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  • Newborn U.S. citizen and Guatemalan mom detained as she faces deportation

    Newborn U.S. citizen and Guatemalan mom detained as she faces deportation



    A Guatemalan woman who gave birth to an American baby less than a week ago is being held along with her newborn as she faces deportation, U.S. officials said.

    A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Sunday that the woman was apprehended by Customs and Border Patrol agents and hospitalized after she crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally while she was eight months pregnant.

    She gave birth in the hospital “under supervision,” the spokesperson said. She was discharged by the medical staff and transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement as she awaits a court date, the spokesperson added.

    A CBP spokesperson said in a separate statement Saturday that the woman “illegally crossed into the United States from Mexico between ports of entry near Tres Bellotas Ranch” in Arizona last week.

    The location is on federal land just north of the U.S.-Mexico border along a desolate stretch of the Sonoran Desert about 72 miles south-southwest of Tucson.

    Following hospitalization, the CBP spokesperson said, “processing” was completed and the unnamed mother was given a notice to appear before an immigration judge. Upon completion of the processing, the spokesperson said, she was given the opportunity to contact a lawyer.

    “This morning, custody of the woman was transferred to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations with a court date to appear before an immigration judge,” the CBP spokesperson said Saturday. “The child remains with the mother.”

    A lawyer for the woman, Luis Campos, told NBC affiliate KVOA of Tucson on Friday that his client gave birth Wednesday and that he had been denied access to her during her time under hospital care at Tucson Medical Center.

    A spokesperson for the medical center did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.

    Reuters reported Saturday that the mother “avoided fast-track deportation after intervention by” Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, who the publication said had intervened.

    “While Gov. Hobbs supports securing the border, she has been clear in her opposition to inhumane immigration enforcement practices,” Hobbs’ spokesperson, Liliana Soto, said Friday on X. “The governor will continue fighting to protect the constitutional rights of every Arizonan and keep our communities safe.”

    Hobbs’ press office did not immediately respond to a request for more information Sunday.

    The CBP spokesperson said Saturday that the mother had no right to legal representation until processing was completed and she had a court date.

    The spokesperson’s statement mentioned the woman has a child, but it did not mention she had just given birth in custody. It described her as “eight months pregnant” when she was apprehended north of the border.

    “She was immediately given the opportunity to contact an attorney” following processing and the establishment of a notice to appear, the spokesperson said. “At all times, agents followed the law and adhered to CBP procedures. No entitlements were denied.”

    The DHS spokesperson’s statement Sunday confirmed that the woman had crossed into the United States with an “unborn child.” It characterized her as having been “rescued” by CBP agents.

    Both DHS and CBP said the child has remained with her.

    Campos said he believes the woman will be deported and her child will be removed with her, despite the newborn’s status as a natural-born U.S. citizen. “The child will probably go with her,” he told KVOA.

    He said he hopes to apply for asylum for the woman because she feared for her life in Guatemala.

    Experts have said growing violence in Mexico along its border with Guatemala — where Guatemalans are known to work seasonal jobs in agriculture — along with a lack of job opportunities in their homeland have inspired tens of thousands of Guatemalans to trek north to the United States.

    President Donald Trump’s early second term in the White House has brought a promised crackdown on those in the United States illegally.

    Three other U.S. citizen children from two families were removed from the country with their mothers in late April under what representatives and critics have characterized as rapid deportation that aims to circumvent their right to due process, an allegation federal border agencies have denied.

    One of the recently removed children is a 4-year-old with Stage 4 cancer and a treatment regimen in the United States, representatives of his family have said.

    Trump’s border “czar,” Tom Homan, said April 28 that the mothers requested that their citizen children depart with them. “This was a parental decision,” he said.

    The mothers, however, said they were given no choice but to keep their young ones with them while they were being deported, according to a lawyer representing one of the families.

    Under an executive order, the Trump administration has also sought to end the kind of birthright citizenship — automatic U.S. nationality granted to almost anyone born in the country and its territories — to which the Guatemalan mother’s newborn is otherwise entitled.

    Federal courts paused the order, and the administration has requested emergency intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear the matter May 15.



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  • Trump says he will reopen ‘enlarged and rebuilt’ Alcatraz prison

    Trump says he will reopen ‘enlarged and rebuilt’ Alcatraz prison



    President Donald Trump said Sunday he will direct several federal agencies to “reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt Alcatraz,” a facility that for decades was a federal prison and is now a national park.

    “REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ! For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

    “I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders,” he added.

    Alcatraz Island, a former military fortress and prison in San Francisco Bay, was turned into a federal penitentiary in 1934 and over the course of 29 years housed more than 1,500 people “deemed difficult to incarcerate elsewhere in the federal prison system,” according to the National Park Service.

    According to a National Park Service study, it was initially deemed unfit to serve as a federal institution because of its small size, isolated location and lack of fresh water. However, Sanford Bates, the director of the Bureau of Prisons in 1933, later found it “an ideal place of confinement for about 200 of the most desperate or irredeemable types.” It was formally opened as a federal penitentiary the next year.

    Trump suggested in his post that he’d like to restore the facility to that purpose.

    “When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That’s the way it’s supposed to be,” he wrote.

    The Bureau of Prisons didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night.

    According to the Bureau of Prisons, the average population of Alcatraz during its use was 260 to 275. The facility never reached its capacity of 336 people, and it held less than 1% of the total federal prison population.

    Trump seemed to suggest the island could be used to house some undocumented immigrants he has been seeking to remove from the country, making a pointed reference in his post to “judges that are afraid to do their job and allow us to remove criminals who came into our country illegally.”

    Trump in March sent more than 200 deportees he accused of being Venezuelan gang members to a terrorism confinement center in El Salvador, arguing his invocation of the Alien Enemies Act enabled him to do so, even though a federal judge blocked the effort.

    A Trump-appointed federal judge last week rejected Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport the alleged Venezuelan gang members.

    Trump decried the judicial rulings in explaining his rationale for reopening the prison Sunday evening, describing Alcatraz as a famous “symbol of law and order.”

    “The judges, so many of these radicalized judges, they want to have trials for every single, think of it, every single person that’s in our country illegally,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Sunday evening. “That would mean millions of trials, and it’s just so ridiculous what’s happening.”

    Trump similarly announced an effort in March to detain immigrants he’s seeking to deport in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, but concerns about the legality and the cost of the move have led the administration to reconsider the plan.

    The Bureau of Prisons operates at least 120 federal institutions and manages a population of 156,254 people.

    It is unclear how feasible the move is considering ongoing budget constraints at the Bureau of Prisons, which told a union representing some of its staff members in December that it planned to close several facilities.

    Alcatraz closed as a penitentiary in 1963, according to the Bureau of Prisons, because of expensive operating costs further heightened by the physical isolation of the island, which meant all food and supplies had to be delivered by boat.

    “An estimated $3-5 million was needed just for restoration and maintenance work to keep the prison open. That figure did not include daily operating costs — Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive to operate than any other Federal prison,” the Bureau of Prisons wrote of the penitentiary’s closing.

    Nearly a decade later, in 1972, Congress established the Golden Gate National Recreational Area, which included Alcatraz Island. The complex opened to the public a year later, and it has gone on to become among the most popular National Park Service sites, according to the agency, hosting more than 1 million visitors annually.

    Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House speaker, whose district includes the island, said Trump’s proposal “is not a serious one,” noting on X that it is now “a major tourist attraction.”

    A spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom also downplayed the legitimacy of the idea.

    “Looks like it’s distraction day again in Washington, D.C.,” said Diana Crofts-Pelayo, Newsom’s deputy director of communication.



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  • Mike Pence receives JFK Profile in Courage Award for January 6 actions

    Mike Pence receives JFK Profile in Courage Award for January 6 actions



    BOSTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday repeatedly invoked the Constitution and said it is what “binds us all together” after receiving the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.

    Pence received the award for his refusal to go along with President Donald Trump’s efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election. The award recognizes Pence “for putting his life and career on the line to ensure the constitutional transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021,” the JFK Library Foundation said.

    “To forge a future together, we have to find common ground,” Pence said. “I hope in some small way my presence here tonight is a reminder that whatever differences we may have as Americans, the Constitution is the common ground on which we stand. It’s what binds us across time and generations. …. It’s what makes us one people.”

    His comments came hours after an interview with Trump aired in which he was asked whether U.S. citizens and noncitizens both deserve due process as laid out in the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. Trump was noncommittal.

    “I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know,” Trump said when pressed in an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker. It was taped Friday at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and aired Sunday.

    Pence never mentioned Trump during his 10-minute speech but made several references to the Trump administration.

    Referencing what he called “these divided times, in these anxious days,” he acknowledged that he probably had differences with the Democrats in the room but also with his own Republican Party “on spending, tariffs and my belief that America is the leader of the free world and must stand with Ukraine until the Russian invasion is repelled and a just and lasting peace is secured.”

    Trump pressured Pence to reject election results from swing states where the Republican president falsely claimed the vote was marred by fraud. Pence refused, saying he lacked such authority. When a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, some chanted that they wanted to “hang Mike Pence.” Pence was whisked away by Secret Service agents, narrowly avoiding a confrontation with the rioters.

    “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify,” Trump wrote at the time on X, formerly Twitter, as rioters moved through the Capitol and Pence was in hiding with his family, aides and security detail inside the building.

    Pence rejected the Secret Service’s advice that he leave the Capitol, staying to continue the ceremonial election certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory once rioters were cleared.

    In describing his role, Pence told the audience that “by God’s grace I did my duty that day to support the peaceful transfer of power under the Constitution of the United States of America.”

    “Jan. 6 was a tragic day but it became a triumph of freedom. History will record that our institutions held,” he said in his speech. “Leaders in both chambers, in both political parties reconvened the very same day and finished democracy’s work under the Constitution.”

    JFK’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy, who along with his grandson Jack Schlossberg presented the award, said Pence’s actions that day were a reminder that democracy must not be taken for granted.

    “At the time I thought Vice President Pence was just doing his job,” she said. “Only later did I realize that his act of courage saved our government and warned us about what could happen and is happening right now.”

    The Profile in Courage Award, named for a book Kennedy published in 1957 before he became president, honors public officials who take principled stands despite the potential political or personal consequences. Previous recipients of the award include former Presidents Barack Obama, George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford.

    Pence has emerged as one of the few Republicans willing to take on the Trump administration.

    His political action group, Advancing American Freedom, campaigned against the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the nation’s health agencies. He’s delivered speeches urging the president to stand with longtime foreign allies and posted an article he penned more than a decade ago on the limits of presidential power after Trump claimed that, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”



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  • Philadelphia police investigate antisemitic incident at Barstool bar

    Philadelphia police investigate antisemitic incident at Barstool bar


    Philadelphia police are investigating, and a Temple University student has been suspended, following an antisemitic incident at the Barstool Sports bar in the city Saturday night.

    Video posted to social media shows a woman who appears to be a server at Barstool Sansom Street carrying a sign that is included in bottle service tables. The sign bares an anti-Jewish message containing profanity, which a man seen in the video repeats multiple times.

    Barstool Sansom Street did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night.

    Police are gathering information and will provide an update “as soon as possible,” Officer Tanya Little, a Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson, said in a statement Sunday.

    Temple University said in a statement Sunday that students at the school “were involved in an antisemitic incident at an off-campus location” the night prior.

    The school said it identified one student believed to have been involved and placed that student on interim suspension. It did not name the student.

    The Division of Student Affairs is investigating, and the school said anyone else found to have been involved “will face strict disciplinary action,” including possible expulsion.

    “In the strongest terms possible, let me be clear: antisemitism is abhorrent,” Temple University President John Fry said in the statement. “It has no place at Temple and acts of hatred and discrimination against any person or persons are not tolerated at this university.”

    Barstool founder and CEO Dave Portnoy
    Barstool founder and CEO Dave Portnoy in Chicago on Nov. 8, 2023.Michael Hickey / Getty Images

    Barstool founder Dave Portnoy commented on the incident Sunday in an expletive-filled video posted to social media that he called an “emergency press conference.”

    Portnoy, who is Jewish, said he was so mad that he shook for two hours over the incident. He said he was making it his life’s mission to “ruin these people,” adding that he’s “coming for your throat.” He softened his tone in a later post, saying the incident can serve as a “teaching moment.”

    Portnoy said in a later that the two bottle service workers serving the table have been fired.  

    In the first video, Portnoy said he had spoken with one of the two servers, a man who was tagged in the video shared on social media, and one of the people who Portnoy said “did it.” He said in a later post that he gave the culprits “1 hour to make it right.”

    Security footage from the bar indicated the person tagged in the video posted to social media was not in the establishment at the time of the incident, Portnoy said.

    “What I’m saying is I’m getting the names. I’m trying to be a little responsible. I’m trying to keep it together. But I’m on it,” Portnoy said.

    Barstool Sansom Street.
    Barstool Sansom Street.Google Maps

    Portnoy closed out his Sunday social media posts on the matter with a second “emergency press conference” video.

    Upon reflection, Portnoy said, his initial reaction to “burn these people to the ground” was not the best course of action.

    “Let’s try to, like, turn a hideous incident into maybe a learning experience,” he said.

    Portnoy said he spoke to the two people who allegedly ordered the anti-Jewish sign, as well as to their families. He said they have agreed to his offer to send them to visit Auschwitz, a World War II concentration camp that now offers tours and educational materials.

    He said he hopes they learn something and that in the future they think twice before throwing words around.

    “To me, that’s a fair outcome of this event,” Portnoy said. “We’re going to send them … to Auschwitz and learn a little bit about history and hopefully, you know, get educated and use this as a teaching moment, not just for them, but maybe for everybody.”



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  • Trump set to announce the 2027 NFL draft will be in Washington — possibly on the National Mall

    Trump set to announce the 2027 NFL draft will be in Washington — possibly on the National Mall



    President Donald Trump is expected to announce Monday an agreement for Washington D.C. to host the 2027 NFL draft, a person familiar with the plans told NBC News. The aim is for the event to take place on the National Mall.

    Axios was first to report the news. The NFL declined to comment.

    The announcement comes just days after Commanders owner Josh Harris and D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser went public with plans to return to the district and build a new stadium after 27 years in Maryland.

    The NFL draft is an annual selection of the top college football players by individual teams. To be eligible, players must have been out of high school for at least three years. 

    From 1965-2014, the draft took place in New York City but has since rotated to different host cities. More than 600,000 people were on site in Green Bay, Wis. in April for the most recent three-day event.

    Trump, who once owned a United States Football League team and aspired (but failed) to own an NFL franchise, followed the 2025 draft from afar. He took to social media to criticize NFL owners for not taking Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders in the first round.

    “What is wrong with NFL owners, are they STUPID?” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Deion Sanders was a great college football player, and was even greater in the NFL. He’s also a very good coach, streetwise and smart! Therefore, Shedeur, his quarterback son, has PHENOMENAL GENES, and is all set for Greatness. He should be ‘picked’ IMMEDIATELY by a team that wants to WIN. Good luck Shedeur, and say hello to your wonderful father!”

    Sanders, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, was expected to be a top pick but fell to the fifth round before being taken by the Cleveland Browns.



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  • Trump announces plans for 100% tariffs on all foreign movies

    Trump announces plans for 100% tariffs on all foreign movies


    President Donald Trump announced plans Sunday to implement a 100% tariff on movies made in other countries that are imported to the United States, decrying other nations for offering financial incentives meant to “draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States.”

    “Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to foreign films as “messaging and propaganda.”

    “I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands,” he continued.

    Trump told reporters at the White House on Sunday that “other nations have been stealing the movies, the moviemaking capabilities from the United States,” blaming California Gov. Newsom for the decline in film production in Hollywood specifically over the last several years.

    A spokesman for Newsom did not respond to a request for comment Sunday night.

    “If they’re not willing to make a movie inside the United States, we should have a tariff when movies come in,” Trump said. “I can tell you one thing, moviemakers love it.”

    The American film industry has suffered a series of economic blows in recent years, including the Hollywood labor strikes and the Covid-19 pandemic. 

    Physical production has declined in California amid budget cuts and more generous tax incentives elsewhere. FilmLA, a nonprofit organization that coordinates film permits and supports on-location production in the Los Angeles region, reported lower-than-average soundstage occupancy in recent years. The report notes that competing jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and Ontario, Canada, have more than doubled their stage production capacity over the last years, alongside other U.S. states, such as New York and Georgia.

    However, while overall production was down in Los Angeles, the report found that the production of feature films specifically was up 18.8% last year, though the category is still well below its five-year average.

    “Unfortunately for all involved, fewer film, television and commercial projects in production makes it harder to fill studio vacancies,” the report read.

    Trump appointed actors Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone as special ambassadors to Hollywood in January, calling the industry a “great but very troubled place.” Their job, Trump said at the time, was to bring business back to Hollywood, which he said “has lost much business over the last four years to foreign countries.”

    Last month, Voight’s manager, Steven Paul, confirmed to NBC News that he and Voight intended to present Trump with a suite of ideas to ramp up American film and television production. It is unclear whether that meeting has occurred.

    NBC News did not immediately receive responses to requests for comment from Paul; the Motion Picture Association, a trade group that represents studios; Cinema United, a trade group that represents movie theaters; and several distributors that release foreign-made films, including Netflix.

    China announced new tariffs on Hollywood films imported into the country about a month ago, though Reuters reports the move was unlikely to have a significant financial impact on Hollywood given steadily declining box office returns from China.



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  • U.K. probing possible link between two suspected state-sponsored Iranian plots

    U.K. probing possible link between two suspected state-sponsored Iranian plots



    British authorities are investigating two plots involving mostly Iranian nationals in the United Kingdom that appear at this stage of the investigation likely to be state-sponsored, according to a senior official briefed on the threat. 

    Eight people have been arrested in London and in other parts of the U.K. over the weekend, according to statements from local authorities. Seven of them are Iranian nationals, officials said.

    Police said three of the men were arrested under Section 27 of the U.K.’s 2023 National Security Act, which law allows police to arrest people suspected of acting in association with a foreign power.

    Officials said the two plots were separate, but the senior official briefed on the threat said British law enforcement is now trying to determine whether the same entity was directing both plots.  

    The CIA and the U.S. National Intelligence Director’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

    Some information about one of the two plots came to light early Sunday local time.

    In the first announcement of arrests, Metropolitan Police said they took five men into custody, four of whom are of Iranian descent, in connection with what they called “an alleged terror plot in the U.K.”

    The men range, who are 29 to 46, were arrested in various areas around the U.K. — including Swindon, London, Stockport, Rochdale and Manchester — under the Terrorism Act “on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act,” police said. The age and the nationality of the fifth man is still being determined.

    All remain in police custody. A motive was not immediately clear.

    Police said a “fast moving” investigation into the first potential attack was underway. Counterterrorism police alleged the first group was targeting a specific site but declined to say where.

    Details about the other purported attack plan have not been revealed.

    Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called the two attacks “major operations” and said they reflect “some of the biggest counter-state threat and counterterrorism operations that we have seen in recent years,” according to video of the statement from Sky News. She also called the ongoing investigation “immensely important.”

    Iranian nationals in the past have targeted U.K.-based Iranians. In one case, an independent television named network Iran International — which broadcasts in Farsi and had been critical of the Iranian government — moved from London to the United States after its journalists received state-backed threats from Iran, the BBC reported in 2023.

    According to an ITV News investigation of that plot, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps planned to kill two journalists at the network using a people smuggler, whom they paid $200,000 to carry out the attack. The plan was ultimately foiled when the smuggler became a “double agent” for an unnamed Western intelligence agency, according to the investigation.

    In March 2024, another Iran International journalist was targeted and stabbed outside his London home, The Associated Press reported at the time. Two Romanian men were later charged in the attack.

    The U.K. has responded to 20 Iran-backed plots since the start of 2022, which present “potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents,” U.K. Minister of State Dan Jarvis said in an update last month, citing MI5 officials.

    Jarvis said Iran is targeting dissidents, media organizations and journalists reporting on the violent oppression of the Iranian regime.

    He added that Iran could also be planning attacks on Jewish or Israeli target, citing a “long-standing pattern of targeting Jewish and Israeli people internationally by the Iranian Intelligence Services.”

    “It is clear that these plots are a conscious strategy of the Iranian regime to stifle criticism through intimidation and fear,” Jarvis said.



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  • Trump defends his tariffs and Sovereignty reigns at Kentucky Derby: Weekend Rundown

    Trump defends his tariffs and Sovereignty reigns at Kentucky Derby: Weekend Rundown


    President Donald Trump played down the fears of his critics — from the potential harms of a recession to worries about rising prices due to his tariffs to the possibility that he would seek a constitutionally forbidden third term — in a wide-ranging, exclusive interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker.

    With his approval numbers sliding modestly amid a flurry of executive actions, Trump waved away concerns about rising prices on some goods in the wake of his expansive program of tariffs.

    Asked about small businesses concerned about pain from tariffs on Chinese goods, Trump said “many businesses are being helped” and that there was no need for the relief some small businesses are seeking.

    “They’re not going to need it. They’re going to make so much money,” he said.

    The president suggested that Americans ought to be able to make do with fewer common goods, like dolls or pencils. Asked about rising prices on items like tires or strollers, Trump pivoted to gasoline, saying that was “thousands of times more important.”

    In the interview, he also:

    • Clarified that he wants to be “a two-term president,” acknowledging the constraints preventing him from seeking a third term in 2028.
    • Defended the high cost of a “big, beautiful” military parade in Washington, D.C., to commemorate Flag Day, which also happens to fall on his birthday.

    You can read a fact-check of Trump’s interview here. You can also read the full transcript here.

    Notable quote

    I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.

    President Donald Trump

    Trump, when asked if he has to “uphold the Constitution,” argued that fulfilling his ambitious campaign promise to rapidly carry out mass deportations may take precedence over giving immigrants the right to due process under the Constitution, as required by courts.

    Kentucky Derby winner overcame injuries and the odds

    On a muddy track at Churchill Downs, 9-to-1 outsider Sovereignty won the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby, with favorite Journalism ending up in second place.

    Jockey Junior Alvarado, who takes home $3.1 million in winnings, had already pulled off an upset of his own, bouncing back from a hairline fracture in his shoulder two months ago that left him sidelined for weeks.

    He said: “Every day since I got the injury I kept telling God, ‘Please heal me, please heal me. If it’s meant to be, I know you’re going to put me right back in action before the Derby.’”

    Alvarado spoke of Sovereignty’s loyalty, noting how the horse stuck by him when he couldn’t ride.

    “I didn’t have any reservations about him,” Sovereignty trainer Bill Mott said in reference to the horse. “Everything had gone smoothly. Ordinarily to win these kinds of races, you can’t have any hiccups in your training schedule or the way the horse is doing.”

    But the derby didn’t just bring high-stakes races. It also, of course, brought a host of fabulous outfits and mint juleps galore.

    The ‘Asian Pope Francis’ who could be next

    Image: Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle
    Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle attends a mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.Tiziana Fabi / AFP – Getty Images

    Luis Antonio Tagle, a Filipino cardinal known for his emphasis on poor and marginalized people, has emerged as a leading contender as cardinals prepare to meet Wednesday to begin the process of electing Francis’ replacement.

    Like Francis, the Jesuit-educated Tagle, 67, adopted a simple life that has led to comparisons to the late pontiff.

    If chosen as pope, Tagle could carry with him some lessons from the Philippines. Despite being the biggest Catholic nation in Asia — about 80% of Filipinos are Catholic — and the third-largest in the world, it is also one of the more LGBTQ-friendly countries in the region.

    Edwin Valles, former president of Courage Philippines, an LGBTQ organization under the Archdiocese of Manila, says he is certain that Tagle would continue embracing the gay community.

    But Noel Asiones, an academic researcher from the University of Santo Tomas, a Catholic university in Manila, told NBC News that Tagle lacks the “prophetic voice” that saw Francis exert moral authority on issues like capitalism or the injustices of war.

    In case you missed it

    • Lady Gaga says she was unaware of a thwarted bomb threat in Rio de Janeiro until learning about it from media reports.
    • The Trump administration on Monday will resume the collection of defaulted student loan payments from millions of people for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
    • The administration also plans to significantly shrink the workforce at spy agencies, with about 1,000 to 1,200 jobs to be cut at the CIA, two sources with knowledge of the matter told NBC News.
    • Warren Buffett, 94, will step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year, with designated successor Greg Abel taking the reins.
    • A magnitude-5.3 earthquake struck West Texas on Saturday night, part of a swarm of earthquakes to rock the area near the state’s border with New Mexico. No injuries were reported.
    • People in Gaza have been pushed into increasingly crowded areas, and a humanitarian zone once deemed safe is no longer designated as such, according to an NBC News analysis of maps, evacuation orders, statements and interviews.
    • A community in south Texas voted Saturday to become a new city centered around Elon Musk’s SpaceX.



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  • Oscar Piastri wins a lively F1 Miami Grand Prix to extend his championship lead

    Oscar Piastri wins a lively F1 Miami Grand Prix to extend his championship lead


    MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Oscar Piastri won an action-packed Formula 1 race full of wheel-to-wheel battles on Sunday, extending his championship lead over fellow McLaren driver Lando Norris, who finished in second place.

    The Miami Grand Prix secured the city’s place on the Formula 1 calendar with a contract extension through 2041, reflecting a huge bet by the sport on the growing U.S. market.

    The opening sequence proved crucial for Piastri. He qualified fourth, two positions behind Norris, but got ahead of his teammate as Norris tangled with Red Bull pole-sitter Max Verstappen in the first few corners and lost positions. The British driver fell to 6th place, accusing his Dutch competitor of pushing him off the track.

    Verstappen, the reigning four-time world champion, aggressively defended against the charging McLarens of Piastri and then Norris, but was ultimately unable to keep the two behind. Verstappen and Norris battled for second place over multiple laps and traded positions before Norris ultimately won out. Meanwhile, Piastri built up a 9-second gap out front that was important to his win.

    Norris closed the gap significantly in the final stretch of the race but he ran out of laps and finished 4.6 seconds behind Piastri.

    “It was a good thing that I built that gap in the first stint,” Piastri said after the race, adding that he was struggling later in the race.

    Piastri now leads Norris by 16 points in the championship standings, having won four out of the opening six races.

    Mercedes driver George Russell completed the podium in third place. Verstappen finished fourth after falling behind Russell during the pit stops.

    There was drama between Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, leading to curt radio messages by Hamilton accusing Ferrari of poor teamwork when he got stuck behind his teammate while on faster tires. Leclerc finished 7th, and Hamilton 8th.

    F1 will race in Miami through at least 2041

    The Miami Grand Prix, which held its first race in 2022, is now the longest-contracted race on the calendar, the promoters said.

    F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali called Miami “one of the most important and spectacular events on our calendar.”

    “Extending this agreement until 2041 is a strategic milestone of enormous importance, which strengthens our presence in America and consolidates the ever-deepening bond with our fan base there, which is constantly growing and passionate like never before,” Domenicali said in a statement.

    The Miami paddock and weekend party circuit were abuzz with celebrities and VIPs, including former football players Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, Olympic medalist Lindsey Vonn, comedian Andrew Schulz, singer Jelly Roll and Lisa, the Thai singer and actress who appeared in the recent season of the White Lotus.

    While President Donald Trump didn’t make an appearance as he did last year, his Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard attended and was photographed speaking to Verstappen after the Saturday qualifying session.

    Tulsi Gabbard speaks to Max Verstappen
    Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard congratulates Dutch Formula One driver Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Saturday.Greg Nash / UPI via Alamy Live News

    The weekend included a shortened “sprint” race on Saturday that turned chaotic amid rain and was won by Norris. One of the stars in Miami was the 18-year-old Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, who made history as the youngest-ever pole-sitter in the Saturday sprint.

    Antonelli finished sixth in the Sunday race, behind Alex Albon of Williams who scored an impressive fifth place.

    Cadillac F1 team launches

    On the night before before the race, the Cadillac F1 team unveiled its logo at a swanky red-carpet launch party in Miami Beach as it prepares to join the grid next year.

    “This decision was made with the fans in mind and continues to push the boundaries of motorsport to the highest level. Cadillac’s entry represents a powerful fusion of American engineering excellence, heritage, and innovation and I look forward to welcoming them,” said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the president of the FIA, the sport’s governing body.

    In attendance was Mario Andretti, the 1978 F1 world champion who is advising the team on driver selection and other matters.

    “Seeing the Cadillac Formula 1 team come to life was an adrenaline rush, coming from my passion and love for it. It was a celebration of teamwork, dedication and resilience. A night to acknowledge the effort and perseverance of so many people,” Andretti told NBC News. “My congratulations to Cadillac and to each individual who helped navigate and offer reassurance about the future. I’m so proud to be on this team with them.”

    Jerry Bruckheimer previews the F1 movie

    The paddock featured a garage experience aimed at promoting the upcoming F1 movie, starring Brad Pitt, which is slated to be released by Warner Bros in the U.S. on June 27. The area included an immersive opportunity, produced by the Los Angeles-based creative agency Sturdy.co, for VIPs and attendees to listen to the F1 movie’s album. It also offered F1 race simulators decked out in style of the fictional “APXGP” team for which Pitt’s character races.

    “It’s romantic, it’s exciting, and it’s most authentic racing movie ever made because of the technology we were able to use,” producer Jerry Bruckheimer said in an interview in the paddock. “The story is emotional. It’s a comeback story — the kind of stuff that inspired me to go see movies and make movies.”

    Pitt plays a retired F1 driver named Sonny Hayes who unexpectedly returns to racing years after a horrible crash.

    Bruckheimer said Pitt trained for three months to learn to drive an F1 car. “[Brad] did all his own driving,” he said. “He loves driving cars. And I think the saddest day for Brad is when he had to step out of the car and we wrapped the movie. I was more relieved than anybody else, that everything was safe.”



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  • Catholics criticize Trump after he posts image of himself as pope

    Catholics criticize Trump after he posts image of himself as pope


    WASHINGTON — Days before cardinals are set to gather for the papal conclave to select the next head of the Catholic Church, President Donald Trump posted a seemingly AI-generated image depicting himself as pope.

    The image, posted on Friday and amplified by the White House, didn’t sit well with a group of Catholics, who took to social media over the weekend to condemn the portrayal.

    “There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President,” said the X account for the New York State Catholic Conference, which represents bishops in the state who work on public policy initiatives.

    Donald Trump meets Pope Francis
    Pope Francis meets President Donald Trump in Vatican City on May 24, 2017.Mondadori via Getty Images

    “We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St. Peter,” the post continued, referring to the first pope. “Do not mock us.”

    The image, which appears to have been generated by artificial intelligence, depicts the president in white Catholic regalia, similar to what Francis and his predecessors wore. In the picture, the president also wore a large cross necklace and sat on a chair with golden accents.

    Trump posted the image to Truth Social on Friday evening, and the White House amplified the post on X shortly after.

    Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, who was named a member of the White House’s Religious Liberty Commission on Thursday, told NBC News’ Anne Thompson that the image “wasn’t good.” Dolan added in Italian that the image made a bad impression.

    Dolan will be among the more than 100 cardinals who are gathering in the Vatican starting May 7 to elect a new pope.

    Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, a Trump critic, said in a post to X that the image posted by the president “offends believers, insults institutions and shows that the leader of the global right enjoys being a clown,” according to a Google Translate interpretation.

    James Martin, a Jesuit priest who serves as the editor-at-large for the Jesuit publication America Magazine, also said in a post to X that “even though I find this deeply offensive, I will presume that Mr. Trump meant this light-heartedly.”

    “But imagine the incandescent outrage, the swift condemnation, and the individual and joint protests from the US bishops if this had been done by Joe Biden or Barack Obama,” Martin added.

    The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday afternoon.

    But Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, weighed in on the controversy. He responded to a post from Bill Kristol, the editor-at-large of The Bulwark and the director of Defending Democracy Together, who tagged Vance and asked whether he was “fine with this disrespect and mocking of the Holy Father.”

    “As a general rule, I’m fine with people telling jokes and not fine with people starting stupid wars that kill thousands of my countrymen,” Vance responded.

    The Associated Press also reported that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to the criticism, saying, “President Trump flew to Italy to pay his respects for Pope Francis and attend his funeral, and he has been a staunch champion for Catholics and religious liberty.”

    Last week, Trump also joked that he would like to be Pope Francis’ successor.

    “I’d like to be pope. That would be my number one choice,” Trump told reporters. 

    Francis died on April 21 of a cerebral stroke, coma and “cardiocirculatory collapse,” according to the death certificate issued by the Vatican. He was 88.



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