Poll: Most Americans call Trump's tweets targeting 4 congresswomen ‘un-American’  —  WASHINGTON - A clear majority of Americans say President Trump's tweets targeting four minority congresswomen were “un-American,” according to a new USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll.  But most Republicans say they agreed …

Rand Paul blocks Senate from approving 9/11 victim compensation fund  —  Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Wednesday blocked an attempt by Democrats to pass an extension of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.  —  Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) tried to win the Senate's consent to approve …

Tape shows Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein discussing women at 1992 party  —  The November 1992 tape in the NBC archives shows Donald Trump with Jeffrey Epstein more than a decade before Epstein pleaded guilty to felony prostitution charges in Florida.  —  Inside a 1992 party with Trump, Jeffrey Epstein

Rand Paul angles to become Trump's emissary to Iran  —  Over a round of golf this past weekend, Sen. Rand Paul asked President Donald Trump's blessing for a sensitive diplomatic mission.  —  Paul proposed sitting down with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to extend a fresh olive branch …

Notre-Dame came far closer to collapsing than people knew.  This is how it was saved.  —  A baffling alert.  A race to the wrong building.  Notre-Dame still stands only because firefighters decided to risk everything, a New York Times reconstruction has found.

Ocasio-Cortez gets new 2020 challenger: a Republican immigrant from Jamaica  —  EXCLUSIVE — Scherie Murray, a New York businesswoman who immigrated from Jamaica as a child and is active in state Republican politics, is launching a campaign Wednesday for the congressional seat held by Democratic …

Omar to introduce pro-BDS resolution in House  —  U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar said that she plans to introduce a resolution this week in support of the anti-Israel BDS movement, reported Al-Monitor on Tuesday.  —  “We are introducing a resolution ... to really speak about the American values …

Feds end investigation into Trump Org and hush money payments  —  New York (CNN)Federal prosecutors in New York have ended their investigation into the Trump Organization's role in hush money payments made to women who alleged affairs with President Donald Trump and have been ordered by a judge …

'Trump's Going to Get Re-elected, Isn't He?'  —  Voters have reason to worry.  —  I'm struck at how many people have come up to me recently and said, “Trump's going to get re-elected, isn't he?”  And in each case, when I drilled down to ask why, I bumped into the Democratic presidential debates in June.

Yahoo's story on Chris Pratt's ‘white supremacist’ T-shirt did us all a disservice  —  U.S. media took a bold stand against racist tweets by the president of the United States this week, with much of it objectively calling Donald Trump's behavior “racist” after resisting that label in its news coverage for years.

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, Who Led Liberal Wing, Dies at 99  —  John Paul Stevens, whose 35 years on the United States Supreme Court transformed him, improbably, from a Republican antitrust lawyer into the outspoken leader of the court's liberal wing, died on Tuesday at a hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 99.

Why CNN's Normalizing Of A White Nationalist Matters  —  It's transparent partisan attempt to smear Republican voters.  —  In 2016, a bunch of real-life white supremacists—not just Republicans who happen to disagree with the Democrats' preferred immigration policy—put together a conference in Washington, D.C., to attract attention.

Why Democrats' oversight machine is moving so slowly against Trump  —  House Democrats have kicked and screamed about the White House's refusal to allow key Trump officials to come before Congress.  But they haven't done the one thing they can do to force the issue: Go to court.

Widespread, oppressive and dangerous heat to roast much of the U.S. through the weekend  —  A heat wave featuring a life-threatening combination of heat and oppressive humidity has begun to spread across the United States, with excessive heat warnings and heat advisories in effect for at least 22 states and the District of Columbia.

Drug Overdose Deaths Drop in U.S. for First Time Since 1990  —  After three decades of ever-escalating drug overdose deaths, the tide of fatalities may have finally started to turn.  Total drug overdose deaths in America declined by around 5 percent last year, the first drop since 1990 …

Unauthorized immigrants face public backlash in Mexico, survey finds  —  MEXICO CITY — Mexicans are deeply frustrated with immigrants after a year of heightened migration from Central America through the country, according to a survey conducted by The Washington Post and Mexico's Reforma newspaper.

Civil Servants Who Process Immigration Applications Are Being Asked To Help ICE Instead  —  As the US agency that processes applications for legal immigration struggles with a backlog, its leaders asked staffers to volunteer to help ICE on administrative tasks, including with a program keeping asylum-seekers in Mexico.

How the Democratic Netroots Died  —  Twelve years ago, progressive political bloggers were so influential that nearly every 2008 Democratic presidential candidate attended the Yearly Kos convention—a gathering of liberal online activists named after Markos Moulitsas' popular Daily Kos website.

An ultra-violent MS-13 gang entered the U.S., then stalked L.A. with blades and bats  —  One by one, the victims were lured to remote locations: an abandoned building in downtown Los Angeles, an empty rooftop in Hollywood, a quiet park in the San Fernando Valley.

Another top NRA staffer departs amid upheaval  —  The turmoil at the National Rifle Association continues to build, with Jennifer Baker, the organization's longtime director of public affairs, stepping down from her post.  —  Baker's departure, which was confirmed by several people familiar with the matter …