Via Mediaite: Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will hold a briefing with the White House press corps. One thing that’s sure to come up in today’s briefing: President Donald Trump’s cryptic (and somewhat ominous) declaration on Thursday night that a meeting of military leaders marked “the calm before the storm.” When asked what he meant by that, Trump said only: …

The Rage Tweeter-In-Chief this afternoon went for and received laughs when he three times pronounced “Puerto Rico” with an affected Spanish accent. Because using a mock Spanish accent is par for the course when announcing Hispanic Heritage Month. For a final laugh, Trump pronounced it “Port-O Rico” – just in case any idiots in the audience weren’t getting his hilarious …

The Associated Press reports: In an order that undercuts federal protections for LGBT people, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a sweeping directive to agencies Friday to do as much as possible to accommodate those who claim their religious freedoms are being violated. The guidance, an attempt to deliver on President Donald Trump’s pledge to his evangelical supporters that he would …

The Washington Post reports: As of Wednesday, half of Puerto Ricans had access to drinking water and 5 percent of the island had electricity, according to statistics published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency on its Web page documenting the federal response to Hurricane Maria. By Thursday morning, both of those key metrics were no longer on the Web page. …

CNBC reports: The Trump administration is expanding exemptions to an Affordable Care Act rule requiring employers to include birth control coverage in health plans. On Friday, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury and Labor issued “interim final rules” to make more entities exempt from providing plans that cover contraceptives without a co-payment. They will create what a senior …

The Hill reports: Donald Trump Jr. ripped America’s universities and colleges during a speech Thursday in Alabama, blaming college professors for teaching students “how to become an actual fascist.” Speaking at a benefit dinner for Faulkner University, President Trump’s eldest son said that statements such as “we need borders” or “our founders were great people” had become hate speech on …

Peter Montgomery reports at Right Wing Watch: Visitors to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., this weekend will find themselves in the midst of a tent city that is part of what organizers are calling “a historic weekend of worship, prayer and evangelism.” The project—known as “Awaken the Dawn”—will kick off on Friday evening and run all weekend, leading into …

CNN reports: New Orleans, and states from Louisiana to Florida, braced Friday as forecasters predicted Tropical Storm Nate would pound the Gulf Coast this weekend as a hurricane. The center of the storm was expected to pass late Saturday or early Sunday about 50 miles east of New Orleans, which was devastated 12 years ago by Hurricane Katrina, according to …

Business Insider reports: The US economy in September lost more jobs than it created for the first time in seven years. Amid the damage caused by the hurricanes Harvey and Irma, nonfarm payrolls fell by 33,000, the Labor Department said Friday in its monthly report. Most of the losses occurred in the leisure-and-hospitality sector, where most employees can’t work remotely …

Via press release: Atlantic Records has announced this week’s release of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Almost Like Praying” (Feat. Marc Anthony, Ruben Blades, Camila Cabello, Pedro Capo, Dessa, Gloria Estefan, Fat Joe, Luis Fonsi, Juan Luis Guerra, Alex Lacamoire, John Leguizamo, Jennifer Lopez, Rita Moreno, Ednita Nazario, Joell Ortiz, Anthony Ramos, Gina Rodriguez, Gilberto Santa Rosa, PJ Sin Suela, Tommy Torres, and …

The Hill reports: Jimmy Kimmel railed against President Trump’s “fake news” accusations after the president directed his ire at MSNBC. On his Thursday night show, Kimmel addressed the president’s latest tweets at MSNBC, saying the conflict is ironic because “Donald Trump is a tornado of fake news.” “The irony is,” Kimmel said, “no breathing human on the planet earth produces …

Axios reports: Trump advisers and allies are floating the idea of replacing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo, age 53 — someone who’s already around the table in the Situation Room, and could make the switch without chaos. Sources tell us Trump recognizes that a Cabinet shuffle would bring bad press. White House Chief of Staff …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump delivered a foreboding message Thursday night, telling reporters as he posed for photos with his senior military leaders that this might be “the calm before the storm.” White House reporters were summoned suddenly Thursday evening and told the president had decided he wanted the press to document a dinner he was holding with …

The BBC reports: The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Berit Reiss-Andersen, the Nobel committee chair, said it was due to the group’s “groundbreaking efforts to achieve a treaty prohibition” on nuclear weapons. “We live in a world where the risk of nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has …

Bloomberg reports: Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn is launching her bid for the U.S. Senate on the heels of Gov. Bill Haslam’s decision to sit out the race to succeed retiring Sen. Bob Corker. Blackburn described herself in her campaign announcement Thursday as a “hard-core, card-carrying Tennessee conservative” and decried the Republican majority in the Senate for failing to repeal …

The Associated Press reports: An Arkansas judge who gave lighter sentences to men guilty of minor crimes in return for nude photographs or sexual favors could get a bit of leniency himself after admitting Thursday that he engaged in what one state official called one of Arkansas’ worst-ever cases of judicial misconduct. Joseph Boeckman had faced possible sentences of 260 …

Politico reports: Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), the embattled anti-abortion lawmaker who allegedly encouraged his lover to terminate a pregnancy, resigned from office Thursday — just 24 hours after announcing his plan to retire after 2018. “This afternoon I received a letter of resignation from Congressman Tim Murphy, effective October 21,” Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement. “It was Dr. …

The Dallas Morning News reports: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is being investigated under bribery and corrupt influence laws for accepting a six-figure gift from an individual who was under investigation by the state for fraud, the district attorney leading the probe confirmed Thursday. In July 2016, Austin-based medical device company Preferred Imaging, LLC agreed to pay a $3.5 million …

ABC News reports: The National Rifle Association is calling for a federal review of bump stocks, a weapon modifier that allows semi-automatic weapons to fire faster. The NRA, in its first statement since the Oct. 1 shooting in Las Vegas, said that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives should “immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law.” …

The Guardian reports: During a live set being broadcast on BBC 6 Music to promote his new album this week, Morrissey decided to veer away from traditionally appropriate crowd patter such as, “This is a new song,” and “Woo!” to gravely discuss his views on the UKIP leadership contest. “I was very surprised the other day – it was very …