CNN reports: President Donald Trump claimed Friday morning that the United States military is hitting ISIS “much harder” after an alleged ISIS-inspired attacker drove a truck down a bike lane in New York, killing eight, though he didn’t provide any evidence. Trump, in a series of tweets ahead of his five-country, 12-day trip to Asia, labeled the accused attacker, 29-year-old …

The Hill reports: Senate Democrats are demanding that the Justice Department reinstate discrimination protections for transgender individuals that Attorney General Jeff Sessions rolled back last month. In a letter to Sessions dated Nov. 2 and signed by 44 Democratic and independent senators, the lawmakers write that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prohibition against sex discrimination applies …

CBS News reports: Donald Trump has seized upon former acting Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Donna Brazile’s assertion that the DNC rigged the primaries in favor of Hillary Clinton. In a new book, Brazile says that former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton effectively took control of the DNC months before she won the nomination. The DNC issued a statement claiming …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump boasted Friday of his social media influence after his personal Twitter account was briefly deactivated by a departing company employee, raising serious questions about the security of tweets the president wields to set major policy agendas, connect with his voter base and lash out at his adversaries. The deactivation Thursday sparked deep and troubling …

CNN reports: Former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page privately testified Thursday that he mentioned to Jeff Sessions he was traveling to Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign — as new questions emerge about the attorney general’s comments to Congress about Russia and the Trump campaign. During more than six hours of closed-door testimony, Page said that he informed Sessions …

The New York Times reports: A week ago, reporters and editors in the combined newsroom of DNAinfo and Gothamist, two of New York City’s leading digital purveyors of local news, celebrated victory in their vote to join a union. On Thursday, they lost their jobs, as Joe Ricketts, the billionaire founder of TD Ameritrade who owned the sites, shut them …

CNN reports: Jared Kushner has turned over documents in recent weeks to special counsel Robert Mueller as investigators have begun asking in witness interviews about Kushner’s role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey, CNN has learned. Mueller’s investigators have expressed interest in Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a White House senior adviser, as part of its probe …

Hemant Mehta writes at the Friendly Atheist: On today’s episode of The 700 Club, a woman wrote in to ask Pat Robertson why God allowed her 15-year-old son to die. Robertson, for some reason, decided to give her a very specific answer: God may have let your son die to prevent him from becoming an alcoholic or atheist later in …

EcoWatch reports: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service released a recommendation Wednesday to lift former President Obama’s uranium mining ban in the watershed of the Grand Canyon. The move was made in response to President Trump’s sweeping “energy independence” executive order in March to ease regulatory burdens on energy development. “This appalling recommendation threatens to destroy one of the …

CNN reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions is once again under scrutiny on Capitol Hill regarding his candor about Russia and the Trump campaign amid revelations that he rejected a suggestion to convene a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump last year. According to court filings unsealed this week, Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos suggested at …

“For several reasons, this seems like a good time to pass on the privilege of representing the 21st District to someone else. At the end of this Congress, I will have completed my six-year term as chairman of the Science, Space and Technology Committee. I have one new grandchild and a second arriving soon! And I hope to find other …

The Hill reports: U.S. district court judge Amy Berman Jackson said President Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort could be a flight risk on Thursday as she mulled requests to loosen the conditions of his house arrest. The judge set a bond hearing for Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. to discuss a request made by Manafort’s lawyers to remove a …

“The dogs want war. Our American men and women are being used as cannon fodder for the globalist agenda. We’re not in Afghanistan because we’re killing terrorists. The ISIS bases are in 49 states in America that the CIA brings them and trains them here and then ships them out to the areas of the world where they want there …

NBC News reports: Fossil fuels can help prevent sexual assault, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Thursday. Perry described his belief at an energy policy event in Washington hosted by Axios and NBC News, while talking about how bringing power to African villages would save lives. “But also from the standpoint of sexual assault, when the lights are on, when you …

The BBC reports: Eight sacked Catalan ministers have been remanded in custody by a Spanish high court judge over the region’s push for independence. Prosecutors had asked the judge to detain eight of the nine former government members who turned up for questioning in Madrid. They are accused of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds. The state prosecutor has …

The Hill reports: National security adviser H.R. McMaster joins White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the White House for a briefing with reporters on Thursday. McMaster will likely address the federal government’s response to the deadly terror attack in New York City on Tuesday, in which 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov allegedly drove a truck on to a bicycle path, …

CNBC reports: Robert Mercer, a billionaire supporter of President Donald Trump, is stepping down as co-CEO of the quant hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, according to a memorandum to employees on Thursday. Mercer, 71, said he will leave the role on Jan. 1 but stay at the firm in a research role. He is also selling his personal stake in the …

Reuters reports: Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook quashed concerns recently about muted demand for the iPhone X, saying pre-orders for the 10th anniversary smartphone were “off the charts,” but it might be the company’s market capitalization that needs a bigger graph. Positive reviews for the new device and expectations that many users are on the verge of upgrading from older …

The Associated Press reported on Twitter just now that Sam Clovis has withdrawn his nomination to the top science post at the Department of Agriculture. The move comes after Clovis was linked to George Papadopoulos in Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and hours after a blistering Washington Post story: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientist nominee, Sam Clovis, who now …

Talking Points Memo reports: Being under federal investigation hasn’t stopped former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos from trying to advance his career. Four months ago, shortly before he was arrested for lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russian nationals during the campaign, he asked his followers on LinkedIn for their “thoughts” on him pursuing a congressional run. In …