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Chapter 1: What is President Trump's latest meeting about with Ukraine's President Zelensky?
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Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump is welcoming back Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House. NPR's Deepa Shivram reports this hour's meeting is being held a day after President Trump said he had a long phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said they'd talk soon about ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump said that he and Putin will meet in Hungary after top advisors from the U.S. and Russia get together. He thinks that will happen within the next two weeks. Trump has said he'll tell Zelensky about his call with Putin. He also remarked that the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have a, quote, terrible relationship. I mean, we have a problem. They don't get along too well, those two.
And it's sometimes tough to have meetings. So we may do something where we're separate, but separate but equal. Trump last met Putin in Alaska this summer, but the meeting didn't result in any progress on ending the war.
Chapter 2: How is John Bolton responding to his legal challenges?
It also didn't result in a meeting between Zelensky and Putin, which Trump wanted. Deepa Shivaram, NPR News.
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton is pleading not guilty to 18 counts of allegedly mishandling classified information. He entered his plea at a federal court hearing in Maryland today. Bolton says he's become the latest target of President Trump's retaliation campaign against his critics.
Elliott Williams, who served as deputy assistant attorney general during the Obama administration, addresses the legitimacy of the case against Bolton. And at the same time, the president of the United States has impermissibly injected himself into a number of matters, including John Bolton's.
I would say if I were John Bolton's defense attorneys, that the president's repeated statements about John Bolton do cast at least some doubt on the indictment.
Elliott Williams is a CNN analyst now and spoke with NPR's Morning Edition. Venezuela's president says his country is poised to counter any American attempt to topple his government. NPR's Ada Peralta reports it comes after another U.S. airstrike in the Caribbean.
Citing U.S. officials, Reuters and other news organizations report that for a sixth time the U.S. military hit a vessel in the Caribbean.
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Chapter 3: What are Venezuela's President Maduro's comments on U.S. actions?
But this time there are survivors. It's unclear what happened to the survivors or if U.S. troops rendered aid. The recent strikes come after President Trump said he had approved covert CIA operations in Venezuela. Venezuelan President NicolƔs Maduro called the move immoral. But the Venezuelan people, he said, are ready to face the Americans.
We have millions of ears, he said, and millions of eyes. We have the means, Maduro said, to defeat this open conspiracy against the peace and stability of Venezuela. Edo Peralta, NPR News, Mexico City.
From Washington, this is NPR News. Well, a U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly has confirmed with NPR that Admiral Alvin Holsey, a head of U.S. Southern Command, stepped down from his post because of reservations over U.S. military attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea and the widening effort against Venezuela.
The official said Admiral Holsey met with Defense Secretary Pete Hackstaff at the Pentagon a week or so ago to express his concerns.
Chapter 4: What concerns led Admiral Alvin Holsey to step down from his post?
Hundreds of No Kings demonstrations are planned across the U.S. this weekend. Grassroots groups say they're organizing protests and marches in defense of U.S. democracy and to declare that President Trump's rule is not absolute.
The nationwide anti-Trump demonstrations take place against the backdrop of controversial immigration enforcement tactics under litigation and National Guard deployments to certain Democratic-led U.S.
Chapter 5: What are the planned protests against President Trump's rule?
cities. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is sending National Guard troops to the state capitol ahead of this weekend's No Kings Day protest in his state. From the Texas newsroom, here's Lucio Vasquez.
Governor Abbott says, without evidence, that the Austin protest is a, quote, Antifa-linked demonstration. The Republican governor says National Guard troops will be stationed at the state capitol building to protect Texans and nearby property.
Chapter 6: How is the stock market performing as of this news update?
This comes just weeks after Texas National Guard troops were sent to Chicago in response to a growing number of protests outside of immigration facilities. Several thousand No King's Day protests are set to take place over the weekend throughout the country. For NPR News, I'm Lucio Vasquez in Houston.
At last check on Wall Street, the Dow is up more than 120 points. This is NPR News.