memeorandum: Widespread frustration — U.S. officials, who spoke … (Circa)

5:00 PM ET, March 9, 2017

Top Items:

Jim Acosta / CNN:

Trump to conservative leaders: If this plan fails, I'll blame Democrats — Washington (CNN)In an Oval Office meeting featuring several leaders of conservative groups already lining up against the House Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, President Donald Trump revealed his plan …

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, CNBC, Joe.My.God., Common Dreams, Raw Story, Mediaite, twitchy.com and Washington Free Beacon

Washington Examiner:

Trump says privately second healthcare bill ready as early as next week — President Trump told a closed-door meeting of grassroots conservative leaders on Wednesday to expect another, companion healthcare bill to hit the House as early as next week, according to sources present for the meeting.

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Trump has a secret backup plan to kill Obamacare. It's actually brilliant.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Breitbart, NBC News, Washington Monthly, Political Insider blog, The Guardian and The Federalist

Rachael Bade / Politico:
Republican Study Committee backs two Medicaid changes to Obamacare repeal bill

Discussion: ABC News, New York Times, The Fiscal Times, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, The Hill, Daily Kos, Hot Air and Common Dreams

Russell Berman / The Atlantic:
Professor Paul Ryan's Healthcare Pitch: This Is the Bill

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, ABC News and CBS Philly

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Why Republicans Are Battling Republicans on Obamacare Repeal

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, The Last Refuge, Daily Kos, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, RedState, TheBlaze, The Resurgent and Politico

Margaret Hartmann / New York Magazine:
Trump's Backup Plan: Let Health-Care System Explode, Blame Democrats

Discussion: Politico, ThinkProgress, Common Dreams, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Forbes and The Hill

Tom DiChristopher / CNBC:

EPA chief Scott Pruitt says carbon dioxide is not a primary contributor to global warming — EPA takes aim at CAFE standards: Scott Pruitt — Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said Thursday he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming.

Coral Davenport / New York Times:
E.P.A. Chief Doubts Consensus View of Climate Change

Discussion: Daily Kos

Bloomberg:
EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Discounts Carbon's Role in Warming Planet

Discussion: Common Dreams, The Daily Caller, The Week and Axios

Manu Raju / CNN:

First on CNN: After lobbying from Trump, Orrin Hatch plans to run again — (CNN)Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the longest-serving GOP senator, told CNN he is planning to run for re-election next year, abandoning his plans to quit the chamber after four decades of service.

Discussion: Washington Post, Political Wire, Outside the Beltway, AOL, New York Magazine and Washington Times

Madeline Conway / Politico:

McConnell on Mexico paying for the border wall: ‘Uh, no’ — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday threw cold water on President Donald Trump's insistence that Mexico will pay for his proposed border wall. — “Uh, no,” McConnell said flatly, asked whether he thinks Mexico …

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, Washington Times, New York Magazine, Mediaite, Business Insider and The Week

Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:
White House Pushes Back on McConnell: We're Getting Tax Reform Done By August

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Marie Le Conte / BuzzFeed:

Nigel Farage Just Visited The Ecuadorian Embassy In London — Asked by BuzzFeed News if he'd been visiting Julian Assange, the former UKIP leader said he couldn't remember what he'd been doing in the building. — Nigel Farage visited the Ecuadorian embassy in west London on Thursday …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, The Moderate Voice, CANNONFIRE, Mediaite, The Week and New York Magazine

Travis Gettys / Raw Story:
Trump's ‘unofficial adviser’ Nigel Farage visits Julian Assange's home after CIA docs leaked

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and New York Times

Jon Stone / The Independent:
Nigel Farage visited Ecuadorian Embassy to meet Julian Assange, Ukip source says

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:

‘No Comment,’ Justice Dept. Says, Asked About a Trump Inquiry — WASHINGTON — With questions still swirling over President Trump's unsubstantiated claims that he was wiretapped on orders of President Barack Obama, the Justice Department on Thursday declined to confirm statements a day earlier …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Political Wire and Raw Story

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
Trump's Run of Dumb Luck

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:
FISA-gate: The Times Revises History in Real Time

Discussion: IJR and Snopes.com

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:

Russian ambassador denied meeting with Trump or campaign officials in October speech — (CNN)In an October speech to the Detroit Economic Club, Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, denied meeting with Donald Trump or campaign officials during the course of 2016 presidential election …

Circa:

Widespread frustration — U.S. officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said there is widespread frustration among intelligence professionals who have watched in horror as a normally secretive process has been distorted by media leaks …

Discussion: BizPac Review, Fox News Insider, Liberty Unyielding, The Last Refuge and MARK-CM

Wbastone / The Smoking Gun:

Roger Stone's Russian Hacking “Hero” — Trump loyalist communicated with “Guccifer 2.0,” target of FBI probe — In the months before Election Day, a longtime confidante and political consultant for Donald Trump was in contact with the Russian hacking group that U.S. intelligence officials …

Discussion: Raw Story, ThinkProgress and Mediaite

Travis Gettys / Raw Story:
FBI has records of Trump trickster Roger Stone communicating with Russians behind DNC hacks: report

Discussion: Washington Monthly and CANNONFIRE

Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone:
Why the Russia Story Is a Minefield for Democrats and the Media

Discussion: JustOneMinute and twitchy.com

BuzzFeed:

Steve Bannon Helped Preserve DACA But Democrats And Activists Aren't Celebrating — They're bracing for what's coming: millions of deportations and further crackdowns on both legal and illegal immigration. — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration doesn't want to talk about it.

Discussion: RedState, Daily Wire and The Week

Steven Perlberg / BuzzFeed:

President Mike Pence Doesn't Sound Quite So Bad, Some Top Democrats Say — “I'd sleep easier with almost any other human being as president than Donald Trump,” said a former Obama speechwriter. And they won't say so publicly, but several elected Democrats told BuzzFeed News they would much prefer …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Shakesville, No More Mister Nice Blog, TheBlaze, The Week and The Daily Caller

Josephine McKenna / Religion News Service:

Claims of sex orgies, prostitution and porn videos shake Catholic Church in Italy — ROME (RNS) Lurid accusations of priests involved in sex orgies, porn videos and prostitution have emerged from several parishes in Italy recently, sending shock waves all the way to the Vatican and challenging …

Discussion: Raw Story

The Independent:
Pope Francis issues veiled warning about Donald Trump: ‘Populism is evil’

Discussion: Daily Wire

Tim Molloy / The Wrap:

Sex Columnist Dan Savage Calls Melania Trump ‘Ugly on the Inside’ — Savage says first lady gets a pass from some liberals because of her looks, but “is as ugly on the inside as she is pretty on the outside” — Author and sex columnist Dan Savage says many liberals are giving first lady Melania …

Discussion: Raw Story, Daily Wire, Mediaite, IJR, TheBlaze and Fox News Insider

Mark Molloy / Telegraph:

Burger-flipping robot replaces humans on first day at work — A burger-flipping robot has just completed its first day on the job at a restaurant in California, replacing humans at the grill. — Flippy has mastered the art of cooking the perfect burger and has just started work at CaliBurger, a fast-food chain.

Discussion: Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Forbes, IJR and Hit & Run

New York Times:

C.I.A. Scrambles to Contain Damage From WikiLeaks Documents — WASHINGTON — The C.I.A. scrambled on Wednesday to assess and contain the damage from the release by WikiLeaks of thousands of documents that cataloged the agency's cyberspying capabilities, temporarily halting work on some projects …

Discussion: Vox, Fox News, BBC, emptywheel, The Guardian, Just Security, Refinery29, Fox News Insider, Mashable, The Week, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

John Bacon / USA Today:
WikiLeaks will give tech firms access to CIA hacking tools: Assange

Discussion: The Hill, Common Dreams, Engadget and RedState

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

At least five states join up to block revised Trump travel ban — At least five states are banding together in a legal drive to block key elements of President Donald Trump's second travel ban. — Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said his office is filing a motion asking …

Discussion: NPR, Daily Kos, The Week and Axios

Lou Michel / The Buffalo News:

Union tips off Border Patrol in immigration crackdown — Federal agents are not the only ones trying to remove people from the Buffalo area who have entered the country illegally. — If Bill Bing, a carpenters union official, discovers workers at local construction projects suspected …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Brookings Institution:

Expect the CBO to estimate large coverage losses from the GOP health care plan — Editor's Note: — This analysis is part of The Leonard D. Schaeffer Initiative for Innovation in Health Policy, which is a partnership between the Center for Health Policy at Brookings and the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Hot Air, Vox, Axios, Center For Children …, NPR and Daily Wire

Associated Press:

Former Trump aide Flynn says lobbying may have helped Turkey — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who was fired from his prominent White House job last month, has registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for $530,000 worth …

Discussion: Vox, Talking Points Memo, The Week, Politico, Fox News Insider and New York Magazine

New York Times:

How Many People Are Affected by Obamacare Premium Increases? (Hint, It's Fewer Than You Think) — SCROLL TO START — Republicans cite rising insurance premiums as a primary reason for repealing the Affordable Care Act. But only a narrow slice of the market was actually affected by the increases.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Washington Post and BostonGlobe.com