During the 2016 election, Twitter users were served more polarizing political news from conspiratorial, Russian or junk news sites than from professional news sources, with even higher levels of fake news in swing states, according to a study by Oxford University.
Why it matters: Hillary Clinton has often blamed Russian involvement and fake news for her loss, and Donald Trump has consistently attacked mainstream media for reporting false stories about him, most commonly on Twitter. At the same time, platform companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter and facing pressure to find ways to crack down on fake news. Twitter briefed the Senate Intelligence Committee today on, among other things, how bots were used to distribute information during the election.
Speaker Ryan: "Our prayers have been answered... The chair wishes to mark the return to the chamber of our dear friend and colleague from Louisiana, Mr. Steve Scalise."
"All I remember are the thousands of acts of kindness and love and warmth that came out of this," said Scalise. I am definitely a living example that miracles really do happen."
House Speaker Paul Ryan on CNBC Thursday morning: unlike with heath care, "on this go around" all Republicans teamed up over the last four months.
"We made sure we're on the same page... we made sure we did the hard lifting and the tough work ahead of rollout," said Ryan. "We are all in on this... this is it. This is the game changer for our economy."
Mark Zuckerberg responded Wednesday to Trump's tweets that Facebook has always been "anti-Trump" by acknowledging he was wrong for saying the idea that fake news could change the outcome election was "crazy."
Be smart: Belated "regret" by Zuckerberg will do little to disarm Facebook's increasingly emboldened critics. But it sets the table for the inevitable future congressional testimony by Facebook executives.
President Trump's highest approval ratings are for his response to the recent torrent of hurricanes, as well as for his effect on the economy, per a new Fox News poll released Wednesday.
Yes, but: Trump gets negative performance ratings on most other issues, including his handling of North Korea, Iran, immigration, taxes, Russia, and health care.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are being restricted by the White House and the Pentagon from visiting Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, which have been devastated by Hurricane Maria, on military aircraft, the Washington Post reported.
This is to keep full focus and resources on recovery efforts there. At least 10 Senators and House members were planning to travel there this weekend, and two have already made visits. President Trump plans to visit Puerto Rico himself on Tuesday, and says he's waiting until then to keep the focus on recovery efforts.
President Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn Wednesday that he's "not happy" with Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price after learning that he's racked up more than $400,000 by using a taxpayer-funded private jet for his travels.
When asked whether he'd fire Price: Trump said "we'll see," adding that he's looking at the issue "very closely."
Senate Democratic leaders condemned Wednesday the Senate's impending vote on forced arbitration (when corporations require consumers to waive their right to sue), pointing to the fallout from recent scandals surrounding Equifax's security breach and Wells Fargo's fake-account scam as evidence of how the clause hurts people.
What they're protesting: Republican leaders have been working to secure votes to overturn a July Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that protects consumers from being denied their day in court, which Schumer described as "making no sense."
This morning on Twitter, President Trump accused Facebook of "always" being "anti-Trump," adding, "The Networks were always anti-Trump hence,Fake News, @nytimes(apologized) & @wapo were anti-Trump. Collusion?"
Why it matters: While Trump often attacks media companies for spreading "fake news," he has only once specifically called out the social media platform in his tweets. Last October, he accused "Twitter, Google and Facebook" of "burying" the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton.
Defense Secretary James Mattis is the most popular Trump cabinet member with a 20% net favorability rating, according to the latest Morning Consult/Politico survey, with Education Secretary Betsy Devos receiving the highest unfavorable rating.
Why it matters: Not a single cabinet member received more than 50% favorability, with Ben Carson receiving the highest favorability score of 42%, however he had more haters than both John Kelly and James Mattis, which put him in third place for net favorability.
The big takeaway: DACA seems to be one of the rare issues that manages to transcend party lines in today's polarized political system with support from three-quarters of Republicans and 97% of Democrats. Conversely, with a general question about Trump's handling of immigration, the poll's numbers take on a more-expected partisan split — with support from 75% of Republicans and just 10% of Democrats.
