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'Ambush': CNN's Dana Bash shocked by Trump's 'set-up' of South African president

CNN's Dana Bash described president Donald Trump's meeting with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa as an "ambush."

The two world leaders met Wednesday afternoon in the Oval Office, where White House aides showed a video of speeches made by the Economic Freedom Fighters party calling for violence against white farmers – which Ramaphosa insisted was "not government policy" and represented the views of "a small minority party."

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'You don’t have what it takes!': Trump melts down on reporter at Oval Office event

President Donald Trump lashed out at a reporter from NBC after he asked about a free jet that Qatar was providing while the commander-in-chief was trying to make the case that white genocide was taking place in South Africa.

During a Wednesday Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump asked for the lights to be lowered so he could play a video of Black South Africans threatening white farmers.

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'Highly unusual' Alina Habba admission about NJ lawmaker may have blown up indictment

A decision by interim New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba to announce her decision to charge Rep. LaMonica Mclver (D-N.J.) with felony assault on X may have put the case on the fast-track to nowhere according to two MSNBC legal analysts.

Habba was handed the position by Donald Trump after he appointed his first choice, John Giordano, to be ambassador to Namibia, after previously having served as his lead defense attorney when he was sued by writer E. Jean Carroll for defamation which ultimately led to her client being slapped with an $83.3 million judgment.

When announcing, she has "charged Congresswoman McIver with violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1) for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement," Habba attached a statement claiming, "I have persistently made efforts to address these issues without bringing criminal charges and have given Representative McIver every opportunity to come to a resolution, but she has unfortunately declined."

EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade

According to MSNBC analysts Lisa Rubin and Kristy Greenberg, everything about her presentation of the case is problematic.

With Rubin pointing there has yet to be a grand jury indictment, Greenberg added, "They would need to show there is physical contact, but that there was an intentional physical assault. And here, if you even looked back at that video, it's not clear that there's any intention behind the physical contact –– it looked like at least there was a lot of jostling."

"As you said, agents were putting hands on her and she was kind of pushing them away," she told host Ana Cabrera.

Rubin jumped in to say Habba has already put her case on shaky ground.

"The thing here, Ana, that's so unusual, is that I can't recall another instance in which you see a U.S. attorney going out publicly as charges are filed and before they're even in the defendant's own hands, which is something we know from her legal team and saying, we tried to negotiate a solution here and that wasn't forthcoming," Rubin explained.

"You have an obligation as a U.S. attorney not to engage in conduct in terms of your public statements that could prejudice a jury pool against a defendant by saying that she offered her an opportunity to come to a resolution," she elaborated. "That could be prejudicial contact, conduct, I'm sorry, in and of itself: really unfortunate and also highly unusual, as Kristy knows."

You can watch below or at the link.

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'It is treason': Giuliani volunteers to prosecute Biden after cancer diagnosis

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a disgraced ally of President Donald Trump, volunteered to take the job of special counsel and prosecute Joe Biden after it was revealed that the former president has prostate cancer.

During a Wednesday interview on Real America's Voice, host Steve Bannon asked Giuliani how he would prosecute the Biden "cancer cover-up."

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GOP lawmaker snaps back at Trump after being to told to 'drop it' during tense meeting

Donald Trump's meeting with House Republicans in a basement room where the budget reconciliation bill is being hammered out did not go as smoothly as the president told reporters later in the day with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) at his side.

After the meeting, Trump told reporters, "I think it was a really great; that was a meeting of love. Let me tell you, that was love in that room. There was no shouting. I think it was a meeting of love," before calling anyone who had a contrary opinion about what had ensued a "liar."

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Don Trump Jr. hints at run for president after dad steps down: 'That calling is there'

Donald Trump Jr. hinted that he has an eye on the presidency after his father left office.

At an event on Wednesday, Bloomberg's Joumanna Nasr Bercetche asked the president's son about a possible run for the presidency.

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'Political kryptonite': Expert stunned as Elon Musk's approval nears 'minus-100'

Elon Musk announced that he's leaving politics because he's "done enough," but CNN's Harry Enten presented polling data that shows he's become "kryptonite" to the Republicans who took his cash and gave him vast influence.

The tech mogul slashed thousands of government jobs as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and appeared at White House events alongside president Donald Trump, but Enten told "CNN News Central" that he has become persona non grata in recent weeks.

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'Probably not': CNN analyst casts doubt on Trump's plan to 'weaponize space'

An analyst cast doubt on president Donald Trump's pledge to build a massive and expensive national missile defense system before the end of his term.

The president on Tuesday announced the so-called "Golden Dome" defense system missiles, satellites and sensors similar to to Israel's "Iron Dome," and he tasked Space Force vice chief of operations Gen. Michael Guetlein with leading the ambitious project, but CNN's global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier expressed skepticism about its success.

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Analyst raises suspicions Kristi Noem's 'dumb' testimony was part of bigger plan

Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem was instantly fact-checked and then widely criticized for misstating the definition of the foundational constitutional right to habeas corpus, but a "Morning Joe" panelist isn't buying that she actually misunderstood the concept.

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) asked her to define the constitutional right to due process after White House adviser Stephen Miller warned the administration was looking at suspending the right to challenge an arrest or imprisonment, and MSNBC's Katty Kay said there's no way that Noem was unprepared to explain the bedrock civil right, which she claimed was "a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country."

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'You couldn't make this up': MSNBC host stunned as GOP 'sets itself up' for fall

The GOP-majority House leadership's attempt to force through a budget bill that would gut support and protections for the poor, coming on the heels of billionaire Elon Musk boasting about government cuts, is handing the Democratic party a major gift.

That is the opinion on MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-host Joe Scarborough who admitted he is stunned, as a former GOP House member himself, at how tone-deaf the party has become.

Discussing the battle between GOP hardliners who want to slash and burn and their colleagues who are concerned about next year's midterms, Scarborough claimed the optics are horrific for the party in power.

EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade

"I mean, this is, it's ghastly," he told his panel. "You have the richest billionaire in the world, a chainsaw-wielding South African immigrant coming to America wielding a chainsaw, doesn't understand our government, doesn't understand how it works, obviously from a lot of things he tweets he doesn't understand the constitution and the richest man in the world decides he's going to show fiscal prudence by taking food out of the mouths of the poorest starving children on the planet."

"I mean, it's just what's happening," he added. "I mean, the idea, the idea that they're going after USAID to cut the budget, 'The money's just not there, rounding error.' And they're desperate to figure out how to give tax cuts to the richest people, billionaires, multinational corporations like people who run tech monopolies."

"I mean, you couldn't make this up!" he exclaimed. "Like a Democrat who would say this, nobody would believe that this would happen. It is happening and Republicans are setting themselves up like dominoes to be knocked down."

You can watch below or at the link.

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'Isn’t that the point?' CNN host dismantles GOP spin on kicking people off Medicaid

Two conservatives found themselves under fire from CNN anchor Abby Phillip, who pressed them on the GOP's plans for Medicaid, as President Donald Trump threatens members of his own party who threaten to blow up his "One, Big, Beautiful Bill."

Phillip opened her show late Tuesday, recounting Trump's threat to Republican hardliners: "Get in line, or else," she paraphrased, noting Trump's agenda is "on the brink tonight."

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'Whew!' MSNBC's Jen Psaki in awe as Trump picks wilt under pressure from fiery Dems

MSNBC's Jen Psaki was floored watching Donald Trump allies face aggressive lines of questioning at the hands of Democrats, telling viewers Tuesday night that Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-MA) attack was so intense, Psaki herself felt like she'd failed the class from the professor.

Psaki opened her show, "The Briefing," on Tuesday night to take stock of how Trump's officials are faring in televised hearings, and particularly homed in on their alignment on pleading ignorance.

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CNN's Jake Tapper pressed on 'withering criticism' by his own network

CNN's Jake Tapper was confronted by fellow network anchor Erin Burnett during a joint interview with Axios' Alex Thompson on their new book detailing explosive allegations about Joe Biden's administration's attempt to conceal his cognitive decline — and specifically, the uproar it has caused.

"So it's an incredibly reported book you have, and I don't know if you expected this. Maybe you did a little bit, but maybe not to the extreme that it has occurred," said Burnett. "You have come under withering criticism ... so President Biden's granddaughter, Naomi, she kind of — I think this summarizes a bit. She says the book 'relies on unnamed anonymous sources pushing a self-serving, false narrative that absolves them of any responsibility for our current national nightmare ... there are real stories to be told. One day they will be, I suspect history will reward the truth.'"

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