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Former President Bill Clinton denied having any knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and pushed back on allegations tied to a widely circulated image of him in a jacuzzi during a historic deposition before the House Oversight Committee.

Under more than six hours of questioning, Clinton said he “had no idea” about Epstein’s criminal activity during what he described as their “brief acquaintance,” according to CNN.

President Donald Trump has an easy scapegoat to throw under the bus if he continues to feel the heat from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scandal, New York Times reporter Michelle Goldberg told MS NOW's Ari Melber on Friday: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Lutnick, a billionaire who has been at the forefront of defending Trump's tariff policies, has been caught lying about the extent of his relationship with the deceased financier pedophile, and even top GOP lawmakers are suggesting he could be brought in for questioning.

The Justice Department admitted Thursday that it removed a file containing a photograph of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick with Jeffrey Epstein from the official Epstein database. The photo, discovered by jmail's searchable Epstein Gmail archive, shows both men on Little St. James island and carries DOJ file number EFTA01230639, which yields no results in the official database. A DOJ official claimed the image was part of a batch flagged for nudity and pulled for review with redactions, insisting "no files are being deleted." Lutnick previously stated he visited the island only for a family picnic with his children and nannies. However, Justice Department releases revealed Lutnick and Epstein exchanged emails years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor in 2008, arranging calls and lunches on the island.

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A policy championed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to speed up Transportation Security Administration lines at airports in fact had a key security flaw — but when it was reported to her, the Department classified it and kept it buried for months, reported the Wall Street Journal on Friday.

The policy is one of the few undertaken by Noem's DHS that has enjoyed considerable bipartisan support: ending requirements for people to remove their shoes at airport security lines, a policy enacted after a thwarted shoe bomb plot over two decades ago that the traveling public has long considered a nuisance.

President Donald Trump privately told FBI Director Kash Patel that he was displeased with his locker room behavior during a recent trip to the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, according to NBC News.

Patel went viral after celebrating with the U.S. men’s hockey team following its gold medal win over Canada – the first U.S. gold in the event since 1980. Video first published by ProPublica showed Patel chugging a beer, banging on a table, and shouting in celebration.

Iran has agreed it will “never ever” pursue nuclear weapons, according to Oman’s top diplomat, who says a U.S.-Iran deal is now “within our reach.”

According to a report in CBS News, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said that negotiators have made “substantial progress” toward curbing Iran’s nuclear program.

Former Republican strategist Tim Miller slammed the emerging deal for the Trump-friendly media giant Paramount-Skydance to take control of the parent company of HBO and CNN in a panel on MS NOW Friday evening — and called it an affront to how anything should be working in a fair and competitive media market.

"Tim Miller, your thoughts on where this stands this afternoon?" asked anchor Nicolle Wallace.

President Donald Trump lashed out at the artificial intelligence company Anthropic on Friday, slamming them for refusing to change their safeguard rules against automated use of weapons for the Defense Department, claiming they want to force generals to "obey their Terms of Service instead of our Constitution," and ordering the government to phase out any contracts they have to use the company's "Leftwing nut job" Claude AI model.

The outburst triggered an immediate reaction from elected officials and analysts on social media.

CNN President Mark Thompson is urging staff not to “jump to conclusions” after news broke that parent company Warner Bros. Discovery will likely be acquired by Paramount Skydance in a blockbuster deal that has left many at the cable news network “panicked.”

According to a report in Fox News Digital, the mood inside CNN on Friday was “horrific” as staffers braced for change following Netflix’s decision to drop its bid and Paramount’s move to acquire the company’s assets, including CNN.

President Donald Trump had fun posing for photo-ops with the U.S. Men's Hockey Team after their Olympic Win — and the players, after going out of their way to pump up the president and denigrate the accomplishment of the women's team, ultimately got nothing out of it but controversy and bad PR, Alex Kirshner wrote for Slate on Friday.

The most obvious example is Brady Tkachuk, who laughed along with Trump belittling the women's team, and then faced sharp questions from the media about why he didn't stand up for his female counterparts, and also what he thinks of a MAGA AI video that emerged of himself boasting that in the win over Canada, they taught those "maple syrup-eating f---s" a lesson. He was clearly uncomfortable and wanted the controversy to go away.

The State Department issued a rare travel advisory Friday morning, urging Americans in Israel to "consider leaving while commercial flights are available," sparking fears of imminent military conflict. The directive cited threats from "violent extremists" plotting attacks in Israel. The advisory coincides with escalating U.S.-Iran tensions, with President Trump reportedly ready to imminently launch a large-scale attack on Iran. The Trump administration has mobilized the largest military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq invasion. Scholar Monica Marks suggested the advisory indicates "a high likelihood that Israel & the US ignite another war with Iran this weekend." Journalist Rania Khalek called it "not a good sign" for those concerned about regional conflict. The advisory comes as U.S.-Iran negotiations over weapons capabilities have stalled, with Tehran officials refusing to acknowledge Trump's "red lines."

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