memeorandum: McCain warns Trump on torture, waterboarding (Michael Crowley/Politico)

9:00 PM ET, November 19, 2016

Top Items:

Lindsey Sullivan / Broadway.com:

Exclusive! Brandon Victor Dixon on the Hamilton Fam's Speech for Mike Pence: ‘I Hope He Remembers Us’ — Hamilton is already the revolutionary hit heard round the world, but at the November 18th evening performance, history truly had its eyes on this cast.

Katie Zezima / Washington Post:

Trump, Romney have ‘far-reaching conversation’ at meeting — Donald Trump met with Mitt Romney Saturday afternoon, one of a flurry of meetings the president-elect is holding at his New Jersey golf course. — Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, said he and the president-elect had a …

Discussion: NPR and Jezebel

New York Times:

High in Tower, Trump Reads, Tweets and Plans — Donald J. Trump sits high in Trump Tower in New York, spending hours on the phone with friends, television personalities and donors to ask if they know people to recommend for his cabinet. — He joins a daily morning transition meeting …

Discussion: The Hill, Business Insider, Politico, New Century Times and Just Jared

New York Times:
‘Hamilton’ Had Some Unscripted Lines for Pence. Trump Wasn't Happy.

Tara Golshan / Vox:
Hamilton's cast reminded Pence that inclusivity is an American value. Trump wants an apology.

Charles Ventura / USA Today:
Trump asks ‘Hamilton’ cast who ‘harassed’ Mike Pence to apologize

Anneta Konstantinides / Daily Mail:
Donald Trump claims Hamilton cast HARASSED VP-elect Mike Pence and demands they apologize …

Discussion: Independent Journal Review, The Last Tradition and Vox Popoli

New York Post:
VP-elect Mike Pence booed at ‘Hamilton’

Discussion: Infowars and The Geller Report

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

Pentagon and intelligence community chiefs have urged Obama to remove the head of the NSA — The heads of the Pentagon and the nation's intelligence community have recommended to President Obama that the director of the National Security Agency, Adm. Michael S. Rogers, be removed.

Discussion: New York Times, Guardian, Wall Street Journal, NBC News, RedState and The Intercept

Phil Stewart / Reuters:

Senior U.S. officials recommend removal of NSA director: sources — The heads of the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community have recommended to President Barack Obama that the director of the National Security Agency, Admiral Michael Rogers, be removed from his position, sources familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

Discussion: The Last Refuge

Michael Crowley / Politico:

McCain warns Trump on torture, waterboarding — Republican Sen. John McCain issued a fiery warning to President-elect Donald Trump on the subject of torture Saturday. — “I don't give a damn what the president of the United States wants to do. We will not waterboard,” …

Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire

Kristin Salaky / Talking Points Memo:
McCain: If Trump Begins Waterboarding He'll Be In Court In ‘A New York Minute’

Discussion: alan.com

New York Times:

Jeff Sessions as Attorney General: An Insult to Justice — In 1986, President Ronald Reagan nominated Jeff Sessions, then a United States attorney from Alabama, to be a federal judge. The Republican-controlled Senate rejected Mr. Sessions out of concern, based on devastating testimony by former colleagues, that he was a racist.

Discussion: Sun Herald, The Daily Caller, TalkLeft, Refinery29, Media Matters for America, Occupy Democrats, Business Insider, Extract and theGrio

Tom Schoenberg / Bloomberg:
Trump's Pick for Attorney General Scoffed at ‘Too Big to Fail’

Discussion: Politico, The Week and ABC News

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Inside Chris Christie's fall from grace — Chris Christie, once one of the Republican Party's brightest stars, was virtually assured a position in a Donald Trump administration. As one of the first big-name politicians to endorse the Manhattan billionaire, the New Jersey governor had earned Trump's gratitude.

Discussion: RedState and New Jersey Online

Brent Griffiths / Politico: Trump to meet with Christie on Sunday

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:

Federal judge at citizenship ceremony: If you don't like Trump, then leave — A federal judge this week said at a U.S. citizenship ceremony that anyone unhappy with President-elect Donald Trump — should go to a different country. — “I can assure you that whether you voted …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Joe.My.God.

Tegna / KHOU-TV:
Federal judge: 'If you don't like [Trump], you should go to another country'

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, RedState, RT, Law News and CBS DC

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

Donald Trump, America's first independent president — Viewed through any conventional lens, President-elect Donald Trump's candidacy was improbable from start to finish. Today, two things about his victory seem to be in sharper focus: one, that Trump's victory might best be understood …

Justin Baragona / Mediaite:

Students Burst Into Laughter When Corey Lewandowski Says ‘Mexico Will Pay for the Wall’ — During a Q&A session following a speech at the Oxford Union this week, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was confronted by one questioner over her belief that Donald Trump is a bigot and liar, and his answer led to mocking laughter.

Discussion: Raw Story, New Century Times and The Oxford Student

The Daily Beast:

‘Mad Dog’ Mattis Front Runner for DOD — The retired 4-star Marine Corps general who memorably said “it's fun to shoot some people” is a leading candidate to become Team Trump's Secretary of Defense. — Teams of lawyers on Capitol Hill wrestled on Friday with how to allow retired 4-star …

Laura Bult / New York Daily News:

Protesters in Washington D.C. clash with white nationalists at conference celebrating ‘year of Donald Trump’ (WARNING: GRAPHIC) … A white nationalist conference held at a federal building in Washington, D.C., in celebration of “the year of Donald Trump” ignited violent clashes between protesters …

Discussion: RedState, alan.com, Joe.My.God. and Washington Post

NPR.org:
'We're Not Going Away': Alt-Right Leader On Voice In Trump Administration

Discussion: Salon and The Week

Ronald A. Klain / Washington Post:

Trump's big infrastructure plan? It's a trap. — Ronald A. Klain served as assistant to President Obama and oversaw the team implementing the American Recovery and Renewal Act from 2009-2011. He was an adviser to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 campaign. The views expressed here are solely his own.

Discussion: alan.com, Talking Points Memo and Politicus USA

Washington Post:

For foreign diplomats, Trump hotel is place to be — About 100 foreign diplomats, from Brazil to Turkey, gathered at the Trump International Hotel this week to sip Trump-branded champagne, dine on sliders and hear a sales pitch about the U.S. president-elect's newest hotel.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Vox, Occupy Democrats, Mediaite, Gothamist, New Century Times, Hot Air, New York Magazine and The New Civil Rights Movement

Sarah Wheaton / Politico:

Obama loyalists plot Trump resistance — President Barack Obama told his most loyal operatives that they have 10 days to get over their grief. — They're already ahead of schedule. — In the past week, Obama alumni have planned gatherings at Glascott's Saloon in Chicago (an old campaign haunt) and The Winslow in New York.

Discussion: New Century Times and Politicus USA

Economist:

Democrats on the brink — The American left is in danger of learning precisely the wrong lesson from defeat — AGHAST at the defection of millions who voted for Barack Obama in 2012 but for Donald Trump in 2016—notably working-class whites in the Midwest—the left wants the Democratic Party …

Discussion: The Huffington Post