u/NewsHour

The often-congested streets around the National Mall will transform in less than a week into a speedy racetrack.

The Freedom 250 Grand Prix, scheduled for Aug. 23, will be the first-ever IndyCar street race in Washington, D.C. The 1.66-mile circuit takes race cars past the U.S. Capitol, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, and crosses the National Mall twice.

The race is part of a series of events hosted by President Donald Trump this year for America’s 250th birthday. In June, he hosted a UFC fight on the South Lawn of the White House.

In an interview with the AP, the Penske Corporation, which owns IndyCar, said it is paying for the “vast majority” of the event.

Free general admission tickets were issued in June, while premium “Champion’s Club” tickets were sold for $5,000 per person for the two-day event.

Earlier this month, federal prosecutors moved to strip citizenship from 25 naturalized Americans, accusing them of lying about their pasts and hiding serious crimes.

The move is called denaturalization, and the Justice Department now calls it one of its top priorities.

Justice correspondent u/AliRogin_PBSNewsHour looks at what's behind this dramatic shift in law enforcement strategy. For more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/doj-deploys-tactic-to-strip-naturalized-americans-of-citizenship

Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-sen-cassidy-says-hell-vote-to-confirm-todd-blanche-for-attorney-general

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said Friday he will back Todd Blanche's nomination as attorney general, likely paving the way for Blanche to be confirmed to lead President Donald Trump's Justice Department.

The Louisiana senator announced his support on the Senate floor after Blanche's confirmation was thrown into doubt over opposition from two other Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.

Cassidy said Blanche "is not perfect" but no one is, and he suggested another nominee may not be any better.

"I will vote for Mr. Blanche," he said.

Sen. John Cornyn told reporters Tuesday following the Senate Judiciary Committee's vote to advance Todd Blanche's attorney general nomination that “there's nothing we could do” to rein in President Donald Trump.

“Well, there's nothing we could do to rein in the president when he said he likes the fund and he wishes it still exists. But the fact of the matter [is] it's dead, and that's all we could do under these circumstances,” Cornyn, R-Texas, said.

Cornyn, along with Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC, agreed to support the nomination after Blanche put in writing that the DOJ is scrapping a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund that could have provided settlements to President Donald Trump's allies, including Jan. 6 rioters.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-10, along party lines, on Tuesday to advance Blanche to a full Senate vote.

Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-senate-judiciary-committee-votes-on-blanche-nomination-for-attorney-general

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate committee is expected to vote Tuesday to advance acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination to lead the Justice Department after the former personal lawyer for President Donald Trump secured the support of Republican senators who threatened to block his confirmation.

The Senate Judiciary Committee's vote follows a deal struck late Sunday between Blanche and GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who had demanded written assurances about the settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns.

Cornyn and Tillis had said they were withholding their support unless the Justice Department confirmed in writing that it was not moving forward with a $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they were prosecuted for political purposes, which the Trump administration had announced as part of the settlement.

After days of negotiations, Blanche issued an order Sunday evening confirming "beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund."

Since the settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the IRS was announced, "No Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process for receiving claims was established; no claims were paid," the order said.

Cornyn and Tillis had also pressed for clarification on a separate part of the settlement that would grant Trump and members of his family immunity from tax audits.

Under the deal, the Justice Department clarified in writing that the tax audit immunity agreement applies only to claims open at the time of the settlement and does not protect Trump from examination of future tax filings. It also makes clear that only the parties that brought the lawsuit — Trump, two of his sons, and the Trump Organization — are covered by the tax agreement.

Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-senate-judiciary-committee-votes-on-blanche-nomination-for-attorney-general

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate committee is expected to vote Tuesday to advance acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination to lead the Justice Department after the former personal lawyer for President Donald Trump secured the support of Republican senators who threatened to block his confirmation.

The Senate Judiciary Committee's vote follows a deal struck late Sunday between Blanche and GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who had demanded written assurances about the settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns.

Cornyn and Tillis had said they were withholding their support unless the Justice Department confirmed in writing that it was not moving forward with a $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they were prosecuted for political purposes, which the Trump administration had announced as part of the settlement.

After days of negotiations, Blanche issued an order Sunday evening confirming "beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund."

Since the settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the IRS was announced, "No Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process for receiving claims was established; no claims were paid," the order said.

Cornyn and Tillis had also pressed for clarification on a separate part of the settlement that would grant Trump and members of his family immunity from tax audits.

Under the deal, the Justice Department clarified in writing that the tax audit immunity agreement applies only to claims open at the time of the settlement and does not protect Trump from examination of future tax filings. It also makes clear that only the parties that brought the lawsuit — Trump, two of his sons, and the Trump Organization — are covered by the tax agreement.

Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-senate-judiciary-committee-votes-on-blanche-nomination-for-attorney-general

Source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-says-jeanine-pirro-made-a-mistake-and-choked-on-reflecting-pool-vandalism-case-reversal

(AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro "folded like a cheap umbrella."

The president reiterated his disappointment with Pirro for a court filing in which her office blamed a contractor's shoddy work on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool rather than vandalism.

"I guess she choked. I don't know what the hell happened," Trump said, later adding that the former Fox News host "folded like a cheap umbrella" in moving to drop criminal charges against the former Olympian accused of deliberately damaging the pool.

Trump refused to say whether he'd move to fire Pirro. But he also acknowledged that the contractor was "rushing" to finish the project before July 4 — which didn't ultimately happen.

And he suggested he "didn't know" the contractor working on it, contradicting his own comments from April when he said he chose the company involved since it had performed work at his golf course in Virginia.

The State Department says it takes "full responsibility" for hastily altering and then presenting a map of Africa at a global AIDS conference this week that mislabeled every single country it highlighted.

Attendees shared photos of the incorrect map online. Coastal countries like Nigeria, Mozambique and Côte d'Ivoire were all landlocked and in the wrong locations. Other countries' borders were misrepresented.

An analysis by Reuters found a watermark in the map image that suggests it was made with OpenAI.

Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/

Source: https://youtu.be/qMNUY1IGY9U

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told former top health official and scientist Dr. Anthony Fauci that there would be “repercussions” from his “refusal to testify” during a hearing Wednesday held by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Fauci, who was subpoenaed by Paul, the committee chair, said he would invoke the Fifth Amendment and decline to answer questions, citing Paul’s previous comments about wanting to incarcerate him.

“The committee will have to consider after this hearing what appropriate action should be taken against you for the failure to testify after being directed to do so,” Paul said. “It's against the law to obstruct an investigation of Congress. There will be repercussions to your refusal to testify today.”

After Paul’s comments, one of Fauci’s lawyers appeared to speak. Paul quickly said the lawyer was not recognized and threatened to remove him from the hearing.

“You will respect these proceedings. You were told not to sit at the table. You insist on sitting at the table, and we told you you would not be recognized,” Paul said. “You are not invited here for testimony, sir. You are being disruptive.”

After a back-and-forth between Paul and Fauci’s lawyer, Paul instructed security to remove the lawyer from the hearing.

“This testimony is from Anthony Fauci. This is not a game with his lawyers,” Paul said. “His lawyers can give him advice. He's got a half dozen here. They're all allowed to talk to him. But the attorneys are not recognized.”

SOURCE: https://youtu.be/Y8DQcDy1dUQ

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a former top official and scientist at the National Institutes of Health, said he would invoke the Fifth Amendment and decline to answer questions during a hearing Wednesday held by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

“Although it pains me to do so, because of the respect I have for the legislative branch of government, and my decades-long record of cooperating with Congress, under the advice of my attorneys I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions," Fauci said.

Committee chair Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., subpoenaed Fauci to appear at the hearing aimed at again questioning him on the origins of the coronavirus.

Fauci described Paul as having an “unhinged obsession” with him and said “any reasonable person” would come to the same conclusion about refusing to answer the committee’s questions.

“The sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up in his words, quote, behind bars,” Fauci said.

Paul released more than a thousand pages of Fauci’s pandemic-era diary over the weekend.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the reason Americans “are so upset with you and this administration is because the words you have used in the past don't add up.”

Gillibrand referenced Hegseth’s statement that the 2025 Midnight Hammer Operation in Iran had “obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons.”

“Yet eight months later in February of 2026, the president launched an active war, claiming Iran was within two weeks of having a weapon,” Gillibrand said. “So when you say two very different things, the American people don't know who to believe or what to believe.”

“So, which is true? Was it obliterated or wasn't it?” Gillibrand asked Hegseth.

Hegseth said nuclear sites were obliterated, “but Iranians foolishly continued to attempt to pursue nuclear capabilities.”

“I just don't know what version of the war to believe,” Gillibrand said. She added that the reason the war is unpopular with her constituents “is because they don't understand the choices that the president is making.”

According to a May PBS News/NPR/Marist poll, 6 in 10 Americans disapproved of the way Trump has been handling the war in Iran.

Hegseth, Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins testified Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee about the Trump administration’s $87.6 billion supplemental funding request, the bulk of which would be used for the U.S. war with Iran.

Their appearance before Senate lawmakers comes after the U.S. rolled out its 10th consecutive night of strikes against Iran. At least three American service members have been killed in recent days. As war between the two nations intensifies, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, forcing U.S. gas prices to jump again.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., pressed top military officials in a Tuesday hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The senator acknowledged that some of his colleagues want the U.S. to stop its military actions against Iran and bring service members home. He asked what would happen in that scenario.

Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, didn’t directly answer the question, saying the senator was raising a hypothetical and that it was a political calculation.

Kennedy asked the general whether Iran would "put tolls" on the Strait of Hormuz. When Caine said it was a hypothetical question, adding that he didn't know what the outcome would be, Kennedy saying, “This is serious as four heart attacks and a stroke.”

When Caine again demurred, prompting Kennedy to say, he then turned to Hegseth, who also didn’t satisfy the senator’s desire for “straight talk.”

Kennedy asked Hegseth if Iran would convene to build up its nuclear capabilities if the U.S. ceased operations. When Hegseth didn’t directly answer his question, the senator said, “We need straight answers.”

Hegseth, Caine and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins testified Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee about the Trump administration’s $87.6 billion supplemental funding request, the bulk of which would be used for the U.S. war with Iran.

Their appearance before Senate lawmakers comes after the U.S. rolled out its 10th consecutive night of strikes against Iran. At least three American service members have been killed in recent days. As war between the two nations intensifies, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, forcing U.S. gas prices to jump again.