Trump Tanks His Own Putin Walk-Back During One of the ‘Worst Moments of His Presidency’ … It was approaching mid-morning on Tuesday, and Donald Trump's team had one choice: He had to clean up the mess he had left for them following his disastrous press conference abroad.  If they had to beg, so be it.

Trump Supreme Court pick: I would ‘put the nail’ in ruling upholding independent counsel  —  (CNN)Judge Brett Kavanaugh two years ago expressed his desire to overturn a three-decade-old Supreme Court ruling upholding the constitutionality of an independent counsel, a comment bound …

This sad, embarrassing wreck of a man  —  America's child president had a play date with a KGB alumnus, who surely enjoyed providing day care.  It was a useful, because illuminating, event: Now we shall see how many Republicans retain a capacity for embarrassment.

The vanishing White House press briefing  —  Commentators slam Trump for summit performance  —  The “daily” White House press briefing is a thing of the past.  —  The White House has only held three on-camera briefings in the past 30 days, according to the administration's own records on WhiteHouse.gov.

Vote Joe Crowley, for Working Families  —  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hurts the party, Congress and even America.  —  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's surprise primary victory over Rep. Joe Crowley seems likely to hurt Congress, America and the Democratic Party.  It doesn't have to.

“This Was the Nightmare Scenario”: The West Wing Revolts After Trump Embraces Putin  —  As Trump grappled with his error, Chief of Staff John Kelly went into overdrive to get Trump to walk it back.  —  As he flew home from Helsinki on Air Force One following his disastrous press conference …

Alleged Russian agent Maria Butina had ties to Russian intelligence agency, prosecutors say  —  The Russian woman arrested on charges of being a foreign agent had ties to Russian intelligence operatives and was in contact with them while in the United States, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Now the party of Trump, GOP's midterm pitch is protecting him  —  Subscribe to McClatchy's Beyond the Bubble show on iTunes here or Stitcher.  —  WASHINGTON — Headed into a election that's expected to favor Democrats, a top GOP Senate strategist says Republicans are counting …

Trump says defending tiny NATO ally Montenegro could lead to World War III  —  President Trump, who rattled U.S. allies at a NATO meeting last week, voiced concern in a television interview broadcast Tuesday night that sending troops from the alliance to defend an “aggressive” Monte­negro could result in World War III.

A Stabbing On Samish Island: The Radicalization Of Lane Davis  —  Lane Davis was a far-right, pro-Trump media figure looking for his big break.  Then he stabbed his father to death.  —  Nearly everyone on Samish Island knew Chuck Davis, a bighearted retiree who lived in the handsome gray shingle house …

The European Union hits Google with a $5 billion fine  —  This is the second multibillion-dollar fine the EU has handed the company in just over a year.  —  The European Union hit Google with a $5 billion fine on Wednesday for breaking antitrust laws by pushing device makers using …

‘I want him to fix it’: Trump voters sorry now that tariffs are killing their Missouri nail factory  —  MSNBC's Vaughn Hillyard this week visited a nail factory in Missouri that is getting absolutely crushed by President Donald Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs.

Trump Campaigned For President Attacking Immigrants.  Here's All The Ways He's Done It In Office.  —  President Trump ran on a promise to make America great again by building a wall to keep out undocumented Mexican immigrants, whom he referred to as criminals and “rapists,” …

Exclusive: Trump White House's Intelligence Chief Is Leaving  —  Michael Barry, the senior National Security Council director for intelligence programs, is leaving the White House, according to two government officials.  —  Barry's departure adds to the growing list of vacant senior NSC positions since …

Trump revised one sentence from Helsinki.  Here's everything else he didn't fix.  —  First Read is your briefing from “Meet the Press” and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter.  —  WASHINGTON — If Tuesday was supposed to be a clean-up job …

Next Slide  —  The number of Tennesseans now displaying Confederate battle flag license plates is higher than at any other point in the last decade, according to state data on the controversial specialty tags.  —  The Sons of Confederate Veterans plate, the proceeds from which benefit …

Trump's migrant fiasco diverts millions from health programs  —  HHS is forced to prioritize migrant crisis over medical research and other goals.  —  The health department has quietly dipped into tens of millions of dollars to pay for the consequences of President Donald Trump's border policy …

Trump wrongly says queen reviewed guard for 1st time in 70 years  —  President Trump claimed Tuesday that during his visit to England, Queen Elizabeth II reviewed her Guard of Honor for the first time in 70 years — but she's only been queen for 65 years.  And as any royal-watcher knows …

BuzzFeed launches a new website for its real journalism  —  It's not news at this point that BuzzFeed has a serious news organization — one whose reporting on Russia made it a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize this year.  —  But it's also a news organization whose stories are published alongside …

The Queen's Not-So-Subtle Nod to Barack Obama You May Have Missed During Trump's U.K. Visit  —  Queen Elizabeth has no shortage of fancy brooches, so her choice of shiny accessory while President Donald Trump was visiting her country has raised some eyebrows for its potential hidden meaning.

DNC Loses Request to Serve Kushner With Russia Lawsuit by Mail  — ‘Service is not intended to be a game,’ judge says in denial  —  A judge denied the Democratic National Committee's request to use U.S. Postal Service first-class mail to formally let Jared Kushner know he was sued in April …

Wave Alert: House Democrats Setting Fundraising Records  —  Republicans are getting beaten badly on the financial front.  It's an ominous sign for their chances of holding a House majority.  —  To understand why House Democrats are still in strong position to retake the majority, simply follow the money.

Prosecutors: Northern Minnesota man on trial in pipe bomb case wrote of ‘armed rebellion’  —  Notebook and cache of pipe bombs are at issue in federal trial of Eric James Reinbold, 41, of Oklee, Minn.  —  A northern Minnesota man wrote of taking to the woods to usher in an armed rebellion …

Cambridge Analytica's Facebook data was accessed from Russia, MP says  —  The now infamous Facebook data set on tens of millions of Americans gathered by a Cambridge University scientist for a firm that went on to worked for Donald Trump's 2016 campaign was accessed from Russia, a British member of parliament tells CNN.