Donald Trump's Lead Slashed in South Carolina: Poll  —  Donald Trump is now leading Saturday's South Carolina Republican primary by 5 points — down from his 16-point lead in the state a month ago, according to results from a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll.

Biden hints at centrist Supreme Court pick  —  Echoing some recent Republican arguments about judicial nominations, Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday suggested that President Barack Obama will not nominate a staunch liberal to replace Justice Antonin Scalia at a time when the ideological balance of the Supreme Court is up in the air.

In 2002, Donald Trump Said He Supported Invading Iraq  —  “Are you for invading Iraq?”  Howard Stern asked him, and Trump answered, “Yeah, I guess so.”  —  w.soundcloud.com  —  For months, Donald Trump has claimed that he opposed the Iraq War before the invasion began — as an example of his great judgment on foreign policy issues.

Harper Lee dead at age of 89: ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ author passes away  —  Nelle Harper Lee, who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1961 for her book, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” has died at the age of 89, multiple sources in her hometown of Monroeville, including the mayor's office, confirmed Friday morning.

‘El Papa’ embraces Raul Castro but calls Donald Trump anti-Christian!  —  Last Sunday, Pope Francis was in Mexico visiting sick children in hospitals.  It was amazing to watch him holding the little kids and praying with their mothers.  As a Catholic, I was so proud of “El Papa.”

GOP Sen. Murkowski Backtracks On Giving Obama's SCOTUS Nom A Hearing  —  Moderate GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK), one of the few Republicans initially willing to break ranks on whether President Obama's nominee to succeed Antonin Scalia should be considered, reversed course Thursday evening.

Hillary Clinton: “I've always tried” to tell the truth  —  LAS VEGAS — For Hillary Clinton, these are high roller stakes in Nevada after losing New Hampshire in a landslide and essentially tying in Iowa.  —  She has decided to stay in Nevada through the caucus on Saturday.

Bernie Sanders's Brother: He Backs ‘Class Warfare,’ Bill Clinton Was Worse Than Bush  —  Larry Sanders says Bernie is a ‘genuine socialist’ trying to save the Democratic Party from ‘dreadful’ Bill Clinton, who is either a ‘terrible rapist or a nice rapist’ to the media.

Caitlyn Jenner draws laughs, tears up during Penn speech: 'I'm not a role model' … - BILLY PENN ORIGINALS  — How Jim Kenney wants to make Philly roads safer: Vision Zero and ‘Complete Streets’  — Did the state Supreme Court mortally wound Philly's controversial School Reform Commission?

Scalia was an intellectual phony: Can we please stop calling him a brilliant jurist?  —  No one wants to disrespect the dead.  But we disrespect the truth to hail his legal mind and phony, grand principles  —  George Orwell once noted that when an English politician dies …

Rubio Bails Last Minute On Conservative Gathering Packed With Cruz Supporters  —  GREENVILLE, S.C. — Forty-five minutes after Marco Rubio was scheduled to take the stage at a conservative confab here Thursday night, organizers got word from the candidate's aides that he was canceling his appearance …

The media is misleading the public on Syria  —  COVERAGE OF the Syrian war will be remembered as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the American press.  Reporting about carnage in the ancient city of Aleppo is the latest reason why.  —  For three years, violent militants have run Aleppo.

At least 100 bodies found in sewer system under Colombian prison  —  (CNN)Colombian authorities are investigating the disappearance and dismemberment of at least 100 people whose bodies were allegedly thrown into a sewer system underneath a notorious prison in Bogota.

U.S. Airstrikes on ISIS Camp in Libya Kill More Than 40  —  WASHINGTON — American warplanes struck an Islamic State camp in Libya early Friday, targeting a senior Tunisian operative linked to two major terrorist attacks in Tunisia last year.  The operative, Noureddine Chouchane …

Reports: Chicago court to hear case to knock Cruz off White House ballot  —  A judge in Cook County Circuit Court will hear testimony Friday in a lawsuit filed by an Illinois voter that alleges Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz should not be allowed to run for president, CNN and ABC are reporting.

Trump: I ‘Like’ Obamacare's Individual Mandate  —  The most unpopular part of Obamacare now has a champion in the Republican presidential field.  Via the Right Scoop, Donald Trump was asked on Thursday night by CNN's Anderson Cooper, “If...there's no mandate for everybody to have insurance …

Why aren't young Latinos ready for Hillary?  Because they're still wounded by Obama.  —  If you want to know why Saturday's Nevada caucus has suddenly, in its final weeks, turned from a presumed landslide for Hillary Clinton into a total toss-up, ask Emily Sandoval and Maggie Salas-Crespo.