Saturday's Headlines: White House sought to enlist key intelligence officials, lawmakers to counter Russia stories

Megadonor family that helped fund Trump's rise is part owner of Breitbart News, CEO reveals; Trump tells conservative gathering that his supporters are the GOP's future; Democrats brace for backlash as they vote on new party chairman; After Trump rips news media, White House slams door on several reporters; Analysis: In December, Spicer said barring media access is what a 'dictatorship' does. Today, he barred media access.; The sad end of the lonely life of Kim Jong Nam, a dictator's half brother; North Korea-U.S. talks canceled after allegation of chemical weapon's use in assassination;   The morning's most important stories, selected by Post editors   Top Stories EXCLUSIVE White House sought to enlist key intelligence officials, lawmakers to counter Russia stories The calls were orchestrated after unsuccessful attempts by the White House to get senior FBI officials to speak with news organizations and dispute the accuracy of reports of alleged contacts between members of Trump's campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives. By Greg Miller and Adam Entous  •  Read more » Megadonor family that helped fund Trump's rise is part owner of Breitbart News, CEO reveals The far-right media outlet's financial backing from the Mercers further cements the family's status as some of the most influential financiers of the Trump era. By Elise Viebeck and Matea Gold  •  Read more »   Trump tells conservative gathering that his supporters are the GOP's future The president's wide-ranging speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference amounted to a victory lap and a chance to recount his campaign promises as well as thank a wing of the party with which he has not always been in sync. By John Wagner and David Nakamura  •  Read more »   Democrats brace for backlash as they vote on new party chairman The next leader, who will be elected Saturday, will take over a party susceptible to new divisions and financially drained — but also cheered by protests galvanized on a near-daily basis by an unpopular Republican president. By David Weigel  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   After Trump rips news media, White House slams door on several reporters Press secretary Sean Spicer banned reporters from CNN, the New York Times, Politico, the Los Angeles Times and BuzzFeed from attending a "gaggle," a non-televised briefing, but gave access to a number of other reporters, including those representing conservative outlets. By Paul Farhi  •  Read more »   Analysis: In December, Spicer said barring media access is what a 'dictatorship' does. Today, he barred media access. Open access to the press is "what makes a democracy a democracy versus a dictatorship," Spicer said then. By Philip Bump  •  Read more »   The sad end of the lonely life of Kim Jong Nam, a dictator's half brother Kim was rejected by his father, orphaned by his mother and stuck in a shadowy exile. His assassination is a blow for the United States and South Korea, which lost a potential source of intelligence on the world's most secretive regime. By Anna Fifield  •  Read more »   North Korea-U.S. talks canceled after allegation of chemical weapon's use in assassination The State Department decided not to issue the visas to the North Korean diplomats who were supposed to travel from Pyongyang to New York for the talks, according to three people with knowledge of the decision. By Anna Fifield  •  Read more »   Opinions   Trump's takeover of conservatism is complete By Dana Milbank  •  Read more »   Big government sneakily gets bigger By George F. Will  •  Read more »   Spicer makes an impossible job even harder By Kathleen Parker  •  Read more »   What is Stephen Bannon's plan? By Ed Rogers  •  Read more »   Trump's preposterous rationale for revoking transgender bathroom rights By Ruth Marcus  •  Read more »   A note to the White House and FBI: Politics and justice should not mix By Editorial Board  •  Read more » ADVERTISEMENT   More News   Paris mayor fires back after Trump invokes his friend 'Jim' and trashes city in CPAC speech The president's comments weren't the first time this week that Trump has gotten into a row with a European country over his denunciations of terrorism in their countries. By Abby Phillip  •  Read more » Hey, tech holdouts: Enough is enough People who fail to embrace new technology not only find themselves increasingly and unnecessarily isolated, they waste resources and cost more to serve. By Larry Downes  •  Read more » Do not send your children to the U.S., father in India says after shooting Witnesses said a drunk man at a Kansas bar hurled racial slurs at two Indian men before fatally shooting one of them. Now a relative of one victim questions how safe the United States is. By Annie Gowen and Rama Lakshmi  •  Read more » Trump again says Chicago needs help fighting violence. Police say they've asked for it and got no reply. The city's top police officer gave a sharp response to the president: "We've made requests to the White House and the Justice Department for them to support our work. ... We are hopeful the administration will finally respond." By Mark Berman  •  Read more » Science societies usually shun politics. But they're ready to rally. The American Association for the Advancement of Science will partner with the March for Science — a sign that the research community is ready to jump into the political fray. By Sarah Kaplan  •  Read more » Some single parents try GoFundMe to cover cost of college for themselves When the crowdfunding start-up started to see students getting support for tuition and incidentals such as books, it looked for ways to encourage the phenomenon. By Gail Cornwall  •  Read more » Firefighters and cancer: Is a risky job even riskier? "We're seeing just how bad the problem is," said a Maryland firefighter. The above-average cancer rates among firefighters have spurred new benefits and safety programs — and new costs. By Peter Hermann and Lynh Bui  •  Read more »         Share Today's Headlines:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you are signed up for Headlines. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2017 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071