Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin realizes the United States can “shut him down with our energy capabilities” amid a push from the Trump administration for an end to the war in Ukraine.
“I think Putin realizes too we could shut him down with our energy capabilities,” Burchett told NewsNation’s Blake Burman on “The Hill,” adding later that “under this new EPA we’ve got, I think — I think you’re going to see more — more production, and that we can fluctuate those markets.”
“And I think Putin completely realizes that he cannot do without oil. And so, I think there’s a lot behind the scenes going on,” he added.
On Monday, President Trump said he spoke with Putin in the wake of meetings at the White House with key European leaders and started arranging a potential bilateral meeting involving the Russian leader and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The president said the meeting between Putin and Zelensky would happen at a time and location not yet figured out. It would be the first time the two leaders had a face-to-face meeting since the start of the war in February 2022.
“After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years.”
Within the last week, Trump has met with both Putin and Zelensky on U.S. soil, and Trump and Zelensky had a much more even-tempered Oval Office meeting in front of TV cameras Monday than they did in February.
We recently published 12 Latest Stocks On Jim Cramer’s Radar. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed.
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) is a cybersecurity company whose shares have gained 23% year-to-date. However, the shares have trimmed back some of their gains in August after the earnings report of peer firm Fortinet. In its earnings, Fortinet revealed that it might have accounted for half of its firewall refresh cycle, a fact that worried analysts about the slowing growth in the cybersecurity industry. However, Cramer continues to be a believer in CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD):
“I was busy working on, jeez what I was doing, I was working on George Kurtz versus Chuck Robbins.
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (CRWD)’s CEO Is “Incredibly Competitive,” Says Jim Cramer
Here are Cramer’s previous thoughts about CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD):
“Oh Crowdstrike is what, the second most high valuation company after, Palantir. But I don’t care. I think it’s terrific.”
While we acknowledge the potential of CRWD as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
Watch: Key moments from Zelensky, Trump White House talks
The optics could not have been more different this time.
Unlike the shockingly ill-tempered previous meeting in February, US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky seemed determined not to look confrontational – despite their remaining differences.
Zelensky wore a collared suit (although not of the classical variety), and Trump complimented his attire. The Ukrainian president also repeatedly said “thank you”, which must have pleased his host, too.
At his opening appearance in the Oval Office, Zelensky spoke little – or maybe he was not keen to, fearing that what he had to say was different from what Trump wanted to hear.
Differences showed later, when the US and Ukrainian presidents appeared before journalists together with European leaders.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron both said a ceasefire in Ukraine should be the next step, even though Trump had argued that it was not necessary before a more permanent solution is found.
Zelensky remained conspicuously quiet on the issue.
Getty Images
What we heard from the leaders suggests that their discussions behind closed doors focused on security guarantees for Ukraine and prospects for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.
No details were revealed about what guarantees were discussed, or how being face-to-face in the same room with Putin will help end the war.
But following the day of talks, Zelensky described security guarantees as a necessary “starting point for ending war”.
At an earlier news conference outside the White House, he said security guarantees could include a $90bn (£67bn) deal between Kyiv and Washington to acquire US weapons, including aviation systems, anti-missile systems and other weapons he declined to disclose.
Zelensky also said the US would purchase Ukrainian drones, which would help boost domestic production of the unmanned aircraft. Though no formal agreement has been reached, Zelensky said a deal could be worked out over the next 10 days.
The Ukranian leader, however, was more willing to talk about his possible meeting with Putin,telling reporters he was ready to meet directly with his Russian counterpart, and if Moscow agreed, Trump could join the negotiations. Putin has so far resisted a direct meeting with Zelensky.
“Ukraine will never stop on the way to peace,” he told reporters, adding that no date had been set.
One issue the leaders seemed reluctant to bring up before the media were possible territorial concessions by Ukraine.
Zelensky also mentioned how he showed his US counterpart a map of Ukraine, stressing that Russia has managed to occupy less than 1% of the Ukrainian territory in the last 1,000 days. This was news to the White House, he said. And it helped swing Trump’s mood, apparently.
“I have been fighting with what is on that map,” Zelensky told reporters, adding that he pushed back on what the Oval Office map showed as Russian-captured territories.
“It isn’t possible to say this much territory has been taken over this time. These points are important.”
The Ukrainian leader seemed mostly upbeat about his latest White House appearance, describing his meeting with Trump as “warm”. His optimism, however, appeared deliberate as he sought to avoid a repeat of his last Oval Office visit and convince his American hosts to embrace the European position on ending the war.
But perhaps thekey outcome of the trip was that it helped Ukraine to buy more time. The call that Trump had with Putin following his first meeting with the European leaders suggests that Russia has managed to do just the same.
Despite widespread fears, no catastrophe has happened at the summits in Alaska and Washington – at least nothing from what has been made public.
Several Democratic-aligned and civil rights groups are readying to sue over a proposed set of new congressional lines in Texas as lawmakers in the Lone Star State look to advance a GOP-friendly map ahead of 2026.
Several groups including the National Redistricting Foundation, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee’s nonprofit arm; Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) filed a motion on Monday asking a federal court in Texas to set aside time for a hearing once the groups file a preliminary injunction that looks to block the Texas House map from taking effect.
The filing also asks the court to “vacate, as to the state legislative challenges, its August 11, 2025, order suspending the deadline for submitting proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law.”
“The map is egregiously unconstitutional, and its implementation must be immediately enjoined,” the filing said. “Plaintiffs intend to expeditiously supplement their complaints and move for a preliminary injunction on account of the new map’s blatant constitutional violations.”
The Hill has reached out to spokespeople for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) for comment.
Texas Republicans are looking to pass a new House map ahead of 2026 amid pressure from the White House, with a goal of picking up a handful of new seats next year. Texas Democrats fled the state during the first special session to deny Republicans the minimum number of lawmakers needed to conduct business.
But they finally returned to the state this week during Republicans’ second special session, paving the way for the GOP to pass a new gerrymandered map.
In response, Democrats in California are moving forward to pass their own gerrymandered map; the new map is expected to go before voters for a vote this November. The map in California is looking to neutralize the gains Texas Republicans expect to make with their new map.
Proposed congressional lines have so far only advanced in Texas House and Texas Senate committees, but the motion from the groups underscores opponents getting ready to quickly challenge proposed maps in court.
“Despite bipartisan opposition among Texans, the Texas Legislature is pushing forward a congressional map that includes even fewer minority opportunity districts than the current discriminatory map, which is already being challenged in court for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,” said Marina Jenkins, executive director of the National Redistricting Foundation, in a statement.
“Should Governor Abbott sign the new gerrymander into law, the NRF will quickly challenge that map in federal court, and the court must be prepared to act swiftly to intervene and protect the rights of Texans,” she added.
CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) is a pharmaceutical retailer whose shares are among the top performers in the industry. They have gained 55% year-to-date and are up by 16.8% since late July. CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) has performed well on the stock market as its rivals continue to struggle. In his previous remarks about the firm, Cramer has commented on the competitive dynamics and speculated that the stock could go even higher. Here are his latest comments about CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS):
“[On a Baird upgrade] I think that they are the last man standing, with Rite Aid pulling back and Walgreen, they’re shutting a huge amount of Walgreen since they were sold. I think that by the way, David Joiner, non-promotional. Did a remarkable job in terms of health insurance. They are the one to bet on if you want to be in that area. I don’t want to be in that area after reading Semblest let’s just put a gun to my head with five bullets I don’t want to go there, just bad ratio.”
Previously, Cramer discussed CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)’s stock price:
“Right, and remember, Walgreens shrinkings, Rite-Aid gone away, 185 million people now go to these, including 60 million people who use two or more of their offerings. David, I’ve got to tell you, they are, if you remember, the one that was the worst, they’re now the first. David Joiner, congratulations, you know how to price your business. And, they’re getting out of the individual exchange plans in 2026. Goodbye Medicaid?
CVS Health Corporation (CVS) Is “The Last Man Standing,” Says Jim Cramer
“Guidance goes, six, six twenty, from five seventy five, six dollars, there’s a stock that going to . . .one hundred dollars!”
While we acknowledge the potential of CVS as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
Gary Lineker has received his first National Television Award nomination since 2017 in the wake of his exit from Match of the Day.
Lineker left the football show after 26 years at the end of the Premier League season in May. It was also his last appearance for the BBC after the latest in a string of controversies about his social media use led him to announce he would be leaving the corporation.
Lineker has been voted onto the shortlist for best TV presenter – and could pull off a major upset if he breaks Ant and Dec’s 23-year winning streak in that category at the ceremony in September.
Elsewhere, Netflix’s Adolescence is up for three awards – with on-screen father and son Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper going up against each other for the best drama performance award.
The show, which became a runaway hit and national talking point earlier this year, will also be the hot favourite to win best new drama.
Gavin and Stacey’s finale, which attracted more than 20 million viewers at Christmas, is likewise the frontrunner in the comedy category.
Michael McIntyre and Stacey Solomon are nominated for three prizes each – with Solomon’s Sort Your Life Out and Stacey & Joe occupying two spots on the shortlist for best factual entertainment show.
The public will bote for the winners, which will be revealed on 10 September.
CHICAGO — Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Monday lauded “collegiality” in the legal profession, hailing it as what lets the judicial system work well despite its inherently combative nature.
She said she’s been “thinking a lot lately” about getting along and bridging disagreements.
“It occurs to me that law is a profession that, unlike some others, operates continually through the strain of disagreement,” Barrett said. “Doctors cooperate and coordinate to deal with patients. Engineers work together to build the bridge.
“But litigants and their lawyers are pitted against one another on opposite sides of the ‘V,’” she continued.
Her brief remarks came at the judicial conference for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, which covers federal courts in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
She said the legal system relies on “zealous advocacy and professionalism, and careful and fair adjudication.”
Following President Trump’s return to the White House, Barrett faced unrelenting criticism from his political base after ruling against his administration in several emergency cases. His supporters accused her of turning on the president who put her on the high court.
However, she landed back in MAGA’s good graces after authoring the majority decision in Trump’s birthright citizenship case that curtailed nationwide injunctions, a key tool used by judges to halt the president’s sweeping agenda.
In that ruling, Barrett also issued a rare smackdown of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissenting opinion that ripped the majority’s decision as an “existential threat to the rule of law,” earning her additional praise from the president’s supporters.
The opinion marked a high-profile assignment for Barrett, making her the face of the Trump administration’s major victory.
Several justices have made notable remarks at judicial conferences in recent months, invited to speak at the event corresponding with the circuit they oversee.
In Missouri last month, Justice Brett Kavanaugh defended the Supreme Court’s sometimes-sparse emergency rulings at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit’s judicial conference. He described the risk of a “lock-in effect” on the court by showing its cards too soon, suggesting those might not reflect the justices’ final view.
Earlier last month, Justice Elena Kagan had urged the court to explain itself better in emergency rulings at the California judicial conference for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
Barrett on Monday thanked the judges and lawyers in the crowd for their “camaraderie and professionalism.”
“I think there is an upside to all of the professional hours that lawyers spend in disagreement,” Barrett said. “We not only do it well…but we also know how to do it without letting it consume relationships.
“When I look around this room, when I think about the lawyers I know in the 7th Circuit, I’m grateful for the way that our bar conducts itself,” she added. “Because that is what enables the judicial system to work well.”
We recently published 12 Latest Stocks On Jim Cramer’s Radar. The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed.
The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) is a paint and chemicals company whose shares have struggled in tandem with the broader sector’s woes. However, the shares might have been in the red this year had it not been for a 10% since July end. The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)’s shares appeared to have benefited from growing optimism about an interest rate cut after a shocking labor market report. Cramer linked the share price performance to the home renovation market:
“Now I like SHW but we’ve got to be careful. . . But Sherwin-Williams is a belief that people are gonna fix up their house. There’s going to be renovation. That’s always been what you have right here. I think Sherwin-Williams shouldn’t be a Sell.”
The Sherwin-Williams Company (SHW): I Like It, But You’ve Got To Be Careful, Says Jim Cramer
Here are his previous thoughts about The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW):
“[On firm saying demand softness expected to continue if not deteriorate in H2] Yeah that’s the do it yourself division. Which is really bad.”
While we acknowledge the potential of SHW as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
An Indian crew member of Anka cargo vessel, which is abandoned at an Ukrainian port since April
Manas Kumar* has been abandoned on a cargo ship in Ukrainian waters since April.
The Indian seaman was part of a crew of 14 transporting popcorn to Turkey from Moldova when the vessel was raided on 18 April, as it made its way down the Danube river which divides Ukraine and Romania.
Ukraine claimed the vessel, Anka, was part of Russia’s “shadow” fleet, which it said was being used to sell “looted” Ukrainian grain to third countries.
But Mr Kumar, who is Anka’s chief officer, said that the vessel was running under the flag of Tanzania and was managed by a Turkish company.
But exactly who owns the ship is not clear from the papers provided by the crew, made up of Mr Kumar, five other Indian nationals, as well as two Azerbaijanis and six Egyptians.
All are still on board, five months later – despite Ukrainian authorities informing them they were free to leave as they were not under investigation, Mr Kumar said.
The problem is disembarking means the crew losing their salaries – amounting to $102,828 by June all together, according to a joint database of abandoned ships maintained by International Labour Organization (ILO) and International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The BBC has reached out to the ship’s management and owners on details provided by the crew.
Mr Kumar says that the crew was not aware of the ship’s past at the time of taking the job. Now stuck in a situation far beyond their control, the crew wants a quick resolution.
He says the owner and Indian shipping officials keep asking us for one more day to resolve the crisis but nothing promising has come out yet.
“This is a war zone. All we want is to return home quickly,” he told the BBC.
India is the second-largest supplier of sailors and crew of commercial ships globally.
But it also tops the list of crew members known as “abandoned seafarers” – a term used by 2006 Maritime Labour Convention to describe the situation when shipowners sever ties with the crew and fail to provide them for repatriation, regular provisions and wages.
According to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), which represents seafarers globally, there were 3,133 abandoned sailors across 312 ships in 2024 – of which Indian nationals accounted for 899.
For many, leaving the ship without a salary is not possible – especially if they have already paid hefty sums to agents for landing the job or for acquiring training certifications, Mohammad Gulam Ansari, a former seafarer who helps repatriate Indian crew from other parts of the world, tells the BBC.
Crew members of Nirvana vessel cooking food on the ship
The most significant reason for abandonment is the widespread practice of registering ships – called flags of convenience – in countries that have weak shipping rules, according to ITF.
International maritime rules allow a ship to be registered or flagged in a country different from its owners.
“A country can set up a ship registry and charge fees to shipowners, while having reduced standards for crew safety and welfare and often failing to live up to the responsibilities of a genuine flag state,” the ITF website states.
This system, the group says, also obscures the identity of the real owner, which helps dubious owners ply ships.
ITF data shows that in 2024, around 90% of the abandoned vessels sailed under a flag of convenience.
But complications arise also because of the globalised nature of the shipping industry, with owners, managers, flags and crews of the ship often coming from different countries, industry observers say.
On 9 January 2025, Captain Amitabh Chaudhary* was steering a cargo vessel from Iraq to the United Arab Emirates when bad weather forced him to make a slight detour.
Minutes later, Tanzania-flagged Stratos vessel hit rocks underneath and damaged its oil-laden tank, forcing an unplanned stall near Saudi Arabia’s Jubail port.
The crew – including nine Indians and one Iraqi – made several attempts to float it again but they failed.
Stuck, they waited there for help for nearly six months before the ship was refloated.
The ship’s Iraqi owner, meanwhile, refused to pay their salaries citing losses incurred due to the stalled vessel, Mr Chaudhary told the BBC.
The BBC reached out to the owners of the ship for a response to these allegations but they didn’t respond.
BBC/ITF
Crew members of Nirvana vessel were repatriated after months at the sea but continue to wait for their salaries
Seafarers often blame India’s maritime regulator, Directorate General (DG) of Shipping – which is tasked with verifying the credentials of ships, their owners and recruitment and placement agencies – for lax scrutiny of stakeholders. The DG Shipping didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Others, however, point out that even the crew needs to be more vigilant.
“When you are hired, you get enough time to inform the DG Shipping [about any discrepancies in your contract],” said Sushil Deorukhkar, an ITF representative working for the welfare of the seafarers. “Once you sign the papers, you are stuck and have to knock on every door for resolution.”
Things can get complicated even for the crew on Indian-owned ships operating within the country’s waters for a variety of reasons.
Captain Prabjeet Singh was employed on Nirvana, an Indian-owned, Curacao-flagged oil tanker, with 22 other Indian crew members. It had recently been sold to a new owner, who wanted it decommissioned, and their salary was under dispute between the new and old owners.
In early April, Mr Singh was taking it to a port in western India’s Gujarat state for dismantling when an Indian court ordered its seizure “for non-payment of crew”, according to the ILO-IMO database.
A happy crew aboard the Stratos vessel after it was refloated in May, following months of being stranded at sea
Within days, the crew realised they were abandoned, Mr Singh said. “We were without adequate food and provisions. The ship had run out of diesel and was in complete blackout,” Mr Singh told the BBC. “We were forced to break and burn the ship’s wood to cook food.”
Hired in October 2024, Mr Singh had hoped to earn a decent living with this job, and that is why leaving the ship without salary was not a viable option for him.
The crew could finally disembark on 7 July after a court-ordered settlement. But the crew’s wages remain unpaid despite the court order, according to the ILO-IMO database.
Back in the Gulf, the crew of Stratos said their biggest fear was that the hole in the ship’s bottom would sink it.
But the immediate challenge, they found, was hunger.
“For days, we had to eat only rice or potatoes because there were no supplies,” Mr Chaudhary told the BBC last week.
After nearly six months, the crew finally managed to float the ship back – but the accident had left its rudder damaged, making it unfit to sail.
The crew are still at the ship waiting for their salaries to be paid.
“We are still at the same place in the same situation. The mind has stopped working, can’t think what [more] we should do,” Mr Chaudhary said.
“Can we get some help? We just want to go home and meet our loved ones.”
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is joining the Justice Department as the co-deputy director of the FBI, he announced Monday.
Bailey is set to share duties as deputy FBI director with Dan Bongino, a staunch Trump ally whose future in the role came into question amid clashes over the case of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
“I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to serve as the Co-Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Bailey said in a statement. “I extend my deepest gratitude to President Trump and U.S. Attorney General Bondi for the privilege to join in their stated mission to Make America Safe Again.”
Bailey was appointed Missouri attorney general in 2022 to replace Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), who left the post to serve in the Senate. Bailey won a full term as attorney general last November.
Bailey has positioned himself as staunchly pro-Trump, including by defending the president amid his slew of indictments and legal problems in 2023 and 2024.
He joins the FBI at a time when the agency’s leadership has been at the center of debate over releasing more information related to Epstein.
The Justice Department and FBI issued a joint memo last month that stated Epstein did not have a client list and confirmed he died by suicide in his New York City jail cell in 2019. The findings incensed members of the MAGA movement, who have for years pushed conspiracy theories about Epstein’s death and claims that prominent Democrats would be named on a client list.
Bongino was furious over the handling of the Epstein documents and clashed with Justice Department leaders, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, over the issue. Bongino, a former law enforcement officer turned podcast host, reportedly did not show up to work for a few days amid the uproar.
Bongino and FBI Director Kash Patel have in recent weeks refocused their attention on efforts to crack down on crime, including in Washington, D.C.
