A trip to Rome for state officials. Paid for in part by companies they regulate.
A group of US state officials flew free to Italy and stayed in a five-star Rome hotel thanks to a group funded by corporate interests. CNN's Kyung Lah reports.
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Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump wants a federal protest crackdown – or, at least, the illusion of one
President Donald Trump is nothing if not skilled at crafting alternate realities and using them to benefit himself politically. But his messaging around the Los Angeles protests has taken it to another level. You could be forgiven for thinking Trump wants to create the illusion of a federal crackdown on protesters without everything that comes with the real deal. That's not to say Trump is bluffing about a hands-on response — but there's also value in creating perceptions. Trump's decisions to send in the National Guard and mobilize the Marines are controversial for a whole host of reasons. But for now, the guard and the Marines aren't actually allowed to conduct law enforcement. The guard has had little engagement with protestors. Unless Trump invokes the Insurrection Act, the guard is restricted to protecting federal property and personnel. That translates to mostly guarding an immigration detention center and possibly assisting the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids that set off the protests. The Marines have done even less so far – the commandant, Gen. Eric Smith, said Tuesday that the Marines, while mobilized, haven't yet been called in to respond. As CNN's Josh Campbell reports, the bulk of the 4,000 National Guardsmen and 700 Marines that have been mobilized actually remain out of public view and likely won't even be seen publicly. And CNN's Haley Britzky and Natasha Bertrand reported Tuesday that the Marines have not received official tasks or orders yet and many are undergoing additional training before they potentially assist with the protests, citing US officials. But to hear Trump tell it, his decision to call in the troops has made all the difference in putting down violent demonstrations. 'We made a great decision in sending the National Guard to deal with the violent, instigated riots in California,' Trump said Tuesday in a social media post. 'If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated.' He added later: 'If I didn't 'SEND IN THE TROOPS' to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now.' Trump's comments gloss over the fact that the protests and violence are actually confined to a small portion of Los Angeles, with the vast majority of the city and Los Angeles County going about its regular business. But they also imply a much bigger role for the troops than we've actually seen. Trump made similar comments at a White House event later in the day. He said 'we ended' the violence, and: 'Los Angeles was under siege until we got there. The police were unable to handle it.' 'Last night, they had total control,' Trump said. 'If we didn't have the military in there, the National Guard – and then we also sent in some Marines,' he added before trailing off. Trump made similar comments on Monday, saying the guard had arrived 'just in time.' Talking about possibly sending in the Marines, Trump said, 'I mean, I think we have it very well under control. I think it would have been a very bad situation.' Shortly after, despite those comments, the Pentagon went on to mobilize 2,000 more National Guard troops and the 700 Marines who are standing by. The increased military presence could be acting as a deterrent to some violence. CNN's Kyung Lah, who is on the ground in Los Angeles covering the protests, told me the guard's biggest impact is as a 'show of force' and a target for people's ire, rather than engaging with protesters or rioters. After Trump's comments on Tuesday, CNN footage showed that law enforcement from the California National Guard, Department of Homeland Security as well as Immigrations and Customs Enforcement fired non-lethal tear gas outside a federal detention center to disperse protesters. Before that incident, Lah noted to me that guardsmen at the detention center at one point Sunday used their shields to push the crowd out. On Monday, they responded to a bottle being thrown at them by running down the steps and chasing people away. 'But that's about the extent of it,' Lah said. 'The real face-to-face, the clearing of the streets, all of that has been the LAPD.' It's theoretically possible that the shows of force and the mere threat of a truly hands-on federal crackdown could dissuade protesters from getting more violent. But there is little evidence this has truly quelled the protests. And Lah noted that many people have showed up to protest because of the deployment of the guard. The image Trump has painted in recent days evokes his yearslong flirtation with justified violence and the prospect of cracking down on demonstrators and supposedly evil forces within the United States. Trump has also spoken fondly of the ability of foreign strongmen to control their populations and squelch internal dissent. But while that image obviously appeals to Trump, an actual crackdown is much more fraught. That creates the possibility of an overzealous response and ugly scenes. And CNN polling five years ago amid racial-justice protests showed that 60% of Americans didn't want the military called in to respond to domestic protests, compared to 36% who said they did. It's possible Trump still aims for the real thing. But for now, he seems happy with trying to create the perception that the troops he called in are quashing the protests in LA. Emma Tucker and Kyung Lah contributed to this report.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
OpenAI's open model is delayed
The release of OpenAI's first open model in years will be delayed until later this summer, CEO Sam Altman announced in a post on X on Tuesday. Altman said the open model would be released sometime after June. "We are going to take a little more time with our open-weights model, i.e. expect it later this summer but not June," he wrote. "Our research team did something unexpected and quite amazing and we think it will be very very worth the wait, but needs a bit longer." OpenAI was targeting an early summer release date for its open model, which is slated to have similar "reasoning" capabilities to OpenAI's o-series of models. OpenAI aims for its open model to top the performance of other open reasoning models, such as DeepSeek's R1. In the months since OpenAI first announced its intent to release an open model, the space has become more competitive. On Tuesday, Mistral — another AI lab that often releases open models — released its first family of AI reasoning models, called Magistral. In April, the Chinese AI lab Qwen released a family of hybrid AI reasoning models that can switch off between taking time to "reason" through problems and also giving traditional, quick responses. Beyond increasing its performance on benchmarks, OpenAI has also considered adding several complex features to its open AI model to make it more competitive. TechCrunch previously reported that OpenAI leaders have discussed enabling the open AI model to connect to the company's cloud-hosted AI models for complex queries. However, it's unclear if these features will make it into the final open model. The release of OpenAI's open model seems to be important for the company's relationship with researchers and developers. Altman has previously said that OpenAI has landed on the "wrong side of history" when it comes to open sourcing its models. To rectify that image, the company faces immense pressure to release an open model that is competitive with the industry's best open offerings. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch at Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Axios
an hour ago
- Axios
Republicans warn Trump that some deportations go too far
Some GOP lawmakers are starting to warn the Trump administration to reconsider its all-in deportation push. Why it matters: Republicans are convinced they have a clear mandate to kick out hardened criminals and gang members. But differences are emerging on how aggressively ICE should deport workers, longtime residents and some people who've sought refuge from brutal regimes. The White House wants ICE to arrest 3,000 people a day, and dramatically boost their deportation numbers. That could lead to more workplace raids. Zoom in: Today's dissent is far from a GOP rebuke of Trump. But the outlines of a serious debate are taking shape. Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) is urging Trump officials to "prioritize the removal of known criminals over the hardworking people who have lived peacefully in the Valley for years." Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) is worried about deporting people "that have been here for a while. There's some talk of jobs, etc., and also disrupting parts of the economy. We need to work something else out for those," he told us. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) told CNN: "I think a big part of that is we all need to focus on convicted criminal, illegal aliens" instead of farm laborers. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) told us: "I think there are some legitimate folks who have potential legitimate claims that if you send them back to a regime like Cuba or Nicaragua or potentially North Korea … we might be sending them to a situation where we frankly just don't want to do that." The other side: Some of the most vulnerable House Republicans said they have few qualms about the way Trump's deportation campaign is being carried out. "Rule of law is important," Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told Axios. But "each case-by-case could be different, and I trust our ICE to do it by the book." Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) said his primary concern is Afghan SIV applicants, but that he has had "nothing but success in being able to help those folks." He added: "Now for folks who come here illegally, that's a different story. And I think ICE has a job to do." "I am supportive of enforcing immigration laws," Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.). "I don't selectively say we've got to enforce immigration law." Between the lines: How Trump, and Stephen Miller, interpret their immigration mandate will have implications for 2026. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), who represents a district won by former Vice President Harris, said: "I've pushed back, for instance, on the issue of Haiti and the total travel ban, because you have a situation on the ground in Haiti where there is not a stable government."
