memeorandum: Trump Administration's House Veterans Struggle to Rally Support in Chamber (Kristina Peterson/Wall Street Journal)

11:20 PM ET, April 9, 2017

Top Items:

Trump officials tell Russia to drop its support for Syria's Assad — Officials in the Trump administration on Sunday demanded Russia stop supporting the Syrian government or face a further deterioration in its relations with the United States. — Signaling the focus of talks Secretary …

Discussion: New York Times, CANNONFIRE and Fox News

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post: Ryan and McConnell flip-flop on the use of force in Syria to deter chemical weapons

ABC News:
‘This Week’ Transcript 4-9-17: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Sen. Marco Rubio, and Rep. Adam Schiff

Discussion: CBS News, Politico, Washington Post and Politicus USA

Doyle McManus / Los Angeles Times:
Column An untraditional president's very traditional military strike

Discussion: Mother Jones

Michael Edison Hayden / ABC News:
Schiff says Russia is absolutely ‘complicit’ in Syrian chemical attack

Discussion: Politico

Colin Wilhelm / Politico:
McMaster: U.S. eager for regime change in Syria

Discussion: CNN, RealClearPolitics, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire, Business Insider, Hot Air, Washington Post and Axios

Joy Lin / ABC News:
Rubio says US can't defeat ISIS until Syria's Assad is removed

Discussion: Associated Press, Politico, The Hill and CNN

Nicki Rossoll / ABC News:
Despite Trump campaign promise, Tillerson had ‘no conversation’ with Mexico paying for border wall

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The Daily Caller

The Guardian:
No peace in Syria until Assad is ousted, says Nikki Haley

Discussion: Observer and Associated Press

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:

Trump's Shadow Is Looming Over This Special Election — SANDY SPRINGS, Georgia — Amy King, an accountant in this Atlanta suburb, said she's always been a Republican. — But when a Republican, Judson Hill — the first candidate to enter the first competitive congressional race …

Discussion: Reuters, IJR and CNN

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

As Georgia Vote Nears, G.O.P. Asks if Ideological Purity Matters Anymore — ATLANTA — When Michael Fitzgerald, a local Republican leader, took a break from packing up the signs after a candidate forum here last week, he appeared momentarily flummoxed about the state of his party under President Trump.

Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:

McFarland to Exit White House as McMaster Consolidates Power — Former Fox News commentator will become envoy to Singapore — Trump's second national security advisor making his mark — K. T. McFarland has been asked to step down as deputy National Security Advisor to President Donald …

Discussion: Mother Jones, New York Times, New York Magazine, Medium, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, The Slot, Talking Points Memo, USA Today, The Daily Caller, Axios and Political Wire

Paulina Firozi / The Hill:
Deputy National Security Adviser KT McFarland ousted from role: report

Discussion: Hullabaloo, RedState, Talking Points Memo and Politico

Dan Merica / CNN:
K.T. McFarland to leave NSC for Singapore ambassadorship

Discussion: Daily Kos and IJR

David B. Larter / Navy Times:

Korea crisis deepens as the US dispatches the Carl Vinson strike group to the region — The head of all U.S. forces in the Pacific canceled a planned carrier exercises and port visits in Australia and redirected the Carl Vinson carrier strike group to the waters off the Korean Peninsula …

Discussion: RedState

CNBC:
North Korea says Syria airstrikes prove its nukes justified

Discussion: The Hill, The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress and The Gateway Pundit

Idrees Ali / Reuters:
U.S. Navy strike group to move toward Korean peninsula: U.S. official

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, IJR, The Guardian and The Daily Caller

New York Daily News:

Man-spreading dispute over seats on J train leads to hammer attack and large brawl — An argument over man-spreading on a Lower East Side subway train ended in an all-out brawl with one man attacking another with a hammer, officials said Saturday. — The 30-year-old hammer victim …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Jay Rayner / The Guardian:

Le Cinq, Four Seasons Hôtel George V, 31 avenue George V, 75008 Paris (00 331 49 52 71 54). Meal for two, including service and modest wine: €600 (£520) — There is only one thing worse than being served a terrible meal: being served a terrible meal by earnest waiters …

Kristina Peterson / Wall Street Journal:

Trump Administration's House Veterans Struggle to Rally Support in Chamber — Former congressmen Mike Pence, Mick Mulvaney and Tom Price finding it difficult to persuade on GOP health bill — WASHINGTON—They had 30 years of combined service in the House of Representatives …

Discussion: Political Wire and Axios

Fox News:

Palm Sunday attacks: ISIS says it carried out bombings at churches in Egypt that killed at least 37 — The ISIS terror group has claimed responsibility for two separate Palm Sunday bombing attacks at Coptic Christian churches in Egypt that have killed 37 people and injured more than 100.

Discussion: Breitbart

CNN:
Blasts at Christian churches in Egypt kill dozens on Palm Sunday

Discussion: New York Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, KFOR-TV, The Daily Caller, BBC, IJR and New York Magazine

Shawn Boburg / Washington Post:

How Bannon's multimedia machine drove a movement and paid him millions — Stephen K. Bannon could barely finish his sentences as he implored the listeners of his Breitbart News radio show to see the new movie “Clinton Cash.” — It was July 20, the homestretch of the 2016 presidential campaign …

Reuters:

Russian computer programmer arrested in Spain: embassy — A Russian computer programmer, Pyotr Levashov, has been arrested in the Spanish city of Barcelona, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Madrid said on Sunday. — It was unclear why Levashov was arrested.

Discussion: New York Times and Raw Story

Patrick McGreevy / Los Angeles Times:

Nearly $1 billion in side deals by Gov. Brown and Democratic leaders cemented the legislative vote to raise the gas tax — Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount), left, Gov. Jerry Brown and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) were the forces pushing for a new transportation funding bill.

Discussion: Breitbart and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

Jeremy Scahill Slams Fareed Zakaria on CNN: If He Could Have Sex With That Missile Strike, He Would — On CNN's Reliable Sources this morning, The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill went off on the “atrocious” media coverage of the Syria missile strikes, even calling out CNN's Fareed Zakaria in particular.

Discussion: Common Dreams and IJR

Valerie Strauss / Washington Post:

Walker wants Wisconsin to be first state to stop dictating how much time kids should go to school — If Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has his way, the Badger State will become the first to stop requiring students in public schools to spend a minimum number of hours in class.

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Rafael Romo / CNN:

Violent clashes in Venezuela as thousands protest socialist government — Supporters of opposition leader fight police — (CNN)Thousands of protesters clashed Saturday for a fifth consecutive day with security forces in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital. — Officers in riot gear blocked …

Discussion: Daily Wire