memeorandum: Trump's weak closing argument on health care — and why it matters (Ezra Klein/Vox)

6:10 AM ET, March 23, 2017

Top Items:

CNN:

US Officials: Info suggests Trump associates may have coordinated with Russians — Washington (CNN)The FBI has information that indicates associates of President Donald Trump communicated with suspected Russian operatives to possibly coordinate the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign, US officials told CNN.

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
Comey Is Now the Most Powerful Person in Washington

Discussion: Power Line

Austin Wright / Politico:

Nunes claims some Trump transition messages were intercepted — House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes declared Wednesday that members of Donald Trump's transition team, possibly including Trump himself, were under inadvertent surveillance following November's presidential election.

Madeline Conway / Politico:

Schiff: There is now ‘more than circumstantial evidence’ of Trump-Russia collusion — Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday that there is “more than circumstantial evidence now” to suggest that President Donald Trump's campaign may have colluded …

Discussion: Political Wire

Holman W. Jenkins, Jr / Wall Street Journal:

Leakgate Finds Its Joe McCarthy — On Trump-Russia links, Rep. Schiff tries to fool the public with randomness. — If Donald Trump tweeted his accusations about President Obama wiretapping Trump Tower to get the media off his alleged ties to Russia, then Democrats at Monday's hearing …

Elizabeth Preza / Raw Story: DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — Sen. John McCain …

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
BOOM=> House Intel Chair: We Cannot Rule Out That Sr. Obama Officials Were Involved in Trump Surveillance

Discussion: ABC News and Daily Wire

Tom LoBianco / CNN:
House Intel chairman: Trump's personal communications may have been collected

Discussion: CNBC, Business Insider, Hot Air, Jamie Dupree, Shareblue, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, The Atlantic, Taylor Marsh, TheBlaze, Booman Tribune and Axios

Nikita Vladimirov / The Hill:
Schiff: I have ‘grave concerns’ over Nunes's surveillance claim

Discussion: Occupy Democrats

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
What Devin Nunes's Bombshell Does and Doesn't Say

Discussion: Raw Story, Mother Jones, CANNONFIRE, ThinkProgress and Axios

Morgan Chalfant / The Hill:
GOP chairman: Surveillance was collected about Trump transition team

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Politico, Hit & Run and Patterico's Pontifications

Bloomberg:
Nunes Says Trump Team Conversations Caught in Surveillance

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, Balloon Juice and Vox Popoli

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart:
Nunes ‘Unmasking’ Report Vindicates Trump Claims on Surveillance

Discussion: RedState

The Hill:

Freedom Caucus, Trump reach ‘agreement in principle’ on ObamaCare repeal bill — Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said Wednesday night he and President Trump have come to an “agreement in principle” on a plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare, just one day before a historic House vote on the bill.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:

White House moves to tweak health care bill to win over conservatives — White House officials are moving to eliminate broad coverage requirements for health insurers in the Obamacare repeal bill in a bid to win over holdout members of the House Freedom Caucus.

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, ABC News, Business Insider, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, STAT, The Hill and RedState

Theodore Schleifer / CNN:

Kochs to withhold millions for health care ‘yes’ votes — Washington (CNN)In a last-minute effort to sink the Republican health care bill, a powerful network of conservative donors said Wednesday it would create a new fund for Republican 2018 reelection races — but they'll only open it up to GOPers who vote against the bill.

Discussion: TheBlaze

John Bresnahan / Politico:

White House shift to right on health care angers moderates — The Republican push to replace Obamacare - backed forcefully by President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan —is in jeopardy, as a last-ditch bid by the White House to win conservative support late Wednesday appeared to repel moderates.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Dylan Matthews / Vox:
The latest health care cut Republicans are weighing, explained

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
Mike Lee: Senate parliamentarian told me it's possible to push harder on repealing Obamacare regulations

Discussion: Hot Air and Washington Post

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Rubio ducks questions about supporting House Obamacare repeal

Discussion: Shark Tank and RedState

The Hill:
Trump woos right with promise of Senate changes to ObamaCare replacement

Discussion: CBS News, The Resurgent and The Daily Signal

Ezra Klein / Vox:

Trump's weak closing argument on health care — and why it matters — When you're arguing from political cynicism, you need a better case than this. … Will House Republicans muster the votes to pass the American Health Care Act tomorrow? I don't know.

Discussion: Politico, Urban Institute, Townhall.com, bradford-delong.com and New York Times

Rep. Daniel Donovan / Staten Island Advance:

Why I will vote ‘no’ on the American Health Care Act — Rep. Daniel Donovan will vote “no” on the current Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. (Staten Island Advance/Rachel Shapiro) — Since my first day serving in Congress I made a commitment to weigh the impact …

Discussion: Congressman Lou Barletta, NBC News, The Atlantic and The Republic

Jim Newell / Slate:

There's a secret, cynical reason Paul Ryan can't give conservatives what they want on the American Health Care Act. — You cannot fault House conservative holdouts for a lack of clarity in their refusal to support the American Health Care Act. Each one I spoke with on Tuesday made the same point …

Discussion: Vox and Talking Points Memo

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
House Republicans, Deeply Divided, Face Painful Choice on Health Vote

Discussion: Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Biden warns against GOP health bill: ObamaCare is ‘peace of mind’

Discussion: RedState

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Democrats weigh deal to let Gorsuch through — A group of Senate Democrats is beginning to explore trying to extract concessions from Republicans in return for allowing Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch to be confirmed, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Discussion: The Resurgent, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Power Line, Mediaite, Washington Examiner and Vox

Democracy Now:
A Driver Fled His Truck to Avoid Freezing to Death. Only One Judge Ruled Against Him: Neil Gorsuch

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
While Gorsuch was testifying, the Supreme Court unanimously said he was wrong

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Beast, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, SCOTUSblog, Politico, Occupy Democrats, Washington Monthly, USA Today, Reuters, New York Times, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, Latest from Crooks and Liars and Washington Post

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Joviality at Neil Gorsuch's Hearing Masks Drama Behind the Scenes

Discussion: Washington Post, Refinery29, SCOTUSblog, NPR.org and Politico

New York Daily News:

Racist Maryland man who fatally stabbed black New Yorker admits his intent to kill African-American men — The 28-year-old man busted for fatally stabbing a black stranger in Midtown on Tuesday has told cops he came the city from Baltimore to kill African-Americans, sources said.

Discussion: Associated Press, Occupy Democrats, New York Post, New York's PIX11, Mediaite, The Root, Raw Story, AOL, The Times of Israel and Gothamist

Ashley Southall / New York Times:

Suspect in Manhattan Killing Hated Black Men, Police Say — A military veteran with a long-simmering hatred of black men claimed responsibility on Wednesday for the fatal stabbing of a homeless man in Manhattan this week, the police said, in an attack that officials have determined was racially motivated.

Daniel Prendergast / New York Post:
Well-dressed suspect in fatal stabbing surrenders to cops

Discussion: Gothamist

Graydon Carter / Vanity Fair:

The Trump Presidency Is Already a Joke — But it's no laughing matter. — It can reasonably be said that our dear leader is now the most ridiculed man on the planet. In fact, he may well be the most ridiculed man in history. For a preening narcissist who takes himself terribly seriously …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Fox News:

UK Parliament terror attack: 4 people killed, including cop and alleged assailant; 20 injured — DEVELOPING - Four people, including a London police officer who was stabbed and the alleged assailant, were killed after a terror attack that saw more than 20 people injured outside the Parliament building on Wednesday.

Angela Dewan / CNN:
UK Parliament terror alert: One woman dead and police officer stabbed

Discussion: WPMT FOX43, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Sun, Hollywood Life, Infowars, TheBlaze, The Guardian and Daily Mail

Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:

Apple has acquired Workflow, a powerful automation tool for iPad and iPhone — Apple has finalized a deal to acquire Workflow today — a tool that lets you hook together apps and functions within apps in strings of commands to automate tasks. We've been tracking this one for a while but were able …

Discussion: Engadget, The Verge and Axios, more at Techmeme »