January 1, EX-NATIONAL SECURITY OFFICERS: NO FACTUAL BASIS FOR EMERGENCY DECLARATION

58 former senior national security officers say President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration for border security has no factual basis behind it.

“Under no plausible assessment of the evidence is there a national emergency today that entitles the president to tap into funds appropriated for other purposes to build a wall at the southern border,” the group said in a joint statement it will issue Monday, according to Politico.

Schiff Vows Lawsuit for Classified Mueller Report

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., is vowing to sue for the full release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report and subpoena Mueller himself to testify before Congress.

“Well, we will obviously subpoena the report, we will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress, we will take it to court if necessary – and in the end, I think the department understands they’re going to have to make this public,” Rep. Schiff told ABC’s “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos.

Schiff added a promise to hold nothing back, including suing the Trump administration or the Justice Department for full disclosure.

Trump Books Lincoln Memorial for July 4th Gala He’ll Host

President Donald Trump says he’ll host a July Fourth celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. And though the event he’s calling “A Salute to America” is months away, he’s boasting it’ll be one of the city’s biggest Independence Day gatherings — ever.

Trump tweeted Sunday: “HOLD THE DATE! We will be having one of the biggest gatherings in the history of Washington, D.C., on July 4th. It will be called “A Salute To America” and will be held at the Lincoln Memorial. Major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!”

Pope Vows to End Cover-Ups, Fight Sex Abuse with God’s Wrath

(AP) – Pope Francis closed out his extraordinary summit on preventing clergy sex abuse by vowing Sunday to confront abusers with “the wrath of God” felt by the faithful, end the cover-ups by their superiors and prioritize the victims of this “brazen, aggressive and destructive evil.”

But his failure to offer a concrete action plan to hold bishops accountable when they failed to protect their flocks from predators disappointed survivors, who had expected more from the first-ever global Catholic summit of its kind

LA Times Op-Ed: Rename John Wayne Airport Over ’71 Racist Remarks

A rereading of American acting legend John Wayne’s 1971 Playboy interview is leading to a call for an airport baring his name to be rebranded, as Michael Hiltzik wrote in an L.A. Times op-ed.

“With a lot of blacks, there’s quite a bit of resentment along with their dissent, and possibly rightfully so,” Wayne told Playboy in 1971. “But we can’t all of a sudden get down on our knees and turn everything over to the leadership of the blacks.

In an Upset, ‘Green Book’ Wins Best Picture at Oscars

(AP) – The segregation-era road-trip drama “Green Book” was crowned best picture at the Academy Awards, handing Hollywood’s top award to a film seen as a feel-good throwback to some but ridiculed as an outdated inversion of “Driving Miss Daisy” by others.

In a year where Hollywood could have made history by bestowing best-picture on Netflix (“Roma”) or Marvel (“Black Panther”) for the first time, the motion picture academy instead threw its fullest support behind a traditional interracial buddy tale that proved as popular as it was divisive. But Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” weathered criticism that it was retrograde and inauthentic to triumph over more acclaimed films and bigger box-office successes. Spike Lee was visibly upset by the win.

“Green Book” also won best supporting actor for Mahershala Ali and best original screenplay.