7. Maybe the situation at the border is a crisis after all

— As at least four Republicans prepare to force President Donald Trump to veto resolutions attempting to rescind his emergency declaration to fund a border wall, a Washington Post reporter points out illegal entries are surging. In a lengthy article, Nick Miroff lays out that a record number of families are crossing the border. He wrote, “During a month when the border debate was dominated by the fight over President Trump’s push for a wall, unauthorized migration in fiscal 2019 is on pace to reach its highest level in a decade.”

6. Democrats are prepared to punish their own member’s anti-Semitism without naming her

 — Instead of calling out Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and her repeated use of the “dual loyalty” smear, a watered-down measure by Democrats decries the myth of dual loyalty while other Democrats are calling her out on social media for her use of “offensive, painful stereotypes.” Jewish groups seem pretty adamant that her third strike should be the end of her run on the House Foreign Relations Committee.

5. Attorney General Bill Barr will not recuse himself from the Russia investigation; Barr will receive the Robert Mueller report soon

— As with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and acting-AG Matt Whitaker, the media and their Democrats have demanded the new AG recuse himself from the Russia investigation because of perceived conflicts. Barr isn’t having it and “senior career ethics officials advised that General Barr should not recuse himself from the Special Counsel’s investigation,” according to the Department of Justice. There is no timeline for the Mueller report, but now that Barr is cleared, he is expected to receive it at any time.

4. As the collusion narrative falls apart, Democrats seek information from over 80 different people as they seek out crimes

— It is becoming clear the Mueller report will not be the “smoking gun” the media and their Democrats need it to be, so they are largely moving on before that becomes clear. While the request is large, it should be noted that the committee in question has limited their requests to material already provided to other congressional committees or investigators. These investigations will not produce criminal charges — just political charges that can be used in public and for possible articles of impeachment.

3. Stupid kids in Hoover say stupid and racist things and make the international news

— The students in the videos attend two Hoover high schools and are heard on tape making racist slurs, joking about concentration camps and even discussing how to get rid of black people and Jews. The comments are obviously insane and shocking and include a lot of laughing as they say, “F*** n*****s, f*** Jews,” “Jews are fine because they’re white. We just need the n*****s gone” and “stick[ing] [blacks] in concentration camps and just bomb them.” There doesn’t appear to be much the school system can do as the students were not on campus and don’t appear to be breaking any laws.

2. Governor Kay Ivey has declared a state of emergency for parts of Alabama; President Donald Trump has pledged his administration’s help in dealing with tornadoes; Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) blames climate change

— Governor Ivey thanked the president for his support and added she has spoken with the director of FEMA after 23 were killed in eastern Alabama. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence said they are making every federal resource possible after the deadly storms, and Trump called Ivey, “one of the best in our Country.” Democrats and online trolls are claiming the president is playing favorites with Alabama. Don’t worry, AL.com is all over that angle.

1. Gas tax push starts in earnest today with Governor Kay Ivey’s State of the State address while the Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield touts it as well

— Ivey’s State of the State will most likely focus on the need for a special session to pass her “Rebuild Alabama Act,” reform the oversight of ALDOT and explain to the conservative state why these new taxes are necessary without a regular legislative process. Canfield said he believed this is an economic development matter, outlining, “If we want to continue to attract world-class companies and high-paying jobs to Alabama, we need to make an investment in the state’s infrastructure system.”