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First Read's Morning Clips: About that U.S. Aircraft Carrier...

A roundup of the most important political news stories of the day
Image: The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) transits the Pacific Ocean
The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) transits the Pacific Ocean January 30, 2017.HANDOUT / Reuters

TRUMP AGENDA: That U.S. aircraft carrier wasn’t headed (initially) to North Korea

The Washington Post: “Remember that U.S. aircraft carrier that was headed to the Korean Peninsula as both the Trump administration and North Korea began to talk tough with one another? It turns out it wasn't — at least, not when we were led to think it was. The Trump administration is again facing questions about why it appeared to mislead — or, at the very least, failed to correct the record about pervasive reports — that the USS Carl Vinson was headed to North Korea starting 10 days ago. Newly discovered photos show that it was actually traveling in the other direction — into the Indian Ocean — as recently as four days ago.”

The New York Times: “President Trump, hammering his “America First” campaign theme, signed an order on Tuesday that he said would favor American companies for federal contracts and reform the visa program for foreign technical workers.”

From NBC’s Andrea Mitchell and Phil Helsel: “U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said late Tuesday that the Trump administration is weighing whether to effectively break the terms of the Iran nuclear deal, while certifying that the Islamic nation is upholding terms of the landmark 2015 agreement.”

Pete Williams previews an important Supreme Court argument over freedom of religion.

New York Times headline re: Ivanka Trump and conflict of interest: “Ivanka Trump’s Global Reach, Undeterred by a White House Job”

POLITICO previews Trump’s upcoming shift to more weekends in Bedminster. “President Donald Trump’s repeated weekend jaunts away from Washington have caused nonstop headaches for his South Florida neighbors this winter. But once his exclusive seaside retreat at Mar-a-Lago closes for the season, Trump is expected to shift his weekend plans north, to his Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey – and bring with him all the chaos that comes with being a preferred presidential destination.”

The Washington Post: “Trump’s interest in achieving warm relations with Moscow has been a consistent theme since the earliest days of his campaign, and it stands now as one of the few major foreign policy positions that he has not discarded or revised since taking office. But in his devotion to this outcome, Trump appears increasingly isolated within his own administration.”

The Guardian on the latest on the UK election: “Theresa May has defended her decision to seek a snap general election as she accused opposition parties of trying to frustrate the Brexit process… She is expected to be granted permission on Wednesday afternoon by MPs in the House of Commons for a poll on 8 June, but opposition parties have expressed concern that her motive for calling a poll is to crush dissent against her Brexit plan.”

And don’t sleep on the latest developments in France, either, where voters could end up with a choice between the far right and the far left.

OFF TO THE RACES: About last night

How the results from last night’s special congressional election played:

Washington Post: “Republicans avoid big loss by forcing runoff in Ga. House race”

New York Times: “Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, Narrowly Misses Outright Win in Georgia House Race”

Wall Street Journal: “Democrats Falter in Bid for Outright Win in Georgia House Race”

NBCNews.com: “Democrat Jon Ossoff Falls Short in Georgia Special Election, Race Goes to Runoff”

The AP: “Georgia House race down to 2 candidates, plus Trump, Pelosi”

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Trump loyalists flail in Georgia special election”

AL-SEN: From AL.com, on the newest dates for the Senate special election. “Gov. Kay Ivey has changed the date for the election to fill the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Jeff Sessions. Ivey scheduled the election for this year. Former Gov. Robert Bentley had scheduled it for next year. Under a proclamation Ivey signed today, the primary will be August 15, the runoff, if necessary, will be Sept. 26 and the general election will be Dec. 12.”

MT-AL:The Billings Gazette notes that both candidates are talking on the trail about the importance of education policy, but they’re leaving it off the airwaves for now.

SC-05: Republican hopefuls are making their case in advance of the May 2 primary.

VA-GOV: From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: “Democrat Tom Perriello’s fundraising haul of $2.2 million in the first three months of 2017, the highest among all candidates in Virginia’s governor’s race, was powered in part by several six-figure checks from outside the state, including $385,000 from billionaire investor George Soros and his sons and $200,000 from a New York-based nonprofit Perriello co-founded a decade ago.”

In an interview with SiriusXM’s Julie Mason, Carly Fiorina certainly sounded like someone who’s eyeing running for Virginia Senate in 2018.