Reuters reports: U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday defended his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, and took a swipe at fellow Republicans in Congress who moved to impeach Rosenstein, who oversees the federal probe of Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election. “My deputy, Rod Rosenstein, is highly capable. I have the highest confidence in him,” Sessions said during an appearance …

Axios reports: The 64 health care CEOs in the S&P 500 cumulatively made almost $1.7 billion in 2017, according to a new Axios analysis of their compensation. That total is 74% higher than the $949 million that is normally highlighted in company proxy documents. Within the compensation totals, Axios’ Bob Herman calculated the actual realized gains of CEOs’ stock options …

Politico reports: Donald Trump Jr. and Vanessa Trump are closing in on a divorce agreement. The pair has worked out custody for their five children, a judge said Thursday, and they are nearing a financial agreement, according to a lawyer for Trump Jr., the oldest son of President Donald Trump. In a Manhattan courtroom, Judge Michael Katz commended the duo …

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: Calling it a “lopsided” burden on college students, a federal judge today told Florida that college and university campuses can be used as early voting sites in this year’s elections. In a scathing ruling, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker called the ban put in place by Secretary of State Ken Detzner [photo above] unconstitutional. He said …

Trump rarely misses a chance to bloviate: President Trump departed the White House on Thursday for a trip to Iowa and Illinois without facing the news media, citing bad weather despite clear skies in the nation’s capital. The president typically reaches Air Force One by taking a helicopter from the White House to Joint Base Andrews, a setting that allows …

The New York Daily News reports: The parents of a Sandy Hook shooting victim accused Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg of “providing a safe haven for hate” and implored him to take action against the conspiracy theorists who continue to hound them six years after their child’s death. Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa’s 6-year-old son Noah was killed at …

The New York Post reports: A pair of hosts on one of New Jersey’s top radio stations have been bounced from the airwaves after they mocked the state’s attorney general — who is a Sikh-American — as “turban man” on the air, the station said early Thursday. “You know the new attorney general? I’m never going to know his name, …

“I’m not in charge of the Democratic Party’s messaging but I don’t understand it. I don’t understand why they and some of their neighbors in the mainstream media talk more about Russia than they do America. They talk more about abolishing ICE than abolishing ISIS. And we’re in very dangerous times and ICE, the men and women of ICE, they’re …

Bloomberg reports: Twitter stock extended losses, declining 4 percent in pre-market trading as U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the social network for “shadow banning” Republicans. Trump’s tweet came the morning after a Vice News report that said Twitter was limiting the visibility of prominent Republicans in search results. The report said Republican Party chair Ronna McDaniel, as well as some …

The Hill reports: Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer was interrupted by a protester during a book signing in New York on Wednesday who called him a “garbage person.” “Hey Sean, you’re a real piece of garbage and I hope you look around and see all these empty seats,” a man shouted inside the Union Square Barnes and Noble …

Business Insider reports: President Donald Trump’s legal troubles with his former lawyer Michael Cohen took another, damaging twist on Thursday when Michael Avenatti, the attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels, alleged that multiple women had been paid off, and that Trump may even have covered up a pregnancy. Trump already stands accused of having paid off Daniels, and in tapes …

The Toledo Blade reports: A boat owned by the family of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was vandalized over the weekend while moored at a Huron dock, according to the Huron Police Department. The Seaquest was moored at the Huron Boat Basin, 330 Main St., according to a police report. The captain of the 163-foot yacht, worth a reported …

“Wow, today, the White House blocked a CNN reporter, Kaitlan Collins from President Trump’s trade announcement with the European Union today, for shouting what they called inappropriate questions at the president. CNN issued a statement saying in part, quote: ‘This decision to bar a member of the press is retaliatory in nature and not indicative of an open and free …

Billboard Magazine reports: The Kennedy Center Honors have announced Cher, Reba McEntire, composer Philip Glass, jazz sax musician Wayne Shorter, and the Hamilton musical as their esteemed 2018 honorees. The annual ceremony in Washington, D.C. recognizes artists who have made extraordinary contributions to culture, and this year marks the first time the organization will honor an entire work along with …

The Hill reports: A group of conservative House lawmakers on Wednesday introduced articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the top Department of Justice (DOJ) official overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. The impeachment document makes a series of charges against Rosenstein, the latest sign of escalating efforts among conservatives to oust the DOJ’s No. 2 official. …

TMZ reports: The OG Donald Trump Walk of Fame Star vandal is coming to the rescue of the latest guy to take a pickax to Trump’s star by bailing him out of jail. You might recall, James Otis attacked Trump’s star in 2016 — also with a pickax — and we’ve learned he’s now stepping up to pay the $20k …

CNN reports: The White House took retaliatory action against Kaitlan Collins, a White House reporter for CNN, after Collins asked President Trump questions at an Oval Office photo op on Wednesday. Collins was representing all the television networks as the “pool reporter” in the room during the early afternoon meeting between Trump and Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European …

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: A St. Louis County senior community has denied housing to a married lesbian couple who have been together for nearly four decades because of the couple’s sexual orientation, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court. Mary Walsh, 72, and Bev Nance, 68, both of Shrewsbury, say the Friendship Village senior living community, …

“Everyone in the media is talking about the just-released tape and what the President said or didn’t say, what he meant or didn’t mean. It is a good moment to point out that everyone should realize that every word that is spoken is recorded by God. Not only does He know our words, but our thoughts and the intents of …

Media Matters reports: CNN legal and political commentator Ken Cuccinelli, a Republican who formerly served as Virginia’s attorney general, shared a fake quote from Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) that an “illegal immigrant” should be nominated to the Supreme Court. In late June, a Twitter “parody” account pretending to be CNN tweeted an image of Waters appearing on CNN with a …