memeorandum: Senate to act this week on Obamacare repeal, McConnell says (Toni Clarke/Reuters)

6:20 PM ET, January 8, 2017

Top Items:

Toni Clarke / Reuters:

Senate to act this week on Obamacare repeal, McConnell says — The U.S. Senate will take its first steps toward repealing President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform act by the end of the week, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday.

Discussion: Political Wire

Seung Min Kim / Politico:

McConnell: We won't delay hearings — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday rebuffed Democratic calls to slow down rapid confirmation of Donald Trump's Cabinet picks, even after a nonpartisan federal watchdog raised “great” concerns about moving ahead with hearings for nominees whose ethics reviews have not been completed.

Discussion: Washington Post, Booman Tribune and Hot Air

National Review:
How to Repeal Obamacare — Republicans should not settle for a phony win.

Discussion: The Daily Signal

Associated Press:
The Latest: Senate GOP Leader Says Dems Need to ‘Grow Up’

Discussion: Politico

The Hill:
Dems launch early '18 attacks on GOP Senate targets

Discussion: Political Wire

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:

UK prime minister: Trump's comments about groping women ‘unacceptable’ — British Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday criticized President-elect Donald Trump — for the lewd comments he was heard making about women in a 2005 tape that surfaced last year. — “I think that's unacceptable,” May said in an interview with Sky News.

Discussion: Wave 105 and Raw Story

Nicki Rossoll / ABC News:

President Obama Says He and Donald Trump ‘Are Sort of Opposites’ — President Obama said he thinks it's fair to say that he and President-elect Donald Trump “are sort of opposites in some ways,” but he admitted there is one thing they have in common: confidence.

Discussion: AOL

Seema Mehta / Los Angeles Times:
Pro-Trump Californians hope his victory can fuel a GOP revival in the Golden State

Discussion: The Daily Caller

David / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

Reince Priebus: 'There's No Reason' To Do Background Checks On Trump's Cabinet Picks — Reince Priebus, chief of staff to Donald Trump, argued on Sunday that there was “no reason” to complete background checks on the president-elect's cabinet appointments. — The Office of Government Ethics warned …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:
Trump's Cabinet picks undergo grueling prep for hearings

Discussion: Media Matters for America and Washington Post

Jessica Taylor / NPR:
Ethics Office Warns Confirmations For Trump Nominees Are Moving Too Fast

Discussion: Raw Story

David Nakamura / Washington Post:

Obama: I didn't underestimate the threats from Vladimir Putin — President Obama said in an interview that he did not misjudge the potential threats of Vladimir Putin, despite the U.S. intelligence report that the Russian president personally ordered an “influence campaign” to meddle in the U.S. presidential elections.

Discussion: NBC News and The Week

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:

Graham: Republicans happy about Russian meddling are political hacks — (R-S.C.) on Sunday ripped Republicans who are “gleeful” about Russia's meddling in the U.S. election, saying anyone who isn't condemning the meddling is “a political hack.” — “Most Republicans are condemning what Russia did.

Jerusalem Post:

Jerusalem ramming attack: Four killed as truck rams into IDF soldiers … Police confirm that the perpetrator has been neutralized; police chief identifies driver as east Jerusalem resident. — Four soldiers were killed, and 17 wounded, after a flatbed truck driven by an Arab terrorist rammed …

Discussion: New York Times, Hot Air, Israpundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mediaite and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Judah Ari Gross / The Times of Israel:
4 killed as driver plows truck into troops in Jerusalem terror attack

Discussion: Israel Matzav and The Daily Caller

Peter Beaumont / The Guardian:
Four soldiers dead in Jerusalem truck attack

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Gateway Pundit, The Times of Israel, Sputnik International, The Geller Report, Associated Press, The Week and Mediaite

David Mack / BuzzFeed:

“Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli Suspended From Twitter After Harassing A Teen Vogue Writer — This is journalist Lauren Duca. — Last month, Duca had a massive viral hit when she penned a Teen Vogue opinion piece that argued Donald Trump had conned the American public.

Discussion: Washington Post, Business Insider and The Verge

Ken Meyer / Mediaite:

Tapper Grills Conway: If WikiLeaks Didn't Influence the Election, Why Did Trump Invoke Them So Much? — CNN's Jake Tapper had Kellyanne Conway on State of the Union, where he asked the Donald Trump adviser about the President-elect's response to the intelligence that Russia meddled with the 2016 election

Discussion: The Week

TMZ.com:

Ft. Lauderdale Shooting — Video of First Shots Fired — The Ft. Lauderdale Airport shooter walked casually through baggage claim before suddenly pulling his gun out and wreaking havoc. — TMZ has obtained video of the shooting ... we are only showing the seconds leading up to the first shots fired and the panic that ensued.

Discussion: WSVN-TV, CBS Baltimore, twitchy.com and Mediaite

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:

Celebrities give Obama emotional farewell in video — Celebrities, activists and others gave an emotional goodbye to President Obama in a new video by the White House titled “Yes We Can: Your Most Memorable Moments from the Obama Presidency.” — The video features figures including Leonardo DiCaprio …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, MichelleMalkin.com and Scared Monkeys

Mike Miller / IJR:
Hollywood Celebrities Share Their ‘Obama Moments’ in Emotional Farewell Video to the President

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Infowars and Scared Monkeys

Pagan Kennedy / New York Times:

How to Destroy the Business Model of Breitbart and Fake News — One day in late November, an earth and environmental science professor named Nathan Phillips visited Breitbart News for the first time. Mr. Phillips had heard about the hateful headlines on the site — like …

Discussion: Occidental Dissent

Maayan Lubell / Reuters:

Netanyahu tried to negotiate a good press in return for benefits-media — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under police investigation for suspected corruption, was caught on tape negotiating mutual benefits with an arch-foe, the owner of one of Israel's largest-selling newspapers, Israeli media reported on Sunday.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Haaretz:
Netanyahu Caught on Tape Negotiating Mutual Benefits With Businessman

Discussion: Raw Story and Talking Points Memo

Dan Mitchell / International Liberty:

A Secret Glimpse at Life Inside a Bureaucracy — More than two years ago, I shared a couple of humorous images showing the languorous lifestyle of lazy bureaucrats. — While those images were amusing, they didn't really capture the true nature of bureaucracy.

Discussion: Power Line

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:

Obama says he thinks ObamaCare will survive — President Obama said he thinks ObamaCare, his signature healthcare legislation, will survive. — “I think it will,” he said in an interview on ABC's “This Week.” “It may be called something else. And as I said, I don't mind.”

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Nicki Rossoll / ABC News:
President Obama Says ‘Obamacare’ Will Survive Beyond His Presidency

Discussion: BizPac Review, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller, Politico and alan.com

William J. Burns / New York Times:

How We Fool Ourselves on Russia — In the quarter-century since the end of the Cold War, profound grievances, misperceptions and disappointments have often defined the relationship between the United States and Russia. I lived through this turbulence during my years as a diplomat in Moscow …