Trump to conservative leaders: If this plan fails, I'll blame Democrats  —  Washington (CNN)In an Oval Office meeting featuring several leaders of conservative groups already lining up against the House Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, President Donald Trump revealed his plan …

First on CNN: After lobbying from Trump, Orrin Hatch plans to run again  —  (CNN)Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the longest-serving GOP senator, told CNN he is planning to run for re-election next year, abandoning his plans to quit the chamber after four decades of service.

EPA chief Scott Pruitt says carbon dioxide is not a primary contributor to global warming  —  EPA takes aim at CAFE standards: Scott Pruitt  —  Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said Thursday he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming.

‘No Comment,’ Justice Dept. Says, Asked About a Trump Inquiry  —  WASHINGTON — With questions still swirling over President Trump's unsubstantiated claims that he was wiretapped on orders of President Barack Obama, the Justice Department on Thursday declined to confirm statements a day earlier …

Sources: FBI investigation continues into ‘odd’ computer link between Russian bank and Trump Organization  —  (CNN)Federal investigators and computer scientists continue to examine whether there was a computer server connection between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank, sources close to the investigation tell CNN.

Expect the CBO to estimate large coverage losses from the GOP health care plan  —  Editor's Note:  —  This analysis is part of The Leonard D. Schaeffer Initiative for Innovation in Health Policy, which is a partnership between the Center for Health Policy at Brookings and the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics.

Nigel Farage Just Visited The Ecuadorian Embassy In London  —  Asked by BuzzFeed News if he'd been visiting Julian Assange, the former UKIP leader said he couldn't remember what he'd been doing in the building.  —  Nigel Farage visited the Ecuadorian embassy in west London on Thursday …

Widespread frustration  —  U.S. officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said there is widespread frustration among intelligence professionals who have watched in horror as a normally secretive process has been distorted by media leaks …

Roger Stone's Russian Hacking “Hero”  —  Trump loyalist communicated with “Guccifer 2.0,” target of FBI probe  —  In the months before Election Day, a longtime confidante and political consultant for Donald Trump was in contact with the Russian hacking group that U.S. intelligence officials …

Steve Bannon Helped Preserve DACA But Democrats And Activists Aren't Celebrating  —  They're bracing for what's coming: millions of deportations and further crackdowns on both legal and illegal immigration.  —  WASHINGTON — The Trump administration doesn't want to talk about it.

President Mike Pence Doesn't Sound Quite So Bad, Some Top Democrats Say  —  “I'd sleep easier with almost any other human being as president than Donald Trump,” said a former Obama speechwriter.  And they won't say so publicly, but several elected Democrats told BuzzFeed News they would much prefer …

Claims of sex orgies, prostitution and porn videos shake Catholic Church in Italy  —  ROME (RNS) Lurid accusations of priests involved in sex orgies, porn videos and prostitution have emerged from several parishes in Italy recently, sending shock waves all the way to the Vatican and challenging …

Sex Columnist Dan Savage Calls Melania Trump ‘Ugly on the Inside’  —  Savage says first lady gets a pass from some liberals because of her looks, but “is as ugly on the inside as she is pretty on the outside”  —  Author and sex columnist Dan Savage says many liberals are giving first lady Melania …

Burger-flipping robot replaces humans on first day at work  —  A burger-flipping robot has just completed its first day on the job at a restaurant in California, replacing humans at the grill.  —  Flippy has mastered the art of cooking the perfect burger and has just started work at CaliBurger, a fast-food chain.

Syrian force a ‘few weeks’ from Raqqa, U.S. Marines deploy  —  U.S.-backed Syrian forces said on Thursday they were closing in on Islamic State-held Raqqa and expected to reach the city outskirts in a few weeks, as a U.S. Marines artillery unit deployed to help the campaign.

Inside The Investigation To Get To The Bottom Of Russia's Role In The Election  —  The Senate Intelligence Committee has been given sweeping powers, unseen since the Watergate era, to investigate Russian meddling in the US election.  As its scope grows to include suspected ties between …

Almost 7,000 IRS Documents Relating To Targeting Scandal Found.  Bad News: No Clue When They'll Be Public  —  In 2013, the IRS was involved in a scandal regarding its Exempt Organizations Unit and conservative nonprofits.  Tea Party and other right-leaning groups claimed that they were targeted for audits …

Former Trump aide Flynn says lobbying may have helped Turkey  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who was fired from his prominent White House job last month, has registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for $530,000 worth …

Disney Boss Says No Political Bias at ABC News and ESPN, Complaints ‘Completely Exaggerated’  —  Robert Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, said Wednesday that ABC News has been “extremely fair” in its coverage of the 2016 election and the Trump administration and that complaints …

Cruz: Let's overrule Senate officer to expand ObamaCare bill  —  (R-Texas), emerging as a key player in negotiations to repeal and replace ObamaCare, says Vice President Pence should exert his power over the Senate to significantly expand the scope of the House healthcare reform bill.

States ask court to stop Trump's new travel ban from ever taking effect  —  At least five states are banding together in a legal drive to block key elements of President Donald Trump's second travel ban.  —  Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said his office is filing a motion asking …

Ex-Trump adviser says phone may have been tapped, without offering evidence  —  Carter Page writes to congressional investigators to describe concern, which he suggests would support Donald Trump's claim Trump Tower was wiretapped  —  A former foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump has written …

Union tips off Border Patrol in immigration crackdown  —  Federal agents are not the only ones trying to remove people from the Buffalo area who have entered the country illegally.  —  If Bill Bing, a carpenters union official, discovers workers at local construction projects suspected …