Bernie Sanders leads the Iowa Poll for the first time, just weeks before the Iowa caucuses  —  U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders leads the Democratic field three weeks ahead of Caucus Day in Iowa — narrowly overtaking his closest competitors, who remain locked in a tight contest just behind him.

White House considers expanding travel ban to more countries  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is considering expanding its much-litigated travel ban to additional countries amid a renewed election-year focus on immigration issues by President Donald Trump, according to four people familiar with the deliberations.

Susan Collins working with ‘small group’ of GOP senators to allow impeachment witnesses  —  U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine told reporters on Friday that she is working with a “fairly small group” of fellow Republican senators toward a goal of ensuring witnesses can be called …

On the day U.S. forces killed Soleimani, they launched another secret operation targeting a senior Iranian official in Yemen  —  On the day the U.S. military killed a top Iranian commander in Baghdad, U.S. forces carried out another top secret mission against a senior Iranian military official in Yemen, according to U.S. officials.

Trump Allies Explore Buyout of Conservative News Channel One America News Network  —  Hicks Equity Partners, a family investment firm tied to Republican National Committee co-chair Thomas Hicks Jr., is pitching GOP donors on possible deal  —  Allies of President Trump are pursuing an effort …

Trump angered by House ally's push to limit his authority on Iran  —  Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican and staunch Trump ally, pushed other Republicans to vote in favor of limiting the president's authority in the military confrontation with Iran, drawing ire from the president …

AOC riles Dems by refusing to pay party dues, bankrolling colleagues' opponents  —  EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has already topped the fundraising charts in her short time in Congress, but the liberal darling won't donate a cent of her millions to Democrats' House campaign organization …

Donald Trump Is Starting To Fixate On Bernie Sanders  —  President Donald Trump's reelection campaign is beginning to aggressively attack a rising threat to his power: Bernie Sanders.  —  The Trump campaign put out two statements centered on Sanders this week, and the Vermont senator …

Texas governor to reject new refugees, first under Trump  —  HOUSTON (AP) — Texas will no longer accept the resettlement of new refugees, becoming the first state known to do so under a recent Trump administration order, Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday.  —  Abbott's announcement …

With love and gratitude...  I ran for president to help forge another direction for our country.  I wanted to discuss things I felt needed to be discussed that otherwise were not.  I feel that we have done that.  —  I stayed in the race to take advantage of every possible effort to share our message.

Swiss Back Channel Helped Defuse U.S.-Iran Crisis  —  The U.S. sent an encrypted fax via the Swiss Embassy in Tehran urging Iran not to escalate, followed by a flurry of back and forth messages  —  BERN, Switzerland—Hours after a U.S. strike killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani …

Farewell to Rock's Greatest Drummer (and Randian)  —  Neil Peart, the Canadian drummer and leader of the Seventies hard-rock band Rush, has died.  Peart had battled brain cancer for three years.  —  I saw Peart and his band perform at the now-demolished New Haven Coliseum during Rush's Power Windows tour …

Bloomberg to fund sizable campaign effort through November even if he loses Democratic nomination  —  Exclusive: The former New York City mayor plans to continue paying hundreds of staffers and funding his digital operation to defeat Trump even if he's not the nominee.

BREAKING: Iranian National With Machete, Pick Ax Detained on Bridge Near Mar-a-Lago  —  Authorities in and around President Donald Trump's home, Mar-a-Lago, in Florida are no doubt used to dealing with threats and crazy people.  —  But with the uptick in tension because of trouble with Iran …

We Found Major Trump Tax Inconsistencies.  New York's Mayor Wants a Criminal Investigation.  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday …

The Real Backstory of Why Trump Ordered the Killing of Suleimani Is Becoming More Clear  —  The Trump-Iran story continues to develop in alarming ways.  On Thursday, reports that Western governments believe Iranian military forces mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet …

DOJ says neo-Nazi group used ‘swatting’ to target officials, journalists, church  —  Federal officials said a Virginia man arrested Friday is linked to a string of fake bomb threats and “swatting” attacks on journalists, government officials and others as part of an international group sympathetic to neo-Nazi ideology.

Instagram says it's removing posts supporting Soleimani to comply with US sanctions  —  Washington DC (CNN Business)Instagram and its parent company Facebook are removing posts that voice support for slain Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani to comply with US sanctions, a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement to CNN Business Friday.

CNN Sets Record $76 Million Back Pay Settlement With National Labor Relations Board  —  CNN has agreed to pay $76 million to settle a back pay case involving union workers that marks the largest “monetary remedy” in the 85-year history of National Labor Relations Board.

Feces from a giant kettle of vultures is disrupting CBP communications on the US-Mexico border  —  Global Economic Disruptions  —  Globalization, automation, and inequality—oh my!  —  A US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) radio tower near the Texas-Mexico border has become home to some 300 vultures …

‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Author Starts VC Fund Backed by Peter Thiel  — Narya Capital to finance “scientifically complicated” startups  — Eric Schmidt, Marc Andreessen are said to invest with Thiel  —  With backing from Peter Thiel, Eric Schmidt, Marc Andreessen and other Silicon Valley kings …

Trump, red states ask Supreme Court to refuse Obamacare case before election  —  The Trump administration and Republican-led states are urging the Supreme Court to swat away Democrats' request to immediately review a lawsuit threatening Obamacare, which would ensure the politically fraught case …

The Fall of Donald Trump's Fixers  —  The mogul-turned-president has long relied on loyalists to push the limits in defense of his image, but Roy Cohn, David Pecker and Michael Cohen all wound up out in the cold  —  For decades, Donald Trump has depended on loyalists to take care of especially sensitive and difficult tasks.

Kerry on $1.7 Billion Payment to Iran: ‘We Gave Them a Little Bit of Money’  —  Former secretary of state John Kerry, who along with his wife Teresa Heinz is estimated to be worth $1 billion, on Friday referred to the $1.7 billion payment the United States made to Iran in 2016 as a “little bit of money.”

Preview clip: President Trump on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal exit  —  President Trump told Fox News' Laura Ingraham in an exclusive interview his thoughts on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepping down as ‘senior members’ of the royal family.