memeorandum: Donald Trump and Paul Ryan are the problem — a staff shake-up won't fix anything (Matthew Yglesias/Vox)

5:00 PM ET, April 11, 2017

Top Items:

United CEO, facing boycott calls, defends booting passenger so crew could take his seat — United Airlines' chief executive is defending his employees after a passenger who refused to give up his plane seat to a crew member was pulled screaming into the aisle by security, battered …

USA Today:

United Airlines CEO doubles down, says employees followed procedures, flier was ‘belligerent’ — LOUISVILLE — The intense firestorm roaring against United Airlines and its unrepentant CEO raged on Tuesday after his letter to the airline's employees lauded the behavior of the flight's crew when a …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Associated Press, CNBC, Refinery29, CBS Chicago, AOL, The Federalist, IJR and twitchy.com

Daily Mail:

PICTURED: The internal medicine specialist father-of-five who was beaten and dragged off an overbooked United flight as CEO pens ‘tone deaf’ email DEFENDING staff — The 69-year-old Vietnamese-American is married to a pediatrician who has a clinic in Elizabethtown, Kentucky - about 40 miles south of Louisville

Discussion: New York Post, Heavy.com, Washington Times, View from the Wing, Raw Story, Hollywood Life, Joe.My.God., IJR and TMZ.com

Justin Bachman / Bloomberg:

United Airlines Tumbles After Social-Media Storm Goes Global — Passenger's removal becomes trending item on Chinese platform — Carrier's CEO says man was ‘disruptive’ and ‘belligerent’ — United Continental Holdings Inc. tumbled early Tuesday as outrage on social media over the removal …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

CNBC:
United shares slide as PR nightmare catches up with investors

Discussion: ThinkProgress, CNNMoney, The Ring of Fire Network and twitchy.com

Melanie Zanona / The Hill:
Petition calls for United CEO to resign after passenger dragged off flight

Discussion: ABC News, Axios, Politico, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

Matt Rosoff / CNBC:
United CEO doubles down in email to employees, says passenger was ‘disruptive and belligerent’

Discussion: CNN, The Guardian, twitchy.com, New York Magazine, Power Line, Refinery29, IJR and New York Times

Alexander Smith / NBC News:

Eric Trump Says Syria Strike Was Swayed By ‘Heartbroken’ Ivanka — Donald Trump's decision to bomb Syria was influenced by his daughter, Ivanka, being “heartbroken and outraged” at the country's alleged chemical weapons attack, one of the president's sons told a British newspaper.

Discussion: Joe.My.God., Daily Wire, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, ABC News, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, Politico, The Daily Caller, Infowars, The Gateway Pundit, Political Wire, Balloon Juice and Telegraph

Simon Johnson / Telegraph:

Ivanka Trump encouraged my father to launch air strikes against Assad in Syria after chemical weapons attack, says Eric Trump — Eric Trump has said he is “sure” his sister Ivanka used her influence over their father to encourage the US president to launch military action against Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Discussion: CNN, The Atlantic, Hot Air, Washington Post, Sputnik International, Washington Examiner, ThinkProgress, RedState, Washington Monthly, KTLA, New York Magazine, Raw Story, RT and IJR

James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Reflexive partisanship drives polling lurch on Syria strikes

Discussion: New Republic, Politico, al.com, New York Magazine, Friendly Atheist, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, Latest from Crooks and Liars, Shareblue and CBS News

Matthew Rozsa / Salon:
Eric Trump: Donald Trump bombed Syria because Ivanka told him to

Discussion: The Daily Caller, CNBC and Axios

Louis Nelson / Politico:

Spicer under fire for claiming Hitler didn't use chemical weapons — White House press secretary Sean Spicer was widely criticized Tuesday for comments about Syrian dictator Bashar Assad that were seen as downplaying Adolf Hitler's crimes during World War II.

Discussion: ABC News, Axios and Balloon Juice

CNN:
Spicer: Hitler ‘was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing’

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, The Guardian, New York Magazine, New York Times, The Root, Mediaite, NPR, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, NBC News, Washington Times, Joe.My.God., Washington Free Beacon, TVNewser and Refinery29, more at Mediagazer »

Joy Lee / Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi:
Pelosi Statement on White House Press Secretary's Statements on Holocaust

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo and CBS Pittsburgh

Nick Giampia / Fox Business:
Assad is Worse Than Hitler: Syrian Chemical Weapon Survivor

Discussion: Washington Post

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:

What Reset? White House to Call Out Russia's Fake News on Syria — President Donald Trump's Russian reset is in big trouble. — That's one message of a four-page dossier on the Syrian government's April 4 chemical weapons attack that killed up to 100 people and injured many more.

Discussion: Hot Air

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:

White House Accuses Russia of Cover-up in Syria Chemical Attack — WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday accused the Russian government of engaging in a cover-up of the chemical weapons attack last week by Syrian forces that prompted American airstrikes, saying that United States intelligence …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, UPI, Mediaite, IJR and Associated Press

Mark Hensch / The Hill:

Putin: US plans to fake chemical weapons in Syria — Russian President Vladimir Putin will reportedly press the United Nations to officially investigate last week's chemical attack in Syria, claiming, without evidence, that there are plans to fake the use of chemical weapons.

Discussion: RedState, ABC News, CNN, Politico and Reuters

New York Times:
On Trump's Syria Strategy, One Voice Is Missing: Trump's

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Daily Caller, Vox, NPR, Washington Post, Infowars, Just Security, Politicus USA and New York Magazine

RT:
Idlib ‘chemical attack’ was false flag to set Assad up, more may come - Putin

Discussion: Breitbart, RedState, New York Magazine, The Gateway Pundit and Politico

Jim O’Sullivan / BostonGlobe.com:

Remember Mitt Romney's ‘binders full of women?’ They're real. And we got them. — In the world of important political documents — from the Magna Carta to the Pentagon Papers — there are also those known for more pedestrian reasons. Count Mitt Romney's “binders full of women” in that category.

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Post, IJR, National Review, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller and Axios

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:

The Latest Test for the White House? Pulling Off Its Easter Egg Roll — WASHINGTON — President Trump received an urgent warning in February, informing him of a crucial date he was about to miss. — “FYI manufacturing deadlines for the Easter eggs are near,” said a Twitter post directed at Mr. Trump …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Progress Pond, New York Magazine, AOL, Washington Post, Heat Street, The Slot, Raw Story, Mother Jones and twitchy.com

Eliza Collins / USA Today:

Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows pursues health care deal with Speaker Ryan — HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. — Rep. Mark Meadows intends to deliver an Obamacare repeal and replacement plan to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on Tuesday that would leave in place the existing law's mandates …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Examiner, Political Wire and Axios

Jessie Hellmann / The Hill:
Freedom Caucus chair: Deal ‘close’ on ObamaCare repeal

Discussion: Hot Air, Infowars and Team Ryan

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:

Schumer: If Trump doesn't release his tax returns, 'it's going to make tax reform much harder' — Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) is warning that President Trump needs to release his personal tax returns if he hopes to achieve comprehensive tax reform in the coming months.

Discussion: New York Post, Daily Kos, The Gateway Pundit, ABC News, RT, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Mediaite, New York Times and rubber hose

Reuters:
Exclusive: North Korean ships head home after China orders coal returned

Discussion: Axios, The Huffington Post, FITSNews and Hot Air

Maya T. Prabhu / Post and Courier:

Attendees chant ‘you lie’ at U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson during Graniteville town hall … GRANITEVILLE — U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson received some protests Monday like other Republican congressmen nationwide during town halls this year, getting drowned out at times with loud boos and receiving 30 seconds of “You Lie” chants.

Discussion: Washington Post, Mother Jones, Raw Story, Fox News Insider, Washington Times, Talking Points Memo and Balloon Juice

Jacqueline Alemany / CBS News:

Pennsylvania congressman to be named drug czar by Trump — Pennsylvania Congressman Tom Marino is expected to step down from his seat to take on a new role in the Trump administration. Multiple sources tell CBS News that Marino will head up the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), assuming the informal title of drug czar.

Discussion: Washington Post, STAT and Hit & Run

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

Donald Trump and Paul Ryan are the problem — a staff shake-up won't fix anything — It's not Steve Bannon's fault the GOP's policy agenda is incoherent. — The Trump administration knows it hasn't gotten off to a very impressive start, with Shane Goldmacher reporting that officials …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, Balloon Juice and ABC News

Samuel Osborne / The Independent:

US election ‘hacking’: Russian man arrested in Spain at request of American authorities — Arrested man reportedly told wife he had created a computer virus 'linked to Trump's election win' — An alleged Russian hacker has been arrested in Spain at the request of American authorities.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Israpundit

Rich Lowry / New York Post:
Turns out Obama was the real Russian stooge

Discussion: The Rush Limbaugh Show

Judy Kurtz / The Hill:

Ginsburg refers to Graham as one of ‘the women of the Senate’ — Ruth Bader Ginsburg appears to have been caught up in a gender-swapping snafu, mistakenly dubbing Sen. Lindsey Graham — (R-S.C.) one of the “women of the Senate.” — The 84-year-old Supreme Court justice delivered remarks …

Discussion: RedState, Outside the Beltway and twitchy.com

Maya Lau / Los Angeles Times:

He was a pastor and a gentleman: ‘She thought she had a wonderful husband’ — A school shooting has left San Bernardino reeling from violence once again. (April 11, 2017) (Sign up for our free video newsletter here http://bit.ly/2n6VKPR) — Karen Smith tied the knot in January with a man she had known for years.

Discussion: Vox, twitchy.com, NBC News, KFOR-TV, RT, KTLA, ThinkProgress, The Stranger …, Washington Post and Talking Points Memo

Aruna Viswanatha / Wall Street Journal:

Undocumented Immigrants Who Commit Crimes Face Tougher Policy — Attorney General Jeff Sessions wants to add 125 judges to address a backlog of immigration cases — Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed federal prosecutors to pursue harsher charges against undocumented immigrants who commit crimes …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, U.S. Department of Justice, Daily Kos, Washington Free Beacon and twitchy.com

Scott Thistlestaff / Press Herald:

Sen. Collins says she may run for Maine governor in 2018 — The state's senior U.S. senator says she's looking at where she can do the most good for citizens. — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said Tuesday she was seriously contemplating a run for Maine governor in 2018, her most definitive statement yet …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine and Political Wire

Kevin Sullivan / Washington Post:

Trump promised an ‘unpredictable’ foreign policy. To allies, it looks incoherent. — Back during his presidential campaign, Donald Trump summed up his approach to foreign policy this way: “We must as a nation be more unpredictable.” — But now that he is commander in chief …

Rick Perlstein / New York Times:

I Thought I Understood the American Right. Trump Proved Me Wrong. — A historian of conservatism looks back at how he and his peers failed to anticipate the rise of the president. — Until Nov. 8, 2016, historians of American politics shared a rough consensus about the rise of modern American conservatism.

William McGurn / Wall Street Journal:

The Silencing of Heather Mac Donald — Lofty college statements on free speech are worthless without enforcement. — No one who knows her could ever describe Heather Mac Donald as a victim. — Still, last Thursday night the Manhattan Institute scholar became the latest target of the latter …

Discussion: American Power, ProfessorBainbridge.com and National Review

Alex Roarty / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Can Democrats cuss their way back to the White House? — WASHINGTON — An old political maxim holds that politicians campaign in poetry but govern in prose. — But after voters rewarded Donald Trump despite - or perhaps because of - his plain, often expletive-prone rhetoric …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon