Exclusive: US extracted top spy from inside Russia in 2017  —  Washington (CNN)In a previously undisclosed secret mission in 2017, the United States successfully extracted from Russia one of its highest-level covert sources inside the Russian government, multiple Trump administration officials with direct knowledge told CNN.

NOAA's chief scientist will investigate why agency backed Trump over its experts on Dorian, email shows  —  National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini has also broken with NOAA leadership  —  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's acting chief scientist said in an email …

'Someone's Gotta Tell the Freakin' Truth': Jerry Falwell's Aides Break Their Silence  —  At Liberty University, all anyone can talk about is Jerry Falwell Jr. Just not in public.  —  “When he does stupid stuff, people will mention it to others they consider confidants and not keep it totally secret …

Why Is Tulsi Gabbard Paying This Obscure Consultant Big Bucks?  —  STEHEKIN, Wash. — Deep in the Washington state wilderness, a highly paid political consultant is raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars from U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard's presidential campaign.

'It's a deceptive lead': Why Biden's rivals are planning around his big collapse  —  He continues to outdistance the rest of the Democratic primary field in most polls.  And his head-to-head lead over President Donald Trump are stronger than anyone else's.  —  No one should be surprised next year if Joe Biden becomes the nominee.

The Heir  —  The empire begins with a brothel.  It stands, sturdy and square, at the heart of a gold-rush boomtown in northwest British Columbia, a monument to careful branding.  The windows of the Arctic Restaurant have no signs offering access to prostitutes—even in a lawless Yukon outpost in 1899 …

Mark Halperin ‘Threatened’ MSNBC Chief Phil Griffin for Nixing His Comeback  —  Sources said the disgraced political reporter became hostile in a phone chat with his ex-boss after reports emerged that MSNBC brass axed plans for Halperin to return to punditry.

U.S. House committees launch probe of Trump, Giuliani and Ukraine  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three U.S. House of Representatives committees said on Monday they had begun “a wide-ranging investigation” into reports that President Donald Trump, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani and possibly others …

Trump Is Not Well  —  During the 2016 campaign, I received a phone call from an influential political journalist and author, who was soliciting my thoughts on Donald Trump.  Trump's rise in the Republican Party was still something of a shock, and he wanted to know the things I felt he should keep …

How Trump's Plan to Secretly Meet With the Taliban Came Together, and Fell Apart  —  WASHINGTON — On the Friday before Labor Day, President Trump gathered top advisers in the Situation Room to consider what could be among the profound decisions of his presidency — a peace plan with the Taliban …

White House weighs controversial plan on mental illness and mass shootings  —  The White House is considering a controversial proposal to study whether mass shootings could be prevented by monitoring mentally ill people for small changes that might foretell violence.

Trespassing trial of Chinese woman stalls over underwear  —  FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The trial of a Chinese businesswoman charged with lying to a Secret Service agent and trespassing at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club bogged down Monday before jury selection over her lack of underwear …

Elizabeth Warren endorses Texas U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar's Democratic primary challenger  —  The Democratic presidential candidate backed Jessica Cisneros, the immigration lawyer running to unseat Cuellar. … Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren is wading into one of Texas …

Air Force leaders order probe of Trump resort stays  —  The U.S. Air Force has ordered a world-wide review of how it chooses overnight accommodations on long flights following revelations that air crews had occasionally stayed at President Donald Trump's Scotland resort while refueling at a small commercial airport nearby.

How Elizabeth Warren Raised Big Money Before She Denounced Big Money  —  Ms. Warren wooed wealthy donors for years, stockpiling money from fund-raisers, and has used $10.4 million from her 2018 Senate race to underwrite her 2020 bid.  —  On the highest floor of the tallest building in Boston …

‘UVA has ruined us’: Health system sues thousands of patients, seizing paychecks and putting liens on homes  —  Heather Waldron and John Hawley are losing their four-bedroom house in the hills above Blacksburg, Va. A teenage daughter, one of their five children, sold her clothes for spending money.

“Undercover” — Valerie Plame for Congress  —  I'm running for Congress because we're going backwards on national security, health care, and women's rights.  We need to turn our country around. https://val...

The One Thing No Israeli Wants to Discuss  —  The decisive factor in next week's election — and the reason for Benjamin Netanyahu's durability — is a repressed memory.  —  Mr. Friedman is a contributing opinion writer and the author of “Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel.”

Biden's claim that he opposed the Iraq War the ‘moment it started’  —  “I did make a bad judgment, trusting the president saying he was only doing this to get inspectors in and get the U.N. to agree to put inspectors in.  From the moment ‘shock and awe’ started, from that moment …

Trump heads to N.C. for House special election — and 2020 test run  —  WEDDINGTON, N.C. — The last, lingering piece of the 2018 election is about to preview the fundamental dynamic shaping the fight for the White House in 2020.  —  Tuesday's do-over election for a congressional seat marred …

ICE: Nearly 500 undocumented immigrants released from NC jails despite detainer  —  CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Nearly 500 undocumented immigrants have been released from jails across the state in the past ten months despite administrative detainers filed against them by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Judge restores nationwide block of asylum ban  —  A San Francisco-based federal judge on Monday restored a nationwide injunction against President Donald Trump's move to ban asylum seekers who pass through another country en route to the United States.  —  U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar issued …

Adam Schiff lashes Michael Flynn for refusing to cooperate  —  Former national security adviser Michael Flynn has refused to cooperate with the House Intelligence Committee's demand for testimony and documents, Chairman Adam Schiff wrote in a letter released Monday.

The push to impeach Trump just got more serious.  But there's a problem.  —  House Democrats are dramatically expanding their inquiry into whether to bring articles of impeachment against President Trump.  That inquiry, which is being run out of the Judiciary Committee …

Trump honors ‘incredible patriots’ who responded to Dayton, El Paso mass shootings  —  President Trump presented the Medal of Valor on Monday to six police officers who responded to the Dayton, Ohio, mass shooting last month and honored five civilians for their actions at the scene of the shooting in El Paso that same weekend.

Congress returns to McConnell's legislative ‘graveyard’  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing criticism that the Senate has become little more than what one member calls an “expensive lunch club,” Congress returns for the fall session Monday with pressure mounting on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell …

Parkland dad uncovers how district enabled deranged student-turned-shooter  —  After the deadly Feb. 14, 2018, mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., national media focused largely on a handful of student activists, leaving it to victims' parents to unravel why the slaughter happened.

Recession Already Grips Corners of U.S., Menacing Trump's 2020 Bid  —  The moment usually comes during Greg Petras's commute through the rolling hills and cornfields of southern Wisconsin.  Somewhere between his home near Madison and the factory he runs on the edge of the small town of Brodhead …

Staff Changes in Washington  —  Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Thom Shanker and Justine Makieli are taking on new roles in the Washington bureau.  Read more in this note from Elisabeth Bumiller and Bill Hamilton.  —  Julie Hirschfeld Davis, who has been one of our spectacular congressional correspondents …

Border apprehensions plunge as Trump administration hails Mexico pact  —  Immigration officials apprehended just over 64,000 migrants at the southern border in August - a dramatic drop that the Trump administration is presenting as a sign its diplomatic engagement with Mexico and other countries is having positive effects on the ground.