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Developing now, Thursday, March 14, 2019

TRUMP NATIONAL EMERGENCY DECLARATION SHOWDOWN: The Republican-led Senate is set to vote Thursday on President Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border to obtain funding for his long-promised wall ... There may be enough Republican opposition in the Senate to block the emergency declaration, which could prompt Trump to issue his first veto while in office. In an interview set to air on "Fox & Friends" Thursday morning, Vice President Mike Pence urged Republicans to back the president’s emergency declaration.

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BOEING 737 MAX JETS GROUNDED: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Wednesday ordered two Boeing 737 Max jets — one model of which was involved in the fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people — to be temporarily grounded in the U.S. ... The agency said the decision was made to ground both the Boeing 737 Max 8 and 737 Max 9 models "as a result of the data gathering process and new evidence collected at the site and analyzed." Boeing has suspended its entire global fleet of 371 737 Max jetliners. Worldwide, 69 commercial airlines and airline leasing firms use the Max 8 and Max 9 models. Among the U.S. airlines that have Boeing 737 Max planes among their fleet are Southwest Airlines, which operates 34 Max 8 planes, American Airlines, which operates 24 Max 8 planes, and United Airlines, which operates 14 Max 9 planes. Airlines in other countries, including the entire European Union, Ethiopia, China, Indonesia, Australia, Brazil and Iceland, grounded the jetliner on Monday.

EXCLUSIVE: HILLARY CLINTON INVESTIGATORS TOLD OBAMA DOJ 'NOT WILLING TO CHARGE HER': An internal chart prepared by federal investigators working on the so-called "Midyear Exam" probe into Hillary Clinton's emails, exclusively reviewed by Fox News, contained the words "NOTE: DOJ not willing to charge this" next to a key statute on the mishandling of classified information. The notation appeared to contradict former FBI Director James Comey's repeated claims that his team independently decided that Clinton should not face criminal charges. Comey stated publicly that his FBI conducted the Clinton email investigation honestly and was not swayed by outside influences. However, President Trump and longtime Republican critics have argued that anti-Trump political bias in Comey's FBI and the Justice Department tainted the Clinton investigation.

SINGING THE 'VARSITY BLUES': One day after Lori Loughlin was ensnared in a bombshell college admissions investigation, the "Full House" star has been released on a $1 million bond ... Loughlin and "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman are among the more than four dozen people have been charged in the nationwide bribery scam, which is alleged to have placed students in top-tier schools like Yale, Georgetown, Stanford, the University of Southern California, UCLA and the University of Texas. The federal investigation into the matter – dubbed "Operation Varsity Blues" – has been ongoing for more than a year.

Loughlin, her famed fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli and Huffman are all ordered to appear in federal court in Boston on March 29 for a preliminary hearing. In light of the national college admissions scandal, the University of Southern California (USC) on Wednesday announced it will "review" students and graduates who may be linked to the investigation.

MYSTERY MUELLER CASE REVEALED: Documents filed with the Supreme Court and unsealed on Wednesday revealed definitively, and for the first time, that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is the party seeking a grand jury subpoena and subsequent contempt citation against an unnamed, government-controlled foreign corporation that has resisted prosecutors' efforts at every turn ... The proceedings are believed to be linked to attempts by Mueller's team to secure information to present to an empaneled grand jury in the special counsel's Russia investigation.

BETO 'BORN' TO RUN? - Beto O'Rourke all but announced his 2020 presidential candidacy in a wide-ranging interview published Wednesday in Vanity Fair magazine, confidently saying he was "just born to do this" ... The move seemed inevitable Wednesday night. El Paso’s KTSM-TV reported it received a text message from O'Rourke earlier in the day saying he will seek the Democratic presidential nomination, writing: "I'm really proud of what El Paso did and what El Paso represents. It's a big part of why I'm running. This city is the best example of this country at its best."

THE SOUNDBITE

TUCKER CALLS OUT MEDIA MATTERS PRESIDENT - "[MSNBC anchor Chris] Hayes’s political views aren’t very interesting: Cringing hipster sensitivity, burnished with low-grade academic buzzwords. Pretty banal. But Hayes always seemed like a decent guy personally. He didn’t seem like a hater. It was hard to imagine him promoting open racism and anti-Semitism. Or at least it was, until the other night. That’s when Hayes invited a man called Angelo Carusone onto his show. Carusone runs Media Matters. Almost every day, he issues outraged press releases accusing other people of bigotry. And yet, because everything is irony, Carusone is himself an enthusiastic bigot. We know this because he’s written about it extensively." – Tucker Carlson, on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," pointing out Media Matters President Angelo Carusone's past hateful comments in an old blog.

TODAY'S MUST-READS

Stuart Varney: Ocasio-Cortez is so far out of line that she must surely be a 'bubble.'

Kellyanne Conway’s husband rips Trump for ‘pathological’ lying, claims president has ‘disorder.'

Connecticut man who got phone call of support from Trump dies.

Manafort sentenced, then indicted in New York City on mortgage fraud, other state charges.

MINDING YOUR BUSINESS

Trump's grounding of Boeing 737 Max jets trims stock market gains.

British lawmakers reject no-deal Brexit in any circumstance.

Fiat Chrysler recalling nearly 863,000 U.S. vehicles that don't meet EPA standards.

STAY TUNED

On Fox Nation:

What Made America Great, Season 2

Brian Kilmeade travels to historic places and relives the biggest events that shaped our amazing country on "What Made America Great." Watch a preview of the show now.

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On Fox News:

Fox & Friends, 6 a.m. ET: Special guests include: Vice President Mike Pence; Newt Gingrich; Fox Nation host Tomi Lahren; Fox News' Pete Hegseth tours a border protection training facility with DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

Your World with Neil Cavuto, 4 p.m. ET: Special guests include: U.S. Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla. and John Barrasso, R-Wis.

Fox News @ Night, 11 p.m. ET: Lt. Randy Sutton, host of Blue Lives Radio.

On Fox Business:

Mornings with Maria, 6 a.m. ET: Special guests include: U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.; U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore.; Karl Rove, former White House senior adviser to President George W. Bush; Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor.

Varney & Co., 9 a.m. ET: Special guests include: U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.

On Fox News Radio:

The Fox News Rundown podcast: "Schools Must Change After Admissions Scandal" - Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz discusses "Operation Varsity Blues" and how colleges can uncover and fight back against admission scams. Transcripts of closed-door testimony of former FBI attorney Lisa Page have been released, and they reveal some new details of the 'insurance policy' she discussed with former FBI agent Peter Strzok. Judge Andrew Napolitano, Fox News senior judicial analyst, discusses the released transcript. Plus, commentary by Leslie Marshall, Democratic strategist and Fox News contributor.

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The Brian Kilmeade Show, 9 a.m. ET: The grounding of Boeing jets, Operation Varsity Blues, Manafort's new legal trouble, Trump's national emergency declaration and more will be discussed with the following guests: Kathleen Bangs, Steve Doocy, Chris Wallace, Andy McCarthy, Stuart Varney, Dr. Jeff Gardere.

The Todd Starnes Show, Noon ET: Todd Starnes speaks with U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., about President Trump's call all for a national emergency at the border and American Family Radio host Bryan Fischer about how to raise the next generation of men.

The Tom Shillue Show, 3 p.m. ET: Fox News contributor Jessica Tarlov discusses Operation Varsity Blues and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent comments on impeaching President Trump.

Benson & Harf, 6 p.m. ET: An interview with Howard Schultz, 2020 presidential candidate and former chairman and CEO of Starbucks.

#TheFlashback

2018: Tens of thousands of students across the country walk out of their classrooms to demand action on gun violence and school safety, one month after the shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

1990: The Soviet Congress of People's Deputies hold a secret ballot that elects Mikhail S. Gorbachev to a new, powerful presidency.

1962: Democrat Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy officially launches his successful candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts once held by his brother, President John F. Kennedy. (Ted Kennedy would serve in the Senate for nearly 47 years.)

Fox News First is compiled by Fox News' Bryan Robinson. Thank you for joining us! Have a good day! We'll see you in your inbox first thing Friday morning.