AL.com reports: It Is becoming clear that Robert Bentley will not last the week as governor. Sources in Montgomery say he’s been involved in negotiations to step down from the governorship and plead to lesser charges, allowing Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey to step up as governor. Sources believe he will resign the governorship by Wednesday. Bentley has been under fire …

Raw Story recaps: On Sunday’s edition of “Last Week Tonight,” host John Oliver wrecked the Trump administration’s attack on Syria this week, but reserved particular scorn for the media figures who suddenly reversed course and became uncritical supporters of the administration. Brian Williams’ decision to quote a Leonard Cohen song was particularly awful, Oliver said. “This is not a song, …

Via Mediaite: On CNN’s Reliable Sources this morning, The Intercept’s Jeremy Scahill went off on the “atrocious” media coverage of the Syria missile strikes, even calling out CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in particular. Last week Zakaria said that after that strike, Trump “became President of the United States.” This morning, an hour before Scahill was on CNN, Zakaria said that he …

Politico reports: Syrian President Bashar Assad is telling President Donald Trump “F you” by still flying military aircraft from the base the United States tomahawk missiles struck on Thursday, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday morning. Following reports of a chemical attack in Syria, the U.S. military bombed a regime airbase in Homs on Thursday. Since the bombing, Syrian …

The Hill reports: National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster on Sunday said defended the decision for a Carrier strike group to head toward the Korean Peninsula. “It’s prudent to do it, isn’t it?” McMaster said on “Fox News Sunday.” “North Korea has been engaged in a pattern of provocative behavior. This is a rogue regime that is now a nuclear capable …

NBC News reports: North Korea has vowed to bolster its defenses to protect itself against airstrikes like the ones President Donald Trump ordered against an air base in Syria. The North called the airstrikes “absolutely unpardonable” and said they prove its nuclear weapons are justified to protect the country against Washington’s “evermore reckless moves for a war.” The comments were …

CNN reports: The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has told CNN that removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power is a priority, cementing an extraordinary U-turn in the Trump administration’s stance on the embattled leader. Two days after the US launched military strikes on a Syrian airbase in response to a chemical weapons attack widely blamed on …

Deadline raves: Is it too much to suspect he’s been dreaming of this for a long, long while? Alec Baldwin skewered Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly on NBC’s Saturday Night Live last night, and he did it with Donald Trump’s help. Playing both roles in a split-screen O’Reilly Factor interview parody, Baldwin had smarm, arrogance and pomposity oozing from both …

Reuters reports: A U.S. Navy strike group will be moving toward the western Pacific Ocean near the Korean peninsula, a U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday, as concerns grow about North Korea’s advancing weapons program. Earlier this month North Korea tested a liquid-fueled Scud missile which only traveled a fraction of its range. The strike group, called Carl Vinson, includes …

The Hill reports: President Trump took to Twitter on Saturday to defend a U.S. missile strike on a Syrian military air base amid reports that the Syrian government was continuing to use the air base to launch attacks. “Initial indications are that this strike has severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment at Shayrat Airfield, reducing …

Last month the Trump administration proposed slashing the annual budget of the National Institutes for Health by $1.3 billion, $300M of which is earmarked for PEPFAR, former President George W. Bush’s universally praised program to battle HIV/AIDS in Africa. Today Bush writes an eloquent op-ed for the Washington Post which urges the Trump team to spare PEPFAR from the chopping …

From the Hollywood Reporter: For the past few months, 21st Century Fox has been using the infamous Donald Trump Access Hollywood tape during company seminars to give Fox staffers an example of bad behavior in the workplace — a fact that became especially awkward this week as President Trump defended one of Fox’s biggest stars, Bill O’Reilly, who is facing …

Politico reports: Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner, two warring senior White House aides, had a bury-the-hatchet meeting ordered by President Donald Trump, after arriving at Mar-a-Lago this week. The sit-down, which was confirmed by two White House officials, was an attempt to smooth over tensions between the two men, which have dominated headlines for days. Whether the meeting was successful …

Via Mediaite: White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway dismissed the reports of an administration shakeup, saying that President Trump likes having a diversity of opinion and not just a bunch of “yes-men” surrounding him. There are reports this week that Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner have been battling each other, and there’s one report today saying Bannon and Reince Priebus may …

Earlier this week Russia’s Ministry of Justice announced that it has banned an image of Vladimir Putin in heavy makeup, although they did not specify which of the countless such memes is the banned one. Some media outlets have characterized the move as banning the depiction of Putin as a “gay clown” – setting up last night’s bit from Stephen …

Yesterday the State Department called on Russia to investigate reports that Chechen police are rounding up and murdering gay men. Tonight the State Department has issued a second statement: We are increasingly concerned about the situation in the Republic of Chechnya, where there have been numerous credible reports indicating the detention of at least 100 men on the basis of …

Raw Story reports: Alex Jones and Roger Stone blamed “President” Jared Kushner for the Syrian airstrike ordered by his father-in-law, Donald Trump. The InfoWars founder hosted the political dirty trickster — who’s under investigation for possible ties to Russian intelligence — on his program Friday to discuss the military action. The conversation followed a conspiratorial trail that led from Syria …

USA Today reports: President Trump has nominated Tennessee state Sen. Mark Green to become secretary of the Army. The White House made the announcement Friday. Green is a former Army officer and West Point graduate who is popular among many Tea Party-aligned Republicans. His nomination still must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The secretary of the Army, which is …

NBC News reports: The National Security Council has presented President Trump with options to respond to North Korea’s nuclear program — including putting American nukes in South Korea or killing dictator Kim Jong-un, multiple top-ranking intelligence and military officials told NBC News. Both scenarios are part of an accelerated review of North Korea policy prepared in advance of President Donald …

The San Jose Mercury News reports: Twitter dropped its legal fight with the federal government Friday after U.S. Customs and Border Protection reversed course and withdrew a summons seeking to unmask the users of an account critical of the Trump administration. “Because the summons has now been withdrawn, Twitter voluntarily dismissed without prejudice all claims against defendant,” said to a …