First on CNN: Walmart to stop selling Confederate flag merchandise  —  (CNN)Walmart, the country's largest retailer, will remove all Confederate flag merchandise from its stores, the company told CNN Monday.  —  The announcement is the latest indication that the flag, a symbol of the slave-holding South …

WSJ/NBC Poll Finds Hillary Clinton in a Strong Position  —  She has firm grip on Democratic nomination and leads three GOP rivals, new survey shows  —  Hillary Clinton has emerged from the rocky launch of her second presidential bid with a firm grip on Democratic voters and leads …

The Roberts Court's Surprising Move Leftward  —  This term so far shows potential for a greater percentage of liberal decisions than any since 1969.  —  Decisions … The Supreme Court under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has been a conservative court.

KFC ‘Fried Rat’ Is In Fact Chicken, Lab Test Confirms  —  It doesn't look appetizing, but it's definitely chicken.  —  Last week, KFC was forced to confront a customer's accusations that he'd been served a fried rat in a three-piece meal at a Los Angeles store.

Prison Worker Joyce Mitchell to Husband: ‘I Was Over My Head’  —  New York prison worker Joyce Mitchell told her husband she was in over her head as part of a plot to free two killers who remain on the run, he told NBC News in an exclusive interview.  —  Speaking to TODAY's Matt Lauer …

Composer James Horner Dies in Plane Crash: Hollywood Reacts  —  For his work on the 1997 best picture winner Titanic, directed by James Cameron, Horner captured the Oscar for original dramatic score, and he nabbed another Academy Award for original song (shared with lyricist Will Jennings) …

Punished GOP lawmaker stirs new talk of Boehner rebellion  —  A band of House conservatives is discussing whether to retaliate against GOP leaders for punishing rank-and-file lawmakers who voted against a procedural vote on trade earlier this month.  —  Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) …

Ten years later, still learning the lessons of Kelo  —  “Now what liberty can there be where property is taken away without consent?”  - Samuel Adams (1772)  —  It has been 10 years to the day since the U.S. Supreme Court's infamous 5-4 Kelo v. City of New London decision …

Obama Visits Marc Maron's Garage; Cats Annoyed They Were Shut In Bedroom  —  Listen to the Story  —  Comedian Marc Maron's WTF podcast might not seem like the place for a typical presidential interview, but several months ago the White House reached out to Maron to see if he'd be interested in having Barack Obama as his guest.

Diddy Arrested — FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT with UCLA Football Coach  —  10:02 PM PT — Diddy was released after posting $50,000 bail.  According to the university, Diddy was charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one count of making terrorist threats and one count of battery.

More work, less welfare  —  After six years of a recovery that has failed to meaningfully help working-class Americans, our nation is facing a crisis of entrenched poverty and declining opportunity.  —  Despite claims that the economy has come roaring back, gross domestic product growth remains anemic …

Putin's plot to get Texas to secede  —  For Moscow's right-wingers, payback means teaming up with a band of Texas secessionists.  —  Lead image by AP Photo.  —  Nathan Smith, who styles himself the “foreign minister” for the Texas Nationalist Movement, appeared last Spring at a far-right confab in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The Surprising Reason So Many People Still Don't Like Obamacare  —  The Supreme Court could issue a ruling in King v. Burwell, the lawsuit threatening to undermine a key part of the Affordable Care Act, as early as Monday.  But the debate over President Barack Obama's controversial health care law …