LEAKS ‘WORKING.’ Columbia Journalism Review columnist Trevor Timm credits “a torrent of leaks from inside the administration” with forcing the record-quick resignation of President Trump’s National Security Adviser Michael Flynn—a development that leaves many questions still unanswered, notably by the president’s senior adviser, Kellyanne Conway, in a grilling this morning by NBC’s Matt Lauer.
■ How Trump avoids reporters’ tough questions.
■ Wired: Edward Snowden’s new job is protecting reporters and the people who feed them information.
■ Trump aide Omarosa Manigault’s accused of telling a reporter the administration has “dossiers” of negative information on reporters.
■ Congressional pressure’s growing for the Trump administration to resume White House tours.
■ The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank: As Trump scandals mount, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee decides to investigate … a cartoon character.
WATCH WHERE YOU POINT THAT. When aides to the president and Japan’s prime minister used phone flashlights to help their bosses read documents about North Korea’s ballistic missile, CNN’s Selena Larson explains, they may themselves have threatened national security.
■ Senate Democrats want to know more about Trump’s personal smartphone.
■ “The only way that statement could be more terrifying is if he yelled it in German.”—Seth Meyers, on senior White House adviser Stephen Miller’s assertion that “the powers of the president … will not be questioned,” quoted in The New York Times’ roundup of late-night comedy highlights. (Photo credit: David Shankbone.)
■ Sen. Elizabeth Warren says Trump’s pick to head Labor holds “a sneering contempt” for workers.
‘WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF HIS OBSESSION WITH MURDER IN CHICAGO?’ That’s one of several questions Politico’s Jack Shafer says journalists should be asking about the president.
■ Mayor Emanuel met in D.C. with Trump’s top men—but not Trump—to build what his staff describes as “relationships” with the capital’s new bosses.
■ Fox News: Libertarians object to Trump’s support for laws that let an individual’s property be seized without a guilty verdict.
■ An immigrant Chicago CEO is one of Trump’s biggest donors.
‘GROUND ZERO FOR CHICAGO’S VIOLENCE.’ The Sun-Times’ Mary Mitchell surveys the Parkway Gardens neighborhood.
■ An 11-year-old girl shot Saturday in Chicago has died.
YOUR GOVERNOR ON FACEBOOK. Bruce Rauner goes live today at noon (Central Time) to take “your questions.” But, as the Chicago Tribune’s Monique Garcia notes, if it’s like previous such events, the questions will be “likely screened.”
■ Commenter on the governor’s Facebook post: “You continue to bait Facebook users by telling them you care about their questions. You don’t. … It’s an exercise in futility, even for those who support you.”
GETTING WARM OUT HERE? New research concludes humans are causing the climate to change 170 times faster than it would naturally.
■ A high in the 60s next week?
PUBLIC SQUARE FUN. Guess which link in yesterday’s Square email was clicked and tapped the most? If you guessed this one, take a bow.