Out Front Alone: The website Buzzfeedhas caused an uproar with its report that President Trump ordered his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about his efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. 

  If true, Trump would be guilty of what’s known as “subornation of perjury,” a criminal and impeachable offense. But so far Buzzfeedis the only news organization reporting this based on its own sources. No major news outlet has confirmed it.

  The White House denies it and the Special Counsel’s office issue a statement — something they never do — describing the story as “inaccurate.” Note the wording there. They didn’t say “wrong,” “false,” or “fictional.” They only said “inaccurate.” 

  The Special Counsel’s spokesman Peter Carr, who almost never says anything, issued a statement saying, “BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the special counsel’s office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony are not accurate.” 

  It’s the first time Carr has publicly challenged a news report, so there’s something in this that has them upset, but we don’t know what it is.

  “Two words sum it up better than anything anybody else can say, and that is ‘categorically false,’” Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, told reporters.

  Trump fought back with a tweet that said, “Fake News is truly the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!”

  Buzzfeed issued a statement saying, “We remain confident in the accuracy of our report.”

The Wall: President Trump announced that he’s making a live special announcement this afternoon amidst a flurry of tweets about illegal immigration and the need for his border wall.

  This comes as House Democrats have added $1 billion to their offer to pay for border security, but not a wall. It’s an indication of movement, but we won’t know in which direction until Trump speaks. Three in the afternoon on a Saturday is an odd time to make an announcement during what Trump claims is a national emergency.

  In one tweet Trump said, “Border rancher: ‘We’ve found prayer rugs out here. It’s unreal.’ Washington Examiner People coming across the Southern Border from many countries, some of which would be a big surprise.”

  He’s inferring that some people coming over the southern border from South America are Muslims, and if they are Muslim, they are a threat to national security. Trump did not identify the “rancher” he quoted or provide any supporting evidence.

  He also tweeted, “Another big Caravan heading our way. Very hard to stop without a Wall!”

  What happens is that the caravans stop at the southern border and the refugees apply for asylum in the US. They don’t invade the border.

Fireball: A massive fireball caused by a leaking gasoline pipeline killed 21 people and badly burned 71 others in central Mexico. The pipe had been tapped by thieves and people were taking gasoline when the fire erupted.

The News Roundup:Former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was sentenced yesterday more than six years in prison for shooting and killing 17 -year-old Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke said in a statement to the court, “I pray daily for the soul of Laquan McDonald … (and) as a God fearing man, and father, I’ll have to live with this for the rest of my life and take it to my grave.”— R&B singer R. Kelly has been dropped by his label, RCA Records, following a documentary chronicling accusations of 25 years of sexual and physical abuse of women. —   The White House says President Trump will hold a second summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, who has so far failed to deliver on what the President said were promises to dismantle his nuclear weapons.

March in January:Despite a winter storm, thousands of women are expected to gather in Washington today for the second anniversary of The Women’s March, originally staged as a huge rebuke to President Trump’s occupancy of the White House.

 Yesterday Vice President Mike Pence and his wife attended the March for Life, an anti-abortion event.

It’s Winter: A winter storm is headed through the Ohio Valley and Great lakes region today, headed for the East Coast. The heaviest snow is expected in the Northeast.

  Already today there are 1,343 flight cancellations and 4,693 delays.

The Book Section:A new Donald Trump tell-all is about to hit the book stands. “Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House” was written by former Trump aide Cliff Sims. 

  The author describes how Trump called him into his office to identify the members of his staff who were leaking unflattering news to the press. He says Trump carried an “enemies list.”

  Sims says in his author’s note, “I suspect that posterity will look back on this bizarre time in history like we were living on the pages of a Dickens novel.” He added: “Lincoln famously had his Team of Rivals. Trump had his Team of Vipers. We served. We fought. We brought our egos. We brought our personal agendas and vendettas. We were ruthless. And some of us, I assume, were good people.”

  The author describes how Trump called him into his office to identify the members of his staff who were leaking unflattering news to the press. He says Trump carried an “enemies list.”

  Sims says in his author’s note, “I suspect that posterity will look back on this bizarre time in history like we were living on the pages of a Dickens novel.” He added: “Lincoln famously had his Team of Rivals. Trump had his Team of Vipers. We served. We fought. We brought our egos. We brought our personal agendas and vendettas. We were ruthless. And some of us, I assume, were good people.”

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