Biden finds wins abroad easier to come by than at home
CNN
Meeting his foreign counterparts behind closed doors in Rome this weekend, President Joe Biden repeatedly recited for them a key figure: $555 billion.
That is the massive sum of money set aside to combat climate change in the sweeping social spending plan he's been trying to get through Congress. In conference rooms and in hallways, Biden wielded the number -- by far the largest amount ever for climate -- to prove to his fellow leaders that America is finally ready to tackle the world's existential problem.
He'd once hoped the money would be approved by the time he arrived in Europe last week for a pair of high-profile international summits -- timing that might also boost Democrat Terry McAuliffe's lagging campaign for governor in Virginia.
Venezuelan authorities are investigating opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for alleged treason after she expressed support for a US bipartisan bill that seeks to block Washington from doing business with any entity that has commercial ties with the government of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.
Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the intelligence community, was briefly placed on a Transportation Security Administration list that prompts additional security screening before flights after her overseas travel patterns and foreign connections triggered a government algorithm earlier this year, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN.