President Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen acknowledged on Thursday that he schemed to rig online polls that sought to make Trump seem like a more plausible presidential candidate. The story was first reported by The Wall Street Journal . In a tweet following the report, Cohen said he sought to help Trump's political aspirations, having been directed by the candidate. "What I did was at the direction of and for the sole benefit of [Trump]," he wrote . "I truly regret my blind...

Updated at 8:59 p.m. ET Officials leasing the Old Post Office Building for the Trump International Hotel in Washington improperly ignored the Constitution's anti-corruption clauses when they continued to lease the government property to President Trump even after he won the White House, according to an internal federal government watchdog. The Inspector General for the General Services Administration , the agency that leased the building to Trump in 2013, said in a report published Wednesday...

There are plenty of reasons why the U.S. economy could slip into recession within the next couple of years. There's the trade war with China, slowing economic growth, rising interest rates, dysfunction in the government, and the prospect of fading stimulus. But what about the other side? What about the case for optimism? Economist Jared Bernstein, an old friend of the show, got in touch because he thinks we shouldn't neglect the positive economic signals that he's seeing right now. Music by...

As the Trump administration demands funding for a border wall to stop illegal immigration, a new study finds that for the seventh consecutive year, visa overstays far exceeded unauthorized border crossings. The report released Wednesday by the Center for Migration Studies of New York finds that from 2016-2017, people who overstayed their visas accounted for 62 percent of the newly undocumented, while 38 percent had crossed a border illegally. "It is clear from our research that persons who...

Muhammad Ali's hometown of Louisville, Ky., has renamed its airport in honor of the boxer-turned-activist who died in 2016. The Louisville Regional Airport Authority board announced its decision on Wednesday to call the airport the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. "Muhammad became one of the most well-known people to ever walk the Earth and has left a legacy of humanitarianism and athleticism that has inspired billions of people," said Mayor Greg Fischer in a press release from...

Have you or someone close to you been struggling with medical bills you can't pay. NPR is doing a story about the best strategies for dealing with medical debt for a series on personal finance, and we want to hear your story! We'd also like to know if you found a good solution — for example working with a financial assistance counselor at a hospital or non-profit organization or some other strategy. Your response may be used in an upcoming story on air or on NPR.org. A producer may reach out...

Gas is relatively cheap these days. Enjoy those low prices, but don't get used to them, analysts say. An oversupply of oil on the world market has triggered a steady slide in gas prices, bringing Americans some of the cheapest gas in years as 2019 kicked off. Nationally, regular was averaging around $2.25 per gallon at the start of January — the lowest price for this time of year since 2016, according to AAA. It's welcome news for drivers. Just last summer, gas prices were at four-year highs....

Sniffles, sore throats and fevers seem to be all around lately. If things get bad enough for you or a loved one to seek care, what are your expectations about treatment? Do you want a prescription for an antibiotic if symptoms suggest an infection? We decided to ask Americans in the latest NPR-IBM Watson Health Poll . We found that visits for symptoms that could be from an infection were common and that most people who saw a health professional under those circumstances got a prescription for...