Here's the biggest news you missed this weekend
Trump goes to Tulsa
President Donald Trump held his first campaign rally since March in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday, using the time to tout his own response to the coronavirus outbreak, downplay the threat of the virus and call out the media and some Democratic rivals. The president faced backlash after saying he told his administration to "slow the testing down, please," reiterating his argument that higher test numbers led to higher case counts. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday that the comment was "tongue in cheek." The rally boasted a smaller crowd than his usual campaign events, with many of the upper sections empty at the 19,000-seat BOK Center. The event went on despite warnings from Tulsa health officials, who recommended it be postponed due to coronavirus concerns.
Trump’s Tulsa rally: He says he wanted to 'slow the testing down' on COVID-19 and other key takeaways.
President Trump slammed for using offensive, 'racist' remarks at Tulsa rally.
Trump dismisses Geoffrey Berman
President Donald Trump dismissed Manhattan's chief federal prosecutor, Geoffrey Berman, on Saturday after the prosecutor who had launched a series of criminal inquires targeting the president's allies initially refused to resign, Attorney General William Barr said in a letter to Berman. Late Saturday, Berman said he would not challenge the decision and would leave immediately. Barr said Deputy U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss would serve as acting chief of the office until a permanent successor could be seated. Trump appeared to distance himself from the attorney general's statement, saying the decision to remove Berman was Barr's to make. "I'm not involved," Trump told reporters before departing for a campaign rally in Oklahoma.
Geoffrey Berman firing: AG Barr's glowing account of NY prosecutor's work further clouds dismissal.
Bolton: Trump White House 'like living in a pinball machine'
If he had been a senator during President Donald Trump's impeachment trial earlier this year, former National Security Adviser John Bolton says he probably would have voted for a conviction. In an exclusive interview with USA TODAY's Susan Page, Bolton said working in the Trump White House was "like living inside a pinball machine." Bolton’s new book, “The Room Where It Happened” portrays his former boss as incompetent, enamored with foreign strongmen, obsessed with his re-election and driven solely by self-interest – in a word, unfit to be president. In response to the book, Trump said Bolton was a "sick customer" and someone seen by his White House colleagues as "totally nuts." Earlier, the Trump administration had filed a lawsuit asking the judge to seize Bolton's proceeds from the book. But a federal judge on Saturday cleared the way for publication of the book, ruling that with numerous copies already distributed, it would be futile to stop it. The book is set to be released Tuesday.
Real quick
Noose found in garage stall of Bubba Wallace at Talladega Superspeedway.
The cruise industry extended the US sailing suspension until Sept. 15.
IRS expanded criteria to withdraw money from retirement plans for those affected by coronavirus.
Summer is here at last: The summer solstice, when the sun is at its highest point in the sky each year, was on Saturday.
'Now we know where to look': Scientists are searching the universe for signs of alien civilizations.
Police are investigating a homicide inside the Seattle autonomous zone.
'You are not alone': James Van Der Beek reveals wife Kimberly suffered 5th miscarriage.
Tom Petty's family says it sent cease-and-desist letter to Trump after Tulsa rally featured 'I Won't Back Down.'
National coin shortage: Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters part of latest COVID-19 shortage.
Dak Prescott will play for Cowboys in 2020, but a long-term deal still uncertain.
Coronavirus surges aren't linked to protests, analysis shows
The U.S. has seen new coronavirus cases climb from about 21,000 a day the last week of May to nearly 23,000 a day this week. Positive tests and, in some places, hospitalizations have spiked, too, leading many to wonder if a change in behavior caused outbreaks in states such as California, Arizona and Florida. But neither protests or more people leaving home explain the surge of new COVID-19 cases, a USA TODAY analysis of counties with at least 100 cases has found. Residents of counties with growth of 25% or more over the previous two weeks left their homes at the same rate as people in counties without a surge of new infections, according to cellphone location data compiled by the company SafeGraph. And large protests were as common in counties without outbreaks as in others – although those events could have seeded the virus broadly, and could still lead to outbreaks. For now, surges seem to be most intense in counties that had avoided the worst coronavirus outbreaks earlier this year.
Coronavirus in the US: Track the latest numbers in your area
One dead, 11 people wounded in Minneapolis shooting, police say
One man is dead and 11 people suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds after an early morning shooting in Uptown Minneapolis, police said. The man, who is unidentified by police, died at the hospital. All injured were adults. "Individuals on foot" started shooting at around 12:30 a.m., a police release stated, and fled the scene. Screaming and the sound of gunfire can be heard in a video circulating on social media. The area is about three miles west of the Minneapolis commercial area and neighborhood rocked by protests after George Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. No one was in custody in connection with the shooting as of Sunday afternoon.
Previously: Minneapolis police officers quit, cite lack of support in wake of George Floyd's death, protests.
MLB shuts down training facilities to curb coronavirus spread
Every Major League Baseball team, except perhaps the Toronto Blue Jays, will train at its home ballpark, a person with direct knowledge told USA TODAY Sports on Saturday. MLB has had at least 12 major-league players and staff members test positive for COVID-19, and on Friday decided to immediately shut down all spring training facilities in Arizona and Florida, a high-ranking official told USA TODAY Sports. With travel restrictions still in place in Canada, the Blue Jays would seemingly need to remain at their complex in Dunedin, Florida. Meanwhile, the NBA has plans to return to action in Orlando, Florida, a state that has seen a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.
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This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Contributing: Associated Press.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump in Tulsa, Bolton's book cleared: The weekend's biggest news