A small group of reporters, including NPR's White House correspondent, traveled with the president to Afghanistan. Plans for the trip were keep secret and all phones were confiscated.

"The Taliban wants to make a deal," President Trump said during his trip to Bagram Airfield, where he met with U.S. troops. "If they do, they do, and if they don't, they don't. That's fine."

When it comes to clemency and President Trump, who you know is a key factor. Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher, whose demotion was reversed after conservatives advocated for him, is just the latest example.

Two witnesses appear before Thursday's impeachment inquiring public hearing: the State Department's David Holmes and Fiona Hill, a former Russia expert at the National Security Council.

But Tim Morrison, formerly the top Russia official on President Trump's National Security Council, said he found nothing wrong with the July 25 call between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart.

The House impeachment inquiry continues Friday with two testimonies, including public testimony of Marie Yovanovitch. Also, latest on student loans and the Education Department and Lebanon protests.

The White House and its congressional allies are reacting to the shift in the impeachment inquiry from behind closed doors to a public process.

Jennifer Williams, a special adviser detailed to the vice president's office, was listening to the July 25 call between President Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart that helped spark the inquiry.

Four senior White House officials did not show up to testify on Monday, including the top lawyer at the National Security Council. The inquiry began releasing testimony from earlier witnesses.

President Trump is set to pick his fifth head of the troubled Department of Homeland Security. Chad Wolf is currently serving in a lower level job at the agency.

A key witness in the impeachment inquiry is set to leave his top post on the National Security Council. Also, Twitter bans political ads and the latest on PG&E and wildfires in California.

The top Russia official on President Trump's National Security Council, Tim Morrison, is expected to leave his post. He is expected to testify before House committees.

Tim Morrison, a White House official asked to testify Thursday in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, is expected to leave the National Security Council imminently, three sources told NPR.

As part of the House impeachment inquiry, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council is expected to lay out deep concerns he had over how the Trump administration handled Ukraine policy.

"I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen," Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman is expected to tell House committees Tuesday.

Charles Kupperman did not appear Monday on Capitol Hill. House investigators want to press him on key parts of an account that President Trump built a shadow foreign policy team to pressure Ukraine.

The killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi comes as President Trump is under increasing pressure from the House's impeachment inquiry.

President Trump has told some Senate Republicans that he wants immigration hard-liner Ken Cuccinelli in charge of Homeland Security. But sources say he is concerned his party won't back the pick.

President Trump announced he'll lift U.S. sanctions on Turkey now that a cease-fire in northern Syria is in place. That deal has paved the way for the Russian military to enter the region.

Ambassador William Taylor said U.S. aid to Ukraine was contingent on the country undertaking investigations that would help President Trump politically. Here are key parts of his written statement.