IT’S POLITICAL: The primary race for senator from Michigan that’s considered a weathervane for the Democratic party is too close to call this morning.

  Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive, holds a narrow lead over Representative Haley Stevens, a centrist and firm supporter of Israel, as counting continues. A win for El-Sayed would indicate an appetite among Democrats for populist policies like Medicare for All, even in a swing state.

  El-Sayed at the moment leads 48.6 percent to Stevens’ 47.3. He is an epidemiologist who would like to see the breakup of the big health insurance companies and lower drug prices.

  It was an expensive and sharply contested race but both candidates said they would support the other in the fall against Republican Mike Rogers. They are trying to hold the seat held by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who is retiring.

  In Ohio, Republican Rep. Max Miller refuses to bow out of the race despite allegations of violence and abuse coming from three women, including his ex-wife. His accusers include Stephanie Grisham, who worked in the first Trump administration.

  The House Ethics Committee is opening an investigation. Despite all this, Miller told CNN’s Jake Tapper that the American people admire a candidate with resilience … like Donald Trump …  and he’s staying in it.

THE WAR ROOM: Russian missiles are piercing the depleted air defenses of Ukraine. 

  At least 17 people were killed overnight in a Russian missile barrage that hit  Kyiv and its suburbs. The attack set off large fires in what was the third major attack on the capital in a week. 

  “Ballistic missile interceptors could have saved the lives of those killed today,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement. “It is very important that our partners understand that delays in supplying them, or an unwillingness to provide antiballistic systems, lead directly to such horrific casualties and destruction.”

INFINITE SCROLL: 

— Two lame duck Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee folded their hands and voted to pass Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general on to the full senate. He is expected to be confirmed.

— Workers at the White House were nearing completion of President Trump’s new helicopter pad on the south lawn but then dismantled it. The pad was being configured as a 100-foot diameter black granite presidential seal.

  The Washington Post reports that Trump didn’t like the way the helipad fit into the slope of the lawn. The Post says Trump wants the helipad to sit level with the horizon.

  Trump ordered the building of the helipad without any kind of approval to start using a heavier helicopter for service as Marine One.

NEWSMAN: Paramount CEO David Ellison, who’s been under attack for his ownership of CBS News and a merger in the works that would also give him CNN, wrote in the NY Times that he plans to keep the news outlets professional and independent.

  In an essay mostly defending his increased ownership of Hollywood production, Ellison says, “Our journalists will continue to answer to the facts and to all the people they serve — not to any party or cause.” He writes. “These were founding principles for both CNN and CBS News, for legends like Ted Turner and Edward R. Murrow, and it is exactly that kind of independence that has always fueled the greatness of ‘60 Minutes.’”

  But the veteran “60 Minutes” reporters fired by CBS have all said that the new management tried to put its thumb on the political scale.

   Ellison notes that,  “By Gallup’s latest measure, just 28 percent of Americans said they trust the news — the lowest share ever recorded.” What he does not say is that trust in the news business has been eroded by President Trump who calls it “fake news,” just as he convinced millions of Americans that the 2020 election was rigged against him. Ellison is cozying up to Trump to get approval of his merger with Warner Brothers 

  There’s an old line in the news business reporters mutter to each other in the wake of an industrial disaster … “Company officials say there’s no danger to the public.” 

THE SPIN RACK:  A man with an ammunition clip in his pocket and a gun in his car was arrested Sunday at President Donald Trump’s Los Angeles-area golf course after appearing to monitor security preparations two days ahead of the President’s fundraiser there. — Charges against three more people accused of vandalizing the Lincoln memorial reflecting pool have been dropped. — Wildfire that scoured the French countryside revealed a stockpile of 400 World War II artillery shells and munitions near a village in France’s Gironde region. Villagers reported explosions as a bomb disposal team dealt with the situation. — The release date for music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was pushed back a month after he got into a fight with another inmate. His release now is set for February 20, 2028. — The State of New Jersey is suing Amazon, accusing the company of abusing its market power to suppress pay for delivery companies and their drivers.

BELOW THE FOLD: President Trump continued his campaign for ending semi-annual time changes for daylight savings in summer.

  Announcing that the House passed a bill making Daylight time permanent, he posted, “People are sick and tired of having to change their clocks twice a year. It is foolish, inconvenient and, in some cases, very costly. For Cities and States with Watchtowers, and hard to reach places, it costs Millions of Dollars. A recent case was made that it is also bad for your health in the anxiety it creates.”

  In other presidential business, he’s unable to end his war with Iran.  

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