In major shift, White House privately backing earlier rollback of Medicaid expansion  — Such a move, however, could blow up the already fragile efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act  —  Washington (CNN)The White House is privately lining up behind conservative calls to roll …

Sources: FBI investigation continues into ‘odd’ computer link between Russian bank and Trump Organization  —  (CNN)Federal investigators and computer scientists continue to examine whether there was a computer server connection between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank, sources close to the investigation tell CNN.

EPA chief Scott Pruitt says carbon dioxide is not a primary contributor to global warming  —  EPA takes aim at CAFE standards: Scott Pruitt  —  Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said Thursday he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming.

Is Trump Being Investigated?  ‘No Comment,’ Justice Dept. Says  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump's weekend Twitter message asserting that former President Barack Obama had tapped his phones forced the White House into ever more verbal contortions on Thursday as aides struggled to defend the president's charge.

Nigel Farage Just Visited The Ecuadorian Embassy In London  —  Asked by BuzzFeed News if he'd been visiting Julian Assange, the former UKIP leader said he couldn't remember what he'd been doing in the building.  —  Nigel Farage visited the Ecuadorian embassy in west London on Thursday …

Expect the CBO to estimate large coverage losses from the GOP health care plan  —  Editor's Note:  —  This analysis is part of The Leonard D. Schaeffer Initiative for Innovation in Health Policy, which is a partnership between the Center for Health Policy at Brookings and the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics.

Malik Obama shares photo of brother Barack's Kenya ‘certificate of birth’  —  An Obama has joined the birther movement.  —  Malik Obama, Barack Obama's half-brother, tweeted image of what appears to be Barack's birth certificate.  —  Except it's not from Hawaii, but rather Kenya.

Inside The Investigation To Get To The Bottom Of Russia's Role In The Election  —  The Senate Intelligence Committee has been given sweeping powers, unseen since the Watergate era, to investigate Russian meddling in the US election.  As its scope grows to include suspected ties between …

Full Frontal With Samantha Bee Mocks Brain Cancer Patient For Having ‘Nazi Hair’  —  TBS's Full Frontal With Samantha Bee mocked a CPAC attendee for having “Nazi hair” in a Wednesday segment, but according to his friends and family, his hair looks that way because he's undergoing treatment for brain cancer.

AG SUGGESTS OPENNESS TO REVIEW OF PREDECESSORS' ACTIONS  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Jeff Sessions suggested Thursday that he would be open to the appointment of an outside counsel to review actions taken by the Justice Department during the Obama administration.

Almost 7,000 IRS Documents Relating To Targeting Scandal Found.  Bad News: No Clue When They'll Be Public  —  In 2013, the IRS was involved in a scandal regarding its Exempt Organizations Unit and conservative nonprofits.  Tea Party and other right-leaning groups claimed that they were targeted for audits …

Steve Bannon Helped Preserve DACA But Democrats And Activists Aren't Celebrating  —  They're bracing for what's coming: millions of deportations and further crackdowns on both legal and illegal immigration.  —  WASHINGTON — The Trump administration doesn't want to talk about it.

Schwarzenegger for Senate?  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — the “Terminator” action hero who made “I'll be back” one of filmdom's most iconic phrases — may be mulling a political comeback, according to several GOP political insiders in California.

Russian ambassador denied meeting with Trump or campaign officials in October speech  —  (CNN)In an October speech to the Detroit Economic Club, Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, denied meeting with Donald Trump or campaign officials during the course of 2016 presidential election …

Bill Clinton: Resurgent nationalism ‘taking us to the edge of our destruction’  —  Don't buy what purports to be nationalism that's engulfed politics in America and all over the world, former President Bill Clinton said Thursday; what's actually at play, he argued, is more insidious and interconnected than that.

First on CNN: After lobbying from Trump, Orrin Hatch plans to run again  —  (CNN)Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the longest-serving GOP senator, told CNN he is planning to run for re-election next year, abandoning his plans to quit the chamber after four decades of service.

South Korea Removes President Park Geun-hye  —  SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean court ousted the president on Friday, a first in the nation's history, rattling the delicate balance of relationships across Asia at a particularly tense time.  —  Her removal capped months of turmoil …

Cruz: Let's overrule Senate officer to expand ObamaCare bill  —  (R-Texas), emerging as a key player in negotiations to repeal and replace ObamaCare, says Vice President Pence should exert his power over the Senate to significantly expand the scope of the House healthcare reform bill.

The Marine Corps' nude-photo-sharing scandal is even worse than first realized  —  The scandal that prompted an investigation into hundreds of Marines who are accused of sharing naked photographs of their colleagues in a private Facebook group is much larger than has been reported, Business Insider has learned.

Feud breaks out during health care hearing as Republican whines that men have to pay for prenatal care  —  DON'T MISS STORIES.  FOLLOW RAW STORY!  —  Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) got into a battle with Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) Thursday during a House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing for the healthcare bill.

Hillary debuts a new bob in Snapchat video urging women to ‘Stand Up.  Resist.  Run for office’  — She declared 'every issue a woman's issue,' although Clinton directed her followers to Planned Parenthood, education health care and jobs  — Also attended the 16th anniversary …

Claims of sex orgies, prostitution and porn videos shake Catholic Church in Italy  —  ROME (RNS) Lurid accusations of priests involved in sex orgies, porn videos and prostitution have emerged from several parishes in Italy recently, sending shock waves all the way to the Vatican and challenging …

Sex Columnist Dan Savage Calls Melania Trump ‘Ugly on the Inside’  —  Savage says first lady gets a pass from some liberals because of her looks, but “is as ugly on the inside as she is pretty on the outside”  —  Author and sex columnist Dan Savage says many liberals are giving first lady Melania …