Exclusive: Robert Mueller met with Trump's pollster  —  Washington (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller sought information directly last year from one of Donald Trump's campaign pollsters who is also a former business associate of Paul Manafort's.  —  Mueller's team met with pollster Tony Fabrizio …

Test of steel prototype for border wall showed it could be sawed through  —  NBC News obtained a photo showing results of a test on a steel wall prototype.  —  President Donald Trump has repeatedly advocated for a steel slat design for his border wall, which he described as …

Democrats will object to Senate adjourning amid shutdown  —  Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) plans to object to the Senate adjourning for the week Thursday afternoon amidst a 20-day government shutdown, according to Senate sources.  —  Kaine and his fellow Senate Democrats want to ratchet up pressure …

Before Trump, Steve King Set the Agenda for the Wall and Anti-Immigrant Politics  —  Before Trump, Steve King Set the Agenda for Anti-Immigrant Politics  —  The Iowa congressman, who has been denounced as a white supremacist, wrote the playbook on white identity politics and many of the issues that are ascendant in the G.O.P.

Prosecutors Examining Ukrainians Who Flocked to Trump Inaugural  —  WASHINGTON — Hours after he was sworn in as America's 45th president, Donald J. Trump and his wife, Melania, swayed together to a rendition of the Frank Sinatra classic “My Way,” as hundreds of their wealthiest …

‘The story keeps changing’: Trump falsely asserts he never promised Mexico would directly pay for the border wall  —  It was a foundational promise of Donald Trump's historic presidential campaign: Mexico would pay for his 2,000-mile border wall.  But as he desperately fights for $5.7 billion …

Trump White House urging allies to prepare for possible RBG departure  —  The White House is reaching out to political allies and conservative activist groups to prepare for an ailing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's possible death or departure from the Supreme Court — an event that would trigger …

Q13 FOX staffer fired after TV station airs altered Trump video  —  A staffer at local FOX affiliate Q13 has been fired after the station aired what appears to be a doctored video of President Trump's Tuesday night speech from the Oval Office.  —  A staffer at local FOX affiliate Q13 …

Gillibrand reps lease 5,000 square foot Troy building  —  Kenneth C. Crowe II and and Diego Mendoza-Moyers January 10, 2019  —  Campaign representatives for Democratic U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand signed a lease for a 5,000 square foot space in downtown Troy, according to a local Democratic operative …

Ocean Warming Is Accelerating Faster Than Thought, New Research Finds  —  Scientists say the warming of the world's oceans is accelerating more quickly than previously thought, a finding with dire implications for climate change given that the vast majority of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases ends up stored there.

The Saudi engine of repression continues to run at full speed  —  One hundred days after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is pressing ahead with anti-dissident campaigns and remains in regular contact with Saud al-Qahtani, the media adviser whom …

The ‘doomsday’ scenario: Here's what happens if the shutdown drags on  —  Economists warn that a catastrophe is in the making if the partial government closure continues for weeks or months.  —  The country would face an economic hellscape if the government shutdown lasts “months or even years …

Progressives Fought for Key Committee Spots, but Centrist New Dems Came Out on Top  —  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez failed in her long-shot bid for a seat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, according to an announcement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wednesday evening.

Harry Reid: Renewed But Ready to Rumble?  —  Harry Reid retired a little more than two years ago after serving decades in elected office, lastly as a U.S. senator who helped President Barack Obama get the Affordable Care Act through Congress.  —  He's been out of the limelight since, undergoing cancer treatment.

Kamala Harris Ready To Enter Race For President, Sources Say  —  She's Finalizing Plans For Bay Area Rally To Announce Candidacy  —  Sen. Kamala Harris has decided to run for president in 2020 and will announce her candidacy on or around Martin Luther King Jr. Day, probably at a campaign rally in Oakland …

Scientists Are Using CRISPR to Make Spicy Tomatoes  —  The humble tomato is about to get a makeover.  Plant physiologists in Brazil and Ireland are researching how to use the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to create the world's first spicy tomato.  —  In a paper published in the journal Trends …

I worked in the Justice Department.  I hope its lawyers won't give Trump an alibi.  —  Erica Newland is a counsel for the nonprofit group Protect Democracy and a former attorney adviser in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.  —  President Trump said Thursday that he will …

I Was Sexually Harassed on Bernie Sanders's 2016 Campaign.  I Will Not Be Weaponized or Dismissed.  —  Last week, my experience, and that of some of my female co-workers, became the focus of a New York Times story on the sexual harassment and sexism that took place in the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign.

For Owners of Amazon's Ring Security Cameras, Strangers May Have Been Watching Too  —  The “smart home” of the 21st century isn't just supposed to be a monument to convenience, we're told, but also to protection, a Tony Stark-like bubble of vigilant algorithms and internet-connected sensors working ceaselessly to watch over us.

Farenthold resigns as Calhoun Port Authority lobbyist … Calhoun Port Authority Board Chairman Randy Boyd, middle left, speaks with Port Director Charles Hausmann before a special meeting May 24 in Point Comfort.  During the meeting, the board voted 3-3 to fire Blake Farenthold.

Mnuchin briefs Congress on plan to ease sanctions on Russian oligarch  —  Oleg Deripaska is a Russian oligarch with ties to the Kremlin.  —  31m ago

Texas county GOP set to vote this week to remove leader because he is Muslim  —  The Tarrant County Republicans in Texas will vote this week to remove their vice chairman because he is Muslim.  —  Republican Dorrie O'Brien is leading a group of colleagues in an attempt to unseat Shahid Shafi …

Kroger Manager Accused of Racial Profiling After Calling Cops On Black Teens Buying Snacks  —  “I asked him what we did, and he was like, 'We've had problems with people like you before,'” one teen said.  —  A Texas woman is speaking out after she said her teenage sons and nephews …

House passes bills to fund Transportation Dept., HUD, Agriculture  —  The Democratic-led House passed a standalone spending measure Thursday to provide funding for the Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and other agencies.  —  The House voted 244-180 to approve the clean funding measure.

Texas landowners prepare wall fight; Trump to visit border  —  HIDALGO, Texas (AP) — As President Donald Trump travels to the border in Texas to make the case for his $5.7 billion wall, landowner Eloisa Cavazos says she knows firsthand how the project will play out if the White House gets its way.

No to an Emergency  —  President Trump says he is considering declaring an emergency at the border to unlock military funds to build a fence (a.k.a. wall).  —  It's not clear how serious he is, although anonymous White House aides have been quoted saying they believe this will be his ultimate way out of the shutdown fight.

What Real Border Security Looks Like  —  Republicans and Democrats should agree to build an Israeli-style “smart fence.”  —  ON THE ISRAEL-LEBANON BORDER — Other than the Korean Peninsula's DMZ, there's probably no border in the world as fraught with the potential for sudden violence as this one, known locally as the Blue Line.

Trump Campaign in Legal Jeopardy Over Manafort's Sharing Data with Russian Agent  —  According to a court filing earlier this week, former 2016 Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort shared presidential campaign polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian citizen with ties to Russian intelligence.

White House Intervened in Case of Trump's Casino Pal Steve Wynn  —  The move came just before the administration drafted new guidance that could have paid off for the gambling boss, and months before his resignation.  —  In the summer of 2017, the Trump White House asked for a meeting …

Evangelical Pastor Defends Trump's Border Plan: ‘Heaven Itself Is Gonna Have A Wall’  —  Robert Jeffress cited the Bible on “Fox & Friends” to support the president's plans for a border wall — but not all Christians agree.  —  An evangelical preacher is using the Bible …

Fact-checking the mob song from ‘Beauty and the Beast’ … An angry mob, having learned that a Beast lives near their village in rural France, 18th century  —  GASTON AND VILLAGERS: We're not safe until he's dead.  —  First off, there are many ways to die that are not directly related to beast attacks!