YouTube's copyright system has taken Rand Paul's presidential announcement offline  —  If you're looking for Rand Paul's presidential announcement on YouTube, bad news.  As of writing, the video has been blocked by the video streaming site, thanks to a copyright claim from Warner Music Group, as Vox's Andrew Prokop spotted.

South Carolina Officer Is Charged With Murder in Black Man's Death  —  WASHINGTON — A white police officer in North Charleston, S.C., was charged with murder on Tuesday after a video surfaced showing him shooting and killing an apparently unarmed black man in the back while he ran away.

The Secret Lives of Hillary and Bill in the White House  —  Broken lamps, shouting matches, sneaking away to the pool—and other scenes from the Clinton residence during the Lewinsky scandal.  —  Lead image by AP Photo.  —  White House Florist Ronn Payne remembers one day in 1998 …

Obama holds private meeting with journalists on Iran  —  President Barack Obama held a private meeting with reporters and liberal columnists at the White House on Monday to discuss the administration's Iran policy, sources with knowledge of the meeting told the On Media blog.

The Inside Story of the Civil War For the Soul of NBC News  —  Brian Williams's fabrication was just the latest, and worst, of the debacles that have plagued NBC News since NBCUniversal was bought by Comcast in 2011.  Who is to blame?  —  On the afternoon of Wednesday, February 4 …

Last-minute lobbying threatens $200B Medicare package  —  Lawmakers and lobbyists representing children's insurance advocates, seniors' healthcare providers and other specialty groups are pressing to amend a $200 billion Medicare package the Senate hopes to send to President Obama's desk next week.

Book author Joan Walsh Anglund says of Angelou stamp: 'That's my quote'  —  A number of luminaries are expected at Tuesday morning's unveiling ceremony for the new stamp honoring the late author Maya Angelou, among them first lady Michelle Obama.  An 89-year-old children's book author named Joan Walsh Anglund won't be there.

U.S. secretly tracked billions of calls for decades  —  WASHINGTON — The U.S. government started keeping secret records of Americans' international telephone calls nearly a decade before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, harvesting billions of calls in a program that provided a blueprint …

How an Insurer Is Taking Money From the Fan Beaten at Dodger Stadium  —  First he was assaulted for wearing the wrong team's clothes.  Then he was sucker-punched by the insurance system. … Dave Stow, 71, strains to push the wheelchair carrying his 250-pound son, Bryan …

Check Before You Hit Send  —  Drexel University is investigating a law professor who thought she was sending her class a link to an article on writing legal briefs, but who actually sent a link to a pornography site's video of a woman using anal beads.  —  “Drexel has been made aware …

Sen. Harry Reid says he's ‘sightless’ in right eye  —  Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he's now “sightless” in his right eye following a brutal exercise injury in January, in comments released Tuesday.  —  In an interview with Univision, Reid said he has undergone 11 hours …

NEW BOOK BY DICK CHENEY TAKES ON BARACK OBAMA  —  NEW YORK (AP) — The next book by former Vice President Dick Cheney is aimed directly at President Barack Obama.  —  Cheney's “Exceptional: Why the World Needs a Powerful America” will be published on Sept. 1 by Threshold Editions, the publisher announced Tuesday.

Fighting Against ‘Rape Culture’ Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry  —  Rolling Stone's journalistic malpractice is not merely a cautionary tale about “confirmation bias.”  —  The extensive post mortem that Rolling Stone commissioned in the wake of Sabrina Rubin Erdely's now infamous …

A Deep Dive Into Party Affiliation  —  Sharp Differences by Race, Gender, Generation, Education  —  Democrats hold advantages in party identification among blacks, Asians, Hispanics, well-educated adults and Millennials.  Republicans have leads among whites - particularly white men …

New Poll Shows Plurality Of Americans Support Religious Freedom  —  A new poll released by WPA Opinion Research on behalf of the Family Research Councill shows that the vast majority of Americans support religious liberty in the workplace.  Last week saw Governor Mike Pence (R-IN) …

John Travolta happy with Scientology, won't see ‘Going Clear’ (w/video)  —  John Travolta said Monday he hasn't viewed the HBO documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, currently shining an accusatory light on his church.  —  “No, I haven't,” the star of Saturday Night Fever …

Abortion Opponents Are Quietly Going After One Of The Top Medical Schools In The Country  —  One of the most well-respected OB-GYN programs in the country could be forced to stop teaching its students how to perform abortions, if the North Carolina legislature ends up approving a piece of legislation that was introduced this month.

Chris Matthews Shames MSNBC For Airing ‘Goddamn’ Rightwing Ads (VIDEO)  —  MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts ended up under friendly fire on Tuesday when his colleague Chris Matthews launched into a tirade against his own network for airing “goddamn” ads by rightwing groups.