Cohen claims Trump knew in advance of 2016 Trump Tower meeting  —  (CNN)Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, claims that then-candidate Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in which Russians were expected to offer his campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton …

G.D.P. Grew at 4.1% Rate in U.S. in Latest Quarter.  Here's What That Means.  —  The Commerce Department released its initial estimate of second-quarter economic growth on Friday, providing the latest snapshot of the American economy.  —  The Numbers  —  United States gross domestic product rose …

Exclusive: Kimberly Guilfoyle Left Fox News After Investigation Into Misconduct Allegations, Sources Say  —  Sources tell HuffPost that Guilfoyle, who is dating Donald Trump Jr., engaged in emotionally abusive behavior and showed colleagues personal photos of male genitalia.

Putin invites Trump to Moscow for a second meeting  —  Russia President Vladimir Putin on Friday said he invited President Donald Trump to Russia for another face-to-face meeting — a meeting the White House says Trump is open to.  —  “We are ready to invite President Trump to Moscow.

GOP Rep. Jason Lewis called people on government assistance ‘parasites,’ said blacks on welfare ‘plantation’  —  GOP rep. said blacks have ‘entitlement mentality’  —  (CNN)Republican Rep. Jason Lewis has repeatedly demeaned recipients of welfare and government assistance, calling them …

How five key voter groups view Trump  —  President Trump's approval rating among five key voter groups shows how tough it will be for Republicans to keep control of the House in the midterm elections.  —  Data: SurveyMonkey online poll among a total sample of 52,211.  Margin of error of ±1.5 percentage points.

Russian Hackers' New Target: a Vulnerable Democratic Senator … The Russian intelligence agency behind the 2016 election cyberattacks targeted Sen. Claire McCaskill as she began her 2018 re-election campaign in earnest, a Daily Beast forensic analysis reveals.

The Daily 202: Puerto Ricans who fled to Florida after Hurricane Maria are not registering to vote  —  THE BIG IDEA: Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico last September and prompted a mass exodus of more than 100,000 residents to the mainland United States.  The Category 4 storm destroyed …

Why didn't FBI tell court about Christopher Steele bias?  —  There has been bitter debate about the release of a heavily-redacted version of the FBI's application for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant to wiretap onetime Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page.

Setting the record straight on shadow banning  —  People are asking us if we shadow ban.  We do not.  But let's start with, “what is shadow banning?”  —  The best definition we found is this: deliberately making someone's content undiscoverable to everyone except the person who posted it, unbeknownst to the original poster.

The Bottom Line in Republicans' 42 Open Seats  —  With 102 days to go, Democrats remain substantial favorites for House control.  A big reason: Republicans are defending 42 open or vacant seats, a record since at least 1930.  The retirements of Speaker Paul Ryan (WI-01) …

Help us identify Trump's unknown golf partners  —  In the flood of stories about how people close to President Trump sought to leverage their relationships for personal gain earlier this year, one story didn't attract as much attention as it might otherwise have.

At Prayer Breakfast, Guests Seek Access to a Different Higher Power  —  WASHINGTON — With a lineup of prayer meetings, humanitarian forums and religious panels, the National Prayer Breakfast has long brought together people from all over the world for an agenda built around the teachings of Jesus.

SF coffee shop turns down Salesforce contract in immigration protest  —  A San Francisco coffee company has joined the outcry over the services Salesforce provides to U.S. Customs and Border Protection by turning down a $40,000 contract to serve drinks at Dreamforce, Salesforce's annual user conference.

Role reversal: Architect of 2010 GOP House takeover in trouble  —  Texas Rep. Pete Sessions is at risk of losing his seat to a Trump-fueled wave.  —  DALLAS — The man who engineered the 2010 Republican takeover of the House is racing to save himself in his own election this year …

Emails: Lawyer who met Trump Jr. tied to Russian officials  —  LONDON (AP) — The Moscow lawyer said to have promised Donald Trump's presidential campaign dirt on his Democratic opponent worked more closely with senior Russian government officials than she previously let on, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

See America's New Ellis Island: A South Texas Bus Terminal  —  McALLEN, Tex. — For thousands of undocumented immigrants in South Texas, the crowded bus station in downtown McAllen has become a new, impromptu Ellis Island.  They line up daily, newly released from detention, having had no time even to put the laces back on their shoes.

Twitter may finally be testing an edit button  —  Holy Kim Kardashian!  Have The People's Twitter prayers been answered?  —  According to ProPublica reporter Logan Jaffe, it looks like... wait for it... Twitter may be testing an EDIT BUTTON. … A tweet edit function is one of the most requested features …

Egypt zoo accused of painting donkey to look like a zebra  —  A zoo in Egypt has denied painting black stripes on a donkey to make it look like a zebra after a photo of the animal appeared online.  —  Student Mahmoud Sarhan put the images on Facebook after visiting Cairo's International Garden municipal park.

VIDEO: Do Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez supporters understand socialism? … - People in New York's 14th Congressional District seem to love Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, right down to her neo-Marxist platform.  — They were less confident when I asked them how they thought we should pay for free healthcare …

How Facebook Went So Wrong So Fast  —  There are four theories, and three of them are alarming.  —  What happened?  —  That's what many of Facebook Inc.'s investors — and I — have spent the last 18 hours wondering.  On Wednesday, the company posted disappointing figures for second-quarter revenue, user growth and profits.

The White House and the Strongman  —  How the Obama administration watched the demise of Arab democracy — and paved the way for Trump's embrace of dictators.  —  President Trump boasts that he has reversed American policies across the Middle East.  Where his predecessor hoped to win hearts and minds …

Facebook removes four videos on pages operated by Alex Jones and InfoWars  —  Facebook removed four videos on pages operated by InfoWars and its founder, Alex Jones, a spokesperson for the social media company said Thursday night.  —  “We received reports related to four different videos …

This is not your grandfather's KGB  —  Looking at Russia's competing spy services, their overlapping operations against the United States and their sometimes careless tradecraft, some CIA veterans are wondering if the Russian spooks actually want to get caught.