1. Trump blames media for condemnation of comments on Virginia
Pioneer press: President Donald Trump blamed the media Tuesday for the widespread condemnation of his response to a Charlottesville, Virginia, protest organized by white supremacists that led to the killing of a counter-protester.
Trump opened his political rally in Phoenix with a call for unity, saying, “What happened in Charlottesville strikes at the core of America and tonight, this entire arena stands united in forceful condemnation of the thugs that perpetrated hatred and violence.”
But he quickly trained his ire on the media, saying that he “openly called for healing unity and love” in the immediate aftermath of Charlottesville and claiming the media had misrepresented him. He read from his three responses to the violence — getting more animated with each one.
2. Navy says cyber sabotage played 'no role' in USS John S. McCain incident
Fox News: A top U.S. Navy admiral on Monday called for a swift and thorough investigation into Monday's collision of the USS John S. McCain into an oil tanker near Singapore -- marking the second deadly mishap that occurred in the Pacific in the past three months.
"Some remains" of the sailors who were declared missing after the collision were found in a sealed compartment aboard the destroyer on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Malaysian officials said they found one body, but were still in the process of identifying it.
Adm. John Richardson ordered an operational pause in all the fleets around the world while the Navy works to determine the factors behind the collision. Richardson tweeted that the Navy will conduct a wide investigation, including a review into the possibility of "cyber intrusion or sabotage," -- though a Navy official told Fox News on Tuesday any possible cyber sabotage played "no role" in the USS John S. McCain incident.
Richardson made clear that there is no evidence of a hacking at this point, but some cyber experts have raised to possiblity given the location of the warships.
3. Valerie Plame Wilson's on a mission to get President Trump off Twitter.
USA Today: Wilson — best known for being revealed as a CIA operative because of a leak during the George W. Bush administration — has started a GoFundMe page to buy a controlling interest in Twitter, in order to delete the president's account. The company is currently worth nearly $12 billion, with its shares going for around $16.
"Donald Trump has done a lot of horrible things on Twitter. From emboldening white supremacists to promoting violence against journalists, his tweets damage the country and put people in harm's way," Wilson wrote on the campaign's page "But threatening actual nuclear war with North Korea takes it to a dangerous new level."
The goal: $1 billion. That might be a stretch, though. Wilson has raised more than $3,000 since she launched the campaign on August 16. She wrote, "At the current market rate that would require over a billion dollars — but that's a small price to pay to take away Trump's most powerful megaphone and prevent a horrific nuclear war.”
If they aren't able to meet that goal, the plan is to buy a "significant stake" in order to push the proposal at the annual stakeholder's meeting, Plame said. Twitter has previously defended Trump's use of the platform. Back in May, CEO Jack Dorsey said it was important for people to "hear directly from our leadership."
One analyst estimated that eliminating the president's tweets would wipe out $2 billion of Twitter's market value, according to Bloomberg News.
4. White House renews request for privacy for Trump's young son
Associated Press: The White House renewed its request to the news media for privacy for President Donald Trump's young son, Barron, yesterday after a conservative news and opinion website criticized the casual attire he wore home after the family's summer vacation.
The 11-year-old wore shorts, a T-shirt that said "On Your Mark Tiger Shark" and loafers without socks for Sunday's return trip to the White House from the family's home on Trump's private golf club in central New Jersey. Ford Springer, The Daily Caller columnist, wrote that since Barron doesn't have any responsibilities as the president's son "the least he could do is dress the part when he steps out in public."
The column said, "Barron was returning to the White House from New Jersey on Sunday and while the president and first lady traveled in their Sunday best, young Barron looked like he was hopping on Air Force One for a trip to the movie theater.”
Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Trump, appealed to the media to give Barron space to be a kid. Grisham said, "as with all previous administrations, we ask that the media give Barron his privacy. He is a minor child and deserves every opportunity to have a private childhood.”
The White House also got bipartisan support from former first daughter Chelsea Clinton, who defended Barron on Twitter. Clinton was the subject of ridicule as a teenager growing up in the White House in the 1990s when her father, Democrat Bill Clinton, was president.
"It's high time the media & everyone leave Barron Trump alone & let him have the private childhood he deserves," Clinton tweeted Monday, with a link to the Daily Caller column.
5. Powerball jackpot climbs to $700 million
Kare11: The Powerball jackpot soared to $700 million on Tuesday morning. It's the second largest jackpot in Powerball history and second largest jackpot of any US lottery game on record, according to Texas Lottery.
The drawing will be this Wednesday at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time in Tallahassee, Florida. To have a chance at winning the jackpot, players must buy a $2 ticket before the drawing and choose all six numbers correctly.
There hasn't been a Powerball winner since June 10, which means the prize pool has been growing every day since then. In reality, you probably won't be the lucky winner -- the odds of winning the jackpot are one in 292.2 million. But you do have much better odds of one in 25 of winning a lesser prize.