memeorandum: French voters adrift as unconventional election looms (Gina Doggett/Yahoo)

8:40 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

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

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

John Bresnahan / Politico:

Obamacare repeal in jeopardy as Trump offers 11th-hour concessions — 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: New York Magazine and Balloon Juice

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: RedState and TheBlaze

Paul Ryan / Wall Street Journal:

Keeping Our Promise to Repeal ObamaCare — Our bill guts the failing law and enacts conservative reform without pulling the rug out from under anyone. — The election of Donald Trump and a Republican Congress provides an opportunity: We can immediately halt the leftward drift of American social policy …

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, Business Insider, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, ABC News, The Hill, STAT, The Daily Signal, RedState and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jim Newell / Slate:
There's a secret, cynical reason Paul Ryan can't give conservatives what they want on the American Health Care Act.

Discussion: Vox, Talking Points Memo and Business Insider

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

Discussion: Jamie Dupree, Hot Air and Washington Post

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

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Hill

Matt Fuller / The Huffington Post:
Freedom Caucus Closing In On Deal To Rewrite Health Care Bill At 11th Hour

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico and Political Wire

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

Discussion: DCReport and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi

TIME:

Read President Trump's Interview With TIME on Truth and Falsehoods — President Trump spoke with TIME Washington Bureau Chief Michael Scherer on March 22 for a cover story about the way he has handled truth and falsehood in his career. — This is a transcript of the exchange, with some minor edits.

Discussion: Politico, Political Wire, Axios, Raw Story, RedState, Occupy Democrats, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, The Resurgent, TheBlaze and Daily Wire

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.

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: Politicus USA, ABC News and Daily Wire

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

Discussion: Occupy Democrats

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

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Hill, CNBC, Business Insider, Hot Air, Jamie Dupree, Shareblue, Politicus USA, The Atlantic, TheBlaze, Taylor Marsh, Axios, Patterico's Pontifications and Booman Tribune

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: twitchy.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Power Line, Mediaite, The Resurgent, 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

Brookings Institution:

Senior Scholar - Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs — In “Mortality and morbidity in the 21st Century,” Princeton Professors Anne Case and Angus Deaton follow up on their groundbreaking 2015 paper that revealed a shocking increase in midlife mortality among white non …

Discussion: Washington Post, Instapundit and NPR

Betsy McKay / Wall Street Journal: Death Rates Rise for Wide Swath of White Adults, Study Finds

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

NBC News:
Paul Manafort Once Worked to ‘Benefit the Putin Government’: Report

Discussion: Raw Story, CNBC, Breitbart, Washington Post, Mother Jones, Shakesville, IJR and The Root

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: Occupy Democrats, Associated Press, New York's PIX11, New York Post, 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

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

The Guardian:

London attack: police confirm seven people arrested - live — Seven arrested in six counter-terrorism raids in London, Birmingham and elsewhere following Wednesday's terrorist attack on London … French authorities have launched an inquiry into the London attack after it became clear three …

Discussion: Geller Report, Washington Post, New York Times, TheBlaze, BizPac Review, Mashable, AOL, The Last Tradition, Occupy Democrats, RedState and The Republic

Fox News:
UK Parliament terror attack: 4 people killed, including cop and alleged assailant; 20 injured

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

Discussion: WPMT FOX43, Hollywood Life, The Sun, 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: BGR, Engadget, The Verge and Axios, more at Techmeme »