Trump's bewildering national emergency press conference, annotated  —  President Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border on Friday — but not without making a scene full of false claims, offbeat comments and tense exchanges.  —  Below is the full transcript, with annotations in yellow.

Why Trump's Going to Win on the National Emergency  —  All through the 2016 campaign Donald Trump warned about the menace of immigration by reciting the lyrics of a song called “The Snake,” about a kind woman who takes a snake into her home, only to die when he bites her.

Exclusive: WH press secretary Sarah Sanders interviewed by special counsel's office  —  Washington (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has interviewed White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, she told CNN on Friday.  —  “The President urged me, like he has everyone in the administration …

Judge gags Roger Stone from Mueller comments around D.C. courthouse  —  Roger Stone remains free to talk about Robert Mueller and the Russia investigation, just not in and around the Washington, D.C., courthouse where the longtime Donald Trump associate is fighting the special counsel's charges …

PICTURED - Two Nigerian actor brothers are arrested over Jussie Smollett attack, as it's revealed they are FRIENDS with the Empire star amid claims the assault was staged to save his career  — Police are now treating the two brothers as suspects and not persons of interest but neither has been charged

Suspect in custody after multiple Aurora cops, civilians shot  —  Multiple police officers and civilians have been wounded in an Aurora shooting Friday in an industrial area near Prairie and Highland avenues.  —  Multiple police officers and civilians have been wounded in an Aurora shooting Friday …

De Blasio rips into AOC's Amazon opposition: Working people ‘want jobs’ … It's a progressive civil war.  —  A hot-under-the-collar Mayor Bill de Blasio tore into Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday as he blistered both the online giant and local politicians who opposed bringing it to Queens.

Latino labor rights icon endorses Kamala Harris  —  Dolores Huerta, the iconic labor and civil rights leader who co-founded what became the United Farm Workers, is endorsing Sen. Kamala Harris for president, according to a statement shared first with POLITICO.

Subject: Presidential Proclamation on Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States  —  DECLARING A NATIONAL EMERGENCY CONCERNING THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF THE UNITED STATES  —  BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Serious Questions for Schiff  —  As the Senate Intelligence Committee nears the end of its years-long investigation into whether the 2016 Trump campaign colluded with Russia, NBC News reported Tuesday that after interviewing over 200 witnesses from multiple countries and reviewing over 300,000 documents …

Air Force Defector to Iran Severely Damaged U.S. Intelligence Efforts, Ex-Officials Say  —  WASHINGTON — A former Air Force sergeant who defected to Iran did severe damage to American intelligence operations, and is suspected of revealing the names of double agents run by United States military intelligence …

Supreme Court takes up Trump administration's plan to ask about citizenship in census  —  The Supreme Court added a politically explosive case to its low-profile docket Friday, agreeing to decide by the end of June whether the Trump administration can add a question about citizenship …

What Andrew McCabe told “60 Minutes” about Trump and the 25th Amendment  —  In an interview to air on “60 Minutes” on Sunday, February 17, former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told correspondent Scott Pelley that he briefly discussed invoking the 25th Amendment with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Why Are These Professional War Peddlers Still Around?  —  One thing that every late-stage ruling class has in common is a high tolerance for mediocrity.  Standards decline, the edges fray, but nobody in charge seems to notice.  They're happy in their sinecures and getting richer.

Twitter Suspended A DC Think Tank For Violating Its Rules Against Fake Accounts  —  BuzzFeed News previously revealed the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology was using fake accounts to promote its work.  Now it's under scrutiny again.  —  Twitter has suspended three accounts connected …

Top US general disagrees with Trump over Syria troop pullout  —  Muscat, Oman (CNN)The US commander who has been leading the war against ISIS told CNN Friday that he disagreed with Donald Trump's decision to pull troops out of Syria and warned that the terror group was far from defeated, in a stark public break with the President.

Mel Watt attempted to ‘coerce’ relationship with employee while FHFA director, IG report says  —  “Standing up for myself” against the director of a federal agency “has not been an easy thing to do,” the woman said.  —  Former congressman Mel Watt misused his position when he was director …