As Trump ranted and rambled in Phoenix, his crowd slowly thinned  —  PHOENIX — Just before President Trump strolled onto the rally stage on Tuesday evening, four speakers took turns carefully denouncing hate, calling for unity and ever so subtly assuring the audience that the president is not racist.

Wall Street Journal Editor Admonishes Reporters Over Trump Coverage  —  Gerard Baker, the editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, has faced unease and frustration in his newsroom over his stewardship of the newspaper's coverage of President Trump, which some journalists there say has lacked toughness and verve.

James Clapper calls Trump speech ‘downright scary and disturbing’  —  (CNN)James Clapper, former director of National Intelligence, said Wednesday morning he questioned President Donald Trump's fitness for office.  —  “I really question his ability to be — his fitness to be — in this office …

Trump Holds Steady After Charlottesville; Supporters Think Whites, Christians Face Discrimination  —  PPP's newest national poll finds that Donald Trump's approval rating is pretty steady in the wake of the Charlottesville attack, probably because his supporters think that whites and Christians …

Shutdown threat grows as Trump digs in on wall  —  President Donald Trump's vow Tuesday to close down the government if he doesn't get money for the border wall mirrors private comments he has made to advisers in recent days — and could cause significant rifts within his own party if he follows through.

Rescued piglets served up as sausages to firefighters  —  A litter of piglets whose bacon was saved from a barn fire has been served up as dinner to the firefighters who rescued them.  —  The 18 piglets and two sows survived the fire in Wiltshire in February, which saw 60 tonnes of hay catch fire.

White House has paperwork ready for Joe Arpaio pardon  —  (CNN) The White House has prepared the paperwork for President Trump to pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio when he makes the final decision to do so, CNN has learned.  —  An administration official said the White House …

State Dept. science envoy resigns with letter that spells out ‘Impeach’  —  The science envoy for the State Department has resigned following President Trump's response to the violent clashes at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.  —  Daniel Kammen announced his resignation …

Statement of Federal Trade Commission's Acting Director of the Bureau of Competition on the Agency's Review of Amazon.com, Inc.'s Acquisition of Whole Foods Market Inc.  —  Bruce Hoffman, the Acting Director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition, issued this statement …

The Insidious Libertarian-to-Alt-Right Pipeline … Libertarianism has an alt-right problem.  Many prominent leaders of the alt-right have, at some point, identified as libertarian.  I am curious as to... why?  —  Milo Yiannopoulos has billed himself (and has been billed by others) as libertarian.

Exclusive: Hillary Clinton in her own words  —  Hillary Clinton reflects on the 2016 campaign in her new book ‘What Happened.’ Morning Joe has an exclusive first look. ...  more Duration: {{video.duration.momentjs}}

The strange story of that ‘Blacks for Trump’ guy standing behind POTUS at his Phoenix rally  —  At a number of political rallies over the year, a character calling himself “Michael the Black Man” has appeared in the crowd directly behind Donald Trump, impossible to miss and possibly planted.

CNN's Big Secret  —  BREAKING: Host reveals that journalists don't like Trump.  —  Now it can be told.  A CNN host named Brian Stelter confided to his audience this week about conversations occurring off-camera and off the record across the media landscape.  According to Mr. Stelter:

Fact-checking President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Phoenix  —  President Donald Trump defended his response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va., during a campaign rally in Phoenix, on Aug. 22, blaming the media for distorting or omitting his full comments.

The Guardian: We expect Rep. Gianforte ‘to be a man of his word’  —  Civility prevailed at the June 12 sentencing hearing for Greg Gianforte.  Just weeks earlier, Gianforte, heading toward a successful bid for Montana's sole congressional seat, body-slammed Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs instead …

German magazine cover shows Trump doing Nazi salute  —  A German news magazine's latest cover image shows President Trump doing a Nazi salute.  —  German publication Stern is portraying Trump wearing an American flag and doing the salute, which is illegal in Germany.

12 Days That Stunned a Nation: How Hillary Clinton Lost  —  WASHINGTON — Less than two weeks before Election Day, Hillary Clinton held a clear lead in the polls and it looked like her campaign was trying to run up the score — just as the race was about to turn upside down.

Trump snubbed missing US sailors during Arizona speech, referenced himself nearly 250 times  —  During his televised pity party Tuesday night in Phoenix, where Donald Trump spent huge chunks of time complaining about press coverage, Trump made no mention of the 10 U.S. sailors who remain missing …

Rabbis ditch High Holy Days call with Trump  —  A prominent coalition of American rabbis has decided not to hold its annual conference call with the president to mark Jewish holidays, citing Donald Trump's remarks on the recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, as supporting …

'He's anti-left, anti-PC, anti-stupid': Trump supporters in their own words  —  Trump is breath of fresh air.  He's totally not a political person.  He's a businessman: he's anti-left, he's anti-PC, he's anti-stupid.  He just wants to go in and make the best deal for Americans that he can.

16-year-old MPS student arrested after punching teacher several times in the head  —  MILWAUKEE — A teacher at South Division High School punched by a student.  The whole thing was captured on camera.  —  The video shows a student punching a teacher several times in the head.

After angry rally, Trump calls for healing in Nevada  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  Reno, Nevada (CNN)Hours after his irate campaign rally in Phoenix, President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for national healing.  —  “It is time to heal the wounds that divide us and to seek a new unity based …

Members of Trump's Infrastructure Panel Resign in Protest  —  Administration not responsive to sound advice, letter says  —  Analysis: Why Won't Trump Discuss Troop Numbers?  Defense to Get Historically High Share of Research Budget Trump's Tweet on Transgender Service Members Roils Congress

Global Economies Grow in Sync  —  Low interest rates help spur a rare expansion in all 45 countries tracked by the OECD  —  For the first time in a decade, the world's major economies are growing in sync, a result of lingering low-interest-rate stimulus from central banks and the gradual fading …