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Developing now, Friday, March 22, 2019

FOX BUSINESS EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP DEFENDS MCCAIN CRITICISM, ADDRESSES ISRAEL'S SOVEREIGNTY - President Trump, in an exclusive interview with Maria Bartiromo for "Mornings with Maria," defended his recent criticism of the late Sen. John McCain, saying he "was not a fan" and blasting him for his 2017 thumbs-down vote on repealing and replacing ObamaCare ... "He was horrible, what he did with repeal and replace," Trump told Bartiromo. Trump again blamed McCain, who died last August, for giving a much-discredited dossier of Trump's alleged ties to Russia to the FBI and triggering the ongoing Russia investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Trump also accused the Federal Reserve of hindering U.S. economic growth, addressed his support of Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights and more in the wide-reaching interview. Tune in to "Mornings with Maria" at 6 a.m. ET today to see Bartiromo's interview with President Trump.

Trump's support for Israel's sovereignty over Golan Heights expected to make waves at UN

AOC DEFENDS GREEN NEW DEAL, ACCUSES TRUMP, GOP OF PUSHING FALSE NARRATIVE: U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., appeared on a late-night comedy talk show Thursday night, but found the defense of her Green New Deal no laughing matter ... When asked by “Late Night” host Seth Meyers if President Trump’s claims that “cows farting” and “hamburgers” would be outlawed were true, Ocasio-Cortez firmly answered “No.” “I think it’s good to see how these narratives are manipulated," she said, "because they’re trying to say that the Green New Deal is about what we have to give up, what we have to cut back on, when in fact the Green New Deal itself is resolution to be more expansive.”

NEWLY RELEASED EMAILS CONTRADICT CLINTON: A newly unearthed batch of heavily redacted, classified emails from Hillary Clinton's personal email server revealed that the former secretary of state discussed establishing a "private, 100% off-the-record" back channel to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and that one of her top aides warned her that she was in "danger" of being "savaged by Jewish organizations and other groups as a result of political machinations by "Bibi and the Jewish leadership" ... The 756-page group of new documents seemingly contradicted Clinton's insistence under oath in 2015 that she had turned over all of her sensitive work-related emails to the State Department, and included a slew of classified communications.

COMEY DOESN'T THINK TRUMP SHOULD BE IMPEACHED: In an opinion piece for the New York Times, fired former FBI Director James Comey says he doesn’t want to see Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report find President Trump to be a criminal. He also doesn’t want the report to “clear” Trump of any wrongdoing ... All Comey wants, he says, is for Mueller’s long-awaited report to show that the United States justice system works. Comey added that he doesn't think Congress should try to impeach Trump and that the president’s supporters could see impeachment as an attempted "coup."

THE FALL OF ISIS IN SYRIA: The last ISIS caliphate in Syria has fallen, Fox News has learned ... Reporting from Baghouz in Syria, Fox News foreign affairs correspondent Benjamin Hall writes, "The caliphate has crumbled, and the final offensive is over. While the official announcement hasn’t yet been made – Fox News has been told that this village, the last ISIS stronghold, is liberated. It’s the first time since we’ve been here in Syria for five days that the bombs have stopped dropping and the gunfire has disappeared. We have witnessed the end of the caliphate – the brutal empire that once ruled over 8 million people – is gone."

Stay with Fox News for updates from Benjamin Hall throughout the day on Friday.

HOW THE NFL SETTLED WITH KAEPERNICK FOR PENNIES: Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, gridiron stars who alleged NFL teams colluded to keep them off the field after they led protests during the national anthem, will receive less than $10 million to settle grievances with the league, the Wall Street Journal reports... The confidential agreement was widely celebrated as a victory for the players. But the settlement is far less than the tens of millions of dollars Kaepernick may likely have been owed if his grievance had prevailed.

THE SOUNDBITE

TRUMP KEEPS HIS PROMISE ON ISIS - "Yeah, he says mean things at the wrong time. But if stopping terror means putting a guy in charge who doesn’t care who he offends – sign me up. I've said it before: Trump is a two-hour drive for one hour at the beach." – Greg Gutfeld, on "The Five," arguing that President Trump deserves credit for the presumed fall of the ISIS caliphate in Syria. (Click the image above to watch the full video.)

TODAY'S MUST-READS

Trump’s campus free speech Executive Order protects all students – it's intellectual freedom vs social tyranny

Lawyer for Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner rebuts Cummings' concerns over private emails, texts

Howard Kurtz: Time's 'phenom': Is AOC using the media — or the other way around?

Country music star Justin Carter remembered after accidental shooting death.

MINDING YOUR BUSINESS

White House, corporate America flood Congress in USMCA push.

Ocasio-Cortez hits back at JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon after Green New Deal criticism.

Stocks close up on technology, consumer goods strength.

STAY TUNED

On Fox Nation:

Catching El Chapo

A top DEA agent's shocking tell-all about the three-decade long hunt for the world's most notorious drug lord. Watch a preview of the show HERE.

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Fox Nation is a subscription streaming service offering daily shows and documentaries that you can’t watch anywhere else. Watch from your phone, computer and select TV devices.

On Fox News:

Fox & Friends, 6 a.m. ET: Special guests include: Presidential historian Doug Wead on the importance of the Electoral College. Steve Doocy has another edition of "Dooce on the Loose": Do you know the Bill of Rights?

The Story with Martha MacCallum, 7 p.m. ET: An interview with U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas.

On Fox News Radio:

The Fox News Rundown podcast: "Eric Trump on Immigration" - Eric Trump talks about the immigration debate in Part 2 of a wide-ranging conversation about his father's presidency. Be sure to listen to Part 1 on Thursday's podcast, where he touched on the Mueller probe and the 2020 presidential race. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a report warning that heavier-than-normal flooding may hit the South in the coming months. Ed Clark, director of NOAA's National Water Center, explains how this new warning follows the historic flooding ravaging parts of the Midwest. Don't miss the "good news" with Fox's Tonya J. Powers. Plus, commentary by Chris Wallace, host of "Fox News Sunday."

Want the Fox News Rundown sent straight to your mobile device? Subscribe through Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher.

The Brian Kilmeade Show, 9 a.m. ET: A.B. Stoddard, RealClearPolitics associate editor, and Shannon Bream, host of "Fox News @ Night" on the state of the 2020 presidential race and Mueller report anticipation; Jack Mitchell, morning host on KLIN-AM radio in Lincoln, Neb., talks about the severe flooding in his state. Thomas Kersting, author of "Disconnected: How To Reconnect Our Digitally Distracted Kids," on millennial stressors and adults who don't become adults until they reach their thirties.

On Fox News Weekend:

Cavuto Live, Saturday, 10 a.m. ET: There is growing debate over President Trump’s renewed criticism of late Sen. John McCain; a panel of experts weighs in. The House preparing to vote on March 26 on whether to override President Trump’s veto that maintains his declaration of a national emergency at the border. Thomas Homan, former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), gives his take. Former Whitewater Independent Counsel Ken Starr on the Mueller probe reportedly winding down.

Life, Liberty & Levin, Sunday, 10 p.m. ET: Mark Levin sits down with former CBS correspondent Lara Logan to talk about her time in Afghanistan and Iraq, reporting on Benghazi, and the state of today’s media.

#TheFlashback

1991: High school instructor Pamela Smart, accused of recruiting her teenage lover and his friends to kill her husband, Gregory, is convicted in Exeter, N.H., of murder-conspiracy and being an accomplice to murder and is sentenced to life in prison without parole.

1978: Karl Wallenda, the 73-year-old patriarch of "The Flying Wallendas" high-wire act, falls to his death while attempting to walk a cable strung between two hotel towers in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

1894: Hockey's first Stanley Cup championship game is played; home team Montreal defeats Ottawa, 3-1.

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