Ted Cruz flew to Cancun with his family amid power crisis in Texas: source  —  Millions in Texas without power, at least 20 dead  —  Texas outages is proof we need to expand energy options: Wesley Hunt  —  Sen. Ted Cruz flew to Cancun, Mexico, with his family this week as Texas dealt …

Manhattan D.A. Recruits Top Prosecutor for Trump Inquiry  —  The Manhattan district attorney has enlisted a former federal prosecutor who is an expert on white-collar crime to join the team investigating the Trump family business.  —  As the Manhattan district attorney's office steps …

Texas was “seconds and minutes” away from catastrophic monthslong blackouts, officials say  —  Officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said that grid operators implemented blackouts to avoid a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans in the dark for months.  —  Copy link

Immigration Overhaul Would Offer 8-Year Path to Citizenship for Millions  —  The proposal offers an eight-year path to citizenship for most of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, eliminates restrictions on family-based immigration and expands worker visas.

Trump snubs Haley  —  SCOOP: NIKKI HALEY reached out to former President DONALD TRUMP on Wednesday to request a sit-down at Mar-a-Lago, but a source familiar tells Playbook that he turned her down.  The two haven't spoken since the insurrection on Jan. 6, when Haley blasted Trump for inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol.

US will not send vaccines to developing countries until supply improves  —  Biden administration says priority is ‘vaccinating Americans’ in rejection of French proposal  —  The US will not any donate any coronavirus vaccine doses to developing countries until there is a plentiful supply of jabs in the US …

South Dakota Attorney General Charged in Fatal Car Crash  —  But the top law-enforcement official in the state ducked more serious charges in connection with his killing of a man on the side of a road.  —  SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota—South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg will …

Trump Can Still Be The Republican Party's Future.  Just Look To Arizona.  —  Arizona Republicans keep losing.  But the Arizona Republican Party has already turned itself into a Trump machine, still trying to win an election that's long over.  And that might be the future of conservatism.

NASA Lands Its Perseverance Rover on Mars  —  Here's what you need to know:  —  Cheers erupted in the control room as NASA's rover reached the red planet.  —  NASA landed a new robotic rover on Mars on Thursday, its most ambitious effort in decades to directly study whether there was ever life on the red planet.

US life expectancy drops a year in pandemic, most since WWII  —  Life expectancy in the United States dropped a staggering one year during the first half of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic caused its first wave of deaths, health officials are reporting.  —  Minorities suffered the biggest impact …

‘Recipe for disaster’: Dem fears mount over immigration overhaul  —  “Biden is going to be dealing with a minority in Congress if he continues down some of these paths,” said one Democratic congressman.  —  Migrants are loaded onto a bus by U.S. Border Patrol agents after being detained …

Reply All Is Having Its Own Reckoning Now  —  Oh, you like podcasts?  Sign up for Vulture's new recommendation newsletter 1.5x Speed here.  —  Earlier this month, Reply All kicked off an ambitious miniseries, “The Test Kitchen,” which sought to take on one of the bigger stories …

America has experience curbing dangerous industries.  We can do the same with tech.  —  Roger McNamee is a technology investor, activist and author of “Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe.”  —  Every generation or so, an industry comes along that is vital to the nation's future …

8 A.M. ET MONDAY  —  Story by Joel Achenbach.  Photography by Rachel Wisniewski.  —  It's the first day back at work for Scott E. Lynn, the Montour County coroner.  He's been sick with covid-19.  He was out for a month and lost 25 pounds.  As he arrives at his office in a remote corner …

AP source: Police suggest keeping Capitol fence for months  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Capitol Police officials told congressional leaders the razor-wire topped fencing around the Capitol should remain in place for several more months as law enforcement continues to track threats against lawmakers …

“My Job Is Not to Protect ‘the Squad’”: Briahna Joy Gray Wants to Upend Democrats' Political Strategy  —  The Bernie Sanders vet and progressive host envies the right-wing media's ability to drive messages and corral Republican lawmakers—as a recent “Medicare for All” podcast push showed the limits of the left's clout in Congress.

What Rush Limbaugh Discussed on His Final Radio Show  —  After Rush Limbaugh's heartfelt message to his audience before the holiday season, longtime listeners feared it would be the last time they heard from him.  He told them how he outlived his diagnosis many times over and was grateful to have been alive to hear his eulogies.

US and Europe allies reaffirm Iran stance in Paris meeting  —  The foreign ministers of the U.S., France, Germany and the U.K. reaffirmed their call for Iran to fall back into line with commitments under the Obama-era nuclear deal as a quid pro quo for the U.S. to recommit to the agreement.

Pass popular Biden's popular COVID-19 bill  —  In the Real Clear Politics summary of all polling, as of Tuesday morning, President Biden's favorable rating was 54.7 percent while his unfavorable rating was only 36.5 percent.  Comparable favorable and unfavorable ratings for former President Trump …

Why We're Taught to Not Speak Ill of the Dead  —  We used to widely honor the instruction to not speak ill of the dead, at least in media and public communications.  But in our modern era of social media, the instinct is largely the opposite.  When a prominent political figure passes away …

Russel Honoré, Pelosi pick to lead review of Capitol security, ripped by Republicans as ‘extreme partisan’  —  The retired Army lieutenant general is drawing fire for past comments  —  Sen. Josh Hawley responds to Lt. Gen. Russel Honore comments: ‘Disturbing, downright crazy’