Click here to read the full article. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie shrugged off some of President Trump's past disparaging comments made about US prisoners of war as "just politics." On Sunday, Wilkie was first asked by CNN's Dana Bash if he had ever personally heard the president, as The Atlantic reported this week, call Americans who died in war losers and suckers. The secretary replied, "Absolutely not." More from Rolling Stone Fox News Denies Own Reporter Confirmed Trump Used 'Suckers and Losers' After Airing Interview of Her Confirming It This Is Why U.S. Troops Need 'Stars and Stripes,' and Why Trump Wants It Gone The Most Damning Part Is How Believable It Is Bash played a 2015 video clip of Trump ripping John McCain, calling him a "loser." In the video, Trump said McCain was "not a war hero" because he was captured during the Vietnam War, adding, "I like people that weren't...

Click here to read the full article. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie shrugged off some of President Trump's past disparaging comments made about US prisoners of war as "just politics." On Sunday, Wilkie was first asked by CNN's Dana Bash if he had ever personally heard the president, as The Atlantic reported this week, call Americans who died in war losers and suckers. The secretary replied, "Absolutely not." More from Rolling Stone Fox News Denies Own Reporter Confirmed Trump Used 'Suckers and Losers' After Airing Interview of Her Confirming It This Is Why U.S. Troops Need 'Stars and Stripes,' and Why Trump Wants It Gone The Most Damning Part Is How Believable It Is Bash played a 2015 video clip of Trump ripping John McCain, calling him a "loser." In the video, Trump said McCain was "not a war hero" because he was captured during the Vietnam War, adding, "I like people that weren't...

In an urban church near looted downtown buildings in Kenosha, Wis., Joe Biden told the diverse group in the pews that President Donald Trump was the accelerant for the country's burning racial divide. An hour later, in a leafy Milwaukee suburb that is 90 percent White, Biden discussed the challenges of going back to school when districts are struggling to reopen - a problem they wouldn't have, he said, if Trump hadn't bungled the coronavirus response. The next day, Biden said in a nationally televised speech that the nation's recovery would be racing ahead if not for one man, Trump, whose coronavirus response he said cratered the economy. Biden has been under intense pressure from allies to hasten his campaign pace - but from there the advice has diverged, with some favoring a strategy meant to attract some White working-class voters and others Black voters who are mobilizing and calling for racial justice. Amid the frenzy of recommendations, Biden has settled on a through line meant to appeal to everyone: Trump is the reason for all of America's most pressing ills, no matter which one matters most to a specific audience. A newly energized Biden campaign last week demonstrated its biggest burst of campaign activity in six months, as an internal debate over how to position Biden for the rush to November led to a far more aggressive candidate, a rewritten campaign message and a robust travel schedule. While the tension over responding to the nation's urban protests and Trump's new emphasis on "law and order" prompted adjustments last week, many Biden advisers say they still believe the election will be decided on Trump's response to the coronavirus, which has disrupted the economy and continues to be a major health crisis that is killing nearly 1,000 Americans each day. "This is foundational. ... This is where the...

In an urban church near looted downtown buildings in Kenosha, Wis., Joe Biden told the diverse group in the pews that President Donald Trump was the accelerant for the country's burning racial divide. An hour later, in a leafy Milwaukee suburb that is 90 percent White, Biden discussed the challenges of going back to school when districts are struggling to reopen - a problem they wouldn't have, he said, if Trump hadn't bungled the coronavirus response. The next day, Biden said in a nationally televised speech that the nation's recovery would be racing ahead if not for one man, Trump, whose coronavirus response he said cratered the economy. Biden has been under intense pressure from allies to hasten his campaign pace - but from there the advice has diverged, with some favoring a strategy meant to attract some White working-class voters and others Black voters who are mobilizing and calling for racial justice. Amid the frenzy of recommendations, Biden has settled on a through line meant to appeal to everyone: Trump is the reason for all of America's most pressing ills, no matter which one matters most to a specific audience. A newly energized Biden campaign last week demonstrated its biggest burst of campaign activity in six months, as an internal debate over how to position Biden for the rush to November led to a far more aggressive candidate, a rewritten campaign message and a robust travel schedule. While the tension over responding to the nation's urban protests and Trump's new emphasis on "law and order" prompted adjustments last week, many Biden advisers say they still believe the election will be decided on Trump's response to the coronavirus, which has disrupted the economy and continues to be a major health crisis that is killing nearly 1,000 Americans each day. "This is foundational. ... This is where the...

Northeastern University says it has dismissed 11 students who gathered in a hotel room in violation of the school's coronavirus policies and will not refund their tuition, marking one of the most severe punishments that college students have faced for breaking pandemic rules. University staff members found the first-year students hanging out last week in a room at the Westin Hotel in downtown Boston, which Northeastern is using as a temporary dorm for about 800 students, according to a university statement. Officials instructed them to take a coronavirus test, then leave campus within 24 hours. The students, who were part of a study abroad program that was held in Boston this semester, will not be reimbursed for their $36,500 tuition payments, according to the university. They will be allowed back on campus in the spring. In the meantime, the university said, they can appeal the punishment in an expedited hearing. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration was prepared to spend "another trillion dollars" to buoy the U.S. economy if President Donald Trump is elected to a second term. Mnuchin told "Fox News Sunday" that the administration was concerned about the ballooning national debt, and he called Democrats' spending proposals excessive. But, he said, "in a war, you've got to spend whatever you need." San Diego State University issued a stay-at-home order, asking students to remain in their dorms except for essential needs through the weekend, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The campus's coronavirus case count rose to 223 over the weekend. Coronavirus-related deaths topped 6,000 in Los Angeles County, according to the Los Angeles Times. The county remains one of the hardest-hit urban areas in the country. California's rolling average for daily new cases has trended downward in recent weeks, but...

Northeastern University says it has dismissed 11 students who gathered in a hotel room in violation of the school's coronavirus policies and will not refund their tuition, marking one of the most severe punishments that college students have faced for breaking pandemic rules. University staff members found the first-year students hanging out last week in a room at the Westin Hotel in downtown Boston, which Northeastern is using as a temporary dorm for about 800 students, according to a university statement. Officials instructed them to take a coronavirus test, then leave campus within 24 hours. The students, who were part of a study abroad program that was held in Boston this semester, will not be reimbursed for their $36,500 tuition payments, according to the university. They will be allowed back on campus in the spring. In the meantime, the university said, they can appeal the punishment in an expedited hearing. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration was prepared to spend "another trillion dollars" to buoy the U.S. economy if President Donald Trump is elected to a second term. Mnuchin told "Fox News Sunday" that the administration was concerned about the ballooning national debt, and he called Democrats' spending proposals excessive. But, he said, "in a war, you've got to spend whatever you need." San Diego State University issued a stay-at-home order, asking students to remain in their dorms except for essential needs through the weekend, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The campus's coronavirus case count rose to 223 over the weekend. Coronavirus-related deaths topped 6,000 in Los Angeles County, according to the Los Angeles Times. The county remains one of the hardest-hit urban areas in the country. California's rolling average for daily new cases has trended downward in recent weeks, but...

Louis DeJoy's prolific campaign fundraising, which helped position him as a top Republican power broker in North Carolina and ultimately as head of the U.S. Postal Service, was bolstered for more than a decade by a practice that left many employees feeling pressured to make political contributions to GOP candidates - money DeJoy later reimbursed through bonuses, former employees say. Five people who worked for DeJoy's former business, New Breed Logistics, say they were urged by DeJoy's aides or by the chief executive himself to write checks and attend fundraisers at his 15,000-square-foot gated mansion beside a Greensboro, N.C., country club. There, events for Republicans running for the White House and Congress routinely fetched $100,000 or more apiece. Two other employees familiar with New Breed's financial and payroll systems said DeJoy would instruct that bonus payments to staffers be boosted to help defray the cost of their contributions, an arrangement that would be unlawful. "Louis was a national fundraiser for the Republican Party. He asked employees for money. We gave him the money, and then he reciprocated by giving us big bonuses," said David Young, DeJoy's longtime director of human resources, who had access to payroll records at New Breed from the late 1990s to 2013 and is now retired. "When we got our bonuses, let's just say they were bigger, they exceeded expectations - and that covered the tax and everything else." Another former employee with knowledge of the process described a similar series of events, saying DeJoy orchestrated additional compensation for employees who had made political contributions, instructing managers to award bonuses to specific individuals. "He would ask employees to make contributions at the same time that he would say, 'I'll get it back to you down the road,' " said the...

Louis DeJoy's prolific campaign fundraising, which helped position him as a top Republican power broker in North Carolina and ultimately as head of the U.S. Postal Service, was bolstered for more than a decade by a practice that left many employees feeling pressured to make political contributions to GOP candidates - money DeJoy later reimbursed through bonuses, former employees say. Five people who worked for DeJoy's former business, New Breed Logistics, say they were urged by DeJoy's aides or by the chief executive himself to write checks and attend fundraisers at his 15,000-square-foot gated mansion beside a Greensboro, N.C., country club. There, events for Republicans running for the White House and Congress routinely fetched $100,000 or more apiece. Two other employees familiar with New Breed's financial and payroll systems said DeJoy would instruct that bonus payments to staffers be boosted to help defray the cost of their contributions, an arrangement that would be unlawful. "Louis was a national fundraiser for the Republican Party. He asked employees for money. We gave him the money, and then he reciprocated by giving us big bonuses," said David Young, DeJoy's longtime director of human resources, who had access to payroll records at New Breed from the late 1990s to 2013 and is now retired. "When we got our bonuses, let's just say they were bigger, they exceeded expectations - and that covered the tax and everything else." Another former employee with knowledge of the process described a similar series of events, saying DeJoy orchestrated additional compensation for employees who had made political contributions, instructing managers to award bonuses to specific individuals. "He would ask employees to make contributions at the same time that he would say, 'I'll get it back to you down the road,' " said the...

BERLIN (AP) - Germany on Sunday increased the pressure on Russia over the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, warning that a lack of support by Moscow in the investigation could "force" Germany to rethink the fate of a German-Russian gas pipeline project. "I hope the Russians won't force us to change our position regarding the Nord Stream 2" pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. Maas also said "if there won't be an contributions from the Russian side regarding the investigation in the coming days, we will have to consult with our partners." He did not exclude possible sanctions against Russia, telling the newspaper that such measures should be "pinpointed effectively." However, Maas also admitted that halting the building of the nearly completed gas pipeline would harm German and European companies as well as Russia. "Whoever demands this has to be aware of the consequences," he said. "More than 100 companies from 12 European countries are involved (in the construction), about half of them from Germany." The German government has come under growing pressure to use the joint German-Russian pipeline project as leverage in getting Russia to provide answers on Navalny. The Nord Stream 2 project would deliver Russian gas directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea when completed, bypassing Ukraine. Navalny, a Kremlin critic and corruption investigator, fell ill on a flight to Moscow on Aug. 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk. He has been in an induced coma in a Berlin hospital since he was flown to Germany for treatment on Aug. 22. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called Navalny's poisoning an attempted murder that aimed to...

BERLIN (AP) - Germany on Sunday increased the pressure on Russia over the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, warning that a lack of support by Moscow in the investigation could "force" Germany to rethink the fate of a German-Russian gas pipeline project. "I hope the Russians won't force us to change our position regarding the Nord Stream 2" pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. Maas also said "if there won't be an contributions from the Russian side regarding the investigation in the coming days, we will have to consult with our partners." He did not exclude possible sanctions against Russia, telling the newspaper that such measures should be "pinpointed effectively." However, Maas also admitted that halting the building of the nearly completed gas pipeline would harm German and European companies as well as Russia. "Whoever demands this has to be aware of the consequences," he said. "More than 100 companies from 12 European countries are involved (in the construction), about half of them from Germany." The German government has come under growing pressure to use the joint German-Russian pipeline project as leverage in getting Russia to provide answers on Navalny. The Nord Stream 2 project would deliver Russian gas directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea when completed, bypassing Ukraine. Navalny, a Kremlin critic and corruption investigator, fell ill on a flight to Moscow on Aug. 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk. He has been in an induced coma in a Berlin hospital since he was flown to Germany for treatment on Aug. 22. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called Navalny's poisoning an attempted murder that aimed to...