memeorandum: Rex Tillerson skips launch of US state department's human rights report (The Guardian)

2:00 AM ET, March 5, 2017

Top Items:

Jonathan Karl / ABC News:

Trump flashes anger over Sessions recusal, Russia stories in tense Oval Office meeting — Before heading off to his so-called “winter White House” in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday, President Donald Trump summoned some of his senior staff to the Oval Office and went “ballistic,” senior White House sources told ABC News.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Business Insider, New York Magazine and The Mahablog

Kristina Webb / Palm Beach Post:

Trump mingles with Mar-a-Lago guests outside charity ball — President Donald Trump mingled with guests outside a charity ball at his Mar-a-Lago Club on Saturday night. — As attendees danced inside the ballroom where the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute held its gala, the president was spotted nearby …

Discussion: Sputnik International

CNN:

Trump angry and frustrated at staff over Sessions fallout — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump is extremely frustrated with his senior staff and communications team for allowing the firestorm surrounding Attorney General Jeff Sessions to steal his thunder in the wake of his address to Congress, sources tell CNN.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Nancy Cook / Politico:

Trump fumes over Sessions' recusal from Russia probe — President Donald Trump, increasingly frustrated with his White House rollout, vented to top aides on Friday over Attorney General Jeff Sessions' recusal from any investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Discussion: Raw Story, Mother Jones, Vox and New York Times

New York Times:

Trump, Offering No Evidence, Says Obama Tapped His Phones — WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Trump on Saturday accused his predecessor, Barack Obama, of having tapped his phones at Trump Tower the month before the election, calling Mr. Obama on Twitter a “bad (or sick) guy.”

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

The Associated Press Springs to Obama's Defense — After President Trump accused Barack Obama of wiretapping his phones during the election campaign, the Associated Press hurried into print a defense of the former president: … No one fits a lot of details into a tweet …

Discussion: Associated Press, National Review and Instapundit

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
Graham: 'I'm very worried' about Trump's wiretapping accusation

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Occupy Democrats, ThinkProgress, The Week, IJR, Infowars and Townhall.com

Julian Sanchez / Just Security:
Tapping Trump? — Once again, Donald Trump has kicked off …

Discussion: RedState, emptywheel, ABC News, Occupy Democrats, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, The Last Tradition, The Last Refuge, Politicus USA, Snopes.com, The Guardian, Western Journalism, Liberty Unyielding, WHNT-TV and Hot Air

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:
Top Obama adviser to Trump: ‘No president can order a wiretap’

Discussion: Occupy Democrats, BizPac Review, Raw Story, Politicus USA, Politico, Common Dreams, CBS Philly, LifeZette, NBC News, RedState, CBS Dallas, ThinkProgress and Joe.My.God.

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Donald Trump was a conspiracy-theory candidate. Now he's on the edge of being a conspiracy-theory president.

Discussion: Breitbart, Raw Story, RedState, Mediaite, TheBlaze, The Guardian, Fox 59, BizPac Review, CBS New York, The Moderate Voice, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, Fox News Insider, twitchy.com and The Gateway Pundit

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Trump, citing no evidence, accuses Obama of ‘Nixon/Watergate’ plot to wiretap Trump Tower

CNN:
Trump falsely accuses Obama of wiretapping his phone

Javier E. David / CNBC:
Trump accuses predecessor of ‘McCarthyism,’ wire-tapping during general election; Obama camp denies

Discussion: Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, CANNONFIRE, Fort Smith/Fayetteville News and Occupy Democrats

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
Trump Goes Nuclear With Claim Obama Wiretapped Him During Election [Updated]

Discussion: Raw Story and Washington Post

Adolfo Flores / BuzzFeed:

A 13-Year-Old Girl Sobbed While Recording Her Immigrant Father Get Arrested By ICE Agents — Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez was arrested this week while dropping off his daughter at a school in Los Angeles. — A sobbing 13-year-old girl recorded the arrest of her undocumented immigrant father …

Discussion: The Root

Jennifer Medina / New York Times: Deportation Arrest Highlights Tensions in Los Angeles on Immigration

Andrea Castillo / Los Angeles Times:
Immigrant arrested by ICE after dropping daughter off at school, sending shockwaves through neighborhood

Discussion: AOL, Washington Post, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and KTLA

Bradley P. Moss / Politico:

Trump's Wiretap Rant Betrays Ignorance of the Law — President Donald Trump set the political and national security community on fire Saturday morning, starting the day with a four-part Twitter rant alleging that former President Barack Obama had “tapped” his phones during the presidential campaign.

Discussion: TalkLeft

The Seattle Times:

Sikh man in Kent says he was told ‘Go back to your own country’ before he was shot — Kent police are looking for a gunman who allegedly walked onto a man's driveway and shot him, saying “go back to your own country.”

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Stranger …

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

Pentagon plan to seize Raqqa calls for significant increase in U.S. participation — A Pentagon plan for the coming assault on Raqqa, the Islamic State capital in Syria, calls for significant U.S. military participation, including increased Special Operations forces, attack helicopters and artillery …

Nancy Cook / Politico:

Trump expected to sign new executive order on travel ban on Monday — President Donald Trump is expected to sign on Monday a new executive order on his controversial travel ban at the Department of Homeland Security, according to senior government officials familiar with the matter.

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite, Political Wire and Axios

Breitbart:

Violent Alien Escapes After Attacking Border Agent, Tucson Police Refuse To Help — A management-level supervisor of the Tucson Police Department reportedly refused to assist U.S. Border Patrol agents in a search for an escaped criminal alien who assaulted a federal agent.

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding

Frank Bruni / New York Times:

Donald Trump vs. the Food Snobs — Donald Trump's riches, rages and romance with Russia all demand scrutiny. They shape our fates. — His meals don't, so leave the man to his supper. Let him eat steak. — Let him order it as he wishes and slather it with whatever he pleases.

Neil Munro / Breitbart:

Obama's State Department Sponsored 2016 Meeting of Russian Ambassador with Sen. Sessions — President Barack Obama's Department of State sponsored the July event in Ohio where Sen. Jeff Sessions met the Russian ambassador for the second time in 2016, according to the organizers of the event.

Discussion: The Guardian

Johnathan Silver / The Texas Tribune:

Health care sets tone for Texas congressman's contentious town hall — In a rare congressional town hall in North Texas, U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, withstood two hours of booing from hundreds of angry constituents at a local high school. Few of his colleagues have hosted such forums lately.