President Donald Trump and several of his top aides defended his health in a lengthy piece published by New York Magazine on Monday, with several offering unusual takes on the leader's closed eyes during Cabinet meetings.

When Trump appears to be snoozing during these meetings, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, what we're actually seeing is "a listening mechanism." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump's closed eyes mean he's "actively listening." White House staff secretary Will Scharf said Trump "adopts a pose" when he's listening deeply.

But Trump offered a more blunt assessment for why he appears to be dozing off.

“It’s boring as hell,” he said. “I’m going around a room, and I’ve got 28 guys — the last one was three and a half hours. I have to sit back and listen, and I move my hand so that people will know I’m listening. I’m hearing every word, and I can’t wait to get out.”

ROBERTO SCHMIDT via Getty Images

A GoFundMe page for Alex Pretti's loved ones has raised more than $1 million.

Pretti, an intensive care nurse at a VA hospital, was killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis on Saturday.

The page, which describes the 37-year-old as “an American hero,” was set up on the day of his killing and had raised $1,092,837 as of Monday morning.

“This fundraiser is intended to support the loved ones he leaves behind with immediate and ongoing needs,” the page says, adding in an update that Pretti's father is the beneficiary of the fundraiser.

President Donald Trump said he's sending White House border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota on Monday.

"Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Trump said an investigation of welfare fraud in Minnesota is ongoing, and said the fraud is "at least partially responsible for the violent organized protests going on in the streets." He also said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), whom he often attacks, is being investigated.

In an interview with "CNN News Central" on Monday morning, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) blasted the Trump administration's response to the killing of Alex Pretti amid its federal immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

"It is very clear that this administration is willing to allow for the deaths of Americans to secure a certain number of deportations. That is not 'America First,'" Beshear said.

Beshear, who is widely expected to launch a presidential bid in 2028, condemned the actions of federal officers involved in Trump's immigration enforcement operation, citing an internal memo from the Homeland Security Department reportedly authorizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to enter people’s homes without a judicial warrant.

"I guess they missed the day they taught law in law school," Beshear said.

A federal judge in Minnesota will hold a hearing Monday on the state's efforts to put a halt — at least temporarily — to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in the state following the fatal shooting of a second American by federal agents just this month.

A separate hearing is expected to take place this afternoon after a judge ordered the Trump administration to refrain from "destroying or altering evidence" related to Alex Pretti's killing.

The European Commission on Monday announced it has opened an investigation into Elon Musk's X platform to assess "whether the company properly assessed and mitigated risks associated with the deployment of Grok's functionalities into X in the EU."

Grok has come under scrutiny as the tool has been widely used to create sexually explicit images of women and children, allowing users to then post that content on X.

Researchers from the Center for Countering Digital Hate found that Grok created about 3 million sexualized images, including 23,000 of children, in less than two weeks.

The European Commission said it will investigate whether X adheres to the Digital Services Act, which has previously been heavily criticized by the Trump administration.

An AI-generated avatar called “Amelia," who was initially created to warn teenagers in Britain against the dangers of far-right extremism, has been subverted into a far-right social media star.

Read more on The Guardian:

The U.S. work week opened with yet more snow dumping on the Northeast under the tail end of a colossal winter storm that brought ice and power outages, impassable roads, canceled flights and frigid cold to much of the southern and eastern United States.

Deep snow — over a foot (30 centimeters) extending in a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) swath from Arkansas to New England — halted traffic, canceled flights and triggered wide school cancellations Monday.

Read more at The Associated Press:

Two Rupert Murdoch-owned newspapers, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, on Sunday urged Donald Trump to put a halt to his brutal immigration operation in Minnesota following the killing of Alex Pretti this weekend, in a clear sign that the Australian media mogul is urging the president to back away from his aggressive strategy.

Gina Ferazzi via Getty Images

The family of Renee Good, a poet and mother of three who was shot and killed by an ICE agent earlier this month, has issued a statement following the death of ICU nurse Alex Pretti at the hands of Border Patrol agents.

"The events of this weekend in Minneapolis are terrifying, deeply disturbing, and heartbreaking — with yet another U.S. citizen losing their life while taking part in the time-honored and Constitutionally protected activity of being present to observe and peacefully advocate for their beliefs," the family wrote in a statement obtained by CBS News. "We urge all Americans to trust their own eyes as they interpret the horrific video, and to call for an absolute end to ICE activity in Minneapolis."

Axios has obtained recordings which reportedly capture Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaking candidly about how upset President Donald Trump was when GOP lawmakers tried to talk him out of imposing his tariffs.

“Fuck you, Ted,” Trump allegedly said when Cruz warned him about the electoral backlash he could face.

In a statement to the publication, a Cruz spokesperson described the senator as "the president's greatest ally in the Senate." A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Read more at Axios:

Bill Clinton became the second former president this weekend to speak out about the “horrible” scenes in Minnesota.

"All of this is unacceptable and should have been avoided," Clinton wrote in a post that he shared on X. "To make matters even worse, at every turn, the people in charge have lied to us, told us not to believe what we’ve seen with our own eyes, and pushed increasingly aggressive and antagonistic tactics, including impeding investigations by local authorities."

Clinton also stressed that this was a pivotal moment for people to stand up to the injustices taking place.

"If we give our freedoms away after 250 years, we might never get them back," he warned.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a brief phone interview with The Wall Street Journal on Sunday, Trump refused to say whether the federal agent in Minneapolis who killed Alex Pretti acted appropriately.

"We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination," Trump said.

Other administration officials have publicly defended the federal agent.

The president also signaled that he will eventually withdraw federal agents from Minneapolis.

"At some point, we will leave. We’ve done, they’ve done a phenomenal job," he said.