The Trumps asked to borrow a Van Gogh for the White House.  The Guggenheim offered an 18K gold toilet instead.  —  The emailed response from the Guggenheim's chief curator to the White House was polite but firm: the museum could not accommodate a request to “borrow” a painting by Vincent Van Gogh …

White House proposes path to citizenship for 1.8 million people  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump is proposing giving 1.8 million young undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship in exchange for $25 billion for his long-promised wall and a host …

‘Secret Society’ FBI Text Actually Began With A ‘Beefcake’ Putin Calendar  —  The backstory to the message that's been blowing up conservative media is pretty funny.  —  WASHINGTON It was hours after Donald Trump became the president-elect, and two FBI officials, like many of their fellow citizens, were flabbergasted.

I've Watched Trump Testify Under Oath.  It Isn't Pretty.  —  In a 2007 deposition in my libel case (which he lost), he was underprepared and overconfident.  —  “There's been no collusion whatsoever.  There's been no obstruction whatsoever.”  —Donald Trump, Jan. 24, 2018

Grassley Says ‘Spooked’ Kushner Won't Agree to Russia Interview  —  Committee to release other transcripts on Trump Tower meeting  —  ‘That section of our investigation is done,’ senator says  —  A “spooked” Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser …

Kris Kobach's Office Leaks Last 4 Social Security Digits of Nearly Every Kansas Lawmaker and Thousands of State Employees, Including Kris Kobach  —  This is starting to just get sad.  —  Prior to receiving notice from Gizmodo this morning, Kris Kobach's office was leaking sensitive information belonging …

GOP Senate candidate flips out over 'women's rights': ‘I want to come home to a cooked dinner every night’  —  Republican U.S. Senate candidate for Missouri Courtland Sykes blasted “women's rights” this week.  —  In a statement posted to Facebook on Tuesday, Sykes said that he had been asked if he “supports women's rights.”

Casey Affleck Withdraws From Oscars: Won't Present Best Actress Award  —  EXCLUSIVE: Casey Affleck has withdrawn from presenting the Best Actress Award at the upcoming Oscars, Deadline hears.  He has notified the Academy he will not be attending the event, sources said.

Dutch agencies provide crucial intel about Russia's interference in US-elections  —  Hackers from the Dutch intelligence service AIVD have provided the FBI with crucial information about Russian interference with the American elections.  For years, AIVD had access to the infamous Russian hacker group Cozy Bear.

Vince McMahon: XFL to return in 2020 without gimmicks  —  WWE founder and chairman Vince McMahon announced Thursday he is giving a professional football league another go.  —  It will be called the XFL, the same name of the league McMahon and NBC tried for one season in 2001 …

The Photo That Never Saw The Light of Day: Obama With Farrakhan In 2005  —  A journalist announced last week that he will publish a photograph of then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (D) and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan that he took in 2005 at a Congressional Black Caucus meeting …

California Considers $1,000 Fine for Waiters Offering Unsolicited Plastic Straws  —  Ian Calderon wants restaurateurs to think long and hard before giving you a straw.  —  Calderon, the Democratic majority leader in California's lower house, has introduced a bill to stop sit-down restaurants …

Cuckolding can be positive for some couples, study says  —  (CNN)In our current political climate, the term “cuck” — short for “cuckservative” — has become an insult of the so-called alt-right, aimed at men they view as spineless and emasculated.  The slur has its roots in the concept of cuckolding, or having an adulterous partner.

Trump says dollar will get ‘stronger and stronger,’ Mnuchin was misinterpreted  — “The dollar is going to get stronger and stronger and ultimately I want to see a strong dollar,” Trump told CNBC in an exclusive interview.  — On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he welcomed …

Putin Family Split Offers Peek at Secret Dealings of Russia Inc.  —  During his courtship and marriage, Kirill Shamalov catapulted into the ranks of the super-rich with a little help from some of the closest allies of his father-in-law: Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The U.S. Can No Longer Hide From Its Deep Poverty Problem  —  You might think that the kind of extreme poverty that would concern a global organization like the United Nations has long vanished in this country.  Yet the special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston …

Melania Trump skips Davos, visits museum and heads to Florida  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  Washington (CNN)First lady Melania Trump's plane arrived in West Palm Beach, Florida, Thursday, the same week she cancelled her planned trip with her husband to Davos, Switzerland, at the last minute.

CNN's Climate of Hate Comes Home to Roost  —  For nearly five years, going all the way back to the Trayvon Martin uproar, Breitbart News has aggressively documented CNN's devolution into a 24/7 hate network.  This week, CNN's climate of hate finally came home to roost when a Michigan man …

Oprah addresses running for president  —  (CNN)Oprah Winfrey is downplaying her interest in a presidential run in a new interview, saying she doesn't “have the DNA” for a run.  —  “I've always felt very secure and confident with myself in knowing what I could do and what I could not,” Winfrey explained to InStyle Magazine.

Bill Kristol takes on Fox News, Tucker Carlson: 'I don't know if it's racism exactly - but ethno-nationalism of some kind'  — Bill Kristol was often a guest on Fox News, but he appeared gradually less on the network, he says, after he declined to do something for the late Fox News chief Roger Ailes.

Bernie Sanders summons team to discuss 2020  —  Bernie Sanders convened his top political advisers in Washington on Saturday for a planning meeting that included a discussion of the feasibility and shape of a possible 2020 presidential campaign, half a dozen senior Democrats familiar with the gathering confirmed to POLITICO.

Mueller Almost Done With Obstruction Part of Trump Probe, Sources Say  —  Other portions of investigation could last months: officials  —  Intelligence officials, Trump aides interviewed in past weeks  —  Special Counsel Robert Mueller is moving at a far faster pace than previously known …

Their school deleted an article on a teacher's firing.  So these teens published it themselves.  —  The teenagers' newspaper story started with a simple question: Why had a well-liked history teacher at their high school been missing from campus?  Was there a medical issue, or something else?