CNN severs ties with Jeffrey Lord  —  CNN severed ties with Jeffrey Lord on Thursday, hours after he ignited controversy by tweeting the words “Sieg Heil!” at a prominent liberal activist.  —  “Nazi salutes are indefensible,” a CNN spokesperson said in a statement.  “Jeffrey Lord is no longer with the network.”

Manafort switching legal team as feds crank up heat on him  —  Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is changing his attorneys as a federal investigation heats up into his financial transactions, according to people familiar with the matter.  —  Manafort's case will now be handled …

More drama in Trumpland: Gorka publicly shuns Tillerson's effort to scale back North Korea red line  —  For those worried that President Trump might get into nuclear war with North Korea, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson provided some solace Wednesday.  “Americans should sleep well at night …

Google CEO Sundar Pichai cancels all-hands meeting about gender controversy due to employee worries of online harassment  —  Doxxing of search company staffers had already started.  —  Google's CEO Sundar Pichai has cancelled its much anticipated meeting to talk about gender issues today.

Trump says he is ‘very thankful’ to Putin for expelling U.S. diplomats from Russia  —  BEDMINSTER, N.J. — President Trump said here Thursday that he is “very thankful” to Russian President Vladimir Putin for expelling hundreds of U.S. diplomats from Russia, because he said it helps him cut the U.S. government's payroll.

'When you put this guy in a cage and think you're controlling him, things like this happen'  —  The Debrief: An occasional series offering a reporter's insights  —  President Trump, left, speaks to reporters at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., on Aug. 10, as Vice President Pence looks on.

Here's the Memo That Blew Up the NSC  —  Fired White House staffer argued “deep state” attacked Trump administration because the president represents a threat to cultural Marxist memes, globalists, and bankers.  —  The memo at the heart of the latest blowup at the National Security Council paints …

Chelsea Manning Changed the Course of History.  Now She's Focusing on Herself  —  “It's not like I'm living in fear or anything,” Manning says.  “I'm so glad to be out and about and walking around.”  Here, Manning in a Norma Kamali swimsuit.  —  Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, Vogue, September 2017

In a new poll, half of Republicans say they would support postponing the 2020 election if Trump proposed it  —  Critics of President Trump have repeatedly warned of his potential to undermine American democracy.  Among the concerns are his repeated assertions that he would have won …

West Virginia Gov. Justice Asks Trump for $4.5 Billion to Save Eastern Coal  —  Miners in Western states say proposal goes against free market principles  —  West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is asking President Donald Trump to extend his support for the coal industry by providing some $4.5 billion …

Republicans limiting early voting in Marion County, letting it bloom in suburbs  —  Absentee voting in Hamilton County grew in 2016 with the addition of early polling places.  Why was Marion County limited to just one?  Stephen J. Beard / IndyStar  —  CONNECT

Exclusive: The chaos behind the scenes of Fox News' now-retracted Seth Rich story  —  Lawsuit puts Seth Rich conspiracy inside the West Wing  —  For more than two months, Fox News has declined to explain the story behind one of its most high-profile journalistic disasters …

Judge orders new searches for Clinton Benghazi emails  —  Nine months after the presidential election was decided, a federal judge is ordering the State Department to try again to find emails Hillary Clinton wrote about the Benghazi attack.  —  U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled …

The Uncomfortable Truth About Affirmative Action and Asian-Americans  —  The application process for schools, fellowships, and jobs always came with a ritual: a person who had a role in choosing me—an admissions officer, an interviewer—would mention in his congratulations that I was “different” from the other Asians.