sweeping tariffs, and the fresh package of duties he slapped on countries all over the world might not be advantageous for the Kremlin either. "It’s unlikely that these U.S. tariffs will be beneficial. The global economy is responding very emotionally to these decisions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during a briefing on Friday, according to m
  
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• Obama 'deeply concerned' with Trump crackdown on universities, law firms

  04-04-2025 20:50 via thehill.com
  
  Former President Barack Obama said Thursday he was “deeply concerned” about President Trump’s crackdown on universities and law firms.“I’m more deeply concerned with a federal government that threatens universities if they don’t give up students who are exercising their right to free speech,” Obama said Thursday during a question-and-answer session at Hamiliton College.“I am more troubled by the idea that a White House can say to law firms, ‘
  
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• Trump to give TikTok another 75-day extension

  04-04-2025 20:01 via thehill.com
  
  President Trump said Friday that he plans to give TikTok another 75-day extension as his administration nears a deal to avert a ban on the popular social media platform.  “My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” he wrote Friday on Truth Social. “The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an addit
  
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• Trump to send Hegseth to Dover ceremony for remains of US soldiers 

  04-04-2025 19:59 via thehill.com
  
  President Trump will not attend the dignified transfer of four American soldiers who died during a training exercise in Lithuania last week, instead sending Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to  Dover Air Force Base, Del., while he remains in Florida. Hegseth’s attendance was confirmed by the White House on Friday. Trump will not travel back for the transfer and remain in Mar-a-Lago where he is playing golf and later will hold a political fundraising dinner at Mar-a-Lago. When
  
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• Trump spares drugmakers from tariffs; costs could still go up

  04-04-2025 19:24 via thehill.com
  
  President Trump spared pharmaceuticals from the opening salvo in his campaign to transform the economy through “reciprocal” tariffs; however, the global drug market may still be hit by reverberations from trade wars.  The White House listed pharmaceuticals as exempted from the tariffs in Trump’s order signed Wednesday and set to take effect Saturday. Other exempted goods included copper, semiconductors and lumber articles. But pharmaceutical products aren’t
  
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• Here's what to know about Saturday's 'Hands Off!' anti-Trump protests

  04-04-2025 19:01 via thehill.com
  
  Nationwide protests are set to take place Saturday in opposition to the Trump administration and its allies, with leaders vowing to stand up to push back against the “most brazen power grab in modern history.” The “Hands Off!” rallies are taking place in more than 1,000 cities across all 50 states and nearly 400,000 people have signed up to attend them, according to the progressive organization Indivisible, which is one of the almost 200 groups partnering to organiz
  
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• Newsom to world: California open for business

  04-04-2025 18:27 via thehill.com
  
  Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) directed California to pursue “strategic partnerships” with foreign trading partners and is calling for California-made products to be exempted from the retaliatory tariffs targeting the U.S. in light of President Trump slapping massive tariffs on the majority of countries around the world. “Donald Trump's tariffs do not represent all Americans,’ Newsom said in a video that was released on Friday. Newsom, in the brief clip, said that Califo
  
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• Federal employee unions sue over Trump bid to strip collective bargaining

  04-04-2025 18:07 via thehill.com
  
  A coalition of unions sued the Trump administration Friday over its directive to agencies to terminate their collective bargaining agreements with federal employee unions.President Trump last week signed an order directing 18 agencies to end the union contracts, citing a provision of the federal civil service law that allows such exceptions for national security agencies.But the unions argue Trump showed his hand in a fact sheet accompanying the order that complained about “hostile Federal
  
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• Harvard receives Trump administration demands to continue funding

  04-04-2025 16:45 via thehill.com
  
  The Trump administration has sent its demands to Harvard University on policies it must change to avoid the loss of federal funding after the federal government opened a review into the billions of dollars in contracts and grants it holds with the nation's oldest and richest school.  In a Thursday letter, obtained by The Hill, demands similar to the ones asked of Columbia University by the administration were laid for Harvard: mask bans, with some exceptions; more rules on protest; reforms
  
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• Doctor explains what 'Make America Healthy Again' movement is about

  04-04-2025 16:39 via thehill.com
  
  A top vaccine official at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) abruptly resigned last week after reportedly being told he could either quit or be fired. Dr. Peter Marks is now the third top official to leave the FDA this year, and this all comes as Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced major layoffs at the agency. “We have over 100 comms departments. We have 40 procurement departments. We have dozens of IT departments, dozens of HR departmen
  
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• Trump touts $5M visa gold card: 'Anybody want to buy one?'

  04-04-2025 16:38 via thehill.com
  
  President Donald Trump showed off his administration's new revenue-generating $5 million "gold card" immigrant visa on Thursday, flashing the gilded pocket-sized document with his image emblazoned across the front."For $5 million, this could be yours," Trump told reporters Thursday on Air Force One. "Anybody want to buy one?"The president said the new pricey investor visa revamp, which he alternately called the "Gold Card" and "Trump Card" as he waved it in front of him, will become available "i
  
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• Rubio says markets will recover after Trump tariff announcement

  04-04-2025 16:14 via thehill.com
  
  Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the global financial markets will bounce back after plunging for a second day, following President Trump’s rollout of a fresh set of tariffs. Rubio said Friday during a press conference in Brussels that businesses “just need to know what the rules are.” “Once you know what the rules are, they will adjust to those rules. So I don't think it's fair to say economies are crashing. Markets are crashing because markets are based on
  
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• Kinzinger posts Stepbrothers clip to mock Trump tariffs

  04-04-2025 16:09 via thehill.com
  
  Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) posted a clip from the popular comedy "Stepbrothers" to mock President Trump, Republicans and Fox News over the latest tariffs on foreign nations that were announced this week.The clip begins with actor Adam Scott's character, labeled in the video as a "Gen X Democrat" saying "I gotta say I could have called this one."
  Will Ferrell's character, labeled a "Trump voter" tears up and asks, "is it our fault?"Maureen Steenburgen, who plays Ferrell's mothe
  
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• Kinzinger posts 'Step Brothers' clip to mock Trump tariffs

  04-04-2025 16:09 via thehill.com
  
  Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) posted a clip from the popular comedy "Step Brothers" to mock President Trump, Republicans and Fox News over the latest tariffs on foreign nations that were announced this week.The clip begins with actor Adam Scott's character, labeled in the video as a "Gen X Democrat" saying "I got to say, I could have called this one."Will Ferrell's character, labeled a "Trump voter" tears up and asks, "Is it our fault?"Maureen Steenburgen, who plays Ferrell's mo
  
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• Vance: I thought market reaction to Trump tariffs 'could be worse'

  04-04-2025 16:07 via thehill.com
  
  Vice President Vance said he thought the market reaction to President Trump’s tariff plan would have been worse, saying that the White House team is feeling good about the rollout.
  “We’re feeling good. Look, I frankly thought, in some ways, it could be worse on the markets, because this is a big transition,” Vance told Newsmax in an interview on Thursday.“You saw the president said earlier today, it’s like a patient who was very sick. We did the operation and
  
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• Steel company president calls tariffs 'step in the right direction'

  04-04-2025 16:02 via thehill.com
  
  An American steel manufacturer said Thursday that President Trump's sweeping new tariffs on imports will ultimately be a boon to the industry and workers in the U.S."I think it's a step in the right direction,” Stephen Capone, president of Massachusetts-based Capone Iron Corporation, said during an interview on NewsNation. "I think once all the dust settles, that people will realize that they're going to be buying steel from American mills."Trump formally announced his long-discussed recip
  
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• Trump says China 'panicked' with tariff response

  04-04-2025 15:52 via thehill.com
  
  President Trump on Friday chastised China after Beijing responded to major U.S. tariffs with equal duties of its own on U.S. goods."China played it wrong, they panicked - the one thing they cannot afford to do!" Trump posted on Truth Social.China's Finance Ministry announced Friday that it would impose a 34 percent tariff on imports from the United States, matching the 34 percent tariff the Trump administration announced on China earlier in the week as part of sweeping tariffs on more than 100 c
  
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• Jim Cramer: Trump tariff numbers 'do not make any sense'

  04-04-2025 15:48 via thehill.com
  
  CNBC host Jim Cramer tore into President Trump over the sweeping new tariffs his administration announced this week on nearly all foreign trading partners.“The numbers do not make any sense," Cramer said Thursday during an appearance on CNN.He claimed the president's economic advisors and aides on trade "really screwed up," and constructed the tariffs "in an ill-advised way.""And I was very let down as someone who really, truly believes that free trade is awful for the American working per
  
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