memeorandum: Sources: New travel ban will exempt existing visa holders (CNN)

2:10 PM ET, March 1, 2017

Top Items:

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:

What the emotional moment with a Navy SEAL's widow proves about President Trump — There was one moment in President Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night that people will remember for a very long time. It came when Trump honored the wife of Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, who was killed in a raid in Yemen last month.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Politico, The Week and The Gateway Pundit

Jason Kurtz / CNN:

Van Jones on Trump: ‘He became President of the United States in that moment, period’ — (CNN)Shortly after President Donald Trump addressed a Joint Session of Congress for the first time since taking the oath of office, CNN's Van Jones called one particularly moving moment from the speech …

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Free Beacon, National Review and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Kimberly Dozier / The Daily Beast:

Generals May Launch New ISIS Raids Without Trump's OK — The White House is considering delegating more authority to the Pentagon to greenlight anti-terrorist operations like the SEAL Team 6 raid in Yemen that cost the life of a Navy SEAL, to step up the war on the so-called Islamic State, multiple U.S. officials tell The Daily Beast.

Derek Hunter / The Daily Caller:

Liberals Attack SEAL's Widow, President Trump Over Tribute — Nearly the whole country was moved by the presence of Carryn Owens, widow of slain Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, during President Donald Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress. — Nearly, but not all.

Discussion: RedState, Infowars and twitchy.com

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
With Nation Watching, Widow of Fallen SEAL Becomes a Face of Bravery

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, NPR, BizPac Review, Faithwire, Vox, AOL, miamiherald, The Week and The Daily Caller

Ben Shapiro / Daily Wire:
AWFUL: Top Democrats Refuse To Stand, Clap For Navy SEAL Widow Honored By Trump

Discussion: Breitbart, BizPac Review, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Snopes.com, IJR, Western Journalism, Hot Air, twitchy.com, TheBlaze, Townhall.com and ABC News

CNN:

7 in 10 Speech-Watchers Say Trump Boosted Optimism — (CNN)President Donald Trump's first address to Congress received largely positive reviews from viewers, with 57% who tuned in saying they had a very positive reaction to the speech, according to a new CNN/ORC poll of speech-watchers.

CBS News:

Viewers strongly approve of Trump's speech to Congress — Viewers nationwide strongly approved of President Trump's speech Tuesday night, with many Democrats joining Republicans in calling it “presidential” and positive in tone. Republicans and Independents found it “unifying,” …

Discussion: The Hill, NPR, Daily Wire, Hot Air, Washington Post, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and CBS New York

Glenn Thrush / New York Times:

5 Key Takeaways From President Trump's Speech — WASHINGTON — In President Trump's world, boring is disruptive. — After five-plus weeks of gleefully setting the Washington establishment ablaze and declaring a new war with virtually every public utterance, Mr. Trump took the radical step …

Discussion: Washington Post, American Prospect, The Slot and Politico

CNNMoney:

White House: Conway acted ‘without nefarious motive’ in Ivanka Trump plug — White House plugs Ivanka Trump's brand — The White House has concluded that Kellyanne Conway, a top adviser to President Trump, was acting “without nefarious motive” when she plugged Ivanka Trump's products in a TV interview …

Discussion: Politico, Axios, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and AOL

Daniel Halper / New York Post:
Was Kellyanne Conway raised in a barn?

Discussion: Slate, Washington Post, Mediaite and The Week

Darren Sands / BuzzFeed: “You People” Are Doing An Amazing Job, Trump Told HBCU Presidents

Cortney O'Brien / Townhall.com:
Hey Dems, Trump and the GOP Just Signed Bills to Help Women, Black Colleges

Discussion: Washington Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Balloon Juice

Ben Casselman / FiveThirtyEight:

Trump's Speech Was Quiet — And Quietly Radical — Reviews of President Trump's first address to Congress on Tuesday night seem to be converging around a single theme: It was Trump at his most subdued. “Trump Softens Tone in Outlining Goals,” read the lead headline on The New York Times homepage Wednesday morning.

Discussion: CNBC, Taylor Marsh and Wall Street Journal

New York Times:
Fact Check: Trump's First Address to Congress

Discussion: The Week, The Daily Caller and Hit & Run

New York Times:
Trump's Speech to Congress: Video and Transcript

Discussion: Mother Jones, Hit & Run, Politico, PolicyShop, The Concourse, Daily Kos, Althouse, Hot Air and 24Ahead

Tatiana Siegel / Hollywood Reporter:

Will Disney's Bob Iger Run for President in 2020? Hollywood Friends Are Nudging — Iger told THR in June that “a lot of people have urged me to seek political office,” and now he's considering the prodding for him to lead the Democratic ticket. — Disney CEO Bob Iger already runs the world's most successful media company.

Discussion: Axios, Business Insider and Hot Air, more at Mediagazer »

Bill Nye / National Review:

Bill Nye's Embarrassing Face-off with Tucker Carlson on Climate Change — It didn't end well for the ‘Science Guy.’ — Climate-change alarmists who have been largely unchallenged by the media over the past decade have finally met their match in Fox News host Tucker Carlson. And it ain't pretty.

Discussion: TheBlaze

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

Trump to hold off on new travel ban in wake of positive speech reviews: report — President Trump will not sign a revised travel ban executive order on Wednesday, CNN reported, despite expectations he would do so. — The decision to hold off comes amid a bout of positive coverage for the president …

Discussion: RedState and Washington Post

CNN:
Sources: New travel ban will exempt existing visa holders

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Politico, New York Magazine, AOL, Outside the Beltway, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal

Julia Ioffe / The Atlantic:

The State of Trump's State Department — The flags in the lobby of the State Department stood bathed in sunlight and silence on a recent afternoon. “It's normally so busy here,” marveled a State Department staffer as we stood watching the emptiness. “People are usually coming in for meetings …

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Post and Mediaite

Austin Wright / Politico:

Graham: Require 2020 candidates to release tax returns — Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday he wants all presidential candidates to be required by law to release their tax returns, starting in 2020. — The South Carolina Republican said his proposal would include Donald Trump if the president seeks reelection.

Discussion: Political Wire

Elizabeth Nolan Brown / Hit & Run:

Moral Outrage Is Self-Serving, Say Psychologists — When people publicly rage about perceived injustices that don't affect them personally, we tend to assume this expression is rooted in altruism—a “disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.”

Discussion: Vox Popoli

CNN:

Huntsman in talks to serve as US ambassador to Russia — (CNN)Former Utah governor and 2012 GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman is in discussions to be US ambassador to Russia, a senior administration official told CNN. — The source said Huntsman spoke with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson …

Joseph Farah / WND:

The greatest start for any modern president — Exclusive: Joseph Farah declares, ‘There could be a new face on Mount Rushmore’ — Joseph Farah is founder, editor and chief executive officer of WND. He is the author or co-author of 13 books that have sold more than 5 million copies …

Associated Press:

Supreme Court mainly rules for black voters in Virginia case — The Supreme Court is mainly ruling for African-Americans in Virginia who say lawmakers packed 12 legislative districts with black voters to make other districts whiter and more Republican. — The justices said Wednesday …

Discussion: Washington Post and Politico

BBC:

Fillon refuses to quit French election despite investigation — French centre-right presidential candidate Francois Fillon says a judge is placing him under investigation over a fake job scandal - but has vowed to continue his election campaign. — For weeks, Mr Fillon has fought allegations …

Discussion: Political Wire

John Williams / New York Times:

Kurt Andersen and Alec Baldwin to Write Satirical Book About President Trump — A little more than a month into Donald J. Trump's presidency, it's safe to say that the satire business in America is booming. Penguin Press announced today that Kurt Andersen and Alec Baldwin will team up to write …

Discussion: The Guardian, Deadline, Gothamist, Washington Post, Mashable and AOL, more at Mediagazer »

Hayley Miller / The Huffington Post:

Jeff Sessions Warns Of An America With ‘Marijuana Sold At Every Corner Grocery Store’ — “My best view is that we don't need to be legalizing marijuana,” the attorney general said. — Attorney General Jeff Sessions is doubling down on his crusade against marijuana legalization.

Discussion: Gizmodo, Washington Post, NBC News and Balloon Juice

Ed Kilgore / New York Magazine:

Congressional Republicans Were Desperately Hoping for More Information From Trump. He Gave Them None. — President Donald Trump gave a pretty good speech to a joint session of Congress tonight. He followed the script, and threw in some unexpected rhetorical flourishes …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, MSNBC, Reuters, Vox and The Hill

Ali Breland / The Hill:

Schumer asks FCC for waiver to trace Jewish center bomb threats — (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a waiver to unscramble anonymous phone numbers that had been used to call in bomb threats to a New York Jewish Community Center.

Discussion: RedState

Peter Beinart / The Atlantic:

Trump Scapegoats Unauthorized Immigrants for Crime — Donald Trump is worried about violence by unauthorized immigrants. When he spoke before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, he invited three relatives of people that unauthorized immigrants had killed to attend as his guests.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Common Dreams, New York Times and Talking Points Memo

Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:

CNN Chief Jeff Zucker Unveils Plan to Dominate Digital: New Shows, a $25M YouTuber and Donald Trump (Of Course) — Amid his feud with the president ("We all know the truth"), Zucker is taking his battle for TV news dominance online with a monthly audience of 100 million and a strategy …

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story and TVNewser

CNN:

Senate approves Trump's nominee for Interior — Ryan Zinke confirmed as interior secretary — (CNN)The Senate voted to confirm Wednesday Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke to lead the Department of the Interior. — The vote was 68-31. — During his confirmation hearing, the Republican congressman promised …

Discussion: RedState, New York Magazine, Joe.My.God. and The Week

Sarah Knapton / Telegraph:

Oldest fossil ever found on Earth shows alien life on Mars is likely — It's life, but not as we know it. The oldest fossil ever discovered on Earth shows that organisms were thriving 4.2 billion years ago, hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought.

Discussion: The Week, Washington Post and Gizmodo

Travis / Uber Global:

A profound apology — Uber CEO Travis Kalanick sent the following note to all Uber employees Tuesday evening. — By now I'm sure you've seen the video where I treated an Uber driver disrespectfully. To say that I am ashamed is an extreme understatement.