memeorandum: Arkansas carries out country's first back-to-back executions in almost two decades (Mark Berman/Washington Post)

6:50 AM ET, April 25, 2017

Top Items:

Patricia Zengerle / Reuters:

Entire U.S. Senate to go to White House for North Korea briefing — Top Trump administration officials will hold a rare briefing on Wednesday at the White House for the entire U.S. Senate on the situation in North Korea, senior Senate aides said on Monday. — All 100 senators have been asked …

Discussion: IJR, Fox News, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Boing Boing, RedState, Common Dreams, TheBlaze, Mediaite, Politicus USA, Talking Points Memo and SARAH PALIN

New York Times:

As North Korea Speeds Its Nuclear Program, U.S. Fears Time Will Run Out — WASHINGTON — Behind the Trump administration's sudden urgency in dealing with the North Korean nuclear crisis lies a stark calculus: a growing body of expert studies and classified intelligence reports that conclude …

Discussion: Agence France-Presse

Associated Press:

Trump backs away from demand for border wall money — President Donald Trump stepped back Monday from demanding a down payment for his border wall in must-past spending legislation, potentially removing a major obstacle to a bipartisan deal just days ahead of a government shutdown deadline.

Discussion: Politico

Eli Watkins / CNN:

Christie gives Trump a ‘B,’ says WH staff need to ‘get their act together’ — Warren gives Trump an ‘F’ on first 100 days — Washington (CNN)With a few days left of his first 100 days in office, President Donald Trump's friend Gov. Chris Christie graded his performance so far as a “B.”

David Nakamura / Washington Post:
Senate staff perplexed by unusual White House private briefing on North Korea

Discussion: Vox and Talking Points Memo

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

White House ‘confident’ of averting shutdown as Trump shows flexibility on wall — The White House sought Monday to calm a jittery Washington ahead of a showdown with Congress over spending, and President Trump softened his demand that a deal to keep the federal government open include money …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, NBC News, Occupy Democrats, Hot Air, TheStreet, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, IJR and Politico

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
The Spending Bill Was Supposed to Be Easy. Then Trump Intervened.

Discussion: NBC News

The Hill: Trump's wall jams GOP in shutdown talks

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Decision time for GOP on Trump's wall and government shutdown

Discussion: Vox

Demian Bulwa / San Francisco Chronicle:

BART takeover robbery: 40 to 60 teens swarm train, rob weekend riders — A recent string of robberies on BART trains took a frightening turn when dozens of juveniles swarmed an Oakland station over the weekend and commandeered a train car, forcing passengers to hand over bags and cell phones …

Discussion: Business Insider, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Instapundit and Althouse

Wall Street Journal:

Trump Wants Tax Plan to Cut Corporate Rate to 15% — President tells staff he wants to prioritize reductions over deficit concerns — WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump has ordered White House aides to accelerate efforts to draft a tax plan slashing the corporate rate to 15% and prioritizing cuts …

Discussion: New York Times, The Hill, Politicus USA, Shareblue, Mother Jones, New York Magazine, Occupy Democrats, CNBC, Daily Wire, Axios and Business Insider

Washington Post:
Trump seeks 15 percent corporate tax rate, even if it swells the national debt

Discussion: The Week

Sam Schechner / Wall Street Journal:

Macron Campaign Wards Off Hacking Attempts Linked to Russia — Presidential candidate's campaign suffers multipronged phishing attack beginning in mid-March — PARIS—Hackers matching the profile of a pro-Kremlin group have tried in recent weeks to access campaign email accounts …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Axios, Mediaite and The Verge

Dan Merica / CNN:

State Dept. blog promotes Trump's Mar-a-Lago, prompting ethics concerns — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump personally owns Mar-a-Lago, his private club on Florida's eastern coast. But that didn't stop the State Department, in a blog post on the United States Embassy in London's website, from touting the property.

Discussion: Washington Post, Business Insider, Politico, The Hill, The Week, Raw Story, Mother Jones, ABC News, AOL, Occupy Democrats, NBC News, Reuters, NPR, The Guardian, ThinkProgress, New York Times, Daily Kos, Democratic Memes, KTLA, Mediaite and Politicus USA

Joe Concha / The Hill:
‘Fox & Friends’ anchor to be State spokesperson

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, more at Mediagazer »

Olivia Beavers / The Hill:
CNN's Tapper: US ‘shamelessly’ advertising Trump's businesses

Discussion: RedState

Wall Street Journal:

Trump Administration Plans to Impose 20% Tariff on Canadian Softwood-Lumber Imports — The dispute centers on Canadian provinces that have been allegedly allowing loggers to cut down trees at reduced rates and sell them at low prices — The Trump administration is taking retaliatory action …

Discussion: New York Times and NPR

Bloomberg:
Trump Slaps Duty on Canada Lumber, Intensifying Trade Fight

Discussion: Washington Post and The Week

Fox Business:

Obama Wall Street's Newest Fat Cat With Cantor Speech — (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Associated Press) — When he was president he called them “fat cats,” but now he's likely thanking them for a huge payday. — Former President Barack Obama, less than 100 days out of office …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Mark Hensch / The Hill: Obama to net $400K for Wall Street speech: report

Steve Chawkins / Los Angeles Times:

Robert Pirsig dies at 88; wrote counterculture classic ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ — Robert Pirsig in 1991 at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Mass. (Gary Guisinger / For The Times) — In the nearly five years it took Robert Pirsig to sell “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance …

Discussion: New York Times, Common Dreams and Raw Story

Marc A. Thiessen / Washington Post:

Forget the critics, Mr. President. Your first 100 days have been just fine. — Despite the best efforts of the White House “PR apparatus” to sell the president's first 100 days as a success, the New York Times declared in an editorial, the new administration has, in fact, been plagued by …

Discussion: The Week and Daily Wire

Byron York / Washington Examiner: Trump's 100 days: An executive success

Zach Kyle / Idaho Statesman:

Chobani sues Alex Jones, InfoWars for defamation over Twin Falls assault coverage — Chobani, the Greek yogurt maker, is suing Alex Jones, the right-wing conspiracy theorist who says the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting was a hoax, 9/11 was an inside job by the U.S. government …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Raw Story and Talking Points Memo

Bob Van Voris / Bloomberg:

Tantaros Adds to Fox Fight With Claim of ‘Sockpuppet’ Attack — Fox harassment mirrors ‘Homeland’ plot, former host claims — Network used ‘sockpuppets’ to intimidate, Tantaros claims — Former Fox News host Andrea Tantaros stepped up her fight with her ex-employer claiming in a new lawsuit …

Discussion: The Week

David Folkenflik / NPR:
Ailes Accuser Says Fox News Execs Ordered Eavesdropping On Her Digital Devices

Discussion: New York Magazine, Media Matters for America, Occupy Democrats and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Carrie Dann / NBC News:

Despite Trump's Low Numbers, Dem Surge Is No Guarantee — Democrats may be feeling vindicated by President Donald Trump's bumpy first 100 days in office, but they still have work to do if they hope to turn antipathy towards the president into a decisive rebuke of the GOP at the polls in 2018.

Discussion: Politico and TheBlaze

Rebecca Ballhaus / Wall Street Journal:
Americans' Dissatisfaction With Speaker Paul Ryan, Congress Overall Is Growing, Poll Finds

Discussion: Politicus USA and Axios

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

In Trump era, Rachel Maddow starts beating Fox News — Fox News normally ranks #1 among cable news channels. But lately MSNBC's Rachel Maddow has been challenging Fox at 9 p.m., the centerpiece of the prime time schedule. — “The Rachel Maddow Show” surpassed “Tucker Carlson Tonight” …

Discussion: Raw Story

Aaron R. Hanlon / New Republic:

Why Colleges Have a Right to Reject Hateful Speakers Like Ann Coulter — Disinviting right-wing provocateurs isn't a suppression of free speech. It's a value judgment in keeping with higher education's mission. — As graduation season approaches, colleges across the country are locking …

Discussion: Hot Air, Instapundit, IJR and The Resurgent

Mark Berman / Washington Post:

Arkansas carries out country's first back-to-back executions in almost two decades — Arkansas on Monday night executed two inmates in back-to-back lethal injections, carrying out the country's first double execution since 2000. — The executions came after Arkansas, pushing back on legal challenges …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Week, Crime and Consequences Blog and NBC News

Jacob Carpenter / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Prosecutors: Inmate's water cut off for 7 days before his death in the Milwaukee County Jail — An inquest has been ordered following the April 2016 dehydration death of Milwaukee County Jail inmate Terrill Thomas. Here's how an inquest works, and how the only other Milwaukee County inquest in the past decade ended.

Lauren Sherman / The Business of Fashion:

Amidst Backlash, Ivanka Trump Clothing Is Secretly Relabelled as Adrienne Vittadini — BoF has learned that G-III, the company that licenses Ivanka Trump ready-to-wear, has relabelled inventory without the knowledge of the brand and sold it to discount chain Stein Mart.

Discussion: New York Magazine, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, Occupy Democrats, AOL, Raw Story, The Week and Refinery29

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Former press secretary Josh Earnest doesn't have much sympathy for Sean Spicer — Press secretary Josh Earnest's advice for his successor Sean Spicer — Former White House press secretary Josh Earnest is speaking for the first time about how his successor Sean Spicer is doing.

Discussion: Washington Post, Occupy Democrats, Business Insider, Politicus USA, Talking Points Memo, theGrio, Althouse and BizPac Review, more at Mediagazer »

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation:

The Effects of Ending the Affordable Care Act's Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments — Controversy has emerged recently over federal payments to insurers under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) related to cost-sharing reductions for low-income enrollees in the ACA's marketplaces.

Discussion: Vox, Axios and USA Today