President Trump told Piers Morgan in an interview which aired Sunday that he's willing to apologize for retweeting anti-Muslim hate videos from Britain First — a far-right ultranationalist political group.
“If you are telling me they’re horrible people, horrible, racist people, I would certainly apologize if you’d like me to do that," Trump said.
Trump national security officials are considering an unprecedented federal takeover of a portion of the nation’s mobile network to guard against China, according to sensitive documents obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: We’ve got our hands on a PowerPoint deck and a memo — both produced by a senior National Security Council official — which were presented recently to senior officials at other agencies in the Trump administration.
Sen. Lindsey Graham said Special Counsel Robert Mueller is "the perfect guy to get to the bottom of" the Russia probe on ABC's This Week. "Everybody in the White House knows it’d be the end of President Trump’s presidency if he fires Mr. Mueller," he said, responding to reports that Trump wanted Mueller fired last summer.
Sen. Lindsey Graham said on ABC's "This Week" that House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes should not yet release the four-page memo he wrote alleging FBI abuses of FISA. "I want somebody outside of the Republican-led congress to look at the allegations," he said.
The backdrop: The Washington Post reported this morning that President Trump — who has the power to make the memo public — wants it released.
Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) told Axios that he hasn't given up hope on Attorney General Jeff Sessions coming around on sentencing reform, pointing to that fact that as a senator Sessions helped pass the Fair Sentencing Act, which improved the racial disparity in cocaine crime sentencing.
Why it matters:In a White House meeting with criminal justice reform advocates, Sessions seemed open to pursuing prison reform in order to save money, but sentencing reform was not discussed. Prison reform has more bipartisan support, while sentencing reform is often seen as being "soft on crime" by hardline conservatives like Sessions.
President Trump received a letter on Thursday from 54 Republicans and Democrats, pressing him to have Attorney General Jeff Sessions "reinstate Obama-era policy that gave states leeway" in marijuana legalization, the Hill reports.
Why it matters: Sessions rescinded a 2013 policy called the Cole Memo, which kept "federal prosecutors from bringing marijuana-related charges in states that had legalized recreational use," per the Hill. The bipartisan group of lawmakers who wrote to Trump say this violates states' rights.
"Davos 2018 has emerged as a bastion for anti-Silicon Valley sentiment," writes Vanity Fair's Maya Kosoff:
Key figures: George Soros compared Google and Facebook to mining and oil companies, saying that both “earn their profits by exploiting their environment... Salesforce C.E.O. Marc Benioff said on Tuesday that Facebook should be regulated like a cigarette company. ... Theresa May ... urged them to take responsibility for 'harmful and illegal' activity online."
Trump just got back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, yesterday, and he's ready to talk about immigration issues and border security. "Thank you to Brandon Judd of the National Border Patrol Council for his strong statement on @foxandfriends that we very badly NEED THE WALL. Must also end loophole of “catch & release” and clean up the legal and other procedures at the border NOW for Safety & Security reasons."
Be smart: He's wasting no time on his first morning back returning to his regular media diet, which includes a lot of Fox News and less of anything else.
Most national polls show Americans preferring Democrats over Republicans in the mid-term congressional elections by 10-18 percentage points, though the margin has narrowed in some recent polls. Republicans and Democrats alike are giving extra attention to a a few Senate seats in particular.
Why it matters
The president's party traditionally takes a hit in his first midterm, and Democrats only need 24 House seats and two Senate seats to win majorities in both. But the odds are low that the Senate would change hands, since 10 Democratic senators are up for re-election in states Trump won. It's also worth watching to see if the polls change after the debacle over the government shutdown.
Since Thursday's New York Times report revealed President Trump had at one point thought about firing special counsel Robert Mueller, Republicans have taken varied stances on what to do if that were to happen.
Why it matters: This was a concern for Republicans for a long time, and the Times report confirmed their worries. Now Sen. Chuck Grassley says he may support legislation protecting Mueller, while Sen. Thom Tillis is backing off legislation he once supported to do just that.
