| | | | Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam defeated former Rep. Tom Perriello to win the Democratic nomination for governor -- coasting to a win in a hotly contested race. Northam was backed by the state's entire Democratic establishment, raised more money and turned in a strong performance with African-American voters, while Perriello had big-name backing from the worlds of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
The Republican side is the real shocker. The establishment pick, Ed Gillespie, is just barely ahead of pro-Donald Trump candidate Corey Stewart, who campaigned to save Virginia's Confederate monuments from "political correctness." Follow the results here. | | Trump calls the House Republican health care bill 'mean' | | If you're a Republican member of Congress, how's this for whiplash:
May 4, as President Donald Trump celebrated the House's passage of an Obamacare repeal bill in the Rose Garden with Republicans: "This is a great plan. ... What we have is something very, very incredibly well-crafted."
Today, when Trump met for lunch with Republican senators at the White House, he called that exact bill "mean" and "coldhearted" and also called it a "son of a b----." He said the Senate "needs to spend more money" in its version.
What's going on here? In today's lunch, Trump made clear multiple times that he was pleased the Senate negotiations appeared to be moving away from where the House version of the repeal and replace effort ended up, three sources familiar with the meeting tell CNN's Dan Merica, Jim Acosta, Lauren Fox and Phil Mattingly. "He made pretty clear that he thinks the House bill leaves people -- many of which probably make up his base -- in a bad place," one congressional source with direct knowledge of the meeting said.
What Trump wants: Trump told the lawmakers the House bill didn't go far enough in protecting individuals in the marketplace -- and appeared to use that as his rationale for why he has ambiguously called twice for the Senate to "add more money" to the bill. The positive comments about the Senate plan tracks with Trump telling reporters during the meeting that the Senate should spend more on the bill to make it "generous, kind (and) with heart."
One GOP Senate aide said there wasn't a lot of substance in the meeting. "I think the whole point of the meeting was just the television shot of Trump surrounded by (female Sens. Joni) Ernst and (Lisa) Murkowski," the aide said. | | "I'm not able to be rushed this fast, it makes me nervous." -- Attorney General Jeff Sessions, while being grilled by California Sen. Kamala Harris -- whose star is on the rise as a Democratic 2020 prospect even as she earned a rebuke from Senate intelligence Chairman Richard Burr for the second week in a row. | | | Jeff Sessions: Russia collusion claim 'detestable lie' | | Attorney General Jeff Sessions infuriated Democratic senators today by repeatedly thwarting their efforts to shed light on the firing of James Comey, as he blasted "secret innuendo" and leaks over his own conduct, CNN's Stephen Collinson writes.
In a fiery Senate intelligence committee hearing, Sessions raised his voice in indignation as he rejected claims that he had colluded with Russian officials during the 2016 election as an "appalling and detestable lie." He repeatedly declined to go into his private conversations with President Donald Trump -- frustrating Democrats who accused him of "stonewalling" to shield the administration.
Sessions beseeched his former Senate colleagues to believe him when he said he did not hold an undisclosed meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at a speech by then-candidate Trump at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington last year. He said he could not recall if he had any informal interactions with Russians at the event. "I did not have any private meetings nor recall any private conversations with any Russian official at the Mayflower Hotel," Sessions told the Senate intelligence committee.
(Hat tip to CNN's Eli Watkins for the Sessions GIF.) | | | President Donald Trump apparently blocked VoteVets on Twitter after the organization's director of government relations, Iraq War veteran Will Fischer, issued a series of tweets declaring Trump's travel ban, treatment of US allies, praise for Vladimir Putin and more "a threat to our national security." | | 3 things you might have missed today | | US ambassador to Qatar to step down amid diplomatic crisis: US Ambassador to Qatar Dana Shell Smith announced she will step down later this month, as planned, after serving in the post for three years. Her decision comes in the midst of a major diplomatic crisis in the region, a week after major Gulf nations severed ties with Doha. More from CNN's Zachary Cohen.
How the US secured Otto Warmbier's release from North Korea: New details are emerging about US efforts to secure the release of American college student Otto Warmbier after more than 17 months in detention in North Korea. The 22-year-old contracted botulism and is in "bad shape" but en route back to the United States, a source close to the family told CNN. More from CNN's Elise Labott and Zachary Cohen.
Senate narrowly votes to back Saudi arms sale: The Senate narrowly voted to support a $510 million sale of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia, defeating a resolution to block the sale in a 47-to-53 vote. More from CNN's Jeremy Herb. | | | The chairman of the Senate rules committee suddenly bars reporters from filming senators in Capitol hallways -- then reinstates the decision while his committee reviewed the matter. ... President Donald Trump will award his first Medal of Honor as president to James McCloughan of the US Army for "conspicuous gallantry during the Vietnam War." ... Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says that criticism of her position on discrimination in schools is "hurtful" and "couldn't be further from the truth." | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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