Axios AM  —  Subscribe  —  Happy Monday!  — Situational awareness: A Chinese scientist who set off an ethical debate with claims that he had made the world's first genetically edited babies was sentenced to three years in prison because of his research.  (AP)

Behind the Ukraine Aid Freeze: 84 Days of Conflict and Confusion  —  The inside story of President Trump's demand to halt military assistance to an ally shows the price he was willing to pay to carry out his agenda.  —  WASHINGTON — Deep into a long flight to Japan aboard Air Force …

3 Dead After Shooting At West Freeway Church Of Christ In White Settlement  —  FULL COVERAGE: NORTH TEXAS CHURCH SHOOTING  —  WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) — Three people are dead, including the gunman, after a shooting at a church in the Tarrant County city of White Settlement, officials said.

Republican Telemarketer Stiffed the Feds Out of $411K.  The Trump White House Gave Him a Job.  —  Shannon Burns spent years dodging creditors and fighting off lawsuits.  He found an angel at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  —  BEAST INSIDE  —  In the final two months of 2016 …

Rep. John Lewis Undergoing Cancer Treatment  —  He released this statement today regarding his prognosis and his plans to continue to serve the people of the 5th Congressional District of Georgia:  —  “I have been in some kind of fight - for freedom, equality, basic human rights - for nearly my entire life.

Washington Post: Giuliani held back channel phone call with Venezuelan President  —  Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump's personal lawyer held a back channel phone call with Venezuela's embattled President Nicolas Maduro in September 2018, according to The Washington Post …

Obama, Trump Tie as Most Admired Man in 2019  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Barack Obama and Donald Trump are tied this year as the most admired man.  It is Obama's 12th time in the top spot versus the first for Trump.  Michelle Obama is the most admired woman for the second year in a row.

The Worst Political Predictions of 2019  —  If you took the sum of political knowledge available at the end of 2018, and projected the course of 2019, the resulting spaghetti models could go in millions of directions.  —  Perhaps Robert Mueller's findings would devastate President Donald Trump.

How Big Companies Won New Tax Breaks From the Trump Administration  —  As the Treasury Department prepared to enact the 2017 Republican tax overhaul, corporate lobbyists swarmed — and won big.  —  The overhaul of the federal tax law in 2017 was the signature legislative achievement of Donald J. Trump's presidency.

Woman accused of assaulting 3 Jewish women arrested again day after release  —  A Brooklyn miscreant accused of slapping three Orthodox Jewish women last week struck again on Sunday and was busted for assaulting another woman.  —  A day after she was released without bail on charges stemming …

The Presidential Nominating Process Is Absurd  —  We have an unnecessarily weak presidential field, especially the incumbent.  —  Andrew Yang began his closing statement at the last Democratic debate with a charming bit of self-deprecation: “I know what you're thinking, America.

Trump's ‘Failures’  —  It is popular on the NeverTrump Right and everyone on the Left to claim that President Trump has “failed” as we head into an election year.  But his supposed failures are instructive.  —  Take the wall.  True, Trump certainly in the last three years has not come close …

The Year UFOs Became a Little More Legit  —  We didn't find ETs in 2019, but the U.S. government did become a little more chatty about flying saucers.  —  Not long ago, the world received what seemed like an otherworldly revelation: The Pentagon had been secretly running a UFO research project …

Trump's pardon of Gallagher just got even more appalling  —  “FREAKING EVIL.”  That is how Special Operator First Class Craig Miller described Eddie Gallagher, the chief of his Navy SEAL platoon.  Then, he wept.  —  The New York Times last week revealed investigative video recordings …

Johnson will abandon pledge on Brexit transition period - Hogan  —  EU commissioner believes British PM will abandon promise not to extend  —  British prime minister Boris Johnson will abandon his pledge not to extend the transition period for the UK's exit from the European Union beyond December 2020 …

Exclusive poll: Black Americans motivated by Trump to vote in 2020  —  A majority of black Americans are more interested in voting in the 2020 presidential election than they were in 2016, according to a national survey of 1200 black voters and non-voters conducted by Third Way and the Joint Center.

Trump impeachment trial drags Roberts into spotlight  —  Chief Justice John Roberts has tried to prevent the Supreme Court from being seen as just another political body, but when he presides over President Trump's likely impeachment trial in the Senate, the partisan glare will be hard for him to avoid.

Saudi Arabia arrests hundreds for ‘wearing inappropriate clothes’, ‘indecency’  —  RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has arrested more than 200 people for violating “public decency” - including by wearing immodest clothing - and “harassment”, police said, in the first such crackdown since the ultra-conservative kingdom began easing social norms.