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.

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.

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 …

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 …

Blindsiding Trump, most Republican governors have agreed to accept refugees  —  Both backers and foes of the White House position attribute the unexpected support for refugees to the influence of religious groups, especially evangelical leaders.  —  WASHINGTON — Texas Gov. Greg Abbot …

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 …

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.

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 …

U.S. Probes If Russia Is Targeting Biden in 2020 Election Meddling  — Intelligence and law enforcement are weighing the possibility  — Move by Kremlin would echo the 2016 attacks on Hillary Clinton  —  U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials are assessing whether Russia …

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.

Trump's unhinged rally rant underscores case for reining him in  —  At a rally in Ohio on Thursday night, President Trump drew deafening cheers by boasting about his order to assassinate Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, deriding Democrats with petty schoolyard taunts and mocking the very idea …

‘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 …

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 …

Why America needs to hear from its government  —  The last White House press briefing was 301 days ago  —  In an open letter, a group of 13 former White House press secretaries, foreign service and military officials call for the return of regular White House and other press briefings.

How Rupert Murdoch is influencing Australia's bush fire debate  —  WOMBEYAN CAVES, NEW SOUTH WALES (NYTIMES) - Deep in the burning forests south of Sydney this week, volunteer firefighters were clearing a track through the woods, hoping to hold back a nearby blaze, when one of them shouted over the crunching of bulldozers.

Column: Call Trumpism what it is: a cult  —  The comparisons have come hard and fast, at least since 2015.  Trump is like Silvio Berlusconi, like Adolf Hitler, like Boris Johnson.  A 2018 film called “The Trump Prophecy” took the evangelical route, comparing Trump to Cyrus the Great …

Virginia lawmakers ban guns at state Capitol  —  RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia lawmakers voted Friday to ban firearms at the state Capitol, the first in what's expected to be many contentious gun votes in coming weeks.  —  Newly empowered Democrats who made up a majority …

Fieldston, Elite Private School, Faces Backlash From Jewish Parents  —  The New York City school is once again embroiled in a debate over its handling of race, religion and ethnicity.  —  Ethical Culture Fieldston, one of New York City's most proudly progressive private schools …

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 …

The final, inevitable collapse of the right-wing media's Uranium One conspiracy theory  —  Report that probe will result in no charges shows the danger of trusting Peter Schweizer's reporting  —  U.S. attorney John Huber reportedly intends to close, without bringing charges …

ISIS welcomes the death of Iran's Qaseem Soleimani and declare it an act of ‘divine intervention’ that will let them regroup in Iraq  —  ISIS has claimed the death of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani was an act of ‘divine intervention’ and that it will benefit their jihadist cause.

Jane Fonda marches on Capitol Hill in finale ‘Fire Drill Friday’ protest  —  The actress said it was her final protest in Washington “for a while.”  —  Academy Award-winning actress Jane Fonda marched on Capitol Hill in her last “Fire Drill Friday” protest, though she said on the event's Twitter account …

Bloomberg and Steyer's spending binge starts to pay off  —  The two have dropped more than $300 million combined, and they're rising in polls.  —  Democratic Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg.  Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images  —  Tom Steyer's campaign has long had the look of a colossal waste …

Dow falls amid lackluster jobs data after briefly topping 29,000 for the first time  —  Dow closes lower after hitting 29K for first time  —  Stocks fell on Friday, reversing from all-time highs, as investors digested weaker-than-expected jobs data to end a volatile week full of geopolitical concerns.