Texas mayor tells residents to fend for themselves during power outage: ‘Only the strong will survive’  —  By Tuesday morning, the residents of Colorado City, Tex., were getting anxious.  More than 24 hours had passed since a deadly Arctic blast knocked out power across the state …

Promotions for Female Generals Were Delayed Over Fears of Trump's Reaction  —  Under a Biden administration, the nominations are expected to go from the Pentagon to the White House within weeks and then to the Senate for approval.  —  WASHINGTON — Last fall, the Pentagon's most senior leaders agreed …

Spare us: After Trump, seven Republican lectures Democrats never need to hear again  —  It probably would be easier to list what Republicans are still qualified to pontificate on.  Why the federal deficit is a huge problem?  Hmmm.  Never mind.  —  There's nothing like a new Democratic administration …

Rush Limbaugh dies at 70 after battle with lung cancer  —  Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh died Wednesday at the age of 70 after a battle with lung cancer, his wife announced on his radio show.  —  The big picture: Limbaugh was one of the most influential conservative media personalities in the country for over three decades.

Watch the Trump Era in Atlantic City End With 3,000 Sticks of Dynamite  —  The implosion of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, the last vestige of the former president's once-dominant brand in Atlantic City, N.J., took place Wednesday morning.  —  ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — It was not the biggest or the best implosion ever.

Mitch McConnell Has Learned Nothing And Forgotten Nothing  —  The idea that McConnell is the right man to decide who is ‘electable’ is a joke.  —  The Senate impeachment trial of former President Trump is over, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to move on.

Half Of Americans Approve Of The Job President Biden Is Doing, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Most Say Conspiracy Theories In The U.S. Are Out Of Control  —  Four weeks after being sworn into office, President Joe Biden receives a positive job approval rating as Americans approve 50 …

Biden again rejects $50,000 student loan debt forgiveness plan pushed by other top Democrats  —  Washington (CNN)President Joe Biden made it clear during Tuesday night's CNN town hall that he disagrees with other members of his party who want to cancel $50,000 of student debt per borrower.

Crenshaw Reloaded  —  The Texas Congressman wants it both ways  —  Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw has some deep thoughts about what ails right-wing politics these days.  —  There is, he says, way too much “performance,” rather than persuasion.  Too much much grift; too much talking about …

COVID-19 Cases Are Dropping Fast.  Why?  —  Editor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers.  Find the collection here.  —  One month ago, the CDC published the results of more than 20 pandemic forecasting models.

Perry says Texans willing to suffer blackouts to keep feds out of power market  —  WASHINGTON - Former Texas governor Rick Perry suggests that going days without power is a sacrifice Texans should be willing to make if it means keeping federal regulators out of the state's power grid.

News Corp and Google Agree To Global Partnership On News  —  Long-term Deal Involves Payment For Premium Content For Google News Showcase;  —  Will Yield Substantial Benefits For Journalism And Society  —  News Corp announced today that it has agreed to an historic multi-year partnership …

Oregon Is Vaccinating Teachers.  It Might Not Be Enough to Reopen Schools.  —  Oregon is a case study in how Pacific Coast cities are lagging the country in resuming in-person teaching.  —  Shortly before Christmas, as Oregon schools faced their 10th month under some of the nation's sternest …

POLITICO Playbook: The best (and worst) of Biden's town hall  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  There's almost nothing President JOE BIDEN loves more than talking to voters.  It's where he's at his most empathetic, if loquacious, best.  Tuesday night's CNN town hall in Milwaukee put Biden's virtues …

The Crisis Candidate Maya Wiley believes she can be a better progressive mayor for our traumatized city than her former boss Bill de Blasio.  —  Maya Wiley's parents, both activists, raised her and her brother, Dan, to be resilient.  In 1973, when Maya was 9 and her brother 10, their father, George Wiley, bought a small boat.

FOX NATION TO LAUNCH NEW EXCLUSIVE CONTENT WITH TUCKER CARLSON  —  Carlson to Host New Video Podcast and Long-form Documentary Series “Tucker Carlson Originals”  —  NEW YORK - February 17, 2021 — FOX Nation, FOX News Media's on demand subscription-based streaming service, has signed a new …

Behind Disney's Firing of ‘Mandalorian’ Star Gina Carano  —  The ouster of Carano from the show draws the ire of the political right-wing and marks an inflection point for Lucasfilm, whose star was warned repeatedly about her social posts.  —  It's a plot twist that no studio relishes …

The Baltimore Sun to be acquired by nonprofit from Tribune Publishing  —  Returning The Baltimore Sun to Maryland hands, the state's largest newspaper and its affiliates will be acquired by a nonprofit formed by businessman and philanthropist Stewart Bainum Jr. that would operate the media organization for the benefit of the community.

Executioners sanitized accounts of deaths in federal cases  —  CHICAGO (AP) — Executioners who put 13 inmates to death in the last months of the Trump administration likened the process of dying by lethal injection to falling asleep and called gurneys “beds” and final breaths “snores.”

CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL  —  THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.  —  (APPLAUSE)  —  ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: And welcome.  We are live in the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  This is a CNN Presidential Town Hall, the first with President Joe Biden.

“Politically isolating”: White House issues obstruction warning to GOP  —  Mike Donilon, senior adviser to President Biden, argues in a memo to White House senior staff that GOP opposition to the COVID rescue package would shrink the party's already declining national support.

U.S. indicts North Koreans in wave of global cyberattacks  —  Federal prosecutors on Wednesday announced charges against three North Korean government hackers for allegedly participating in cyber operations including the 2014 Sony Pictures Entertainment hack, the 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack and a range of digital bank heists.

CNN And NBC Both Paid $35,000 To Left-Wing Activist For Footage Of Fatal Capitol Shooting  —  A left-wing activist facing criminal charges for his involvement in the Capitol riots received $35,000 from both CNN and NBC for footage he recorded of a Trump supporter being fatally shot inside …

CNN's Chris Cuomo is reminding us why conflicts of interest poison the news  —  On his Monday night CNN program, host Chris Cuomo provided an update on the biggest story of the past year.  “Now, good news: When it comes to coronavirus, we've had the best week we've seen so far, in terms of getting people vaccinated.

The GOP Is Now the Party of Thugs, Terrorists, Racists and Dopes  —  DOING THE WRONG THING … They don't see the attempted insurrection of Jan. 6 as a crime, or even a loss of control to the most extreme elements of the party.  They see it as a failure to seize control.