memeorandum: Trump Claims To Have Met Putin In Newly Resurfaced Interview From 2015 (AUDIO) (Esme Cribb/Talking Points Memo)

9:00 PM ET, January 17, 2017

Top Items:

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning's Sentence — WASHINGTON — President Obama on Tuesday largely commuted the remaining prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the army intelligence analyst convicted of an enormous 2010 leak that revealed American military and diplomatic activities across the world …

Neil Eggleston / Blog Daily Listings RSS:

President Obama Has Now Granted More Commutations than Any President in this Nation's History — Today, 273 individuals learned that the President has given them a second chance. With today's 209 grants of commutation, the President has now commuted the sentences of 1,385 individuals …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Fox News, New York Times and Hit & Run

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Obama commutes Chelsea Manning's sentence — President Obama on Tuesday commuted the prison sentence of former Army soldier Chelsea Manning, according to the White House. — Manning was convicted in 2013 of leaking classified information about U.S. national security activities that were later disclosed by WikiLeaks.

Discussion: ABC News, Vox, Politico, Daily Wire, KTLA, The Guardian, emptywheel, Washington Free Beacon and The Gateway Pundit

New York Times:
Mr. Obama, Pick Up Your Pardon Pen

Discussion: Politico, Common Dreams, Althouse and Washington Post

Washington Post: Obama largely commutes sentence of Chelsea Manning, U.S. soldier convicted for leaking classified information

Mark Murray / NBC News:

As GOP Pushes Repeal, Obamacare Has Never Been More Popular: NBC News/WSJ poll — As Republicans get closer to repealing it, President Barack Obama's federal health-care law — or Obamacare — has never been more popular, according to results from a new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal.

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Liberal Values, FiveThirtyEight, NPR, NBC News, CNBC, The Gateway Pundit, Mother Jones, Business Insider, Vox, Politicus USA, The Week and Mediaite

CNN:

CNN/ORC Poll: Confidence drops in Trump transition — Washington (CNN)Donald Trump will become president Friday with an approval rating of just 40%, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll, the lowest of any recent president and 44 points below that of President Barack Obama, the 44th president.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Business Insider, neo-neocon, The Hill, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, alan.com, Outside the Beltway, CBS Baltimore, The Week, Washington Times and Political Wire

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Poll: Trump will take office as most unpopular president in at least 4 decades

Discussion: Monmouth University, CNN, Politico, IJR, New York Magazine, Hot Air, Fox News Insider, New Century Times, The Slot, Common Dreams, Shakesville, New York Times and The Week

Paulina Firozi / The Hill:
Poll: Obama leaves office with 58 percent favorability

Discussion: Gallup, Politico, alan.com and AOL

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Trump Says The Approval Ratings Polls Are Rigged!

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, The Hill, Washington Post, Daily Wire, FOX6Now.com, FOX News Radio, The Daily Caller, Politicus USA, Sputnik International, Business Insider, Political Wire and RedState

Gary Langer / ABC News:
Trump Remains Unpopular, With the Presidency in Hand (POLL)

Discussion: zerohedge.com/fullrss2 …, The Hill, Althouse, Washington Monthly, Towleroad and Daily Kos

CBO's Publications:

How Repealing Portions of the Affordable Care Act Would Affect Health Insurance Coverage and Premiums — CBO reports on the estimated changes in health insurance coverage and premiums that would result from leaving the Affordable Care Act's insurance market reforms in place while repealing the law's mandate penalties and subsidies.

Andrew Prokop / Vox:

CBO report: Obamacare repeal would lead to 32 million more uninsured by 2026 — And it would double insurance premiums in the individual market, a new report says. — Republicans have been getting more and more nervous about repealing Obamacare without having a replacement ready …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, Chris Jacobs on Healthcare, Politico, NPR, CNN and ACASignups.net

Scott Thistle / The Portland Press Herald:

LePage says civil rights icon John Lewis should thank Lincoln for freeing the slaves — During his weekly radio appearance, the governor said that U.S. Rep. John Lewis should also thank presidents Rutherford Hayes and Ulysses Grant. — Listen to Gov. LePage's comments on WVOM.

Discussion: BostonGlobe.com, CNN, State & Capitol, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, The Week, Raw Story and alan.com

Kayleigh McEnany / The Hill:
John Lewis, Democrats are boycotting America, not inauguration

Discussion: Occupy Democrats

David M Jackson / USA Today:
Attacked by Trump, Lewis acknowledges he boycotted Bush inauguration, too

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Post, Politicus USA, CBS New York, The Daily Caller, CBS Boston, CNBC and Talking Points Memo

Elise Viebeck / Washington Post:
Nearly 60 Democratic lawmakers now skipping Trump's inauguration

Jeremy Stahl / Slate:

The New Trump Defamation Lawsuit Is Daring Trump to Incriminate Himself in Court — LOS ANGELES—One of the women who accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct last year has filed a defamation lawsuit against the president-elect. Summer Zervos, a former Apprentice contestant who alleged …

Discussion: The Atlantic and New York Times

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Former ‘Apprentice’ contestant sues Trump for defamation for denying alleged groping — A former contestant on the reality show “The Apprentice” filed a defamation lawsuit Tuesday against President-elect Donald Trump over his response to her allegations that he groped her during a job interview in 2007.

Discussion: Politico and Vox

Esme Cribb / Talking Points Memo:

Trump Claims To Have Met Putin In Newly Resurfaced Interview From 2015 (AUDIO) — In a newly resurfaced 2015 radio interview, Donald Trump claimed that he met Russian President Vladimir Putin and that they “got along great,” contradicting his later campaign trail claims that he never met or spoke with Putin.

Discussion: Yahoo

Bloomberg:
Putin Says Doesn't Believe Trump Met Prostitutes in Russia

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Slate, RedState, The Slot, Politico, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine, Political Wire and Balloon Juice

Brent Lang / Variety:

Michael Moore on Why Donald Trump Will Build a Wall and Ban Muslims — Michael Moore saw this coming. Last summer, when Hillary Clinton was enjoying a seemingly insurmountable lead over Donald Trump, the documentary filmmaker correctly predicted that the billionaire businessman would capture the White House.

Discussion: Washington Times, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Fox News Insider

Kristina Rizga / Mother Jones:

Betsy DeVos Wants to Use America's Schools to Build “God's Kingdom” — It's Christmastime in Holland, Michigan, and the northerly winds from Lake Macatawa bring a merciless chill to the small city covered in deep snow. The sparkly lights on the trees in downtown luxury storefronts illuminate …

Discussion: Vox, The Atlantic, Raw Story, NPR, The Guardian, Media Matters for America, twitchy.com and Washington Post

Benjamin Wermund / Politico:
DeVos says she'll support ‘great’ public schools

Discussion: ABC News and Common Dreams

Sarah McCammon / NPR:

U.S. Abortion Rate Falls To Lowest Level Since Roe v. Wade — The abortion rate in the United States fell to its lowest level since the historic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalized abortion nationwide, a new report finds. — The report by the Guttmacher Institute …

Discussion: The Guardian, Mediaite, Hot Air, AOL, Common Dreams, NBC News, Washington Free Beacon and KTLA

Guttmacher Institute:
U.S. Abortion Rate Continues to Decline, Hits Historic Low

Discussion: Mother Jones, Washington Post, Rewire, LifeNews.com, FOX News Radio and New York Magazine

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:

Boom: Trump eyes 10% spending cuts, 20% slash of federal workers — Making good on a promise to slash government, President-elect Trump has asked his incoming team to pursue spending and staffing cuts. — Insiders said that the spending reductions in some departments could go as high …

Discussion: The Daily Signal

Molly Redden / The Guardian:

Healthcare without Planned Parenthood: Wisconsin and Texas point to dark future — As Republicans prepare to defund Planned Parenthood nationally, those left to provide contraception and other services in states which have already done so say women of color and from low-income groups will surely be hit the hardest

Discussion: Daily Kos

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:

The Alt-Right Comes to Washington — East Lansing, Michigan—Lounging at the back of his tour bus in a parking lot behind the Springhill Suites, Milo Yiannopoulos, the flamboyant right-wing British provocateur known for his bleach-blond frosted tips and relentless campaign against Islam …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Vox Popoli

Emily Heil / Washington Post:

Hair stylist to Marla Maples: No free services in exchange for Inauguration Day ‘exposure’ — Though Donald Trump and his family project an image of boundless wealth, a Washington-based hairstylist says the president-elect's second wife tried to get out of paying her to style her tresses …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, alan.com, New York Magazine, AOL, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

‘Shattered’ to tell story of Clinton's failed presidential bid — Crown will release a new book about Hillary Clinton — 's failed bid for the White House on April 18 co-authored by The Hill's White House correspondent Amie Parnes. — “Shattered” is a follow-up to 'HRC …

Discussion: RedState

CNN:

Fort Lauderdale shooter says he carried out attack for ISIS, FBI claims — Fort Lauderdale, Florida (CNN)Esteban Santiago, the man charged with killing five people at the Fort Lauderdale airport, told FBI agents he carried out the attack on behalf of ISIS, FBI special agent Michael Ferlazzo testified at Santiago's bond hearing Tuesday.