Wednesday's Headlines: Sessions silent on talks with Trump, denies collusion with Russia

The Fix: 4 takeaways from Sessions's feisty testimony to Congress about Russia; Sessions finds a shield in executive privilege — but it might not be a strong one; Will Trump fire Mueller? A friend says maybe — but Washington warns against it.; Congressional Democrats to sue Trump, alleging improper payments from foreign nations; London high-rise fire leaves multiple people dead, dozens injured and missing; Trump gives Pentagon new powers to set troop levels in Afghanistan; Billionaire David Bonderman resigns from Uber board after 'inappropriate' remark about women; Ed Gillespie wins unexpectedly tight GOP primary over Trump ally Corey Stewart;   Democracy Dies in Darkness     The morning's most important stories, selected by Post editors   Top Stories Sessions silent on talks with Trump, denies collusion with Russia In a number of testy exchanges with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Jeff Sessions said he would not discuss his conversations with President Trump, including talks on former FBI director James B. Comey, because of long-standing Justice Department policy that protected private conversations between Cabinet secretaries and the president. By Sari Horwitz, Devlin Barrett and Matt Zapotosky  •  Read more » The Fix: 4 takeaways from Sessions's feisty testimony to Congress about Russia The attorney general underwent a barrage of questions from the Senate Intelligence Committee, but about the only thing he could recall is that he didn't do anything wrong. By Amber Phillips  •  Read more »   Analysis Sessions finds a shield in executive privilege — but it might not be a strong one The attorney general repeatedly refused to answer questions by citing President Trump's right to executive privilege. But analysts disagreed on whether he was appropriately using it to advance a worthy goal, or merely suggesting it as a shield to fend off questions he did not want to take. By Matt Zapotosky  •  Read more »   Will Trump fire Mueller? A friend says maybe — but Washington warns against it. To some of Trump's most loyal allies, dismissing Robert S. Mueller III as special counsel is a tantalizing idea. But one historian said such a move "would pale compared to what Nixon did . . . We would be in a constitutional crisis." By Philip Rucker  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Congressional Democrats to sue Trump, alleging improper payments from foreign nations The nearly 200 Democrats cite the president's decision to retain interest in his global business empire. They say he has violated constitutional restrictions on taking gifts and benefits from foreign leaders. By Tom Hamburger and Karen Tumulty  •  Read more »   London high-rise fire leaves multiple people dead, dozens injured and missing The blaze, which broke out shortly before 1 a.m., could be seen for miles around, and forced hundreds of people to evacuate as the flames quickly engulfed the entirety of the 24-story building. By Griff Witte and Karla Adam  •  Read more »   Trump gives Pentagon new powers to set troop levels in Afghanistan With the new authority granted by the president, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis could authorize the deployment of thousands of more troops, something commanders on the ground there have been requesting for months. By Thomas Gibbons-Neff  •  Read more »   Billionaire David Bonderman resigns from Uber board after 'inappropriate' remark about women Bonderman's comment came when he interrupted fellow board member Arianna Huffington, who was explaining the benefits of having more female representation on Uber's board. By Brian Fung and Craig Timberg  •  Read more »   Ed Gillespie wins unexpectedly tight GOP primary over Trump ally Corey Stewart The former RNC chair, who cast himself as a true conservative who will cut taxes and promote business, overcame a stronger-than-expected challenge from Prince William County Supervisor Corey A. Stewart, who built a campaign on preserving Confederate monuments. In the Democratic race, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, backed by almost all of his party's elected officials in the state, defeated populist Tom Perriello, who had the support of Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, in a race resembling the national party's struggle over its direction. By Gregory S. Schneider, Antonio Olivo and Jenna Portnoy  •  Read more »   Opinions   Jeff Sessions wilts on the hot seat By Jennifer Rubin  •  Read more »   Is Trump making America mentally ill? By Kathleen Parker  •  Read more »   What Republicans are doing while you're distracted by Sessions and Comey By Dana Milbank  •  Read more »   Taking a break from the news By Garrison Keillor  •  Read more »   Big Pharma gives your doctor gifts. Then your doctor gives you Big Pharma's drugs. By Nicole Van Groningen  •  Read more »   North Korea's outrageous mistreatment of a U.S. student must not go unpunished By Editorial Board  •  Read more » ADVERTISEMENT   More News   Trump calls House health bill that he celebrated in the Rose Garden 'mean' The president's comments, during a White House lunch with 15 GOP senators, signaled a willingness to embrace a less aggressive revision of the Affordable Care Act. By Kelsey Snell and Sean Sullivan  •  Read more » Senators sharply question State Department budget cuts While Secretary of State Rex Tillerson argued that a 30 percent budget cut will not make the U.S. less effective overseas, Appropriations Committee chairman Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C) called the budget proposal "radical and reckless." By Carol Morello and Anne Gearan  •  Read more » Fact Checker | Analysis Trump hails the time it took to build the Golden Gate Bridge and Hoover Dam but neglects important points The president only focuses on the years of construction, not the many years that it took to prepare and plan before breaking ground on those two engineering marvels. By Michelle Ye Hee Lee  •  Read more » Plane lands in Cincinnati with comatose U-Va. student detained 17 months by North Korea Otto Warmbier was sentenced in a North Korean court to 15 years in prison with hard labor in March of 2016, but his family said officials told them he has been comatose for more than a year after he became ill with botulism and took a sleeping pill. By Susan Svrluga and Anna Fifield  •  Read more » French historian accused of stealing American war heroes' dog tags to sell on eBay Antonin Dehays could face up to 10 years in prison for the alleged theft of the dog tags from a National Archives facility in Maryland, including one that belonged to a Tuskegee Airman. By John Woodrow Cox  •  Read more » How the showdown over Qatar is ripping families apart In a region where cultural and tribal ties extend beyond national borders, the deepening crisis is creating havoc in Qatari families in which people often have parents with different citizenship. By Sudarsan Raghavan  •  Read more » Tracy K. Smith, author of 'Life on Mars,' is named new U.S. poet laureate The Pulitzer Prize winner says she hopes to rekindle "the pleasure of poetry" for all readers. By Ron Charles  •  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