Exclusive: Top Trump aide's email draws new scrutiny in Russia inquiry  —  Washington (CNN)Congressional investigators have unearthed an email from a top Trump aide that referenced a previously unreported effort to arrange a meeting last year between Trump campaign officials …

White House Sets Rules for Military Transgender Ban  —  Guidelines expected to direct Pentagon to stop admitting transgender people, gives Mattis power to remove those serving  —  Following President Donald Trump's announcement to ban open transgender service in the military …

Good Riddance to Steve Bannon  —  The country is better off with him out of the West Wing, but now Trump has to step up.  —  After departing his post as White House chief strategist last week, Steve Bannon told the Weekly Standard that “the Trump presidency that we fought for, and won, is over.”

Wall Street Journal Editor Admonishes Reporters Over Trump Coverage  —  Gerard Baker, the editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, has faced unease and frustration in his newsroom over his stewardship of the newspaper's coverage of President Trump, which some journalists there say has lacked toughness and verve.

Senate 2018: Republican Edge Runs Up Against Trump, History  —  Beyond president's poor numbers lies difficulty of beating out-of-power party incumbents  —  Ever since Donald Trump won the presidency, 2018's race for the Senate seemed to pit two powerful, competing forces against one another …

Trump clashed with multiple GOP senators over Russia  —  President Donald Trump privately vented his frustration over Russia-related matters with at least two other Republican senators this month, according to people familiar with the conversations — in addition to the president's public admonishments …

Federal judge tosses new Texas voter ID law; state plans to appeal  —  A federal judge has tossed out a new law softening Texas' strict voter identification requirements.  Texas' attorney general says he will appeal the ruling.  —  Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout.

Does Anybody Understand What These Never Trump Republicans Think They're Achieving?  —  What's the end game for these preening, posturing doofuses who call themselves Republicans, but who can't pass a CNN camera without slamming their party's president?  There is a lot of blue falconry …

Government shutdown chances rising by the day  —  Top White House and GOP leadership officials tell us the chances of a market-rattling government shutdown are rising by the day — and were even before Trump threatened at his raucous Phoenix rally on Tuesday night to use a shutdown as leverage to get funding for a border wall.

Rabbis Protest Trump's Comments by Boycotting Conference Call  —  For years, the presidential conference calls were a nonpartisan holiday tradition: President Barack Obama would speak by phone with hundreds of rabbis in advance of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, in what participants described …

ST. LOUIS  • Police and a witness gave differing versions of how protesters were injured when a driver pulled into a group that had blocked an intersection on Wednesday night.  —  The witness, Keith Rose, said the driver had his middle fingers raised before he accelerated through the group …

Christopher Cantwell, White Nationalist, Surrenders to the Police  —  A white nationalist whose behavior at the violent gatherings this month in Charlottesville, Va., brought him notoriety after he was featured in a widely viewed documentary, has turned himself into the authorities in Virginia days …

Georgia governor expects lawmakers to plunge into Civil War debate next year  —  Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said he's leaving it up to lawmakers next year to decide how to handle the growing debate about the more than 100 Civil War monuments scattered across the state.

Fashion brands turn their backs on Steve Mnuchin's wife  —  MORE FROM: … Luxury fashion labels are distancing themselves from Louise Linton, wife of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, after she posted a picture of herself stepping off a government plane in designer clothes and then went …

He wore Confederate dress to Charlottesville.  He got two middle fingers and possible expulsion from college.  —  The following is a retelling based on contemporary accounts of a confrontation in Charlottesville between two middle fingers and a Confederate flag.

Russia's Sudan Ambassador Found Dead  —  Russia's ambassador to Sudan, a career diplomat with decades of service, was found dead at his Khartoum home on Wednesday, Russian and Sudanese officials reported.  —  The death of the ambassador, Mirgayas Shirinsky, who was in his early 60s …

How Trump could ease the burden he's putting on the Secret Service  —  WASHINGTON - “I alone can fix it,” Donald Trump famously declared as he accepted the presidential nomination last summer.  When it comes to the serious budget crisis now facing the president's Secret Service, that might actually be true.

‘White supremacists by default’: How ordinary people made Charlottesville possible  —  ‘White advocate’ made same arguments as Trump  —  (CNN)Blame President Trump for his tepid moral response.  Call the neo-Nazis and white nationalists thugs.  Fill your Facebook and Twitter accounts with moral outrage.

The Republican Establishment Stands Behind Trump  —  President Trump's response to the deadly white-supremacist protests in Charlottesville earlier this month sparked a fierce national backlash, drawing rebukes from elected officials, corporate executives, military leaders, clergy, and—according to a new poll—a majority of Americans.

Infrastructure Advisers Quit, Say Trump's Actions Threaten Homeland Security  —  “You failed to denounce the intolerance and violence of hate groups,” the resigning members wrote.  —  WASHINGTON Another White House council has taken a hit after President Donald Trump's controversial response …

We're Journalists, Mr. Trump, Not the Enemy  —  Sigh.  If only President Trump denounced neo-Nazis as passionately and sincerely as he castigates journalists.  —  What could be an easier task than distancing oneself from Nazis or violent white supremacists?

White House has paperwork ready for Joe Arpaio pardon  —  (CNN) The White House has prepared the paperwork for President Trump to pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio when he makes the final decision to do so, CNN has learned.  —  An administration official said the White House …

Kushner Cos.  Switches to Crisis Manager for Media Relations  —  Finsbury's Eric Wachter replaces Risa Heller Communications  —  Kushner under federal scrutiny for firm's investment efforts  —  Kushner Cos., the family real estate business of Jared Kushner, has switched public relations firms …

Trump Takes Aim at the Press, With a Flamethrower  —  Every time you think President Trump's anti-press rhetoric can't get worse, he finds a way of surprising you and not surprising you all at the same time.  —  That he will attack journalists on a regular basis should be expected at this point, and it is.