memeorandum: New DNC chairman Perez wants to make Ellison ‘the face of the Democratic Party’ (Allison Sherry/Star Tribune)

2:35 PM ET, February 27, 2017

Top Items:

Eun Kyung Kim / TODAY.com:

George W. Bush opens up on Trump's war with the media, Russia and travel ban — In his first in-depth interview since Donald Trump's inauguration, former President George W. Bush gave his take on the current commander in chief's first month in office, addressing Trump's attack on the media …

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News Insider, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, IJR, Politicus USA, AOL, The Slot, TheBlaze and Althouse

Louis Nelson / Politico:

Bush breaks with Trump, calls media ‘indispensable to democracy’ — Former President George W. Bush said Monday that the media is “indispensable to democracy,” a break from the position of his fellow Republican, President Donald Trump, who has called the press “the enemy of the American people.”

Discussion: Salon, ABC News, Associated Press and Hullabaloo, more at Mediagazer »

Jeff Poor / Breitbart:
Bush 43 on Trump Travel Ban: ‘A Bedrock of Our Freedom Is the Right to Worship Freely’

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
George W. Bush: Media essential to democracy

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Instapundit, The Week and AOL

Madeline Conway / Politico:

Trump: ‘Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated’ — President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that “nobody knew that health care could be so complicated,” and again flirted with the idea that Republicans should let Obamacare “implode” so that Democrats shoulder the blame.

Discussion: Political Wire and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Wall Street Journal:

GOP's New Plan to Repeal Obamacare: Dare Fellow Republicans to Block Effort — GOP lawmakers gamble that setting bill in motion to strike Affordable Care Act will help break through intraparty disagreements — WASHINGTON—Republican leaders are betting that the only way for Congress …

Discussion: Mother Jones, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, The Week and Hot Air

Soumya Karlamangla / Los Angeles Times:

With Obamacare in jeopardy, California considers going it alone with ‘single-payer’ system — Michelle Klein-Hass, who lives in Panorama City, was newly insured under Medi-Cal when Obamacare expanded it in 2014, and is also a supporter of a single-payer system. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Instapundit

Oren Cass / National Review:
No, Obamacare Has Not Saved American Lives

Discussion: Instapundit

CBS News:
Ohio Gov. Kasich says House conservatives may cause “problem” passing Obamacare replacement

Discussion: Axios and BizPac Review

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Trump says “nobody knew that health care could be so complicated”

Discussion: ACASignups.net, Axios and The Week

Heather R. Higgins / Wall Street Journal: To End ObamaCare, Be Bold

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:
A divided White House still offers little guidance on replacing Obamacare

Discussion: New York Magazine, WTVR-TV, The Guardian, Daily Kos, Politicus USA and The Week

Axios:

Exclusive: Spicer arranged CIA, GOP intelligence push-back — White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer personally picked up the phone and connected outside officials with reporters to try to discredit a New York Times article about Trump campaign aides' contact with Russia …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Hill, Washington Post, Media Matters for America, Business Insider, Shakesville, Common Dreams, emptywheel, Towleroad, Raw Story, The Week, NBC News and The Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Sean Spicer is losing his grip — Never let it be said that President Trump and his underlings don't work hard, especially when it comes to initiatives aimed at smearing and stymieing the White House press corps. Let's look at this crew's throughput over just the past three days.

Discussion: IJR, Vox, CNN, Raw Story and Axios, more at Mediagazer »

Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:

House Intelligence chairman denies evidence of Trump team's ties to Russia — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes denied on Monday morning that there was any evidence from the intelligence community of contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russian operatives.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, emptywheel, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Mother Jones and Politico

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
Claim: Reporter laughs at Trump aide's emotion over SEAL death

Discussion: Hit & Run, Axios, Fox News, Washington Free Beacon, Raw Story, The Root, Politico, The Federalist, The Week, BizPac Review, Mediaite, Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, The Slot and Talking Points Memo, more at Mediagazer »

Shane Goldmacher / Politico:
Trump gets ready for his biggest sell yet

Discussion: RedState, Talking Points Memo, Politicus USA and Political Wire

Variety:

Oscars: Australian Producer Jan Chapman Devastated by Mistaken In-Memoriam Photo — Another Oscars Gaffe: In Memoriam Video Included Photo of Living Woman — Leading Australian producer, Jan Chapman was “devastated” by another mistake in the Oscars telecast.

Discussion: TIME, Mediaite, Washington Post, The Guardian, New York's PIX11, TheBlaze, The Week, IJR, WCMH-TV, Fox News Insider, AOL, CBS Miami, 6abc.com and WREG-TV

Bloomberg:

Trump to Propose 10% Defense Increase in Budget Plan, Aides Say — Officials say other discretionary programs to face cuts — Mnuchin said Sunday that entitlement programs won't be touched — President Donald Trump will propose boosting defense spending by $54 billion in his first budget plan …

Discussion: Vox, Reuters and Axios

Abby Phillip / Washington Post:
Trump to propose 10 percent spike in defense spending, massive cuts to other agencies

Discussion: Bloomberg, ThinkProgress, Wall Street Journal and Common Dreams

New York Times:
Trump to Ask for Sharp Increases in Military Spending, Officials Say

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Reuters, Fox News, Axios, RedState, New York Magazine, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, NBC News, The Resurgent, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, TheBlaze and Mother Jones

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:

Donna Brazile: ‘I was scared’ — ATLANTA — Donna Brazile has been through a lot — but nothing like the last eight months. — More than taking over a Democratic National Committee in crisis, more than seeing the party collapse from cruising victory to crushing defeat all in one night …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air and TheBlaze

Allison Sherry / Star Tribune:
New DNC chairman Perez wants to make Ellison ‘the face of the Democratic Party’

Discussion: National Review

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
The DNC isn't enough: Democrats demand more leadership changes

Discussion: Common Dreams, ABC News and The Hill

USA Today:

Here's how the worst flub in Oscar history went down — Oscar got it wrong, wrong, soooo wrong. The presenters announced the wrong Best Picture; Moonlight was the winner, not La La Land. — It was the biggest, most embarrassing, most awkward mistake in the history of the Academy Awards …

Discussion: Washington Post and Taylor Marsh

Michael Rothman / ABC News:
‘Moonlight’ wins best picture after ‘La La Land’ mistakenly announced

Monica Hesse / Washington Post: 'There's a mistake. ‘Moonlight,’ you guys won.': An Oscars shocker, in more ways than one

Monica Davey / New York Times:

He's a Local Pillar in a Trump Town. Now He Could Be Deported. — WEST FRANKFORT, Ill. — Ask residents of this coal-mining crossroads about President Trump's decision to crack down on undocumented immigrants and most offer no protest. Mr. Trump, who easily won this mostly white southern Illinois county …

Discussion: Raw Story, Mediaite and Eschaton

Timothy Noah / Politico:

Puzder says ‘tsunami of fake news’ defeated him — Former labor secretary nominee Andrew Puzder on Monday blamed “a tsunami of fake news” and a campaign by Democrats and the left for ending his nomination. — Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, which owns Hardee's and Carl's Jr. …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

James Hohmann / Washington Post:

The Daily 202: Democrats predict anti-Trump ‘tsunami’ in 2018 governor's races — THE BIG IDEA: As a House freshman, Jay Inslee lost reelection in 1994 because of voter frustration with Bill Clinton's first two years as president. Tom Foley, who represented an adjacent district …

Jonathan Martin / New York Times: Primary for Virginia Governor Tests Power of an Anti-Trump Campaign

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Trump: 'I haven't called Russia in 10 years' … President Trump on Monday appeared to dismiss a question about his aides' alleged ties to Russia by saying he hasn't spoken to the country in a decade. — “I haven't called Russia in 10 years,” he told a reporter who asked him whether …

Discussion: RedState