memeorandum: Inside Trump's last-ditch bid to avoid a health care disaster (Kyle Cheney/Politico)

9:40 AM ET, March 23, 2017

Top Items:

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, Washington Post, Political Wire, Axios, The Concourse, Lawfare, Raw Story, Towleroad, RedState, Occupy Democrats, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, The Resurgent, TheBlaze and Daily Wire

Axios:

Russia erupts: “I'm President and you're not” — In an interview out this morning, President Trump tells TIME Washington Bureau Chief Michael Scherer, in response to a question about the risk to his reputation caused by false and ever-changing utterances: “Hey, look, I can't be doing so badly, because I'm President and you're not.”

Discussion: Political Wire

Nancy Gibbs / TIME:

When a President Can't Be Taken at His Word — Nancy Gibbs is the managing editor of TIME. She is the co-author, along with TIME's Michael Duffy, of two best-selling presidential histories: The President's Club: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity and The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House.

Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News: The Note: The crucial health care vote

Matt Fuller / The Huffington Post:

Freedom Caucus Closing In On Deal To Rewrite Health Care Bill At 11th Hour — Republicans are considering changes that could doom the bill in the Senate and save face in the House. — WASHINGTON Just hours before an expected Thursday vote in the House, congressional Republicans …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

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: Hit & Run, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and 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, Townhall.com, Urban Institute, bradford-delong.com and New York Times

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 …

Theodore Schleifer / CNN:
Kochs to withhold millions for health care ‘yes’ votes

Discussion: RedState, The Guardian, Hot Air, TheBlaze and Washington Post

John Bresnahan / Politico:
Obamacare repeal in jeopardy as Trump offers 11th-hour concessions

Discussion: Vox, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Magazine and Balloon Juice

Rep. Daniel Donovan / Staten Island Advance:
Why I will vote ‘no’ on the American Health Care Act

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

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Inside Trump's last-ditch bid to avoid a health care disaster

Discussion: Axios, Mediaite and The Hill

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:
White House moves to tweak health care bill to win over conservatives

Discussion: Business Insider, CNN, New York Magazine, Hit & Run, Daily Kos, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, ABC News, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, The Hill, STAT, The Daily Signal, RedState and Lawyers, Guns & Money

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

Discussion: 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: Business Insider, Vox and Talking Points Memo

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.

Holman W. Jenkins, Jr / Wall Street Journal: Leakgate Finds Its Joe McCarthy

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

Discussion: Power Line

Elizabeth Preza / Raw Story:

DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Wednesday called for a select committee to investigate Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election and potential ties between the Donald Trump campaign and Russian officials, telling MSNBC's Greta Van Susteren …

Austin Wright / Politico:
Nunes claims some Trump transition messages were intercepted

Madeline Conway / Politico:
Schiff: There is now ‘more than circumstantial evidence’ of Trump-Russia collusion

Discussion: Political Wire

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

Discussion: Politico and Occupy Democrats

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

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

Discussion: Washington Monthly, National Review, Just Security, CNBC, The Hill, Business Insider, Hot Air, Jamie Dupree, Shareblue, Politicus USA, TheBlaze, The Atlantic, 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: Vox, Political Wire, BizPac Review, twitchy.com, Power Line, Mediaite, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Examiner and The Resurgent

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

Jerusalem Post:

‘Dual US-Israeli citizen behind most JCC bomb threat calls’ — Israeli authorities have arrested an 19-year-old suspect on suspicion of instigating a series of threats to Jewish communities in the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand over the past six months.

Discussion: Business Insider, Raw Story, twitchy.com and Mediaite

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

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

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

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, Mediaite, New York Post, 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

Dylan Byers / CNNMoney:

President Trump, NBC's Mark Halperin dined in White House — President Donald Trump had a private dinner with NBC News senior political analyst Mark Halperin last week, sources with knowledge of the meeting told CNNMoney. — The dinner, which took place in the White House residence …

more at Mediagazer »

Yaroslav Trofimov / Wall Street Journal:

Turkey's Referendum Could Backfire on Erdogan — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's victory in a constitutional referendum in April looks surprisingly uncertain, with high stakes for Turkey's leader.

Discussion: Instapundit

Amie Parnes / The Hill:

Obama and Trump haven't talked since inauguration — Lines of communication between President Trump and former President Barack Obama — have gone dark. — The two men haven't spoken since Inauguration Day, sources tell The Hill, a drastic turn since their string of phone calls and pleasantries during the presidential transition.