It’s Friday, March 1, 2019. Lets start here.
1. Nuclear fallout
After his summit with Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, President Donald Trump said the North Korean leader’s insistence on full sanctions relief was the major reason the two sides couldn’t reach a deal.
North Korea on Thursday disputed that account.
“What we proposed was not the removal of all sanctions, but the partial removal,” North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said at a news conference in Hanoi.
ABC News’ Elizabeth McLaughlin says the two nations likely will continue lower-level talks.
2. Trump ‘ordered’ security clearance for Kushner
Trump “ordered” former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly to approve Jared Kushner’s top-secret security clearance, despite concerns from intelligence officials, according to The New York Times.
Kelly documented the president’s demand in an internal memo in May 2018 and had his own reservations about granting Kushner’s clearance, the Times reported. Then-White House counsel Don McGahn also reportedly recommended Kushner not be given his clearance.
The president has the legal authority to grant security clearances, but he told The Times last month he “was never involved in [Kushner’s] security.” In an interview with “The View’s” Abby Huntsman earlier in February, Ivanka Trump echoed her father’s statement: “The president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband’s clearance. Zero.”
When asked about the Times report, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said to ABC News, “We don’t comment on security clearances.”
ABC News’ John Santucci walks us through what we know so far.
3. Netanyahu indictment recommended
Israel’s attorney general has recommended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate corruption cases.
Netanyahu has denied all wrongdoing, repeatedly referring to the lengthy probes as a “witch hunt.” The prime minister will be allowed a pretrial hearing to mount his defense and try to sway the attorney general, but it could take months for the hearing to happen.
The announcement comes just weeks away from a legislative election in Israel. Netanyahu is facing a formidable challenger, according to ABC News’ Jordana Miller, and the prime minister’s chances for re-election may have just taken a hit: “The timing of this is really a political bombshell.”
4. Different nuclear fallout
Trump’s longtime fixer and personal attorney Michael Cohen was back on Capitol Hill on Thursday, meeting behind closed doors with the House Intelligence Committee a day after his blockbuster public testimony in front of the House Oversight Committee.
As House Democrats continue to investigate the president, ABC News’ Aaron Katersky tells us Cohen’s testimony laid out a possible road map for their next lines of inquiry.
“I think the most effective thing Michael Cohen may have done for the Democrats, who are intent on holding more hearings,” Katerksy says, “is to basically write their next witness list.”
Elsewhere:
‘We’re on the third day when we find him, but he’s pretty clean-shaved around his beard’: A New York man is accused of faking his own kidnapping to avoid paying a $50,000 Super Bowl bet.
‘That means the area of the land’: The president says “100 percent” of the ISIS caliphate in Syria has been destroyed.
‘The policies he has supported as Acting Administrator are not in the best interest of our environment and public health, particularly given the threat of climate change to our nation’: One Republican votes against the eventual confirmation of a former coal lobbyist as America’s next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
From our partners at FiveThirtyEight:
Bryce Harper may already be past his prime: Sorry, Phillies.
Last ‘Nightline’:
New Jersey man shows police how he disposed of his friend’s body: Preston Taylor, Sarah Stern’s junior prom date, shows police in newly released video how he helped Liam McAtasney, Stern’s childhood friend, throw her body off a bridge in 2016.
‘Idol’ judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie hint at awesome new talent: After taking on the iconic show for the first time last year, the three judges discuss what makes a successful contestant.
On this day in history:
March 1, 1993 — A standoff continues between federal agents and Branch Davidian cult members at a compound near Waco, Texas.
The must-see photo:
Revelers take part in the annual block party “Loucura Suburbana” organized by the Nise da Silveira mental health institute during carnival festivities in Rio de Janeiro (Pilar Olivares/Reuters)
For more great photos from around the world CLICK HERE.
On social:
Authorities in Florida are looking for the driver of a van involved in a hit-and-run rollover crash that left a 19-year-old man in critical condition.
All right, you’re off and running. Get the latest news on ABCNews.com and on the ABC News app. Details on how to subscribe to “Start Here” are below. See you Monday.
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