Scoop: GOP plans to play hardball on Kavanaugh  —  Strategists advising Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh plan to use aggressive tactics this week in response to the public accusation of a “stumbling drunk” sexual assault in high school that instantly imperiled his confirmation, top sources tell Jonathan Swan:

American Democracy Is in Crisis  —  It's been nearly two years since Donald Trump won enough Electoral College votes to become president of the United States.  On the day after, in my concession speech, I said, “We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.”  I hoped that my fears for our future were overblown.

Bloomberg May Run for President as a Democrat.  His Views on Policing and #MeToo Could Be a Problem.  —  SEATTLE — Michael R. Bloomberg is actively considering a campaign for president as a Democrat in 2020, concluding that it would be his only path to the White House even as he voices stark disagreements …

New leak shows Julian Assange sought Russian visa in 2010  —  LONDON (AP) — Julian Assange had just pulled off one of the biggest scoops in journalistic history, splaying the innards of American diplomacy across the web.  But technology firms were cutting ties to his website, WikiLeaks …

Florence has made Wilmington, N.C., an island cut off from the rest of the world  —  WILMINGTON, N.C. — This city has always embraced the water, with a lively riverfront on one side and the ocean on the other.  But in the wake of Hurricane Florence, water has rendered Wilmington an island, shut off from the rest of the world.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump's Battering Ram  —  What does the press secretary believe in—other than defending the President's every word?  —  Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, says that she never set out to be “the face of anything.”

Introducing Soon-Yi Previn As controversies tumbled around her, the daughter of Mia Farrow and wife of Woody Allen stayed silent for decades.  No more.  —  Once, she was seen as a victim, her youth and relative innocence taken advantage of by a powerful, much older man who sucked her into his vortex.

You'll miss Trump one day  —  I'm going to miss President Trump when he's gone.  If you want his presidency to end as badly as I do, you probably will, too.  The day he leaves office, I will be overjoyed.  The day after he leaves office, I will be bored.  —  The post-Trump era will be less frightening but more dull.

Ted Cruz Campaign is Mailing Donation Requests Disguised as Legal Summonses  —  Ted Cruz's Texas Senatorial campaign has sent hundreds of thousands of mailers seeking donations that are meant to look like official county summons, a high-ranking campaign official confirmed to Newsweek.

Trump gets pass from Congress on Puerto Rico deaths  —  Far more people died from Hurricane Maria than Katrina, but the House and Senate have asked fewer questions.  —  After Hurricane Katrina crashed into the Gulf Coast in 2005, Congress sprang into action.