Trump Tops Republican Pack By Wide Margin, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; But Dems Trump Trump In General Election  —  With 20 percent of Republican voters, Donald Trump is the clear leader in the crowded Republican presidential primary field, but he trails any of three leading …

Planned Parenthood VP Says Fetuses May Come Out Intact, Agrees Payments Specific to the Specimen  —  #PPSellsBabyParts PLANNED PARENTHOOD VP SAYS FETUSES MAY COME OUT INTACT, AGREES PAYMENTS SPECIFIC TO THE SPECIMEN  —  Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains VP & Medical Director Savita Ginde …

Many Republican Polls Are Measuring a Unicorn Electorate  —  Recent elections around the world have not been kind to pollsters.  In contests in Israel and Britain, and in a referendum in Scotland, pre-election polls all showed tight races that ended up being, well, not so tight.

MSNBC cancels three shows amid transition  —  MSNBC has formally decided to cancel three programs — “The Cycle,” “Now with Alex Wagner” and “The Ed Show” — as part of a larger effort to shift its daytime lineup away from opinion programming, network sources told the On Media blog on Thursday.

New Hampshire Voters Explain the Appeal of Donald Trump  —  A Bloomberg Politics focus group of Donald Trump supporters in the Granite State helps illuminate the billionaire's rise in the polls.  —  t writerknowles  —  Donald Trump is a brand, and his New Hampshire supporters are itching to buy it.

Facts in Clinton's ‘secret’ emails came from five intelligence agencies  —  Revelations put Clinton in the cross-hairs of a broadening inquiry into whether she mishandled classified information  —  Officials reviewed five classified emails and determined that they included information from five intelligence agencies

Donald Trump: Number one with Hispanics and expecting to win  —  POLITICKING WITH COTTON CANDY: The early caucus state of Iowa's famed annual state fair turns into a political showcase every fourth year as candidates in party primaries vie for the kind of attention a helicopter can easily deliver

AP Investigation: Olympic teams to swim, boat in Rio's filth  —  24 photos  —  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Athletes in next year's Summer Olympics here will be swimming and boating in waters so contaminated with human feces that they risk becoming violently ill and unable to compete in the games …

James Woods Sues Twitter User for $10 Million Over “Cocaine Addict” Accusation  —  The actor files a defamation lawsuit against an individual who replied to his tweets about Barack Obama and Caitlyn Jenner.  —  Incivility on social media seems to be a regular occurrence …

Jon Stewart opens up on ‘secret’ White House visits  —  “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart is opening up about his “secret” White House meetings with President Obama, revealing that they were far more sinister than initially reported.  —  “It was a roundtable meeting with the president …

After Firedoglake  —  As many of you know, Firedoglake has been on hiatus for eight months while I recovered from hip replacement surgery.  During that time I've been contemplating what the next chapter should be for the website.  After some personal reflection, I have decided to pass …

Santa Cruz: Disturbing details emerge about suspect, how Maddy Middleton died  —  SANTA CRUZ — When they first got word that he was a murder suspect, those who watched 15-year-old Adrian Jerry “A.J."Gonzalez grow up before their eyes at the Tannery Arts Center held out hope.

‘What lion?’  Zimbabweans ask, amid global Cecil circus  —  As social media exploded with outrage this week at the killing of Cecil the lion, the untimely passing of the celebrated predator at the hands of an American dentist went largely unnoticed in the animal's native Zimbabwe.

Senate sends three-month highway bill to Obama  —  The Senate on Thursday approved an $8 billion extension of federal transportation funding, sending it to President Obama's desk with just one day to go before the nation's road and transit spending expires.  —  The bill, which extends …

Bernie Sanders Hosts a Nationwide House Party for Over 100,000 Would-Be Foot Soldiers  —  It had all the markings of a Washington house party: guests milling about, talk of politics and policy, a few custom cocktails and a crowd that would make a fire-code enforcer sweat.  —  Oh, and Senator Bernie Sanders.

UBS Deal Shows Clinton's Complicated Ties  —  Donations to family foundation increased after secretary of state's involvement in tax case  —  A few weeks after Hillary Clinton was sworn in as secretary of state in early 2009, she was summoned to Geneva by her Swiss counterpart to discuss an urgent matter.

Obama gives Dems hard sell on ‘odious’ Iran  —  President Obama gave a personal presentation on Wednesday outlining the merits of the nuclear deal with Iran, in the latest hands-on sales pitch to Congress.  —  The meeting, which went for around 30 minutes, was billed by the White House as a …