Elon Musk says he would reverse Twitter's Trump ban - CNN

New York (CNN Business) Elon Musk said Tuesday that he would restore former President Donald Trump's banned account on Twitter if his deal to acquire the company is completed.

Musk's remarks at Financial Times' Future of the Car conference mark his first public acknowledgment of what had been widely expected since the billionaire announced plans to buy the social media giant for $44 billion.

Musk has previously said he thinks Twitter should be more "reluctant to delete things" and "very cautious with permanent bans." On Tuesday, he called Twitter's decision to ban Trump in January 2021 a "mistake."

"I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump, I think that was a mistake," Musk said. "I would reverse the perma-ban. ... But my opinion, and Jack Dorsey, I want to be clear, shares this opinion, is that we should not have perma-bans."

Dorsey, Twitter's cofounder and former CEO, tweeted Tuesday following Musk's remarks that he does "agree" there shouldn't be permanent bans on Twitter users. "There are exceptions ... but generally permanent bans are a failure of ours and don't work," he said.

Twitter declined to comment on Musk's remarks.

Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter following the January 6 Capitol Riot for violating the platform's rules against violence incitement, a decision the company has said was headed by Dorsey. Other social platforms followed in banning or suspending Trump's account.

Trump, for his part, has said he would not return to Twitter even if his account were restored, instead promoting his own social media venture, Truth Social , which has so far appeared to struggle to get off the ground

"Banning Trump from Twitter didn't end Trump's voice, it will amplify it among the right and this is why it's morally wrong and flat out stupid," Musk said at the event on Tuesday.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO acknowledged that his acquisition of Twitter, and Trump's return, are not yet a done deal. "I will say that I don't own Twitter yet, so this is not a thing that will definitely happen, because what if I don't own Twitter?" he said.

Tesla TSLA Twitter TWTR There remain some questions about whether Musk will indeed go through with the deal, or whether the decline inshares over the past month could negatively impact his ability to finance the deal stock was trading around $47.70 on Tuesday afternoon, well below Musk's offer price of $54.20 per share, suggesting some investor skepticism about the likelihood that the deal gets completed.

That hasn't stopped Musk from continuing to expound on his plans for the platform in recent weeks. Musk has said his goal is to bolster free speech on the platform and to make it clearer to users when the platform takes actions that impact what people see on Twitter.

On Tuesday, he reiterated his desire to rid Twitter of bots promoting spam or scams, and his plan to make Twitter's algorithm publicly available for anyone to view and comment on.

"I would literally put the Twitter algorithm on GitHub and say like, 'Hey, anyone want to suggest changes to this? Please go ahead,'" Musk said, adding that he sees such a move as a way to "build transparency and trust."

He also criticized what he views as Twitter's political bias, echoing claims from some prominent figures on the right.

"I think Twitter needs to be much more evenhanded. It currently has a strong left bias because it's based in San Francisco," he said. "I don't think the people there necessarily intend, or at least some of them don't intend, to have a left bias. They just, from their perspective, it seems moderate, but they're just coming after it from an environment that is very far left."

(Twitter has previously said its algorithms and employees do not discriminate against any particular political point of view.)

In addition to reversing the Trump ban, Musk said he would make permanent bans "extremely rare," reserving them for "bots or spam, scam accounts where there's just no legitimacy to the account at all."

JUST WATCHED Does kicking bad actors off social media platforms work? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Does kicking bad actors off social media platforms work? 04:29

Musk also expanded on his vision for Twitter's content moderation. Previously, Musk has said he intends for Twitter to limit its content moderation to that which governments have deemed explicitly illegal — and not to go much further.

But on Tuesday, Musk conceded that there could be a wide range of objectionable content that he would want Twitter to enforce against. In addition to illegal content, Musk identified two other categories of content that could be subject to penalties: speech that is "destructive to the world" and "wrong and bad."

"If they say something that is illegal or otherwise just destructive to the world, then there should be perhaps a timeout, a temporary suspension, or that particular tweet should be made invisible or have very limited traction," Musk said. He added: "I think if there are tweets that are wrong and bad, those should be either deleted or made invisible, and a suspension, a temporary suspension is appropriate but not a permanent ban."

Musk didn't say what metrics Twitter might use to determine if a tweet may be "wrong and bad" or "destructive to the world," and when it might opt for one type of penalty over another.

If Elon Musk restores Trump's Twitter account, it could pave the way ...

New York (CNN Business) In the days following the January 6 Capitol riot, Twitter became the first major social media platform to permanently suspend then-President Donald Trump for violating its rules against inciting violence. It was a huge step and one that instantly put pressure on other big platforms to take action.

Within days, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and Twitch had all either banned or indefinitely suspended Trump's accounts. It marked a sweeping and unprecedented set of actions against a sitting world leader by platforms that had previously taken only limited actions against Trump as he repeatedly pushed the limits of their rules.

Less than two years later, it appearscould be poised to take a similar role in reversing the bans on Trump. Elon Musk on Tuesday confirmed what many in the tech, media and political spaces have been predicting for weeks: If his deal to acquire Twitter succeeds, he plans to restore Trump's account

Although Trump has suggested he wouldn't return to Twitter and will instead remain on his struggling social platform Truth Social , it's not hard to imagine him changing his mind. Even before he was elected, Twitter was central to Trump's image , providing him a platform to rally his base, criticize opponents, discuss policy plans and bypass the traditional media to explain his (sometimes untruthful) version of events to tens of millions of followers.

Musk's acquisition of Twitter is still far from set in stone. There have been questions about the Tesla CEO's ability to finance the deal if his car company's stock keeps falling, and Twitter's share price has hovered well below Musk's offer price of $54.20. On Friday, Musk said the deal was "temporarily on hold" pending details about the number of spam accounts on the platform. Still, Musk said Friday he remains "committed to acquisition."

If Musk's deal is completed, restoring Trump's Twitter account could give the former President back his online megaphone ahead of another possible run for the White House. Even more than that, such a move would also likely open the door for other platforms to follow suit.

Beyond the issue of Trump's own accounts, reversing the ban could reignite a series of other thorny debates for Twitter and its rival platforms, including whether permanent bans should ever be used as a moderation tactic and if public figures or elected officials should be subject to different rules than other people.

Reversing the Trump bans

Even before Musk made his stunning bid to buy Twitter, there was pushback in some quarters, including from those politically at odds with Trump, for banning a sitting world leader.

Then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the time that Twitter's ban on Trump was "problematic." And on Tuesday, after Musk said he would restore Trump's account, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero lauded the plan.

If Elon Musk fulfills his promise to return former President Donald Trump to Twitter, other major social media platforms could quickly follow suit.

"You'd be hard-pressed to find a more steadfast opponent of Trump and his policies than the ACLU, but Elon Musk's decision to re-platform President Trump is the right call," Romero said in a statement . "Like it or not, President Trump is one of the most important political figures in this country, and the public has a strong interest in hearing his speech."

Twitter founder and then-CEO Jack Dorsey said at the time of the ban that permanently suspending Trump was a difficult decision that came in response to "extraordinary" circumstances. The decision, which was quickly praised by a number of civil rights groups, was made "with the best information we had based on threats to physical safety both on and off Twitter" and after a clear warning to Trump, he said.

In the nearly 18 months since then, there has been widespread speculation that Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other platforms would eventually review their suspensions of Trump, especially if he decides to launch another bid for the White House in 2024. Unlike Twitter, Facebook and YouTube had implemented indefinite, but not necessarily permanent, suspensions.

Facebook, in particular, is set to review its Trump ban early next year. After the company initially suspended Trump indefinitely, it faced pushback from its oversight board. The company decided it would maintain the suspension until at least January 7, 2023 — two years after Trump was initially removed. Nick Clegg, now the president of global affairs at Facebook-parent Meta, previously said that once the two years ended, Facebook would "look to experts to assess whether the risk to public safety has receded" to decide whether to restore Trump's account.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has also said that its suspension on Trump's account — which was initially implemented for one week and then extended to an indefinite ban — would eventually be lifted when any "risk of violence" had subsided.

Musk's deal to acquire Twitter is set to close by the end of this year, and if he acts quickly to reverse the Trump ban, it could give Meta and YouTube an opportunity to observe potential fallout from users and advertisers. Perhaps more importantly, it could also give the rival platforms political cover to make the same move.

Tech platforms tend to move in packs on everything from tricky policy decisions to new features. And this may be especially true when Twitter is leading the way.

Although far from perfect, Twitter has, at least historically, been viewed as "more nuanced in their content moderation" and as "trying to do the right thing more often than other platforms," said Kristin Martin, professor of technology ethics at the University of Notre Dame. "So I do think that whether they reverse the ban or start to allow certain content through, it will make a difference in the industry because they're leaders."

Meta and YouTube declined to comment on this story.

Twitter on Tuesday declined to comment on Musk's plans to restore Trump's account. Musk said on Twitter Thursday that, "even though I think a less divisive candidate would be better in 2024, I still think Trump should be restored to Twitter."

Elon Musk has said that if his acquisition deal succeeds, he would return Trump to Twitter and do away with "perma-bans" on the platform.

Moving away from 'perma-bans'

Restoring Trump's account could be the start of a broader shift for Twitter under Musk's ownership — and for any other platforms that may choose to follow its example on content moderation.

Many of the platforms have also banned far-right figures such as Milo Yiannopolous and Alex Jones for violating their policies against hateful or abusive behavior, and have removed other accounts — some prominent, some not — for repeatedly sharing conspiracy theories or misinformation.

Unbanning Trump would likely raise questions about whether others should be brought back, and how the companies should handle accounts for whom smaller penalties don't appear to discourage policy violations. Currently, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube all rely on some form of a strike policy for users who violate their rules various warnings and short-term suspensions before permanently removing repeat offenders.

Trump had for years pushed the limits of social media platforms' content moderation rules before the issue came to a head following January 6. In the immediate aftermath of the insurrection, Twitter suspended Trump for 12 hours before letting him post again and then ultimately banning him. (Facebook and Instagram, similarly, blocked Trump for 24 hours before indefinitely suspending him.)

Musk, who has repeatedly said his goal is to bolster free speech on Twitter, has expressed a general opposition to the idea of permanent bans for all content except that which violates applicable laws. He said Tuesday that "permanent bans should be extremely rare" and reserved for "bots or spam, scam accounts where there's just no legitimacy to the account at all."

But high-profile suspensions make up only a small portion of the moderation decisions Twitter and other platforms must make. Much more often, they're dealing with regular users who get suspended or banned for things like frequent harassment or spreading of misinformation, behavior that doesn't necessarily break any laws but nonetheless makes for an unpleasant experience on the platform for other users.

If Musk does bring Trump back, online safety experts say it will be important for him to articulate a clear policy around why the decision was made and how the company will handle future violations, with or without a permanent ban as an option. Musk said Tuesday that the Trump ban was a mistake because it "alienated a large part of the country" and did not stop the former President from posting elsewhere online.

"Trump used Twitter to foment a violent attack on Congress," said Katie Paul, director of the online safety advocacy group Tech Transparency Project. "Others were prevented from using the platform to spread medical misinformation that cost countless lives, from organizing violent militias, inciting violence or persecuting victims of tragedies like Sandy Hook. If he succeeds in buying Twitter, Elon Musk cannot simply shirk the responsibility to ensure that his products don't kill people."

Musk is well known for making grand promises, working out the details as he goes, if at all. The same appears to be happening with his thinking on moderation. While generally positioning himself as a free speech absolutist, Musk has so far offered only vague explanations of how he would handle violative content — whether it be from the President or an everyday user — without using permanent bans. "I think if there are tweets that are wrong and bad, those should be either deleted or made invisible, and a suspension, a temporary suspension is appropriate but not a permanent ban," Musk said Tuesday.

Fact check: Debunking false claims about the Canadian convoy ...

Washington (CNN) Canadian protests against vaccine mandates, Covid-19 restrictions and the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have captured attention in the US and abroad -- and prompted a flurry of misinformation, including a false claim that was promoted by prominent podcaster Joe Rogan and on Fox.

We'll debunk some of that misinformation below. First, here's some quick background:

The protests involve a minority of Canada's truck drivers, some far-right activists and a variety of other citizens. The demonstrations began in late January as a "Freedom Convoy" of trucks and other vehicles. The convoy then turned into an ongoing demonstration in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, whose mayor declared a state of emergency on Sunday. It has also sparked protests elsewhere and inspired plans for a similar convoy in the US.

The protests have been touted on right-wing US television station Fox and have been cheered by some prominent Republican officeholders and conservative pundits; organizers have raised millions of dollars . Former President Donald Trump even weighed in with a statement praising the protesters and denouncing Trudeau.

The convoy started after Canada began requiring truckers who cross the US border to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or have two-week quarantines upon returning home. The Canadian Trucking Alliance, the primary advocacy group for Canadian truckers, has opposed the protests and has said that more than 85% of Canadian truckers who regularly cross the border were fully vaccinated as of late January.

False claims about the number of trucks

Organizers claimed in late January that the convoy had grown to tens of thousands of trucks -- even that the number was around 50,000 . Others repeated this "50,000" figure.

Theo Fleury, a retired hockey star who's a frequent critic of Trudeau, said on Fox in late January that there were "50,000 truckers" heading to Ottawa. Rogan, who has been criticized for his show's role in promoting Covid-19 misinformation, said on the show in late January that the convoy involved "apparently some insane amount of people, like 50,000 trucks." Even larger figures, like " 80,000 " or " over 130,000 " trucks, swirled on social media.

Facts First: The number of trucks involved in the protest was never anywhere close to 50,000; such a number of trucks would have taken up : The number of trucks involved in the protest was never anywhere close to 50,000; such a number of trucks would have taken up hundreds of miles more road space than this protest occupied . Canadian journalists put the number of trucks in the hundreds in late January. Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly told reporters on January 31 that it was impossible to provide exact crowd-size figures but that he had "heard" numbers as high as 18,000 total demonstrators -- not just truckers -- present in the city at the peak of the protest on January 29. No credible source has reported that the number of participating trucks in particular ever approached tens of thousands, let alone "50,000."

Police in Kingston, Ontario, a city through which a portion of the protest convoy passed, tweeted on January 28 that they had counted 17 full tractor-trailers, 104 tractors without trailers, 424 passenger vehicles and 6 RVs. The same day, Global News chief political correspondent David Akin tweeted that police sources had told him there were "230 tractors / tractor-trailers & 725 personal vehicles from Toronto and Western Canada," plus 200 vehicles from the eastern provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (he added that there were an "unknown" number of others involved).

Rogan could not be immediately reached for comment. When Fleury was asked for comment about how he had repeated the false "50,000 truckers" claim on Fox, he emailed a reply in which he attacked CNN and the Trudeau government and said, "Ever heard of a little thing called marketing??? It worked."

Falsely captioned photos and videos

Numerous social media posts put inaccurate captions on photos and videos of events that had occurred prior to 2022 -- such as truck demonstrations, other protests, even a parade in support of the Special Olympics -- to falsely claim these images were connected to the Canadian convoy protest.

Facts First: One video that has been shared on various social media platforms was captioned to claim that it showed South Carolina truckers heading to Ottawa to join the convoy -- but it actually showed an August 2021 truck parade in support of the Special Olympics, USA Today : One video that has been shared on various social media platforms was captioned to claim that it showed South Carolina truckers heading to Ottawa to join the convoy -- but it actually showed an August 2021 truck parade in support of the Special Olympics, USA Today reported . A video of honking Brazilian truckers that circulated on Facebook was from a May 2021 demonstration in support of President Jair Bolsonaro, not a demonstration in solidarity with the Canadian truckers as some captions claimed, USA Today also reported . A photo of a massive protest crowd, shared in Twitter posts in both English and Spanish as if it were from Ottawa this year, actually depicted a 1991 demonstration in Moscow against the Communist government of the Soviet Union, Reuters reported . And another photo, which has been described in Facebook posts as a group of Amish people driving to support the convoy, is a shot of Old Order Mennonites simply going to church, PolitiFact reported

Even billionaire Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk got in on the game, though without making an explicitly false claim himself.

Musk, who has more than 73 million followers on Twitter and has expressed support for the Canadian protest, tweeted out an aerial image on January 30 that showed a long line of trucks on a road surrounded by snowy land. The image included the words, "Taking a break from politics for a while. Here's a nice photo of trucks."

Musk didn't say anything about where and when the image had been taken, but the replies to his tweet -- which generated more than 40,000 retweets -- showed that a significant number of people believed that it was a shot of the Canadian convoy this year, as some others on social media strongly suggested in their own captions.

A false claim about police resignations

Pat King, who was listed as one of the regional organizers of the convoy and has been one of its leading online promoters, has more than 293,000 followers on his Facebook page . During a Facebook livestream on Sunday, which had been viewed more than 204,000 times as of early Tuesday afternoon, King claimed that "50% of the Ottawa police force have all turned in their resignation today" -- suggesting these supposed resignations had happened because the officers support the protests.

That claim quickly made its way to other social media platforms . British actor John Bowe tweeted on Monday: "Reports that 50% of @OttawaPolice have tendered their resignation and Canadian Armed forces reportedly vow allegiance to the people." Bowe's tweet generated more than 11,000 retweets before he deleted it.

Facts First: These claims were entirely false. Ottawa police spokesperson Constable Amy Gagnon said in Monday emails to CNN that "there have been no resignations in relation to the Demonstration" and "all available officers are working." And the Canadian Armed Forces have not made any vow of "allegiance" in relation to the protests nor issued any dramatic statements of any kind about this issue. "In short, no, we have not made any such comment," a military spokesperson said in a Monday email to CNN.

King, who has a history of promoting conspiracy theories and other false claims, did not respond to CNN's requests for comment on Monday. After CNN fact-checked Bowe's tweet on Twitter on Monday, Bowe tweeted to another Twitter user that "I wish it were (true) but it is disputed. Apparently the reports I read were posted by an imaginative trucker. But we can dream."

A false claim about the government and hotels

Rupa Subramanya, who has more than 128,000 Twitter followers and writes columns for the National Post , a conservative Canadian newspaper, tweeted on Sunday: "I've heard from so many today that some Ottawa hotels have been instructed by the city/feds not to give out rooms to the protestors. The Marriott downtown apparently is empty but evidently all the rooms booked. Someone should really investigate if this is true."

Facts First: Regardless of what Subramanya may have been told, the claims she amplified were not true. The employees who took CNN's calls at the downtown Marriott and five other Ottawa hotels on Monday said their establishments had not been given any anti-protester instruction by any government; Patrick Champagne, press secretary to Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, told CNN that the claim "is categorically false"; Alexander Cohen, spokesperson for Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, called the claim "ludicrous" and said that "no one from the federal government has done that"; Steve Bell, president of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association, said that "to my knowledge there is no truth to this rumour." As for the Marriott in particular, it had rooms available at the time of Subramanya's tweet on Sunday evening and again on Monday evening.

When CNN told Subramanya that the claims in her tweet seemed to be false, she said she was glad we had looked into the matter. She insisted she had herself made "no claim" and had merely issued a "call for help" for journalists to look into what she had been hearing from protesters, since "frankly I've been working round the clock talking to people on the ground and so I haven't had the time or the opportunity to vet this claim."

The "mainstream Canadian media should be fact checking these and debunking them if they're false," Subramanya said, though she herself writes for a national Canadian newspaper.

Trump's voice is still very much being heard in Republican primaries ...

A version of this story appeared in CNN's What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here

(CNN) Donald Trump's moment of potential accountability won't come for a month, when the House committee documenting the effort to overturn the last election holds made-for-TV hearings.

But the former President's influence is currently having a resurgence.

Candidates he had not endorsed are still swearing fealty to him.

The Reagan-era Republican primary election commandment that "thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican" has twisted into "thou shalt not speak ill of Trump."

And he may soon get an important bullhorn back: The mute button placed on him by Twitter may be lifted.

Unbanning Trump on Twitter

Whether Trump would return to Twitter is an open question. He's said he will focus on his own startup social media company, Truth Social.

But with more than 80 million followers on Twitter, I'm willing to bet he starts tweeting soon after free-speech absolutist Elon Musk takes over. Musk said he would restore the former President's banned account on Twitter if the acquisition deal is completed.

"Banning Trump from Twitter didn't end Trump's voice; it will amplify it among the right, and this is why it's morally wrong and flat-out stupid," Musk said at an event on Tuesday

Trump's voice is heard in Republican primaries

Trump-backed candidates have mostly won. He primarily backs safe incumbents, but in close races, he has picked the winner.

JUST WATCHED These Senate candidates like to mention Trump. A lot Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH These Senate candidates like to mention Trump. A lot 03:19

In Ohio, where Republican Senate primary candidates were falling over themselves to praise Trump, it was Trump-backed J.D. Vance , the former Trump critic turned Trump evangelist, who won the primary on May 3.

In West Virginia on Tuesday, where redistricting forced two Republican incumbents into a primary face-off, it was Trump's pick -- Rep. Alex Mooney, who had voted to overturn the 2020 electoral votes -- who won the primary against Rep. David McKinley, who got support from moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.

Where Trump lost

Tip O'Neill's "all politics is local" -- that's being challenged. CNN's Gregory Krieg, Jeff Zeleny and Dan Merica argue that in Nebraska, Trump's power in the primaries suggests there's another old political adage -- the late House SpeakerTip O'Neill's "all politics is local" -- that's being challenged. CNN's Gregory Krieg, Jeff Zeleny and Dan Merica argue that in Nebraska, it's still local

A Trump critic, Rep. David Bacon in Nebraska, won his GOP primary. While Trump had publicly criticized Bacon, the former President strategically stayed out of that race by not giving an endorsement. His preferred candidate did lose the Republican primary for Nebraska governor, Trump's first real loss of the primary season.

From the CNN report:

In one of the most expensive and vicious political campaigns in recent Nebraska memory, it was the endorsement from (Nebraska Gov. Pete) Ricketts that mattered most. Ricketts not only supported (Jim) Pillen and guided his campaign from the start, he also invested millions of his own money to defeat (Charles) Herbster.

Trump implored voters to ignore sexual misconduct allegations against Herbster, saying the claims from eight women were "malicious." At a rally on May 1, Trump declared, "He's been badly maligned and it's a shame. That's why I came out here."

What have we learned about Trump's power in the GOP?

I asked CNN Political Director David Chalian how he's assessed Trump's performance in the primaries so far.

He pointed to Trump's 2-1 endorsement record in the highest-profile Republican primaries so far. But Chalian said in an email that it's also important to look at the candidates Trump didn't endorse:

Most Republican candidates -- running with or without the former President's backing -- are running campaigns that align themselves with Trump and his MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement. That means that irrespective of his endorsement win/loss record, Trump is still very much dictating the playing field and the rules of the game inside these Republican primaries.

He still faces some major upcoming tests about the power of his endorsement in places like Pennsylvania (on May 17), Georgia (on May 24) and Wyoming (on August 16) -- but the fact is that today's Republican Party is still very much a party crafted in his image.

MAGA is now bigger than Trump

The Senate race in Pennsylvania proves Chalian's point. Trump has backed the celebrity doctor and former TV host Mehmet Oz in a hotly contested three-way race.

While Oz has name recognition and fame that Trump respects, he's not the most MAGA candidate in the race. Merica writes in a separate CNN story that Trump's endorsement of Oz cleared a path to the right of Oz for Kathy Barnette:

"MAGA does not belong to President Trump," Barnette said at a recent debate to explain why she had not received the former President's endorsement. "Although he coined the word, MAGA actually belongs to the people. Our values never, never shifted to President Trump's values. It was President Trump who shifted and aligned with our values."

More tests on the horizon

In particular, Georgia's governor race will test Trump's power.

Brian Kemp is the incumbent Republican, who Trump has attacked for failing to overturn the 2020 election results. Trump has endorsed former Sen. David Perdue, who will have a tough time unseating Kemp -- and several other former or current Republican governors , including Ricketts from Nebraska, are uniting in an effort to help campaign for Kemp.

A moment of accountability may be coming

A prime-time event sure to trigger Trump believers will come in about a month, when the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection holds hearings based on evidence it has gathered.

The committee is still finalizing its witness list, but CNN is reporting that the hearings will be divided into topics, including what Trump was doing as the riot unfolded, the pushing of baseless election fraud claims that motivated rioters, how law enforcement responded to the attack, and the organizing and financing behind the January 6 rallies.

It's hard to imagine those hearings having much of an effect in the GOP primaries later this summer, since the party has almost entirely rejected the House committee. But they will be important moments for Americans to consider what happened during the last election before taking part in the next one.

Elon Musk may be sued by Twitter; Donald Trump weighs in on deal

Billionaire Elon Musk called off his deal to buy social media company Twitter, according to a filing on Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Skadden Arps attorney Mike Ringler said in a letter to Twitter's chief legal officer that “Twitter has not complied with its contractual obligations." For nearly two months, the company has failed to provide Musk with information about fake or spam accounts, the letter said.

The stock closed down 11.3% Monday, ending the day at $32.65.

"For Twitter this fiasco is a nightmare scenario and will result in an Everest-like uphill climb for (Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal) & Co. to navigate the myriad of challenges ahead around employee turnover/morale, advertising headwinds, investor credibility around the fake account/bot issues, and host of other issues abound,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note on Monday.

Twitter contends Musk's argument for termination is "invalid and wrongful," according to a letter sent on behalf of the company by law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Twitter is demanding Musk use his "best efforts" to complete the deal and says it reserves the right to force Musk to comply with the agreement.

"The Agreement is not terminated," the letter says. "Twitter will continue to provide information reasonably requested by Mr. Musk under the Agreement and to diligently take all measures required to close the transaction."

On Saturday, former U.S. President Donald Trump, formerly one of Twitter's more infamous users reportedly called Musk a “bulls--- artist” Saturday during a campaign rally in Alaska.

Trump said Musk told him he had voted for Trump for president but actually had never voted for a Republican before.

"I said, 'I didn’t know that,'" Trump said. "He told me he voted for me, so he’s another bulls--- artist."

All this comes as Twitter's stock has fallen sharply since the company's board accepted Musk's offer to buy the social media platform in April for $54.20 a share. On the day of the announcement, Twitter closed at $51.70 a share. On Friday, it closed at $36.81.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO is also known for his polarizing online persona as his entrepreneurial endeavors.

He is popular on Twitter, where he has more than 100 million followers, and frequently chimes in on politics, talks business openly, and embraces the internet’s meme culture. Some of his tweets have landed him in legal trouble.

Who is Elon Musk?:What to know about the Tesla CEO who wanted to buy Twitter

Elon Musk mocks Twitter - in a tweet of course

Is this a case of he who laughs first, laughs last?

Musk might think so. On Monday, some 72 hours after wanting to break his deal with Twitter, Musk emerged back on the platform.

He tweeted four images of him laughing next to intriguing captions that read: "They said I couldn’t buy Twitter. Then they wouldn’t disclose bot information. Now they want to force me to buy Twitter in court. Now they have to disclose bot information in court."

Then Musk followed up the tweet with a picture of action star Chuck Norris playing chess with only a single pawn on his side of the board and a set of pieces on the other side, with Musk tweeting, "Chuckmate."

Either this means Musk is back in full-on tweet mode, or he'll strategically pick his spots that no doubt his 100 million followers will be watching.

Can Elon Musk walk away from Twitter?

According to the filing with the SEC on April 25, the deal calls for Musk to pay Twitter a $1 billion break-up fee if he terminates the deal.

But Musk may not be able to just walk away. Twitter may be able to force Musk to complete the deal, legal observers say.

At issue is whether the prevalence of bots on the social media platform is “fundamental to Twitter’s business and financial performance” as Musk's lawyers have argued.

"The question is whether or not this is really material information," UCLA law professor James Park said. "It should be fairly obvious that there's potentially fake spam accounts at a company like Twitter."

“(Musk) can make this argument, but I think it's a weak one,” he said. “To me, this is just a pretext for him to pull out of the deal.”

And Twitter has “every incentive to enforce the deal,” Case Western Reserve business law professor Anat Alon-Beck told USA TODAY in an email.

“If they don’t at least attempt to force Musk to close, they’ll have his allegations of false statements hanging around their necks unless they contest his statements,” Alon-Beck said. “This fight is just beginning and only time will tell on how steep a penalty each side will pay to close this deal.”

Jennifer Grygiel, a professor at Syracuse University, noted that Musk may not be through with the deal yet.

“Who says he’s still not trying to acquire it?” Grygiel said. “We’re still very much in a limbo period and we have to wait and see where this all ends up.”

What is clear: Musk will have a legal battle on his hands. Park said the case should move “very quickly” through the Delaware Court of Chancery, with a trial and a decision "in just a few weeks.”

– Bailey Schulz and Terry Collins

Twitter users react to Elon Musk

Reaction on Twitter was mixed Friday.

Some made jokes about Musk’s change of plans.

Progressive nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen said Musk terminating the deal “is what a win for free speech actually looks like.” Musk in April tweeted "I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter because that is what free speech means."

Attorney Richard Signorelli said he hopes Musk pays a “hefty penalty” to get out of the deal. In another tweet, Signorelli identified himself as a Twitter shareholder and said he is glad Musk is trying to back out.

Illinois Congressman Chuy García tweeted at the billionaire Friday, telling him “don’t let the door hit you on your way out.” García previously spoke out against the $44 billion deal on Twitter.

One avid Twitter user who has yet to tweet about the letter: Musk.

– Bailey Schulz

GOP: 'Elon Musk isn't going to save us'

Conservatives rejoiced in April when Elon Musk made an unsolicited $44 billion bid for Twitter, vowing to restore “free speech” on the social media platform.

The response was more muted late Friday when it became clear that Musk would not be the savior the political right had hoped for.

In a regulatory filing, Musk said he was terminating the Twitter deal over a disagreement about how many spam accounts are on the platform.

Tom Fitton’s take? The conservative activist and president of Judicial Watch said Musk was ditching the Twitter deal because the company refused to disclose details of “its censorship operation.”

Charlie Kirk, founder, and president of the conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA tweeted: “Maybe Elon never intended to buy Twitter at all. Maybe he just wanted to expose it.”

Donald Trump Jr. declared that Musk walking away from the deal meant Twitter was caught lying about spam accounts. “So basically Twitter has a huge amount of spam accounts – way more than they let on – and has gotten busted for it!!!”

“Bottom line,” tweeted Florida GOP congressional candidate Lavern Spicer, “Elon Musk isn’t going to save us.”

Only actor James Woods sounded a more critical note, tweeting: “Musk failed us.” He later deleted the tweet.

It was a far cry from the rousing way conservatives cheered on Musk at the start.

Conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza began lobbying Musk to buy Twitter in January. His idea: That Musk would take over and censor liberals to teach them a lesson on “the imperative of free speech.”

When D'Souza again urged Musk to buy a major social media platform to dramatically shift “the political and cultural landscape,” Musk replied: “interesting ideas.”

Soon Musk was buying up shares of Twitter and being egged on by other conservative figures.

After making a bid for Twitter, the billionaire Tesla CEO picked up millions of followers, many of them conservatives who for years have accused Twitter, Facebook, and Google of anti-conservative bias.

Conservative commentator Brent Bozell, founder, and president of the Media Research Center, tweeted: “Free at last. Free at last. Conservatives may be free at last!”

As of early Friday night, Bozell had not tweeted a reaction to the news that Musk was ending his bid for Twitter.

Over on Donald Trump's social media platform Truth Social, the former president posted: "THE TWITTER DEAL IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE 'TRUTH.'"

– Jessica Guynn

Musk deal termination a Twitter 'disaster'

“Never in a million years would I have imagined this,” said Daniel Ives, senior equity research analyst at Wedbush Securities.

Ives predicts "an uphill battle for Twitter" and "a lot of legal twists and turns."

"This is a disaster scenario for Twitter and its Board as now the company will battle Musk in an elongated court battle to recoup the deal and/or the breakup fee of $1 billion at a minimum,"

Ives said Musk should likely share in some of the blame.

“It’s going to be a black eye for Musk as well," Ives said. "He doesn’t come out smelling like roses.”

Syracuse University's Grygiel says she believed from the start that a powerful executive like Musk may have had cruel intentions for pursuing Twitter.

“It turns out that he didn’t actually need to own it to destroy it," Grygiel said.

– Terry Collins

Who is Elon Musk?:What to know about the Tesla CEO who wanted to buy Twitter

How much was Musk going to buy Twitter for?

Musk was to acquire Twitter in a deal worth $44 billion. Musk said he had lined up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter. Once the deal was complete, Twitter was to become a privately held company.

When did Musk agree to buy Twitter?

Musk’s $44 billion deal was confirmed in late April after he spent nearly three months buying up Twitter shares to increase his stake in the company.

At the time, the world's richest person said he wanted to “make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans."

– Bailey Schulz

Why isn't Elon Musk buying Twitter?

In a word, bots.

Musk claims Twitter is vastly understating the prevalence of spam and fake accounts on the platform.

Twitter says bots make up just 5% of its monetizable daily active users. In Friday's regulatory filing, Musk says that Twitter appears to be “dramatically understating” that figure. Musk previously contended that the count is 20% or higher.

Some observers say Musk is using bots as a pretext to pull out of the deal.

– Bailey Schulz

TWITTER BOTS:What are they and how could they mess up Elon Musk's $44 billion Twitter deal?

How is the Twitter board responding?

Twitter plans to sue Musk and is committed to closing the transaction, according to Bret Taylor, chair of Twitter's board.

"We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery," he said in a tweet.

One former Twitter executive told the Financial Times: “It seems Twitter is willing to go to war to make this deal happen.”

In its latest quarterly report, Twitter warned that its financial condition "may suffer" if the merger does not close. Tumbling stock prices, low investor confidence, stockholder lawsuits, and business disruptions were just a few of the possibilities the company laid out.

Twitter employees were warned not to make any public statements. An internal memo from Twitter’s general counsel obtained by The Verge directed staffers to refrain from "Tweeting, Slacking, or sharing any commentary about the merger agreement.”

– Terry Collins and Bailey Schulz

Contributing: Sara Edwards

Elon Musk: Tucker Carlson, others leaving, rejoining after Twitter buy

Elon Musk struck a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter on Monday.

In the hours following, Tucker Carlson, Mark Levin and more returned to the app.

Jameela Jamil wrote her "last tweet," while other celebrities are also considering leaving.

Elon Musk struck a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter on Monday. News of the new owner has led to a lot of discussion about who will stay on (or return to) the social media app – now set to become a privately-held company by the end of this year.

The Tesla CEO and billionaire, who has referred to himself as a "free speech absolutist," calls for policies that might favor leaving up most tweets and some extremist accounts on the platform – bringing into question what Musk's ownership will mean for previously suspended users.

Former President Donald Trump, who Twitter permanently banned following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, said on Monday that he would not return to the app, even with Musk as the new owner. Instead, he will formally join his own Truth Social app in the coming days, Trump told Fox News on Monday.

As of Monday, Fox News' Tucker Carlson and Mark Levin have returned to the app.

Twitter takeover:Will free speech mean more hate speech on Twitter under Elon Musk?

'Did we just lose?': Twitter users react to Elon Musk buying the social media platform

Meanwhile, some prominent names shared that they would consider leaving Twitter in light of Musk's deal – including actress Jameela Jamil, who sent her "last tweet" on Monday. Activist and author Amy Siskind said she is also considering leaving the app.

"People need to understand that this is no longer a public company," Siskind tweeted on Monday. "Every post you make here is free content to enrich one man, Elon Musk."

Musk's acquisition comes almost five months after founder and CEO Jack Dorsey stepped aside as CEO and named Parag Agrawal as his replacement. Both Dorsey and Agrawal have shared endorsements for Musk's takeover.

"In principle, I don’t believe anyone should own or run Twitter. It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company. Solving for the problem of it being a company, however, Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness," Dorsey tweeted on Monday.

Here's a list of who's leaving, returning to, or criticizing Twitter after the Musk takeover:

Who's returning to Twitter?

Tucker Carlson

Fox News' Carlson returned to Twitter hours after Musk's deal was finalized. Carlson was suspended from Twitter in March, after violating the platform's rules for hateful content. Tweets from the Babylon Bee and Charlie Kirk referred to Assistant Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine – who is a transgender woman – as a "man" and, in a now-deleted Tweet, Carlson insisted that both posts were "true."

As Musk's deal is not yet complete, it is unclear if Carlson's suspension ended because of the new owner.

Mark Levin

Levin, host of the syndicated radio show "The Mark Levin Show" and "Life, Liberty & Levin" on Fox News, also returned to Twitter on Monday – for the first time since January 2021.

Levin was not banned from Twitter, but he suspended his own account in January 2021 "in protest against Twitter's fascism." "Thanks to new ownership, I’ve decided to come back!" Levin tweeted on Monday.

Azealia Banks

Twitter has suspended Banks multiple times. In 2016, the rapper was suspended following reported racist and homophobic tweets directed at Zayn Malik. She was also suspended in 2020 for a series of transphobic tweets.

Following Musk's Monday acquisition, Banks took to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday, writing, "I actually *have* to thank Elon for buying twitter, I actually got back on....." She also detailed her experience being banned, calling Dorsey "racist AF" and writing about "his plot to capitalize off the first Black Lives Matter movement."

On Instagram, Banks posted a screenshot of what appeared to be a new Twitter handle early Tuesday, which is not verified on the platform yet.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

Twitter permanently suspended Greene's personal account in early January for repeated violations of the social media platform's COVID-19 misinformation policy.

After Musk's deal was finalized on Monday, Greene used her Congressional account, which is still active, to share screenshots of the five tweets flagged for misinformation that lead to the banning of her personal account. She then wrote, "My personal freedom of speech was violated on this platform along with an unknown number of Americans, and I want my personal account back."

As of Tuesday, Greene's personal account has not returned.

Who's leaving Twitter?

Jameela Jamil

"The Good Place" actress, writer and activist Jamil wrote her "last tweet" on Monday.

"Ah [Musk] got twitter. I would like this to be my what lies here as my last tweet," Jamil tweeted. "I fear this free speech bid is going to help this hell platform reach its final form of totally lawless hate, bigotry, and misogyny. Best of luck."

See celebrity reactions:Jameela Jamil posts her 'last tweet,' Ice-T jokes Musk should shut Twitter down

Who has criticized Musk's acquisition?

It was reported that activist Shaun King deleted his Twitter account Monday, after tweeting, "At its root, @ElonMusk wanting to purchase Twitter is not about left vs right. It’s about white power.... He’s upset that Twitter won’t allow white nationalists to target/harass people. That’s his definition of free speech."

King has continued to tweet Tuesday, confirming that he didn't delete his account. King has since shared articles detailing racism and civil rights lawsuits at Tesla.

In addition to Siskind, others shared that they were considering leaving the app – including actor and wrestler Mick Foley.

"I’ll be giving some serious thought to leaving @Twitter for good in the near future," Foley wrote on Monday. "I do not have a good feeling about where this platform is heading."

What's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day

Still, some celebrities noted why they plan to stay.

"I’m not going anywhere," tweeted "Star Trek" actor and activist George Takei. "Should this place become more toxic, I pledge to strive even harder to lift up reason, science, compassion and the rule of law. The struggle against fascism, misinformation, and hate requires tough fighters. I hope you stay in the fight, right beside me."

Many also pointed to the enormous price tag on Musk's acquisition deal – stressing that $44 billion could have impacted the world in a multitude of other ways.

"Just a thought–next time we have $44 billion laying around, can we please spend it to solve the pandemic, climate change, hunger, poverty, and malnutrition?" wrote Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, founder of World Health Network.

"$44 billion could help so many people, this greedy world disappoints me," actress, singer and transgender activist Plastic Martyr wrote.

Elon Musk to buy Twitter in $44 billion deal - CNN

New York (CNN) Twitter said Monday it has agreed to sell itself to Elon Musk in a roughly $44 billion deal that has the potential to expand the billionaire's business empire and put the world's richest man in charge of one of the world's most influential social networks.

The deal, which will take the company private, caps off a whirlwind period in which the Tesla and SpaceX CEO became one of Twitter's largest shareholders, was offered and turned down a seat on its board and bid to buy the company — all in less than a month.

Under the terms of the deal, shareholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter stock they own, matching Musk's original offer and marking a 38% premium over the stock price the day before Musk revealed his stake in the company.

"Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," Musk said in a statement Monday. "Twitter has tremendous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it."

The deal, which was unanimously approved by Twitter's board, is expected to close this year. It comes after Musk revealed last week he had lined up $46.5 billion in financing to acquire the company, an apparent turning point that forced Twitter's board to seriously consider the deal. The board met Sunday to evaluate Musk's offer.

"The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing," Twitter independent board chair Bret Taylor said in a statement, calling the deal " the best path forward for Twitter's stockholders."

Twitter stock was up nearly 6% following the announcement of the deal, hovering around $51.84, just shy of the offer price. The deal is pending approval from shareholders and regulators.

In an internal message to employees obtained by CNN, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said he would hold an all-hands meeting with Taylor on Monday afternoon to answer questions about the deal. "I know this is a significant change and you're likely processing what this means for you and Twitter's future," he said.

What Musk means for Twitter

Musk is both a high-profile Twitter user and a controversial one. He has more than 83 million followers on the platform, which he has used over the years for everything from sharing memes and discussing his companies to insulting politicians, spreading misleading claims about Covid-19 and making offensive remarks about the transgender community.

Musk has repeatedly stressed in recent days that his goal is to bolster free speech on the platform and work to "unlock" Twitter's "extraordinary potential."

In his statement Monday, Musk said he wants to "make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans." Separately, he said in a tweet Monday that he hopes "even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means."

Still, some industry experts worry that Musk's desire for free speech on Twitter could mean rolling back some of the platform's work to curb hate speech, misinformation, harassment and other harmful content. Others questioned whether Musk might restore former President Donald Trump's account, which was removed early last year for violating Twitter policies against inciting violence following the Capitol Riot. Such a move could have significant ramifications for the upcoming 2024 US presidential election.

While Twitter is smaller than some social media rivals, it has an outsized influence in the online and offline worlds because it is used by many politicians, public figures and journalists, and has sometimes acted as a model for other platforms in how to handle harmful content.

"Do not allow Twitter to become a petri dish for hate speech, or falsehoods that subvert our democracy," Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, said in a statement directed at Musk Monday following the deal.

A new and uncertain era for Twitter

In the days since Musk's initial bid, many following the company wondered whether Twitter would try to find another buyer, especially after the company put in place a poison pill to make it more difficult for Musk to acquire the company without its approval.

But CFRA senior equity analyst Angelo Zino said Monday that Twitter's board more seriously considering Musk's offer may have come "from the Board's realization that an alternative bid from a 'white knight' may be difficult to come by, especially following the decline in asset prices from social media companies in recent weeks/months."

It's not clear whether Agrawal — who took over the CEO role from founder Jack Dorsey in November — will remain in the top job following the takeover. Musk previously tweeted a meme comparing Agrawal to former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Musk also said in his offer letter to buy Twitter that he does not "have confidence in management."

The deal could, however, put an end to nearly a decade of chaos at Twitter as a public company, during which it has cycled through CEOs, grappled with an activist investor and struggled to ignite growth and successfully monetize its influential user base.

Agrawal said in Monday's statement that "Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world," He added: "Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important."

CNN Business tech reporter Clare Duffy can be reached at clare.duffy@cnn.com.

Opinion: Canada's trucker protesters aren't who Americans might ...

Andrew Cohen is a journalist, a professor at Carleton University, and author of " Two Days in June: John F. Kennedy and the 48 Hours That Made History ." The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion articles on CNN.

Ottawa (CNN) For days, the army of truckers and their disciples has been honking, marching, demanding and posturing. The "Freedom Convoy" has come to this sleepy capital to protest a mandate that requires truckers entering the country to be vaccinated or comply with testing and quarantine requirements.

At first blush, their protest feels American. Some wave banners emblazoned with "Make Canada great again," "F--k Trudeau," or "Trump 2024." Others carried a Confederate battle flag. They shout "freedom," while authorities fear chaos and send the prime minister and his family to "an undisclosed location," much like the Secret Service hid Vice President Dick Cheney on September 11, 2001.

This protest has been celebrated by some in the United States, perhaps in the hope that revolution is flowering in frozen Canada. Among the vocal are Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump . American truckers are said to be inspired to plan their own mobilized march in Washington, DC.

That conservatives in the United States are moved by a protest in Canada -- that they even notice Canada -- likely emboldens the Canadian truckers. After all, to fabulists such as broadcaster Tucker Carlson , Canada has become a dark, surveillance state led by "no more fearful despot in the world than Justin Trudeau." O Canada! Truckers are your salvation!

Carlson, Trump and Musk see something monumental here. They're wrong. Whatever the facile comparisons, familiar symbols and fearful words, this Canadian protest isn't a grassroots revolt or even a Prairie brushfire. More likely, it's a winter carnival, ephemeral, a flaring of anger -- and one that is very, very Canadian.

A reporter roaming the crowd on Parliament Hill described a "festive" mood -- not just a gnarled, baying brigade of old-stock Canadians lugging a catalogue of grievance. She noted breathlessly that the leaders include a Jewish and an Indigenous Canadian.

What unites them is their opposition to lockdowns and mask and vaccine mandates. Some, she found, distanced themselves from the more militant truckers who oppose vaccination outright, spread misinformation and traffic in hatred. Some 90% of Canadian truckers are vaccinated , and their umbrella association has disowned the protestors.

The reality is the truckers live in a country that is among the most highly vaccinated in the industrialized world. Canadians have embraced restrictive measures -- wearing masks, closing schools, shops, gyms, offices -- their governments have imposed, particularly measures targeting the unvaccinated. In Quebec, the most aggressive jurisdiction on the pandemic, which threatened (but this week dropped) a plan to tax the unvaccinated , the provincial government is popular.

The reason Canadians generally obey their government is not because we are "better people," as one Canadian mocks his country's penchant for sanctimony. We do it because we are prudent, cautious and moderate, given to compromise and accommodation, sometimes to a fault. Canada is a progressive place of little social unrest where issues that remain contentious in the US -- abortion, same-sex rights, voting rights, immigration -- are settled.

The national consensus prefers a loss of liberty over a loss of life. As a society, Canada is less willing to accept the staggering number of deaths from the virus as the United States (which has some three times those in Canada, adjusted for differences in population).

Among the protesters in Ottawa, there were certainly bad people, as Trump would say. Some carried a swastika. Some danced on the War Memorial. Many urinated everywhere. And as professor Josh Greenberg incisively argues , the absence of violence does not make this peaceful. The protestors are intimidating and unsettling by their presence alone.

But there are no guns, no nooses, no body armor. No incidents, assaults, or fisticuffs. Vulgarity, yes, cacophony, yes, and a volley of taunts and threats from the many tribunes of the far right who have joined the parade.

If there has been no bloodshed it is perhaps because those with other opinions have stayed away (a counter-demonstration by pro-vaccination activists was canceled) and the authorities have stood by. "Please leave," politicians implore , politely. Call this Canadian nice.

Astonishingly, though, there have been no fines. No deadlines. No ultimatums or restrictions. The officials ask but do not act, frustrated residents complain but do not march, the protestors shrug and do not leave (at least not all of them).

Meanwhile, roads are blocked and many businesses downtown are closed . The parliamentary precinct is paralyzed and so is the political class.

Canadians, once said to defer instinctively to authority, now accept an absence of it. The city will not ticket trucks clogging roads because it may anger them. It will not impose a curfew or ban. The police talk about "de-escalating" and congratulate themselves that there has been no death or destruction.

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With this laissez-faire strategy, the protesters might well occupy Ottawa, as they threaten , for months. But they will persuade few. They have little currency in a country where freedom matters less than order.

In fact, had freedom been so fundamental, Canadians would have elected the right-wing People's Party promising it last year. Instead, they re-elected Justin Trudeau and the Liberals, who denounce the mob.

The worst of the protesters may be deplorables, but they are our deplorables, peculiarly and certifiably Canadian. As long as they are not stopped by the police, tolerated by the public and ignored by lawmakers, they will be free to sit on the sidewalk, sleep in the cold and honk into the wind.

Following Elon Musk's takeover, Twitter's leadership is likely in for a ...

New York (CNN Business) Assuming all goes to plan, Elon Musk won't actually own Twitter for another few months but his swift deal for the company left watchers wondering what his takeover will mean for its management team. Will CEO Parag Agrawal, who's only held that position for four months, stick around? Will Musk, who already helms multiple companies, try to run the platform himself? Could cofounder Jack Dorsey, who just left to focus on running payments company Block, return to an executive role?

Musk, of course, is notoriously unpredictable but one thing seems clear: Twitter's leadership will likely look much different after the deal than it does today.

There are a few obvious initial indicators that this will happen. Twitter's board on Monday announced it had agreed to sell the social media company to Musk in a deal valued at $44 billion. The deal came just 11 days after Musk — who was initially offered a seat on the company's board but declined — made what he called his "best and final" offer for the company. In his offer letter, Musk said, "I don't have confidence in management."

In an all-hands meeting for employees that Agrawal and board chair Bret Taylor held later Monday, Taylor said the company's board of directors "no longer exists on the other side of this transaction."

Then on Tuesday, Musk publicly criticized two of the company's top legal executives on Twitter, leading each to face a barrage of hateful comments on the platform.

"[Musk is] probably not happy with the management team and the board, and I think that's a big reason why the initial offer to sit on the board and see how things play out over the next two years is something he just wasn't interested in," said Angelo Zino, senior industry analyst at CFRA Research.

Twitter declined to comment on this story. Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

The fate of Twitter's CEO

Many analysts agree that Agrawal will probably be among those ousted when Musk's acquisition closes. Agrawal told employees on Monday that he is "optimistic" about the company's future, but it was already unclear what kind of working relationship he would have with Musk. After it was announced that Agrawal would take over the top job from Dorsey in November, Musk tweeted a photo comparing the new CEO to former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

"It's hard for me to see a situation where [Agrawal] remains as CEO after the deal," said Daniel Newman, principal analyst at tech research firm Futurum Research. "It's unfortunate because I don't think his tenure was long enough to actually fully indict him. ... I just think with Musk's comments, it's pretty clear that he wants to go in kind of a hard right from where the strategy was," he said.

Parag Agrawal has been Twitter's CEO for only four months but many followers of the company expect he's unlikely to remain in the role if Musk's acquisition is completed.

Twitter TWTR Facebook FB In some ways, the leadership shakeup — if it does happen — may reflect Twitter's longstanding struggles to turn its powerful user base and outsized influence in the worlds of media and politics into a healthy business, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.shares are currently trading only 15% higher than their IPO price from nearly 10 years ago, compared to rivalwhose stock has gained 273% over the same period.

Musk will also likely seek to shift the internal culture at Twitter to better align with his vision for the company

It's not exactly clear what that vision is. On one hand, Musk has said he wants to "unlock" Twitter's "enormous potential." But on the other, he's said his acquisition is not about money and made suggestions for the platform, such as removing content restrictions, that could run counter to Twitter's core advertising revenue model. Whatever his plans, Musk will almost certainly want to stack the company's management team with leaders who are on the same page.

"He'll be hiring people that understand his vision, understand the kind of work, product and culture he's trying to create," Newman said. "There's no question that this is going to be a 180-degree culture shift. Tesla is known as being a very hard culture, pretty demanding of people, [while] Twitter was kind of seen as a little bit of a softer culture, a little more thoughtful about people and obviously was very attentive to a lot of social issues. ... I think Musk is going to be very prudent to make sure he sorts out the talent who he thinks can help him carry his mission forward."

Billionaire bromance?

Even if Musk does clean house at Twitter, it seems unlikely that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO will want to run Twitter himself, at least not for long, given his many commitments.

He would also almost certainly learn quickly about the not-so-fun parts of being a social media CEO. Such a role faces intense scrutiny and risks being called to testify before lawmakers about decisions related to harmful content, data privacy and more. Already, Musk has received a warning from EU Commissioner Theirry Breton that Twitter must abide by Europe's heightened new standards for content moderation or else risk fines or even a possible ban.

Musk may want to avoid putting himself in that position, given how reliant his other companies are on government contracts.

Many followers of the company are now speculating about whether Musk might encourage Dorsey — who stepped down as CEO in November and is set to leave the board in May — to return to a leadership role at Twitter after the deal is complete. While the Twitter cofounder also has other things on his plate as the CEO of financial services firm Block, Musk and Dorsey seem to get along, and may agree on a vision for the platform.

The two eccentric, billionaire, crypto-loving tech titans have traded friendly remarks on Twitter over the years. When Twitter was facing pressure from an activist investor in 2020, Musk tweeted: "Just want [to] say that I support @Jack as Twitter CEO. He has a good ❤." More recently, Musk complimented the new "Block Head" title Dorsey has taken on at Block.

On Monday night, Dorsey responded to Musk's planned acquisition of Twitter in a somewhat cryptic tweet thread, which kicked off with a link to the Radiohead song "Everything In Its Right Place."

"Elon's goal of creating a platform that is 'maximally trusted and broadly inclusive' is the right one," Dorsey said. "This is the right path...I believe it with all my heart."

Jack Dorsey on stage at the Bitcoin 2021 Convention at the Mana Convention Center in Miami, FL, in June 2021.

Dorsey also noted that Twitter has been "my sole issue and my biggest regret," saying, "It has been owned by Wall Street and the ad model. Taking it back from Wall Street is the correct first step."

In recent weeks, Dorsey has criticized Twitter's board and suggested he takes issue with its stance as a public company.

"It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company," Dorsey said. "Solving for the problem of it being a company however, Elon is the singular solution I trust."

In some ways, a Dorsey return under Musk would seem surprising. The Twitter cofounder oversaw the platform during many of its struggles to grow its user base and increase profits. Dorsey has also undoubtedly had at least some influence on Twitter's existing culture, which Musk may try to overhaul. And Twitter has said Dorsey was responsible for many of the company's biggest and most controversial decisions, most notably removing former President Donald Trump's account, which Musk appears to oppose.

Still, if Musk's plans for Twitter align with "what Dorsey saw the company as but lost his handle on it over the years, it could be an interesting way for him to return and run the company that he always envisioned running but never had the support to do," Newman said.

Merck's CEO quits Trump's council over Charlottesville

Roger Yu and Herb Jackson

USA TODAY and USA TODAY NETWORK

Merck CEO Ken Frazier quit President Trump's manufacturing jobs council on Monday, following the president's widely criticized response to violence that erupted after a neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville over the weekend.

The resignation prompted an angry response from Trump on Twitter. "Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!," Trump tweeted.

"Our country's strength stems from its diversity and the contributions made by men and women of different faiths, races, sexual orientations and political beliefs," Frazier tweeted.

"America's leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal," Frazier said. "As CEO of Merck and as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism."

One of the world's largest pharmaceutical manufacturers, Merck develops and makes a wide variety of vaccines and drugs, including allergy medicine Clarinex and cholesterol treatments Zocor and Vytorin.

Merck declined to comment on Trump's response tweet regarding lowering drug prices. U.S. Prices for the most popular brand-name drugs in the U.S. have risen 208% from 2008 to 2016, according to AARP. In January, Merck issued its own pricing report that showed seven years of price hikes. Prices for its drugs rose on average 9% since 2010, it said.

This isn't the first time Trump has clashed this year with high-profile CEOs over his handling of policy matters. In June, Disney CEO Robert Iger and Tesla CEO Elon Musk quit another White House business advisory council over Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from a global climate-change treaty, called the Paris Agreement.

In February, former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick also quit advising Trump on business matters over the president’s proposal to ban travel from seven Muslim countries.

Elon Musk makes good on threat as he, Iger quit Trump council after Paris pullout

President Trump condemns white supremacists after Charlottesville violence

Trump came under fire over the weekend for his refusal to specifically denounce neo-Nazis, KKK and other racist groups after their rally in Charlottesville resulted in at least three people killed and dozens more hurt.

Trump's statement over the weekend that condemned, "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, many sides" was considered inadequate by numerous lawmakers -- including some Republicans. Some of Trump's political opponents called it a "dog whistle" to far-right and extremist supporters.

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides," Trump said over the weekend, prompting his critics to wonder if he was implicitly criticizing the counter-protesters in Charlottesville.

After repeated calls for a more forceful response, Trump finally addressed reporters in the White House on Monday afternoon and said "racism is evil."

"And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups," Trump said before leaving the lectern without taking questions.

He also announced that the Department of Justice has launched a civil rights investigation over a car attack in Charlottesville Saturday that killed Heather Heyer, 32, and injured 19 others. James Alex Fields Jr., 20, who allegedly drove the car, was denied bail Monday.

Frazier, who in the past has donated to both Republicans and Democrats, sat beside Trump in late January when the president had a roundtable discussion with pharmaceutical company executives.

Trump urged the companies to lower their prices, but he also promised they would benefit from relaxed federal regulations, better trade deals and tax reform. He stopped short of repeating a campaign promise to have Medicare negotiate for drug discounts with manufacturers.

Frazier also represented Merck at a White House event in July where his company and Pfizer announced an agreement with Corning to develop a new generation of stronger glass vials and an investment in manufacturing jobs.

Frazier declined to comment further. The Harvard-trained lawyer took over the job in 2010 after he spent years working up the corporate ladder, including stints as general counsel and head of its global human health business.

Most of the companies, which include Corning, Under Armour, Boeing and Caterpillar, whose CEOs are on the manufacturing council, declined to comment.

But AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the president’s manufacturing council hasn’t held “any real meeting” and the labor union group is “assessing our role.”

“The AFL-CIO has unequivocally denounced the actions of bigoted domestic terrorists in Charlottesville and called on the president to do the same,” Trumka said. “There are real questions into the effectiveness of this council to deliver real policy that lifts working families.”

GE, whose former CEO and current board chairman Jeff Immelt is a member of the manufacturing council, said Immelt plans to remain on the council while he's still board chairman. He will step down as the company's board chairman at the end of the year.

"GE has no tolerance for hate, bigotry or racism, and we strongly condemn the violent extremism in Charlottesville over the weekend," the company said in a statement. "With more than 100,000 employees in the United States, it is important for GE to participate in the discussion on how to drive growth and productivity in the U.S."

In a statement, computer-maker Dell Technologies, whose CEO Michael Dell is a council member, said there was no change "in Dell engaging with the Trump administration and governments around the world to share our perspective on policy issues that affect our company, our customers and our employees."

The Dow Chemical Company and Campbell Soup also confirmed that their CEOs will remain on the council but condemned expressions of racism.

Contributing: Kellie Ell


US tourist falls into Mount Vesuvius crater after taking selfie

A 23-year-old American tourist fell into the crater of Mount Vesuvius while trying to retrieve his cellphone over the weekend, according to reports.

The man, who was visiting the famous volcano that towers over the Italian city of Naples, reached the more than 4,200 foot-high summit of the volcano, with two family members on Saturday, NBC reported.

Paolo Cappelli, the president of the Presidio Permanente Vesuvio, told the outlet the man and his relatives hiked up Vesuvius from the town of Ottaviano and accessed the top of the volcano through a forbidden area.

The man, who NBC identified as Phillip Carroll of Maryland, survived the fall.

"This family took another trail, closed to tourists, even if there was a small gate and 'no access' signs," Cappelli told the outlet.

When the family reached the top of the volcano, the man stopped to take a selfie when his phone slipped out of his hand and into the mouth of the volcano, the outlet reported. He then climbed down into the crater in an attempt to get his phone back, only to fall after losing his balance.

“He tried to recover it, but slipped and slid a few meters into the crater. He managed to stop his fall, but at that point he was stuck," Cappelli told NBC.

Presidio Permanente Vesuvio guides saw what happened with binoculars from the opposite side of the rim and rushed to help the man, The Guardian reported.

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Police also responded to the scene and a mountain rescue helicopter was launched to assist the rescue operation, the outlet reported. Responders used a long rope to pull the man to safety.

The man reportedly suffered scratches and cuts to his arms and back in the fall. He was then reportedly taken into custody by the local police. The tourist and his relatives face charges after being reported by police for the invasion of public land.

Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.


Lea Michele in Funny Girl: Glee alum replacing Beanie Feldstein

It's official: After weeks of rumors, Lea Michele is officially replacing "Funny Girl" star Beanie Feldstein on Broadway.

Michele, who got her start on Broadway as a child and is best known for playing musical theater enthusiast Rachel Berry on "Glee," will take over the role beginning Sept. 6, the show announced Monday. Tovah Feldshuh is also joining the cast, replacing Michele's "Glee" co-star Jane Lynch as Mrs. Brice.

"A dream come true is an understatement," Michele wrote Monday on Instagram. "I'm so incredibly honored to join this amazing cast and production and return to the stage playing Fanny Brice on Broadway."

The high-profile casting change represents another step toward a return to the spotlight and respectability for Michele after former “Glee” castmates in 2020 accused the actor of behavior that was interpreted as racist and bullying. Samantha Ware, the actress who first spoke out against Michele, seemingly addressed the casting news in a tweet Monday.

Yes, I’m online today," she wrote. "Yes, I see y’all. Yes, I care. Yes, im affected. Yes, I’m human. Yes, I’m Black. Yes, I was abused. Yes, my dreams were tainted. Yes, Broadway upholds whiteness. Yes, Hollywood does the same. Yes, silence is complicity. Yes, I’m loud. Yes, I’d do it again."

More:Lea Michele apologizes after 'Glee's Samantha Ware accuses her of 'traumatic microaggressions'

Michele, who started her career on Broadway in productions of "Les Misérables," "Ragtime," "Fiddler on the Roof" and starred in the original “Spring Awakening” recently returned to the work with the documentary “Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known.”

On "Glee," Michele delivered a memorable rendition of the show's song "Don't Rain On My Parade." Later on in the series, her character gets cast as Fanny Brice in a Broadway revival of "Funny Girl."

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Feldstein confirmed her early exit from the Broadway revival of "Funny Girl" in an Instagram post Sunday, in which the Golden Globe-nominated actress expressed gratitude for the opportunity to portray lead Fanny Brice. Feldstein’s final show is July 31.

“Playing Fanny Brice on Broadway has been a lifelong dream of mine, and doing so for the last few months has been a great joy and true honor,” Feldstein wrote.

The "Booksmart" star didn't go into too much detail, but cited creative differences as the reason for her bowing out of the production.

“Once the production decided to take the show in a different direction, I made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated,” Feldstein explained. “I will never forget this experience and from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank every single person who came to the August Wilson for the love and support you have shown me and our amazing cast and crew."

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She added: "The people I have had the great joy of bringing Funny Girl to life with every night, both on and off the stage, are all remarkably talented and exceptional humans and I hope you continue to join them on Henry Street after I depart.”

Feldstein was originally slated to perform in the show through Sept. 25 alongside Lynch, according to the official “Funny Girl” Twitter account.

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Feldstein has missed several performances in recent weeks, including a weekend matinee. Last month, she missed a string of shows due to a positive COVID-19 test. She had said she would depart the show Sept. 25, but now won’t last past the end of July.

Fanny Brice standby Julie Benko will perform the title role from Aug. 2 to Sep. 4 before Michele takes on the role.

Broadway is usually known for its quiet, seamless transitions after A-list stars depart shows — in part to protect multimillion-dollar shows — indicating that the backstage machinations at “Funny Girl” have been strained at best.

Fanny is one of musical theater’s more difficult roles to cast, needing both a set of pipes, a sense of humor and a spunky charm, perhaps why it has only now been revived on theater’s biggest stage. Streisand starred in it on Broadway in 1964 and then won an Oscar in the 1968 film version.

The bittersweet comedy tells the tale of a Jewish girl from New York in the 1920s who went from burlesque to Broadway stages despite criticism that she wasn’t conventionally beautiful. “Funny Girl” is a musical that celebrates the oddballs, the kooky and the misfits.

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Reviews were mixed to poor, with many critics saying that while Feldstein brought excitement and spirit, her voice was simply not up to the task, with the Hollywood Reporter review saying “she never quite makes the material soar, and this is a rickety vehicle that needs a supernova to put gas in its tank.”

Feldstein, who made her Broadway debut in 2017 in the Bette Midler-led revival of “Hello, Dolly!,” failed to secure a Tony nomination for “Funny Girl,” and the show itself was bushed off with a single nod — to Jared Grimes, a featured actor in a musical.

Box office revenues have softened of late, with a slow decline since the Tony Awards in June. The latest data shows a weekly take slipping under $1 million for an eight-performance week with the show performing to a house only 75-percent filled.

Barbra Streisand and Omar Sharif starred in a film adaptation of the show in 1968, which earned Streisand an Oscar for best actress in a leading role.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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Lea Michele will replace Beanie Feldstein in 'Funny Girl' - CNN

(CNN) Broadway's next "Funny Girl" will be Lea Michele, who is replacing Beanie Feldstein after the "Booksmart" star announced she'd exit the show earlier than expected.

The production revealed Monday that the "Glee" star would succeed Feldstein, whose run will end July 31, in the leading role of Fanny Brice, the famed comedian and vaudeville performer.

Feldstein announced her departure on Sunday, writing that after the production "decided to take the show in a different direction, [she] made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated." She said playing Fanny had been a "lifelong dream."

She'll end her "Funny Girl" run almost two months earlier than her previously announced date of September 25.

CNN reached out to representatives for Feldstein and "Funny Girl" for comment.

Michele will begin her tenure on September 4. After Feldstein exits, her standby Julie Benko will perform until Michele joins the cast, the production said.

Feldstein's costar Jane Lynch will depart the production in September, "Funny Girl" producers announced, and will be replaced by Tony nominee Tovah Feldshuh. Lynch appeared on "Glee" alongside Michele.

Poor reviews plagued 'Funny Girl' revival

Broadway's first revival of "Funny Girl" has been beleaguered by poor reviews, many of them taking aim at Feldstein's performance. New York Magazine's Helen Shaw wrote that Feldstein's "voice lets her down" throughout the show and that when it comes to the musical's beloved melodies, "Feldstein cannot sing them."

Even if reviews had been more favorable, Feldstein had massive shoes to fill: Barbra Streisand originated the part on stage and in the film adaptation, winning an Oscar for her performance. The climactic Act One closer, "Don't Rain on My Parade," became one of Streisand's most iconic songs, and Fanny became synonymous with Babs.

This year's production of "Funny Girl," a musical retelling of Brice's career and love affair with a con artist, premiered in April. It received only one Tony nomination, for scene-stealing dancer and supporting actor Jared Grimes.

Michele performed a well-known version of "Don't Rain on My Parade" on "Glee," and her character angled to play the lead role on Broadway in a fictional revival. Her casting was expected among some Broadway fans, but not all welcomed the news.

In 2020, Michele was accused by "Glee" costar Samantha Marie Ware of creating a toxic environment on the set , and online, some "Funny Girl" fans said that her casting dishonored Ware's allegations.

'Funny Girl,' Steve Bannon and Lake Mead. It's Monday's news.

Footage from a Robb Elementary security camera shows a view of what happened during the deadly mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Prosecutors express their doubts over Steve Bannon's motives for testifying before the Jan. 6 committee. And a World War II-era ship emerges in Lake Mead.

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Robb Elementary footage offers clearest view of police response

A school security camera captured the horror and devastating law enforcement mistakes during the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers. Footage from the camera is at the center of a political struggle over what public information from that day should be released and by whom. A 77-minute recording, reviewed by the Austin American-Statesman, offers an unabridged view of police inaction, among the clearest accounts of what happened before and after the victims were gunned down. Amid a shifting official timeline of the law enforcement response and anger among Uvalde residents over questions about the shooting, it provides an unfiltered view of what transpired. State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, and Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin have argued for its release, while Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busbee opposes its disclosure.

Bannon's desire to testify is not 'an effort at compliance,' prosecutors say

Former White House strategist Steve Bannon’s willingness to testify before a special House committee investigating the attack Jan. 6, 2021, on the Capitol was described by federal prosecutors as a stunt a week before his trial on a criminal contempt charges for defying a committee subpoena. “His actions are little more than an attempt to change the optics of his contempt on the eve of trial, not an actual effort at compliance,” prosecutors said in court documents. The former Trump aide is set to stand trial July 18 on two counts of contempt involving his refusal to appear for a deposition and produce documents, despite a subpoena from the House committee.

What everyone's talking about

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Many Americans question value of college, according to poll

Americans say earning a bachelor’s degree may help people find good jobs and could improve society, but attending college can be too expensive and time-consuming for working adults, according to a poll from USA TODAY and Public Agenda. The survey found a little more than half of Americans agree that the benefits of a degree outweigh the costs. Undergraduate enrollment has fallen by more than a million students in the past two years, in part because of COVID-19 and more recently a surging workforce. The nation’s $1.7 trillion student loan debt portfolio continues to balloon.

Lea Michele joins 'Funny Girl' revival as Beanie Feldstein exits

After weeks of rumors, Lea Michele is officially replacing "Funny Girl" star Beanie Feldstein on Broadway. Michele, who got her start on Broadway as a child and played musical theater enthusiast Rachel Berry on "Glee," will take over the role Sept. 6, the show announced Monday. Tovah Feldshuh is also joining the cast, replacing Michele's "Glee" co-star Jane Lynch as Mrs. Brice. Feldstein confirmed her early exit from the Broadway revival of "Funny Girl" in an Instagram post Sunday, saying the role of Fanny Brice "has been a great joy and true honor."

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Sunken ship dating back to WWII emerges from Lake Mead

A sunken boat dating back to World War II emerged from Lake Mead. The Higgins landing craft that had long been 185 feet below the surface is nearly halfway out of the water. The boat was used to survey the Colorado River decades ago, sold to the marina, then sunk, according to dive tours company Las Vegas Scuba. About 1,500 “Higgins boats” were deployed at Normandy on June 6, 1944, known as D-Day. The boat is the latest object unearthed by declining water levels in Lake Mead, the largest human-made reservoir in the USA, held back by the Hoover Dam.

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