Pilot in Brian Williams scandal: ‘I am questioning my memories’  —  The pilot I interviewed on Thursday about Brian Williams is no longer standing by his story.  —  That pilot, Rich Krell, told me he was flying the helicopter Williams was on in Iraq — an account now contradicted by several other soldiers.

Critics pounce after Obama talks Crusades, slavery at prayer breakfast … President Obama has never been one to go easy on America.  —  As a new president, he dismissed the idea of American exceptionalism, noting that Greeks think their country is special, too.

Joe Biden skipping Benjamin Netanyahu's speech  —  Joe Biden won't be there to welcome Benjamin Netanyahu to a joint session of Congress — or even shake his hand.  —  The vice president will miss only his second address by a foreign leader to a joint session of Congress next month …

GOP Lawmaker Emphasizes Rape's Silver Lining  —  Another Republican lawmaker has waded into the debate over abortion access for rape victims, saying that abortion bans shouldn't have exceptions for women who became pregnant from sexual assault because “what is beautiful is the child that could come from this.”

ISIS Claims U.S. Hostage, Kayla Mueller, Died in Jordanian Airstrikes  —  The Islamic State claimed Friday that the Jordanian bombings in northern Syria intended to avenge its immolation of a captured pilot had killed an American woman held hostage by the group.

Republican Switches Parties Over Mississippi Refusal To Expand Medicaid  —  I always expected some Republicans to switch parties, because it's an enormous psychological stress to constantly paint bad things as good, and to tear things down instead of building them up.

Kid Rock: 'There's No Winning That Battle'  —  Your style has changed over time.  Your new record, “First Kiss,” is a long way from the rap-inflected rock that you started out with.  Where did your inspiration for the title track come from?  I'm always complaining about where rock music has gone, with this new metal feel.

Weighing a Run in 2016, Jindal Faces Big Budget Shortfall  —  BATON ROUGE, La. — In recent weeks, the office of Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana has issued news releases about the “mindless naïveté” of Hillary Rodham Clinton, the folly of opening diplomatic relations with Cuba …

DHS shutdown grows more likely  —  The chances of a shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security are growing by the day, with congressional leaders at a stalemate over legislation that would provide funding after Feb. 27.  —  DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson has warned that a lapse in funding would cause a …

More than 500,000 in U.S. could be at risk of female genital excision  —  Nearly 507,000 women and girls in the United States could be at risk of female genital excision, including 57,000 in California, a new study has found.  —  That is more than twice the number that were thought to be at risk in 2000 …

The Next Internet Is TV  —  I was talking to someone who works on one of those half-dozen or so apps that we tend to associate with teenagers: the ones that were built around some novel concept that distracted us for a few years while they settled into their roles as slightly different ways to text.

Wyoming turns down Medicaid expansion  —  Wyoming has become yet another state where a Republican governor's effort to expand Medicaid has been defeated by his own Legislature.  —  On Friday, the Wyoming Senate shot down Gov. Matt Mead's expansion plan, and a House committee then pulled its bill.

The internet is full of men who hate feminism.  Here's what they're like in person.  —  The internet has made everybody audible.  And, as a result, anybody can become a victim of a pitchfork-wielding mob, if you happen to say something online that the mob wants silenced.

Federal subpoena seeks travel records of former Port Authority Chairman David Samson  —  Federal prosecutors have demanded that the Port Authority turn over records related to the personal travel of the agency's former chairman, David Samson, as well as his relationship with Newark Liberty …