President Trump is ramping up his denials about Russia having any hand in the 2016 election as well as his claims that there is some sort of conspiracy, or "witch hunt," against him. Last June, Trump tweeted about how there was "no collusion" or collusion specifically between the Russians and the Democrats five different times. By this spring, such tweets were in the double-digits:

Tweets about 'no collusion'

June 2017: 5

January 2018: 3

February 2018 : 8

March 2018: 6

April 2018: 9

May 2018: 13

June 1-28, 2018: 11 times, including three times today alone

There is a similar pattern when you trace Trump's use of the word "witch hunt," CNN's David P. Gelles noticed:

The same is also true for mentions of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating links between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, Politico's Kyle Cheney shared:

Ahead of the announcement that he would be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month, Trump tweeted Thursday: "Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with meddling in our election! Where is the DNC server, and why didn't Shady James Comey and the now disgraced FBI agents take and closely examine it? Why isn't Hillary/Russia being looked at? So many questions, so much corruption!"

CBS News' Mark Knoller offered the shorter version: "Pres repeats Kremlin denial, but charges FBI with corruption." Jeva Lange

The family of George Floyd is demanding stronger charges for the former Minneapolis police officer arrested Friday in connection with Floyd's death. Derek Chauvin received third-degree murder and manslaughter charges, despite evidentially ignoring police training that would have taught that restraining a person in such a way as he did Floyd is "inherently dangerous," according to the criminal complaint.

"We want a first-degree murder charge," the family's statement said. "And we want to see the other [three] officers arrested. We call on authorities to revise the charges to reflect the true culpability of this officer."

The disturbing complaint describes how Chauvin placed "his left knee in the area of Mr. Floyd's head and neck. Mr. Floyd said, 'I can't breathe' multiple times and repeatedly said 'Mama' and 'please' as well. The defendant [Chauvin] and the other two officers stayed in their positions."

Floyd then stopped breathing or speaking. One of the officers checked his pulse and said "I couldn't find one," but Chauvin did not remove his knee for several more minutes. An ambulance eventually arrived; Floyd was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The autopsy "revealed no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation" but "Mr. Floyd had underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease" that, along with the police restraint, could have contributed to his death. The report adds that "the defendant had his knee on Mr. Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in total. Two minutes and 53 seconds of this was after Mr. Floyd was non-responsive." Jeva Lange

President Trump on Friday attempted to clean up his recent comments about the protests in Minneapolis that Twitter said violated its rules but surprisingly left a subsequent event without addressing the situation at all.

Trump in a late-night tweet wrote in reference to the protests in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," a message that Twitter attached a warning label to saying it violated its rules against glorifying violence. On Friday afternoon, Trump claimed that he meant to say that "looting leads to shooting" but that "I don't want this to happen," confusingly adding that this was "spoken as a fact, not as a statement."

The president shortly after spoke at a supposed news conference in the Rose Garden, and aides had said plans were in place for him to address the protests in Minneapolis, CNN's Sarah Westwood reports. Instead, he left without answering a single question or addressing Minneapolis, and Westwood writes it "remains unclear" why the plans apparently changed. PBS' Yamiche Alcindor described seeing Trump leave without talking about the situation Minneapolis as "stunning." Brendan Morrow

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was arrested in connection with the death of George Floyd, has now been charged with murder.

Prosecutors on Friday announced that Chauvin, who was fired after he was filmed kneeling on Floyd's neck for almost 10 minutes while Floyd said that he couldn't breathe, has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. The charges were unveiled shortly after Chauvin's arrest was announced and four days after Floyd's death, which has sparked nationwide outrage and protests.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman in a press conference said this is "by far the fastest we've ever charged a police officer."

"We can only charge a case when he have sufficient, admissible evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt," he said. "As of right now, we have that."

An investigation into the other officers involved in the incident is ongoing, Freeman said, adding that "I anticipate charges." A complaint is being processed and will be released later today.

Shortly after the charges were announced, Attorney General William Barr said in a statement that the Department of Justice is "conducting an independent investigation to determine whether any federal civil rights laws were violated," saying "I am confident justice will be served." Brendan Morrow

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has responded to criticism of her time as Minneapolis' top prosecutor.

Before she was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006, Klobuchar was the Hennepin County attorney in Minnesota, in charge of prosecution for the state's most populous county. Reports have indicated Klobuchar did not go after numerous police officers who shot civilians, and when MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell asked her about that on Friday, Klobuchar described her decisions as routine procedure, but also expressed regret for how she handled those cases.

"When I was county attorney, cases we had involving officer-involved shootings went to a grand jury. I think that was wrong now," Klobuchar said. "It would have been much better if I took responsibility and looked at cases and made a decision myself." Still, Klobuchar maintained that "we did not blow off these cases. We brought them to a grand jury, presented the evidence for a potential criminal prosecution, and the grand jury would come back with the decision."

Klobuchar also addressed a 2006 shooting that involved former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was arrested Friday after kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, who later died. Klobuchar was elected to the Senate a week after Chauvin was implicated in the shooting of a suspect who was allegedly attacking police, and left her attorney position just a few months into an investigation into the incident. She said it's "absolutely false" that she declined to prosecute the case involving Chauvin, describing it as a case handled by her successor that a grand jury later declined to prosecute.

Klobuchar went on to call for "systematic change" following Floyd's death both in Minnesota and "across the country." Kathryn Krawczyk

President Trump isn't helping the situation in Minnesota with his tweets, the state's governor says.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) spoke in a news conference on Friday amid the ongoing protests in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died Monday after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes. In a late-night tweet about the protests, Trump wrote that "these THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd" and that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts."

"It's just not helpful," Walz said when asked for his reaction to Trump's tweets. "In the moment where we're at, in a moment that is so volatile, anything we do to add fuel to that fire is really, really challenging."

Walz, who said he spoke to the president, added that "there's a way to do this without inflaming." Trump's tweet earned a warning label from Twitter, which said the tweet violated its rules against glorifying violence. The White House later posted the exact same tweet, and was hit with the same warning label from Twitter. Brendan Morrow

Ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been arrested in relation to the death of George Floyd, Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington announced Friday. Chauvin is the officer who was filmed kneeling on Floyd's neck for nearly 10 minutes as Floyd protested "I can't breathe;" he was fired from the department earlier this week.

According to KARE 11, the local NBC affiliate, Chauvin's charging decision has not yet been made. Nevertheless, Harrington called Floyd's death a "murder," explaining "that's what it looked like to me … I'm just calling it what I see at that point." The nation has been rocked by protests since Floyd's death, with many of the protesters demanding justice and expressing anger that the officers involved had not yet faced legal repercussions.

Chauvin had at least 10 conduct complaints during his 19-year tenure before he was fired. In particular, he was involved in the shooting death of a man who had stabbed other people before attacking police, as well as some other undisclosed complaints. Additionally, he was placed on leave when he and other officers shot and wounded a Native American man in 2011. Jeva Lange