FATAL ERROR:  Air defenses covering a small US base in Jordan confused a returning American drone with an incoming hostile drone, resulting in a successful attack that killed three Americans and wounded 34, the NY Times reports.

  US officials say two other enemy drones directed at other targets were identified and shot down.President Biden has promised retaliation against an Iran-backed militia believed to be responsible. 

  The counter strike is likely to be significant yet designed to avoid triggering a regional war. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US response “could be multileveled, come in stages and be sustained over time.”

  The dead have been identified as two female soldiers and a male attached to an engineering unit based in Georgia. The drones exploded near a barracks, which accounts for the high number of casualties. About 350 Army and Air Force personnel are stationed at the base known as Tower 22.

HOSTAGES FOR PEACE: The political chief of Hamas says the militant group is considering a proposal to pause the fighting in Gaza presented by four countries including the United States. The agreement would allow for a six-week cease-fire and the release of more hostages.

SELF-INFLICTED GUNSHOT: Former National Rifle Association President Wayne LaPierre testified under intense questioning in a New York court yesterday that he bilked the organization for lavish travel, expensive suits bought in Beverly Hills, even hair and makeup for his wife, Susan.

  The irony is that LaPierre answered willingly to questions posed by NRA lawyers, evidently taking the fall for himself rather than the whole organization that has virulently fought any kind of legislative gun control.

  The civil lawsuit against LaPierre was brought by new York Attorney General Letitia James, the same woman who is trying to sue Donald Trump into business oblivion in New York State.

  Some of the travel was strictly for LaPierre’s relatives, including a $38,000 trip to the Bahamas.

  LaPierre claimed in court that he had made about $300,000 in restitution “Looking through expense reports, looking through NRA ledgers, looking through any other records I can find, I have paid them all back to the NRA with interest,” he said.

  Despite claiming that its finances are in good shape, the NRA has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to protect itself because of what it calls “a corrupt political and regulatory environment in New York.”

SIREN CALL: A Judge in South Carolina yesterday declined to set aside the murder conviction of former lawyer Alex Murdaugh after hearing testimony on whether the court clerk had attempted to sway the jury toward a guilty verdict. Murdaugh is serving life for the murders of his wife and one of his sons.

  Among things the clerk Rebecca Hill was alleged to have said were telling jurors not to be “fooled” by Murdaugh’s defense and that, as they headed into deliberations, “this shouldn’t take us long.”

  Despite Hill’s denial, Judge Jean Toal said Hill was trying to hawk a book about the trial and had been “attracted by the siren call of celebrity.” But Toal concluded that Hill’s comments were not enough to have swayed the verdict.

BORDERLINE POLITICS: The Republican-led House Homeland Security Committee is expected today to approve articles of impeachment against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, charging him with failure to enforce the law and protect the southern border from the crush of illegal migrants.

  This happens as Donald Trump is urging Republicans to kill a bill that would deal with the immigration problem. 

  The full House would vote next week and the impeachment is expected to die in the Senate where it would require a two-thirds vote to remove Mayorkas.

HOMELESS: As housing rents rise so does homelessness according to a report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. Roughly 653,000 people reported being homeless in January of 2023, up roughly 12 percent from the same time the previous year, and up 48 percent from 2015. And, of course, not everyone who’s homeless reports it to the statisticians.

  Homelessness has been increasing in what have traditionally been the more affordable parts of the country, including Arizona, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas.

  “Rapidly rising rents, combined with wage losses in the early stages of the pandemic, have underscored the inadequacy of the existing housing safety net, especially in times of crisis,” the Harvard report says.

THE SPIN RACK:  Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, 17, has been banned from the sport for four years because she failed a doping test ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. — Authorities say they have arrested five people for the murders of six victims found dead in the southern California desert last week. Reports say a car was shot up, the desert was littered with bullet casings, and bodies were burned in what so far is an unexplained massacre. — Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets. The country is having its first elections since the military pushed out Khan two years ago. 

BELOW THE FOLD:  High among the big questions facing Americans today is not whether Donald Trump can legally run for president, whether Congress will pass a border control bill, or even what movie will win Best Picture at the Oscars.

  No, the Big Question is whether Taylor Swift will make it to the Super Bowl next month to see her boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs take on San Francisco. Swift has a concert Saturday night in Tokyo. If she cuts the opening acts and and gets on her private jet within an hour of finishing her show, she could be wheels down in Vegas by 4pm. 

   But … word is that all the landing slots in Las Vegas are booked, which could force Swift to land in Los Angeles and make a five-hour drive to be on time for the 8:30 pm kickoff.

  And this being Las Vegas, you can place a bet on whether she makes it.

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