Police sources: New evidence suggests Jussie Smollett orchestrated attack  —  Chicago (CNN)Two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation tell CNN that Chicago Police believe actor Jussie Smollett paid two men to orchestrate an assault on him that he reported late last month.

Patrick Caddell, Self-Taught Pollster Who Helped Carter to White House, Dies at 68  —  Patrick Caddell, the political pollster who helped send an obscure peanut farmer named Jimmy Carter to the White House, later became disillusioned with fellow Democrats and finally veered to advise supporters …

Mueller questions Cambridge Analytica director Brittany Kaiser  —  Second former employee of controversial data firm to be questioned by special counsel's inquiry into Russia collusion  —  A director of the controversial data company Cambridge Analytica, who appeared with Arron Banks …

Trump bets on North Korea to break his losing streak  —  Stung by domestic defeat after a losing battle with Democrats in Washington, D.C., this winter, President Donald Trump hopes his negotiating skills can achieve better results some 8,000 miles away when he meets with North Korea's leader in Vietnam later this month.

Heather Nauert withdraws name from UN ambassador consideration  —  State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert has withdrawn her name for consideration to be appointed ambassador to the United Nations. … The backdrop: Nauert was nominated to replace Nikki Haley in December.

Maine paid for 40 rooms at Trump hotel for LePage, staff  —  Newly released receipts reveal nearly a dozen trips to the president's luxury hotel, part of $170,000 in out-of-state travel by the former Maine governor in recent years.  —  AUGUSTA — Former Gov. Paul LePage and his staff members paid …

In ‘The Threat,’ Andrew McCabe Issues the Latest Warning Call About Trump's America  —  On the back cover of his new book, “The Threat: How the F.B.I. Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump,” Andrew G. McCabe looks preposterously fit (he competes in triathlons).  His hands are at his hips, gunslinger style.

How Does a Straight White Male Democrat Run for President?  —  Of the nine candidates officially running in the Democratic presidential primary, only one is a heterosexual white man.  And that guy, former Rep. John Delaney, generally polls somewhere between zero and 1 percent.

Merkel Rejects U.S. Demands That Europe Pull Out of Iran Nuclear Deal  —  MUNICH, Germany — In an uncharacteristically passionate speech, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany delivered a strong rejoinder on Saturday to American demands that European allies pull out of the Iran nuclear deal …

A campus infected with hostility: A professor says he's been targeted for being a conservative Jew  —  Each time I walk into my office at Kingsborough Community College, I draw inspiration from a picture of my father, Leon Goldstein, the school's president for 29 years and the man who built the college's modern-day campus.

A Weak and Rambling President Declares a Fake National Emergency  —  On Friday morning, Donald Trump walked up to a lectern in the White House Rose Garden to make an announcement of monumental importance that clearly couldn't wait a moment longer.  “Before we begin,” he said …