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 …

Politico reports: Mitch McConnell said Friday that he has talked with Mitt Romney about running for the Utah Senate seat now held by Orrin Hatch. But the Senate majority leader made clear that Hatch would have his full support for any reelection bid. Hatch is leaving only the tiniest window to opt out of running for a new six-year term …

Newsweek reports: Russia deployed its most advanced Black Sea frigate Friday into the eastern Mediterranean, where U.S. Navy destroyers had launched an airstrike earlier that day against the Moscow-backed Syrian military. As Russian leadership condemned the U.S.’ first intentional attack on the military of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the country’s six-year conflict began, Russia’s Admiral Grigorovich frigate reportedly left …

The Omaha World Herald reports: The Nebraska Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision Friday ordering the state to pay nearly $174,000 in attorneys fees to those who successfully challenged a policy that denied the placement of foster children with same-sex couples. The high court rejected the appeal of Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, who said the same-sex couples who …

Via email from hate group leader Brian Brown: We did it! Thanks to you and so many NOM members and conservative activists across the country, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was able to muster the votes to change Senate rules to allow the Gorsuch confirmation to move forward, and Justice Gorsuch won a bipartisan majority. He now will join the …

Robert Philpot reviews: Although there were music videos before 1975, Queen’s clip that year for its now-classic “Bohemian Rhapsody” is seen as groundbreaking. That was before MTV, way before YouTube, and certainly before any of the five members of Pentatonix was born. But the Arlington-founded a cappella group — which released its latest EP, “PTX Vol. 4 — Classics” — …

“We were in a situation where the president of the United States on his own just issued a sheet of paper and said, overnight, every single public school in the country would have to have the girls’ bathrooms open to the boys and the boys’ bathrooms open to the girls, and the girls’ shower rooms would be open and accessible …

The Associated Press reports: Gov. Susana Martinez has signed legislation that would ban the use on minors of conversion therapy that seeks to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The measure was among dozens signed by the Republican governor as the Friday deadline approached for her to act on legislation passed during the session that ended March 18. …