News

The Washington Post reports: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Monday night made her first public appearance since undergoing cancer surgery in December, attending a celebration of her life presented in song. The 85-year-old justice attended a production of “Notorious RBG in Song” at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington. The program about Ginsburg’s life in the …

The Hill reports: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will deliver his own response to President Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday for the third year running. The senator’s office confirmed to The Hill that his response will follow Trump’s speech and be streamed on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Sanders, who is an independent but caucuses with Democrats, will be …

The Daily Beast reports: A group of Senate Democrats are aiming to block President Donald Trump from building his proposed border wall by declaring a national emergency—an announcement the president could make as soon as Tuesday during his State of the Union address. One of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), said that Congress must “assert its role as …

The Week reports: Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, in yet another interview to promote his new book, was asked by radio host Hugh Hewitt whether running for president in 2024 is on the table, per CNN’s Betsy Klein. Christie’s response? “Yeah, listen, why not?” Christie went on to explain that he would not run simply “to go through the …

Politico reports: Democrats in the Montana state legislature put forward a bill Monday that would increase the penalty for assaulting a journalist from $500 to a maximum of $5,000 and up to a year in jail — a none-too-subtle slap at Republican Rep. Greg Gianforte and his infamous body slam of a reporter two years ago. “I feel pretty strongly …

“I think the law is very clear and I think the President has been advised of it that if he signs an executive order declaring a national emergency and directing the military to spend money that has not been expressly appropriated for the wall or that has not been expressly appropriated for eminent domain– since much of the real estate …

Raleigh’s WRAL reports: The new State Board of Elections will meet in two weeks to review evidence of alleged absentee ballot fraud in the 9th Congressional District. The five-member board, which Gov. Roy Cooper appointed last week, has set a hearing in the 9th District investigation for 10 a.m. Feb. 18. The hearing is expected to last two to three …

Splinter News reports: President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday might be nothing to look forward to, but there’s a silver lining regarding who will be in attendance. Ana Maria Archila, one of two women who was recorded in September confronting then-Republican Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake in an elevator during the confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice …

The Hill reports: Former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on Monday came to the defense of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D), saying he shouldn’t yet resign despite the revelation that his medical school yearbook page included a racist photo. Lieberman said during an interview on CNN that there has been a “a rush to judgment that is unfair to” Northam. “One, …

The Hawaii Herald-Tribune reports: Rep. Richard Creagan wants Hawaii to be the first state to ban the sale of cigarettes. The Hawaii Island lawmaker said he doesn’t think taxes or regulations are doing enough to stem their use. He wants to see them off store shelves all together. His bill, HB 1509, seeks to halt the sale of cigarettes by …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump plans to use Tuesday night’s State of the Union address to promise an end to the HIV epidemic in America, four individuals with knowledge of the planned remarks told POLITICO. Under Trump’s 10-year strategy, health officials would target the U.S. communities with the most HIV infections and work to reduce transmissions by 2030. The strategy …

“Look, I get the audacity of somebody like me talking about running for this office, but frankly it’s a leap for anybody. Anybody who arrives behind that desk. And yet all of the people who had that job have been mortals who just bring their experience to the table. My experience is that of guiding a city through a transformation, …

The Daily Beast reports: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who has been under fire for failing to police hate speech, harassment, and outright racism on his platform, told podcast host Joe Rogan that “everyone has a right” to social media and that Donald Trump’s use of Twitter wasn’t much different from how previous presidents have used media, comparing him to Barack …

Norfolk’s WAVY reports: Gov. Ralph Northam is expected to make a statement from the Executive Mansion at 2:30 p.m. according to the Office of the Governor. The governor’s communications director tells WAVY Capitol Bureau reporter Sara McCloskey Northam is not resigning. After the picture went public Friday, Northam issued a statement saying he was “sorry for the decision I made …

Orlando’s ABC affiliate reports: A Transportation Security Administration agent was killed Saturday morning after jumping from a hotel balcony into the atrium of Orlando International Airport, authorities said. The incident caused the Federal Aviation Administration to briefly ground all flights, causing delays and massive lines at security checkpoints, which were closed because of the suicide. Sgt. Eduardo Bernal, a spokesman …

The Washington Post reports: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) is refusing to resign despite overwhelming pressure from within his own party and has told at least one lawmaker that he now does not think that a racist photo in his 1984 yearbook includes him, Democratic party officials said Saturday. Northam publicly apologized Friday for the medical school yearbook photo and …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump heads into his State of the Union address dogged by bruising midterm losses and sinking poll numbers, wounded by a blistering standoff with Democrats. But for the stately speech, he plans to embrace unity — at least for the night. “Choosing Greatness” is the official White House theme. Addressing the nation at the …

CBS News reports: Pennsylvania’s most famous groundhog did not see his shadow on Saturday, predicting spring this year will arrive early. Members of Punxsutawney Phil’s top hat-wearing inner circle revealed their forecast at sunrise on Saturday, as the Midwest and East Coast recovered from this week’s dangerous Arctic blast. The festivities have their origin in a German legend that says …

The Associated Press reports: The sky above the stadium that will host Sunday’s Super Bowl is being “inundated” with an alarming number of drones, raising the specter of injuries to tourists or others — or a possible collision with aircraft, the FBI said Friday. That’s despite an ongoing restriction that bans the use of drones in the area of Mercedes-Benz …

The Virginian Pilot reports: A photo from Gov. Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook shows two men, one in blackface and one in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood, on the same page as the governor. The photo, which The Virginian Pilot obtained a copy of Friday from the Eastern Virginia Medical School library, comes from the 1984 yearbook, the …