memeorandum: Fox's Shepard Smith: CNN is not ‘fake news’ (Nikita Vladimirov/The Hill)

11:00 AM ET, February 25, 2017

Top Items:

Danielle Lerner / Courier-Journal:

Muhammad Ali Jr. detained by immigration at Fla. airport — The son of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali was detained for hours by immigration officials at a Florida airport, a family friend told the Courier-Journal. — Muhammad Ali Jr., 44, and his mother Khalilah Camacho-Ali …

Discussion: TMZ.com, NESN.com, AOL, The Root and The Week

Alan M. Dershowitz / The Hill:

I will leave the Democrats if Keith Ellison is elected its chairman — Tomorrow the Democratic National Committee (DNC) will have to choose the direction of the Democratic Party, as well as its likely composition. It will be among the most important choices the DNC has ever had to make.

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, TheBlaze, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, ABC News, RealClearPolitics, Fox News Insider and Hot Air

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:
Grass-roots fury masks intense Democratic anxiety

Discussion: Political Wire

David Weigel / Washington Post:
Democrats brace for backlash as they vote on new party chairman

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Jen Psaki / CNN: Democrats, why not give Mayor Pete a chance for DNC chairman?

Jeff Stein / Vox:
The key question of the DNC race: how broken is the Democratic Party?

Discussion: Politico, TheBlaze, Hullabaloo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and ABC News

Greg Miller / Washington Post:

Trump administration sought to enlist intelligence officials, key lawmakers to counter Russia stories — The Trump administration has enlisted senior members of the intelligence community and Congress in efforts to counter news stories about Trump associates' ties to Russia …

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Business Insider, Occupy Democrats, Axios, Political Wire, The Atlantic, The Guardian, New York Times, Washington Free Beacon, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress and RedState, more at Mediagazer »

Bloomberg:

GOP Senators Embrace Awkward Russia Probe That Could Hurt Trump — Investigation of election hacking, Flynn still at early stage — No timetable yet for testimony as investigators sift documents — A Senate Intelligence Committee investigation of Russia's effort to influence …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Political Wire, Blue Mass Group, Washington Post and ThinkProgress

Ricky Young / sandiegouniontribune.com:

Issa calls for special prosecutor on Russian interference in election — (Screen grab) … Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, said on Friday that a special prosecutor needs to lead an investigation into the alleged ties between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russian leader Vladimir Putin's regime.

Discussion: Political Wire

Carrie Dann / NBC News:

Majority of Americans Say Congress Should Probe Contact Between Trump, Russia: Poll — About half of Americans believe that Congress should investigate whether Donald Trump's presidential campaign had contact with the Russian government in 2016, while only a quarter say that lawmakers …

Discussion: NBC News, Business Insider and Talking Points Memo

Shane Harris / Wall Street Journal:

Donald Trump Rejects Intelligence Report on Travel Ban — Tension with intelligence officials rises as Homeland Security contradicts White House on terror — An intelligence report by the Department of Homeland Security contradicts the White House's assertion that immigrants …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Daily Kos and Washington Post

Associated Press:
DHS intel report disputes threat posed by travel ban nations

Discussion: Occupy Democrats, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, The Hill, Hot Air, Axios and Mediaite

Nikita Vladimirov / The Hill:

Fox's Shepard Smith: CNN is not ‘fake news’ — Fox News anchor Shepard Smith defended CNN on Friday after the news organization was barred from spokesman Sean Spicer's question-and-answer session at the White House. — “For the record, ‘fake news’ refers to stories that are created …

Discussion: RedState, Occupy Democrats, Western Journalism and ABC News

Christine Burroni / Page Six:

Leslie Jones makes fun of white women supporting Black Lives Matter — More On: — Nothing is off-limits for Leslie Jones' stand-up routine. — “If I see another 45-year-old white woman from Williamsburg saying ‘black lives matter,’ I'm going to punch you in the mouth,” the …

Discussion: New York Times and BizPac Review

Axios:

Exclusive: Bloomberg cancels WHCA dinner afterparty — Bloomberg L.P., host of the premier afterparty for the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, will not host an event this year, Axios has learned. — Planners for events surrounding the April 29 scholarship dinner …

Discussion: Washington Post and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Judy Kurtz / The Hill:
Bloomberg scraps annual correspondents' dinner soiree

Discussion: Mediaite, Hot Air and Western Journalism

CNNMoney:
White House blocks news organizations from press briefing

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

In December, Spicer said barring media access is what a ‘dictatorship’ does. Today, he barred media access. — This post has been updated. — White House press secretary Sean Spicer barred reporters from several large media outlets from participating in a scheduled press briefing Friday.

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo: Cowardice and Freedom — You've probably seen that today …

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
White House Bars Times and 2 Other News Outlets From Briefing

David Gasten / American Thinker:

Joy Villa, the woman who wore the pro-Trump dress at the 2017 Grammy Awards, has just had her self-released album I Make the Static go to Number 12 on the Billboard 200. This is a victory both for conservatives who bought the album to support her and for American culture in general …

Discussion: Digital Music News

Sarah K. Burris / Raw Story:

Anderson Cooper calls out Donald Trump for hypocrisy: You cite anonymous sources all the time — CNN host Anderson Cooper called out President Donald Trump on Friday's “AC36.” Trump spent much of his speech at CPAC railing against the media for using anonymous sources, which he believes the media should be able to use.

New York Times:

H.R. McMaster Breaks With Administration on Views of Islam — WASHINGTON — President Trump's newly appointed national security adviser has told his staff that Muslims who commit terrorist acts are perverting their religion, rejecting a key ideological view of other senior Trump advisers …

Discussion: Fox News, Talking Points Memo and Business Insider

Los Angeles Times:

Great white sharks spotted off two Orange County beaches; swimming ban in effect — Lifeguards are keeping a stretch of shoreline between Sunset Beach and Bolsa Chica State Beach closed to swimmers and surfers after a shark sighting. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Kristina Wong / Breitbart:

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Took Future Green Berets into Oval Office in Q-Course First — President Trump, in his third week in office, met with a class of Green Beret candidates and brought them into the Oval Office for the first time in the course's history. — The 18 Army officers …

Elaine Godfrey / The Atlantic:

An Actual False-Flag Operation at CPAC — Two men made trouble—and stirred up a social-media frenzy—on the third day of the Conservative Political Action Conference by conducting a literal false-flag operation. — Jason Charter, 22, and Ryan Clayton, 36, passed out roughly 1,000 red …