memeorandum: Aetna to cut back 70% on Obamacare plans in 2017 (Bertha Coombs/CNBC)

2:40 PM ET, August 16, 2016

Top Items:

Rogers Ailes to Advise Donald Trump Ahead of Presidential Debates — Roger Ailes, the former Fox News chairman ousted last month over charges of sexual harassment, is advising Donald J. Trump as he begins to prepare for the all-important presidential debates this fall.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, Politico, RedState, Raw Story, Media Matters for America, Common Dreams, Politicus USA, The New Civil Rights Movement, Mediaite, Business Insider, Guardian and TVNewser, more at Mediagazer »

NBC News:

Why Is Donald Trump's Campaign Sitting on $82 Million? — Donald Trump calls for ‘extreme vetting’ of immigrants to the US 1:53 — First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Washington Post:

Trump unpopularity fuels wide lead for Clinton in new Virginia poll — Hillary Clinton holds a commanding lead over Donald Trump in Virginia, with disdain for the Republican presidential nominee helping Clinton overcome her own vulnerabilities, a new Washington Post poll finds.

Discussion: RedState, Politico, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, AOL, Hot Air, Politicus USA, Outside the Beltway, Washington Times and twitchy.com

NBC News:

Poll: Clinton Maintains Big Lead as Voters Doubt Trump's Temperament — The numbers were virtually unchanged since last week's poll. Generally low favorability and negative attitudes among voters plague both candidates, however, as they make appeals to voters in key swing states in the weeks ahead.

Discussion: Hot Air, RedState, New York Post, Talking Points Memo and The New Civil Rights Movement

Clinton Leads / Monmouth University:

Monmouth University Polling Institute — Florida — Hillary Clinton holds a 9 point lead over Donald Trump in the crucial swing state of Florida. — The Monmouth University Poll also finds incumbent Marco Rubio leading either of his two main Democratic challengers to retain his U.S. Senate seat, although by varying margins.

Discussion: New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post and twitchy.com

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Trump Leads By Only 6 in Texas

Discussion: Daily Wire and Politicus USA

Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight:

The GOP's Chances Of Holding The Senate Are Following Trump Downhill — Donald Trump's post-conventions polling slump seems to be having an effect on the Republican Party's U.S. Senate candidates. We thought this might happen: There's been an increasingly strong relationship between …

Discussion: Daily Wire and Politicus USA

Manu Raju / CNN:

Ayotte: I will stand up to Trump but will vote for him — Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN)Sen. Kelly Ayotte has often found herself in a familiar spot with Donald Trump: Keeping her distance. — But in this fiercely independent state, Ayotte is gambling that voters might reward her for rebuking her own party's nominee.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Associated Press, Politico, Daily Kos and Lawyers, Guns & Money

David Rutz / Washington Free Beacon:
Hassan Can't Say If Clinton Is Honest, Even After She's Asked Three Times

Discussion: MichelleMalkin.com and Hot Air

Peter Sullivan / The Hill:

Aetna pulling back from ObamaCare in blow to health law — In a blow to the health care law, Aetna — one of the largest health insurers in the country — announced Monday that it will significantly scale back its presence on the ObamaCare marketplaces next year.

Discussion: CNNMoney, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, neo-neocon, Scared Monkeys, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and ACASignups.net

Bob Bryan / Business Insider:

Aetna, one of the country's largest health insurers, is ditching 70% of its Obamacare business — Aetna, one of the country's five largest health insurers, announced on Monday evening that it would be pulling out of nearly 70% of the counties in which it offers coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

Discussion: Business Wire, NPR and Washington Free Beacon

Zachary Tracer / Bloomberg:
Aetna to Quit Most Obamacare Markets, Joining Major Rivals

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, USA Today, ACASignups.net, Daily Wire, Balloon Juice and Conservative Review

Bertha Coombs / CNBC:
Aetna to cut back 70% on Obamacare plans in 2017

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, New York Times and Instapundit

Mike Levine / ABC News:

Trump to Receive First Classified Briefing Tomorrow — Certain staff within the FBI's New York Field Office have been told to expect a special guest tomorrow: Donald Trump. — The presidential candidate is scheduled to receive his first classified briefing as the Republican Party's nominee …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Politico

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Feds reject Clinton comparison in classified sub photos case

Discussion: Hot Air and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

GOP Senator Lindsey Graham: I Think Trump Is Going To Lose — Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says he thinks Donald Trump is going to lose the election. Graham, who has said he's not voting for Trump, argued that demographics and Trump's rhetoric make it nearly impossible for him to win.

Discussion: Politico and Washington Times

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
A GOP Congressman Thinks Trump Is Trying To Lose To Help Clinton

Discussion: alan.com

Roger Stone / The Hill:

Can the 2016 election be rigged? You bet — has said publicly that he fears the next election will be rigged. Based both on technical capability and recent history, Trump's concerns are not unfounded. — A recent study by Stanford University proved that Hillary Clinton

Discussion: RedState, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Media Matters for America and Mediaite

Jess Bidgood / New York Times:

Pennsylvania's Attorney General Is Convicted on All Counts — NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Kathleen G. Kane, the attorney general of Pennsylvania, was convicted Monday night of nine criminal charges, including perjury and criminal conspiracy. — It was a stunning end to the political career of Ms. Kane …

Discussion: CNN, Independent Journal Review, Morning Call, Washington Post, CBS Philly, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Above the Law, LawNewz, FiveThirtyEight, The Last Refuge, RedState and Instapundit

Milo / Breitbart:

Donald Trump Just Overtook The Democrats On Gay Rights — The madman has actually done it. God-Emperor Daddy — known to the rest of you as Republican presidential candidate Donald J Trump — has just outflanked Hillary Clinton on the Left and announced what can only be described as an ultra-progressive immigration policy.

Discussion: BizPac Review, Washington Post and Friendly Atheist

Nick Gass / Politico:

Obama: Every time Trump talks, ‘he makes the case against’ himself — For President Barack Obama, Donald Trump needs only to open his mouth to help Hillary Clinton toward the White House. — Even so, taking a brief detour from his vacation in Martha's Vineyard, Obama implored attendees …

Discussion: Daily Kos and ABC News

Alexander Mallin / ABC News:
President Obama ‘Tired’ of Talking About Donald Trump

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Hill, BizPac Review, Associated Press, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Politico and Mediaite

New York Times:

Mr. Trump's Foreign Policy Confusions — Donald Trump's speech on Monday was advertised as an attempt to redirect his campaign from a series of blunders to a more serious discussion of foreign policy, starting with combating global terrorism. As such, it marked another test of his readiness to lead.

Discussion: Foreign Policy, Jihad Watch, Defense One, Daily Kos, Boing Boing, Politicus USA and The Atlantic

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Fact-checking Donald Trump's ‘major’ speech on the Islamic State

Discussion: Mother Jones, Heavy.com, Vox, Politicus USA, Mashable, Raw Story and NBC News

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:

Third-party candidates on outside as debate criteria released — The Commission on Presidential Debates has released the polls it will use to decide the participants of September's first presidential debate as third-party candidates struggle to make the stage.

Discussion: Common Dreams, FiveThirtyEight, Hot Air and Commission on Presidential …

The Huffington Post:
HUFFPOLLSTER: Gary Johnson And Jill Stein Aren't Polling High Enough To Make The Debates

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Breitbart, Washington Post and CNNMoney

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:

Rubio Stands By Claim That Trump Is A ‘Con Man’, Still Supports Him — In the final weeks of his 2016 presidential run, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) threw every insult in the book at Donald Trump, calling him a litigious, “orange” “con man.” The Florida senator said Monday that he will not retract …

Discussion: CNN, RealClearPolitics, ABC News, Right Wing Watch, NPR, Daily Kos, Political Wire and miamiherald

Brad Reed / Raw Story:

Trump-loving ex-cop: Milwaukee BLM ‘looters’ should be ‘shot on sight’ — even women and children — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — Former police officer and notoriously belligerent Trump supporter Jim Stachowiak has in the past fantasized about terrorists murdering his political enemies …

Discussion: alan.com

Esme Cribb / Talking Points Memo:

READ: GOPers Urge RNC To Cut Off Funding To Trump In Open Letter — More than 100 Republicans have signed the final draft of a letter to be sent Tuesday urging Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus to shift resources away from Donald Trump. — Among the letter's 123 signees …

Discussion: alan.com

Mark Leibovich / New York Times:

Anthony Weiner Thinks He's Pretty Good at Giving Advice — What is your job now? I don't have one, really. I've got a consulting company with a handful of clients — a couple of nonprofits, a universe of businesses and executives whose instincts are good. Sometimes they just want to kibitz.

Discussion: Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Peter Hasson / The Daily Caller:

Leaked Soros Memo: Refugee Crisis ‘New Normal,’ Gives ‘New Opportunities’ For Global Influence — A leaked memo from left-wing financier George Soros's Open Society Foundations argues that Europe's refugee crisis should be accepted as a “new normal,” and that the refugee crisis means …

Discussion: Investor's Business Daily, Jihad Watch and The Hill

Ezra Klein / Vox:

The media vs. Donald Trump: why the press feels so free to criticize the Republican nominee — There is a case to be made that the media created Donald Trump. It was, reportedly, his anger at being dismissed by political pundits that led him to run for president in the first place.

Discussion: bradford-delong.com and Hit & Run

KMSP:

Ilhan Omar's marriage certificate questions, and her response — MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Ilhan Omar made history last week, poised to become the first Somali-American candidate elected to a state house anywhere in the United States. But she's now facing a slew of questions …

Discussion: Star Tribune, Power Line and Shot in the Dark