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3:50 PM ET, February 2, 2019

Top Items:

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam Defies Calls to Resign — RICHMOND — Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia, facing pressure from his own party to resign, said Saturday he would not quit and denied that he appeared in Ku Klux Klan robes or in blackface in images from his medical school yearbook that have upended his governorship.

Washington Post:

Va. Gov. Northam is refusing to step down, despite flood of calls for his resignation for ‘racist and offensive’ photo, party says — RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) is refusing to resign despite overwhelming pressure from within his own party and has told at least one lawmaker …

Associated Press:

The Latest: Virginia governor to speak again about photo — RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Latest on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and racist photo in 1984 yearbook (all times local): — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is planning a news conference where he's expected to say he's not resigning …

Discussion: Townhall, Daily Wire, Conservative News Today, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, The Daily Beast, thenationalsentinel.com, The Post & Email, twitchy.com and Mediaite

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: DNC convention buzz ... DRIVING THE DAY — DNC CONVENTION BUZZ ... Our sources tell us MILWAUKEE is the odds-on favorite for the 2020 Democratic National Convention. (John Bresnahan's sources tell him this too.) Houston and Miami are also still in the hunt …

Discussion: Washington Post, CBS News, The Hill, Los Angeles Times and Axios

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Ralph Northam is done, whether he knows it or not — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) may not know it yet, but in all likelihood he is done. — On Friday, images emerged of Northam's medical school yearbook page, on which there is a photo of a man in blackface next to a man in a Ku Klux Klan robe.

Discussion: Axios, Politico, Contemptor, Breitbart, USA Today, Chicks On The Right and Conservative News Today

Ryan Nobles / CNN:

Northam tells Virginia Democrat it wasn't him in racist photo, won't resign despite mounting pressure to do so — (CNN)Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has told a source he now believes it is not him in a racist yearbook photo and, despite mounting pressure to resign, that he will not do so …

Discussion: Reason, Breitbart, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit, The Root, The New Neo, The Nation and Contemptor

Virginian-Pilot: Bonds of trust broken, Northam must resign

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
Ralph Northam must resign. And that's just a start.

Discussion: Chicks On The Right, Geller Report and Daily Wire

Fenit Nirappil / Washington Post:
Justin Fairfax would become Virginia's 2nd black governor if Northam resigns

Discussion: Daily Kos, IJR and The Libertarian Republic

Tal Axelrod / The Hill:
Northam says he will not resign over blackface, KKK photo

Discussion: Washington Post, Breaking911 and IJR

Tyler O'Neil / PJ Media Home: Reminder: Ralph Northam Won After Calling Ed Gillespie Racist

Richmond Times-Dispatch:
Northam must resign

Discussion: USA Today, Conservative News Today, WPIX 11 New York, Breitbart, Mediaite and Political Wire

New York Times:

Trump Sought a Loan During the 2016 Campaign. Deutsche Bank Said No. — Donald J. Trump was burning through cash. — It was early 2016, and he was lending tens of millions of dollars to his presidential campaign and had been spending large sums to expand the Trump Organization's roster of high-end properties.

Discussion: CNN, CNBC and Raw Story

Wall Street Journal: Trump Organization Sought Loan From Deutsche Bank in 2016, Was Rebuffed

Axios:

The Schultz effect: Liberals own 2020 — The rising Democratic enthusiasm for big government liberalism is forcing a trio of leading 2020 contenders to rethink jumping in, several sources tell Axios. — What's happening: Michael Bloomberg and former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe …

Discussion: The Mahablog and Splinter

Kristen Soltis Anderson / Washington Post:

Sorry, Howard Schultz. You're not the centrist American voters are looking for. — Kristen Soltis Anderson is a Republican pollster and columnist at The Washington Examiner. — “How many of you would consider yourselves fiscally more conservative but socially more liberal?”

Discussion: Common Dreams and National Review

Change Research:
Polling on Howard Schultz for President

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post and Political Wire

Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Howard Schultz Derangement Syndrome

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Why Putin won't be mad about Trump pulling out of the INF treaty — Given Russia's interference in the 2016 election, this question has stalked Trump throughout his presidency: Why hasn't he taken tougher action against Moscow, beyond the occasional sanction?

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Raw Story, New York Times and Outside the Beltway

Anton Troianovski / Washington Post:
Following U.S., Putin suspends nuclear pact and promises new weapons

Discussion: Bloomberg, Raw Story and Bulletin of the Atomic …

BBC:
INF nuclear treaty: Russia follows US in suspending pact

Discussion: The Week and Gizmodo

Andrew E. Kramer / New York Times:
Russia Pulls Out of Nuclear Treaty in ‘Symmetrical’ Response to U.S. Move

Discussion: Gizmodo, Outside the Beltway, Political Wire, Pacific Standard and The White House

Vladimir Isachenkov / Associated Press:
Russia to pull plug on nuclear arms pact after US does same

Discussion: Reuters, POLITICUSUSA, Politico and NATO

John Walcott / TIME:

‘Willful Ignorance.’ Inside President Trump's Troubled Intelligence Briefings — In the wake of President Donald Trump's renewed attacks on the U.S. intelligence community this week, senior intelligence briefers are breaking two years of silence to warn that the President is endangering American security …

Discussion: Raw Story

Katie Rogers / New York Times:

In the Pale of Winter, Trump's Tan Remains a State Secret — WASHINGTON — The trees in the capital are barren, spindly things. The temperature has dipped, requiring puffy coats. With the government open — for now — President Trump has left the frigidity of governing for a weekend in Palm Beach.

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:

Trump taps Ronny Jackson to receive promotion and be his doctor, despite open investigation — The Pentagon's inspector general opened a case against Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson in June. — President Trump has tapped a senior Navy officer that he considered last year to be his Veterans Affairs secretary …

Discussion: Task & Purpose

Marlow Stern / The Daily Beast:

Bill Maher Makes Racist ‘Popeyes Chicken’ Remark to Black Congressman Will Hurd — On ‘Real Time’ Friday night, the HBO host did the unthinkable... again. — Marlow Stern — Two years ago, comedian Bill Maher got in hot water after using the N-word on his HBO program Real Time.

Discussion: RT, Daily Wire, The Root and Washington Free Beacon

NBC News:

Russia's propaganda machine discovers 2020 Democratic candidate Tulsi Gabbard — Experts who track websites and social media linked to Russia have seen stirrings of a possible campaign of support for Hawaii Democrat Tulsi Gabbard. — The Russian propaganda machine that tried to influence …

Discussion: Raw Story and HuffPost

Yashar Ali / HuffPost:

Top Schumer Aide Was Pushed Out After Inappropriate Sexual Encounters With Staff — The sudden departure of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's communications director followed reports of sexual misconduct. — When Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's longtime communications director …

Discussion: Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, twitchy.com, New York Post, Conservative News Today, The Week, The Daily Caller, TheBlaze and Politico

Morgan Gstalter / The Hill:

Colorado Senate passes bill favoring popular vote over Electoral College — The Colorado Senate this week passed a bill that would award the state's electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the nationwide popular vote. — The Senate passed the measure along party lines …

Anne Applebaum / Washington Post:

Regulate social media now. The future of democracy is at stake. — A few days ago, ProPublica, an independent, nonprofit newsroom, discovered that a tool it was using to track political advertising on Facebook had been quietly disabled — by Facebook. The browser extension …