Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley were walking with President Trump when he posed for a photo-op in front of the historic St. John's Church in Washington, D.C., on Monday, shortly after police dispersed peaceful protesters in the surrounding area with tear gas and flash grenades. Now, a senior defense official claims Esper and Milley weren't aware police had cleared the area prior to Trump's arrival, PBS Newshour reports.

Moreover, the official said Esper and Milley didn't know Trump was going to get his picture taken in front of the church; they thought they were headed outside the White House "to review efforts to quell the protests" against police brutality.

Despite Trump threatening to call in the military to supplement city police across the country, the defense official said the Pentagon isn't keen on deploying any troops, and that Esper referring to demonstration sites as a "battlespace" was merely jargon used to discuss the situation.

Nevertheless, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) wants both Milley and Esper to testify about the possible role the military played in clearing the protesters, even though he was told it was not involved. Tim O'Donnell

Kate McKinnon reprised her role as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious disease expert, in the latest Saturday Night Live cold open. McKinnon's Fauci attempted to answer people's questions about the specifics underlying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's updated guidelines, which now say that people vaccinated against COVID-19 can mostly toss aside their masks, outdoors and indoors. "A lot of people had questions," McKinnon's Fauci said. "Such as: What does that mean? What the hell are you talking about? Is this a trap?"

So, the fictional Fauci asked a group of doctors from the CDC "who minored in theater" to demonstrate a few different scenarios in which mask-wearing protocols may be unclear, such as picking up kids from school, large outdoor gatherings, or air travel. Things didn't go to according to plan, however, and McKinnon's Fauci grew increasingly confused by the message the so-called "CDC Players" were trying to convey in their often-inappropriate, off-the-rails skits. Watch the full sketch below. Tim O'Donnell

The long-awaited 2020 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame may be one of the best in the sport's history, featuring NBA legends like Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, a WNBA great in Tamika Catchings, and a stellar list of coaches, including Rudy Tomjanovich, Eddie Sutton, and Barbara Stevens. But the night will likely be remembered, most clearly, for Vanessa Bryant's speech, which she gave on behalf of her late husband, Kobe Bryant, the longtime Los Angeles Lakers star and five-time NBA champion who was killed last year in a helicopter crash alongside his teenage daughter, Gianna, and seven others.

"All of your hard work and sacrifices paid off," Vanessa Bryant, who was accompanied on stage by her husband's hero and mentor, Michael Jordan, said at the close of her speech, speaking to her husband. "You once told me, 'If you're going to bet on someone, bet on yourself.' I'm glad you bet on yourself, you overachiever. You did it. You're in the Hall of Fame now. You're a true champ. You're not just an MVP, you're an all-time great." Watch the full speech below. Tim O'Donnell

Rombauer came from behind to upset Kentucky Derby-winner Medina Spirit to win the Preakness on Saturday, spoiling the latter's chances of capturing horse racing's Triple Crown. Rombauer's odds were 11-1.

Medina Spirit, aside from winning the first leg of the Triple Crown and entering the Preakness as the favorite, was the center of attention Saturday because he failed a post-Derby drug test. While the horse was cleared to run at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course after passing multiple pre-race drug tests, skepticism surrounded his trainer, Bob Baffert. Ultimately, Medina Spirit finished in third behind Rombauer and Midnight Bourbon, who had 3-1 odds. Read more at ESPN. Tim O'Donnell

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is considered one of the strongest supporters of the United States' relationship with Israel among congressional Democrats. On Saturday, though, he said he is "deeply troubled" by reports of Israeli airstrikes killing Palestinian civilians and targeting a building that houses international media offices (Israel said Hamas was also using the building for military purposes).

Israel, he said, "has every right to defend itself" against rocket attacks from Hamas, but "given the complexity of Gaza's densely populated civilian areas, and Hamas' shameful record of exploiting that reality by hiding military assets behind the innocent, Israeli authorities must continue taking the conscientious practice of giving advance warning of its attacks to reduce the risk of harm to the innocent." He added that "there must be a full accounting of actions that have led to civilian deaths and destruction of media outlets."

Menendez's comments certainly don't reflect a full reversal from his traditional stance, but observers noted that, so far at least, it appears to be one of the most unexpected responses to the Israel-Palestine conflict from an American politician.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who reportedly told him that Israel was doing whatever it could to make sure civilians were not hit in airstrikes. The White House has mostly kept quiet about details of the phone call. Tim O'Donnell

The Biden administration still firmly believes the United States is not headed toward a "sustained pick-up" in inflation. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is closely monitoring the situation and hasn't found any surprising data that's cause for panic. But, with prices likely to continue to rise in the near future, it might become more difficult for the White House to convince Americans that that's the case, Bloomberg reports.

"We still have a weird six months ahead," Josh Bivens, the director of research at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, told Bloomberg. "It will be a real challenge for the administration and the [Federal Reserve} to stay firm on their stance."

Indeed, there's reportedly some concern within the administration about political fallout, even if inflation is ultimately temporary, as Biden's economics team believes. One of the most consequential risks is how a potential "inflationary psychology" — in other words, anxious consumers — will affect support for Biden's major spending proposals, which could total around $4 trillion, an unnamed "ally" of the president told Bloomberg. Read more about how the Biden administration is responding to inflation fears at Bloomberg. Tim O'Donnell

There was already a bipartisan effort in Congress to craft legislation that would require certain companies, particularly those that operate critical infrastructure, to report cyberattacks, and the recent ransomware strike against the Colonial Pipeline has increased the urgency to get things done, Politico reports.

"You couldn't have a better reason" for adding a mandate than the attacks on Colonial and SolarWinds, which took place last year, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) told Politico. He's working alongside Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who said requiring companies like Colonial to alert the government of an attack is just "the tip of the iceberg of what we need to do."

Private companies have bristled at the idea of voluntarily sharing their data with the government for fear of leaks, Politico notes, but as the risk of cyberattacks increases, a mandate could become harder and harder to avoid. Until something is in place, the U.S. government will remain "completely blind to what is happening," Brandon Wales, the acting director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told reporters earlier this week, per Politico. "That just weakens our overall cyber posture across our entire country."

Warner said the legislation would provide a "public-private forum, with appropriate immunity and confidentiality." Read more at Politico. Tim O'Donnell