The Latest: GOP eyeing $1B disaster funds cut to help wall  —  https://www.apnews.com/83e6782d48e04993 a741b834771c078b  —  Link copied!  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and Congress (all times local):  —  President Donald Trump is promising billions …

Texas paper nails Trump for lying about “witnessing” devastation of hurricane “first hand”  —  Trump can't even feign sympathy for hurricane victims without lying.  —  Hurricane Harvey was the first test of how Donald Trump would handle a domestic crisis — and he failed that test miserably.

Legal challenge to Arpaio pardon begins  —  After President Trump's pardon of ex-sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had been convicted of criminal contempt for violating a court order designed to stop the violation of the constitutional rights of suspected illegal immigrants, conventional wisdom …

Google Critic Ousted From Think Tank Funded by the Tech Giant  —  WASHINGTON — In the hours after European antitrust regulators levied a record $2.7 billion fine against Google in late June, an influential Washington think tank learned what can happen when a tech giant that shapes public policy debates …

Trump pitches tax reform to ‘bring back Main Street’  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump on Wednesday delivered his opening pitch on tax reform, framing the effort in populist terms saying Republican plans to overhaul the tax code would be a boon for lower- and middle-class Americans.

NBC Insider: ‘Total Panic’ Over Megyn Kelly's Morning Show … Four weeks before the Sept. 25 debut of Megyn Kelly Today—the 9 a.m. replacement for the venerable morning show's third hour, Today's Take—some NBC insiders are expressing doubts, and even worries, about the network news division's plan …

Christopher Columbus Statue Beheaded in Yonkers  —  Police say it could have been juveniles or could be fallout from the deadly protests earlier this month in Charlottesville  —  A statue of celebrated explorer Christopher Columbus was found beheaded in a Yonkers park.

How to Get Rich in Trump's Washington  —  His presidency has changed the rules of influence in the nation's capital — and spawned a new breed of lobbyist on K Street.  —  As for so many other people, election night did not pan out quite the way Robert Stryk expected.

King County deputy on leave after pulling gun during traffic stop  —  Raw: Deputy pulls gun during traffic stop.  Video: Alex Randall. … A King County Sheriff's deputy will be placed on administrative leave Tuesday after a video surfaced that shows the deputy confronting a motorcyclist with a gun during a traffic stop.

The Search For Aaron Rodgers … Photographs by Randall Slavin  —  After the game, Aaron Rodgers got on the bus.  It was unusually cold in Arlington during the week leading up to Super Bowl XLV; a winter storm had barreled into Texas, blanketing Cowboys Stadium with so much snow that slabs of ice cascaded from the roof.

Poll: Majority opposes government shutdown for border wall  —  A majority of voters opposes shutting down the government over funds for President Trump's border wall, according to a new survey.  —  A Politico/Morning Consult poll finds 61 percent of voters surveyed are against shutting …

Feinstein surprises SF crowd by expressing hope for Trump  —  U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein shocks an audience in San Francisco saying Trump could be a good president.  Elizabeth Keatinge (@elizkeatinge) has more.  —  Sen. Dianne Feinstein may be San Francisco's favorite politician …

Here's why people hate Joel Osteen  —  Twitter is loathing Houston's megawatt-smile, mega-pastor Joel Osteen right now.  What gives? … The question over whether Osteen's 38,000-member Lakewood Church has sufficiently aided in the disaster relief effort in the wake of Hurricane Harvey has …

Presidential Pardons Might Not End Russia Prosecutions  —  President Donald Trump's unusual pardon of former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, issued before his federal case was even finished, has sparked a debate over whether the president could end Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe with a spate of pre-emptive pardons.

IVANKA BACKS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S PLAN TO SCRAP OBAMA RULES PREVENTING PAY DISCRIMINATION  —  The White House, with the backing of Ivanka Trump, will end an Obama-era policy that would have required business owners to document how much they pay their workers alongside their gender, race and ethnicity.

When a furniture showroom becomes a storm shelter  —  Richmond, Texas (CNN)David and Maria Parks sit for hours on a sofa, intently watching news footage of flooding in Houston.  This couch is the only place they have left to go for now.  —  The Parks and about 300 other evacuees are taking refuge …

Fox News Signs Tomi Lahren as Contributor  —  Conservative media host Tomi Lahren has joined Fox News in a contributor role, the cable news network announced Wednesday.  —  She will make her debut as a contributor on tonight's edition of “Hannity” at 10 p.m. ET/PT. According to FNC …

How Apple Plans to Change the Way You Use the Next iPhone  —  Premium device is said to come with new gesture controls to replace home button, taller screen with rounded corners.  —  Apple Inc. plans to transform the way people use its next high-end iPhone by eliminating the concept …

Contractors, Not Troops, Will Save Afghanistan  —  In 1941, shortly after Pearl Harbor pulled the United States into World War II, a group of volunteer American aviators led by Gen. Claire Chennault known as the Flying Tigers fought Japanese aggression in China.

ESPN Football Analyst Walks Away, Disturbed by Brain Trauma on Field  —  LONG BEACH, Calif. — If Ed Cunningham had not already seen enough, he would be back in a broadcast booth on Saturday afternoon, serving as the color analyst for another top college football game televised on ABC or ESPN.