memeorandum: Trump, Xi meet again - in shadow of missile strikes on Syria (Associated Press)

6:25 AM ET, April 7, 2017

Top Items:

U.S. Launches Missiles at Syrian Base After Chemical Weapons Attack — The United States launched dozens of cruise missiles Thursday night at a Syrian airfield in response to what it believes was the Syrian government's use of banned chemical weapons blamed for having killed at least 100 people on Tuesday …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, NBC News, The Concourse, Hit & Run, Taylor Marsh, The Gateway Pundit, Politicus USA, Refinery29, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Little Green Footballs, KFOR-TV, RedState and Power Line

Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:

Why the Navy's Tomahawk missiles were the weapon of choice in strikes in Syria — The U.S. Navy launched more than 50 Tomahawk missiles early Friday at military targets in Syria in response to a chemical-weapons attack this week on civilians, relying on a mainstay weapon when the Pentagon wants to attack from a safe distance.

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Daily Caller, Al Jazeera English and Business Insider

Matthew Cole / The Intercept:

U.S. WEIGHS “SATURATION STRIKE” AGAINST SYRIAN GOVERNMENT IN RESPONSE TO CHEMICAL ATTACK — The Pentagon has developed plans for an airstrike against Syrian government targets in response to this week's apparent chemical attack by Syrian government forces, according to two U.S. military officials.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Mother Jones, Raw Story, Occupy Democrats, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Axios

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:

U.S. Said to Weigh Military Responses to Syrian Chemical Attack — WASHINGTON — Senior Defense Department officials are developing options for a military strike in response to the Syrian government's chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians on Tuesday, officials said on Thursday.

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:

Rand Paul: Trump needs Congress to authorize military action in Syria — (R-Ky.) said Thursday night that President Trump needs congressional authorization for military action in Syria after Trump ordered an airstrike in retaliation for a deadly chemical attack earlier this week.

Discussion: RedState, CNN, Red Alert Politics, Washington Post and NPR

CNN:

Trump launches military strike against Syria — (CNN)The United States launched a military strike Thursday on a Syrian government target in retaliation for their chemical weapons attack on civilians earlier in the week. — On President Donald Trump's orders, US warships launched between …

Everett Rosenfeld / CNBC:

The US warned the Russians ahead of Syria missile strikes: Official — The U.S. warned the Russians before launching at least 59 tomahawk missiles aimed at Syria, NBC News reported, citing a U.S. official. — The strikes, which hit an airfield near Homs, struck aircraft and infrastructure including the runway, NBC reported.

Discussion: ABC News, Daily Wire, Occupy Democrats, IJR and The Daily Beast

Barbara Goldberg / Reuters:

Hillary Clinton calls for U.S. to bomb Syrian air fields — In her first interview since her stunning presidential election defeat by Republican rival Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton on Thursday called for the United States to bomb Syrian air fields. — Clinton, in an interview at the Women …

Discussion: Mediaite

CBS News:
Watch Live: Trump orders airstrikes on Syria

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, KOIN-TV, WREG-TV, The National Interest, CBS Pittsburgh, twitchy.com, Associated Press, Hot Air, CBS New York, RedState, CBS Boston and Vocativ

CNN:
Hillary Clinton: US should ‘take out’ Assad's air fields

Discussion: twitchy.com and TheBlaze

Washington Post:
Trump weighing military options following chemical weapons attack in Syria

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, National Review, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic, The Root, Daily Wire, Snopes.com, CNN and The White House

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Tillerson: ‘No role’ for Assad in governing Syria

Discussion: ABC News, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, Politico, Infowars, Associated Press and The Atlantic

Adam Kelsey / ABC News:
Hillary Clinton calls for strikes against Syrian airfields

Discussion: Washington Post, The Guardian and Shadowproof

Reuters:
Escalating U.S. role in Syria, Trump orders strikes on Assad airbase

Discussion: Vox Popoli, Towleroad and The Daily Caller

Tom Vanden Brook / USA Today:
U.S. launches cruise missile strike on Syria after chemical weapons attack

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Fox News, CNN, New York Times, Sputnik International, Occupy Democrats, Naked Politics, Mediaite, Vox, ThinkProgress and Instapundit

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Lawmakers urge Trump to engage Congress on Syria

Discussion: TalkLeft, Mediaite, The Week and RedState

Tracy Wilkinson / Los Angeles Times:
U.S. has ‘no doubt’ Syrian President Bashar Assad ordered gas attack, Secretary of State Tillerson says

Discussion: Financial Times, Business Insider and IJR

Sean Davis / The Federalist:
So You Want To Go To War In Syria To Depose Assad. Can You Answer These 14 Questions First?

Discussion: Defense One, Lawfare, CNN, WTVR-TV, FOX6Now.com, Hot Air and Just Security

Courtney Kube / NBC News:
Defense Sec Mattis to Brief President Trump on Military Options in Syria

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Times, NBC News, RedState, CNBC, Hot Air, The Daily Caller and Politico

Fox News:
US launches missiles into Syria in response to chemical weapons attack

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Last Tradition, Viking Pundit and The Gateway Pundit

CNN:
Trump considering options for Syria retaliation, source says

Discussion: New York Times, Associated Press, Vocativ, New York Magazine, Washington Post, Patterico's Pontifications, Business Insider, The Atlantic, TheBlaze, Hot Air, Daily Wire, Vox, IJR, The Week and Axios

Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:

Steve Bannon Calls Jared Kushner a ‘Cuck’ and ‘Globalist’ Behind His Back — Donald Trump's chief strategist Stephen Bannon has called the president's senior advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner a “cuck” and a “globalist” during a time of high tension between the two top aides …

Washington Post:

Bannon wants a war on Washington. Now he's part of one inside the White House. — Stephen K. Bannon — the combative architect of the nationalistic strategy that delivered President Trump to the White House — now finds himself losing ground in an internecine battle within the West Wing …

Discussion: Lawfare

New York Times: In Battle for Trump's Heart and Mind, It's Bannon vs. Kushner

Eamon Javers / CNBC:
Bannon attended National Security Council meeting after his removal from top committee

Discussion: Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

Rosie Gray / The Atlantic:
Kushner and Bannon Battle for the Soul of the Trump White House

Discussion: Hot Air, Axios, The Times of Israel, Occupy Democrats, Washington Post, Dispatches From the …, Hullabaloo, Politico, The Guardian, NPR, Raw Story, Breitbart, Daily Kos and Vox

Mark Hensch / The Hill:
Bannon ready for White House ‘gunfight’: report

Discussion: Politico, BillMoyers.com, Axios, IJR, Dispatches From the … and Raw Story

New York Times:

Kushner Omitted Meeting With Russians on Security Clearance Forms — When Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, sought the top-secret security clearance that would give him access to some of the nation's most closely guarded secrets, he was required to disclose …

Discussion: Political Wire, Occupy Democrats and The Slot

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Nuking The Filibuster May Hurt Republicans In The Long Run — The Supreme Court filibuster just died. Having failed to break a Democratic filibuster on the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, Republicans voted 52-48 to invoke the so-called nuclear option …

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, RedState, New York Times, Sputnik International, NPR and Washington Free Beacon

Ari Berman / The Nation:
The GOP Has Declared War on Democracy

Discussion: Common Dreams

Bob Dole / Washington Post:
Bob Dole and Trent Lott: The Senate has changed. It's time to use the nuclear option.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon and Townhall.com

Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:

C.I.A. Had Evidence of Russian Effort to Help Trump Earlier Than Believed — WASHINGTON — The C.I.A. told senior lawmakers in classified briefings last summer that it had information indicating that Russia was working to help elect Donald J. Trump president, a finding that did not emerge publicly until …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Political Wire

NEWS.com.au:

North Korea vows ‘most ruthless blow’ on United States after Donald Trump pledges to build up defences against Pyongyang — NORTH Korea is ready to deliver the “most ruthless blow” if provoked by the United States, its ambassador to Moscow said overnight, after US President Donald Trump pledged …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Associated Press:
Trump, Xi meet again - in shadow of missile strikes on Syria

Discussion: Politico and ABC News

David Ingram / Reuters:

Twitter refuses U.S. order to disclose user behind anti-Trump account — Twitter Inc on Thursday refused to reveal the user behind an account opposed to President Donald Trump's tough immigration policies and said it was challenging the demand for records by the U.S. government in court, according to a lawsuit.

Discussion: The Atlantic, BuzzFeed, Talking Points Memo, Snopes.com, Occupy Democrats and TheBlaze, more at Mediagazer »

Kartikay Mehrotra / Bloomberg:
Trump Bid to Unmask @Alt Critic User Met by Twitter Lawsuit

Discussion: The Week

Sam Biddle / The Intercept:
The U.S. Government Is Trying to Unmask an Anonymous Anti-Trump Twitter Account

Discussion: Refinery29, Liberal Values and Gizmodo

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

Clinton: ‘Misogyny played a role’ in 2016 … Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton — said on Thursday that misogyny “played a role” her 2016 defeat. — “Certainly, misogyny played a role,” Clinton said at the Women of the World Summit in New York. “I mean, that just has to be admitted.

Discussion: Breitbart, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com, Hot Air, Daily Wire, Mediaite and Mashable

Yahoo: Misogyny ‘played role’ in election loss: Clinton

McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:

Senator Mitt Romney? — Republican leaders and high-powered donors in Utah are waging a quiet but concerted campaign to convince 83-year-old incumbent Senator Orrin Hatch not to seek reelection next year—and now, they may have found a successor. Mitt Romney, the one-time presidential nominee …

Discussion: RedState, fox13now.com, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Politicus USA and Axios

Niamh McIntyre / The Independent:

Donald Trump's travel expenses in 10 weeks cost US taxpayers as much as Barack Obama spent in two years — US President has spent seven weekends at Mar-a-Lago since taking office 10 weeks ago — Donald Trump's trips to his luxury Florida resort have already cost the US taxpayer at least $24 million …

Discussion: Balloon Juice