memeorandum: Vanderbilt football player's stolen cell phone led to shooting outside Nashville Target, police say (Natalie Neysa Alund/Tennessean.com)

11:20 PM ET, June 27, 2017

Top Items:

On Senate Health Bill, Trump Falters in the Closer's Role — WASHINGTON — President Trump began his all-hands meeting with Republican senators at the White House on Tuesday by saying they were “very close” to passing a health care bill, just as efforts to fast-track a vote this week collapsed.

Discussion: The Atlantic, NPR, IJR and Political Wire

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:

McConnell warns Trump, GOP on health bill failure — Mitch McConnell is delivering an urgent warning to staffers, Republican senators and even the president himself: If Obamacare repeal fails this week, the GOP will lose all leverage and be forced to work with Chuck Schumer.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ABC News, Daily Kos, Booman Tribune, New York Magazine, Axios, TheStreet, Politicus USA, Washington Post, Political Wire, Vox and The Hill

Jonah Goldberg / National Review:

How the Logic of Tribalism Is Driving the Health-Care Debate — I'm just thinking out loud here. But it seems to me this is one of those moments in American politics where no one can simply say what they really think or want. As Yuval noted yesterday, big chunks of the GOP-controlled Congress …

Discussion: Townhall.com, Booman Tribune, Mother Jones and Vox

Axios:

Senate delays health care vote until after recess — Senate Republican leaders have done an abrupt about-face on the health care bill: They're now planning to delay the vote to take up the bill until after the July 4 recess, according to two senior GOP aides.

Discussion: Politico, Vox, CNN, ABC News, Liberal Values, No More Mister Nice Blog, ThinkProgress, Politicus USA, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Free Beacon and Political Wire

Alexander Burns / New York Times:

How Governors From Both Parties Plotted to Derail the Senate Health Bill — WASHINGTON — A once-quiet effort by governors to block the full repeal of the Affordable Care Act reached its climax in Washington on Tuesday, as state executives from both parties — who have conspired privately for months …

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Trump: Senate GOP ‘very close’ to agreement on health bill

Discussion: RedState, Axios and Political Wire

Caitlin Owens / Axios: The new health care deadline: Get a deal by Friday

Josh Dawsey / Politico:
Senate GOP seethes at Trump impulsiveness

Discussion: Political Wire

New York Times:
Vote Delayed as G.O.P. Struggles to Marshal Support for Health Care Bill

Discussion: The Hill, Patterico's Pontifications, Refinery29, The Daily Caller, Chicagoist, Fusion, Mashable, Outside the Beltway and Washington Post

Diamond Naga Siu / Politico:
Republican senators hit by calls from voters worried about Obamacare repeal bill

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Alex Isenstadt / Politico: Pro-Trump group pulls ads criticizing Heller over Obamacare

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Senate GOP yanks Obamacare repeal bill

Discussion: Balloon Juice, New York Magazine, Washington Post, The Root, Media Matters for America, ABC News, The FADER, The Week, Politicus USA and Vox

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Pro-Trump group launches TV, radio ads against Heller over health bill

Discussion: CNN, The Nevada Independent, ABC News, The Nation, BuzzFeed, Daily Kos, Washington Post and The Week

David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:

A Time Magazine with Trump on the cover hangs in his golf clubs. It's fake. — The framed copy of Time Magazine was hung up in at least four of President Trump's golf clubs, from South Florida to Scotland. Filling the entire cover was a photo of Donald Trump.

John Bowden / The Hill:
Trump golf clubs displaying fake Time magazine cover

Discussion: RedState, Raw Story and Occupy Democrats

New York Times:

Trump Campaign Chief's Firm Got $17 Million From Pro-Russia Party — Paul Manafort, who was forced out as President Trump's campaign chairman last summer after five months of infighting and criticism about his business dealings with pro-Russian interests, disclosed on Tuesday that his consulting firm …

Discussion: Political Wire

Washington Post:

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort files as foreign agent for Ukraine work — A consulting firm led by Paul Manafort, who chaired Donald Trump's presidential campaign for several months last year, retroactively filed forms Tuesday showing that his firm received $17.1 million …

Discussion: ABC News, Axios, Politico, The Week, Little Green Footballs, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:

Trump blasts media after CNN retraction: ‘They are all Fake News!’ — President Trump on Tuesday blasted several publications after CNN retracted a story published last week tying a top Trump ally to a Russian investment bank. — “So they caught Fake News CNN cold, but what about NBC, CBS & ABC?”

George Prayias / The Rush Limbaugh Show:
Could Donald Trump Be the End of CNN?

Discussion: Politico, Althouse, IJR, TheBlaze, Daily Wire, Washington Post, Breitbart and Townhall.com

John Hayward / Breitbart:
Gorka: O'Keefe CNN Video Fake News Scandal ‘Complete Vindication for the President’

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Power Line

Peter Hasson / The Daily Caller:

Sarah Palin Suing New York Times For Defamation — Sarah Palin is suing The New York Times for defamation, according to documents filed on Tuesday obtained by The Daily Caller. — The lawsuit has to do with an editorial the NYT ran on June 14 that falsely smeared Palin as inciting …

Discussion: Washington Post and The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »

New York Post:

Sarah Palin sues NY Times for tying political ad to mass shooting … Former Governor of Alaska and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is suing the New York Times for defamation over a recent editorial tying one of her political action committee ads to a 2011 mass shooting …

Discussion: Political Wire, RedState, New York Times, NBC News, MILO NEWS, The Week, Washington Free Beacon, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, TheBlaze and IJR

Jon Swaine / The Guardian:

Trump lawyer's firm steered millions in donations to family members, files show — Documents obtained by the Guardian reveal Jay Sekulow approved plans to push people to give to his Christian nonprofit, which then paid big sums to his family … More than 15,000 Americans were losing …

Discussion: The Hill, Above the Law, Friendly Atheist, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Raw Story and Right Wing Watch

Aaron C. Davis / Washington Post:
Trump attorney Jay Sekulow's family has been paid millions from charities they control

Discussion: Media Matters for America

Christopher Wallace / Fox News:

Obamas under fire from the left for never ending, sizzling ultra-luxury vacations — The Democratic base is growing increasingly frustrated with former President Barack Obama's actions after leaving office, including a seemingly endless tour of millionaire and billionaire luxury retreats …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Washington Free Beacon

Washington Post:

Who's afraid of Trump? Not enough Republicans — at least for now. — Scrambling to line up support for the Republican health-care bill, President Trump got on the phone Monday with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and urged him to back the measure. — The president's personal plea was not enough.

Scott Wong / The Hill:
Chaffetz calls for $2,500 legislator housing stipend

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Fusion, Politico, Washingtonian, AOL, Washington Free Beacon, Conservative News Today, The Daily Banter, The Week and Political Wire

Telegraph:

Man hit by bus as he crosses road - before dusting himself down and walking into pub — CCTV footage shows man hit by bus in Reading — A man was knocked down by an out-of-control bus - before miraculously getting up and walking into a pub. — Simon Smith said he is lucky to be alive …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Nadia Khomami / The Guardian:
‘I get knocked down’: man hit by bus gets back up again and heads to pub

Discussion: TheBlaze and RedState

Angela Hart / Sacramento Bee:

How Donald Trump is killing romance — In the treacherous, amusing and sometimes rewarding world of online dating, Donald Trump has become the newest way to find - or reject - a romantic match. — “Did you vote for or do you support Trump? Then I'm not your man.

Discussion: RedState and Raw Story

The White House:

Statement from the Press Secretary — The United States has identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children. The activities are similar to preparations the regime …

Discussion: The National Interest, IJR, The Last Refuge and New York Times

Mike Wilson / Dallas Morning News:

How news organizations, including this one, unintentionally misinformed the public on guns — Steve Doud, a subscriber from Plano, emailed me to say he'd read something in the June 21 Dallas Morning News that couldn't possibly be true. — An eight-paragraph Washington Post article …

Niall Stanage / The Hill:

Trump praises female reporter's ‘nice smile’ on call to Irish PM … President Trump singled out a female journalist during a phone call with the new Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, on Tuesday, telling Varadkar, “She has a nice smile on her face. So I bet she treats you well.”

Discussion: Shareblue, Raw Story and Mediaite

Buzz Bissinger / Vanity Fair:

Cover Story: Serena Williams's Love Match — A STAR IS BORN Serena Williams, photographed in Highland Beach, Florida. — Last January, on the eve of the Australian Open, Serena Williams handed her fiancé, Alexis Ohanian, a paper bag containing six positive pregnancy tests.

Discussion: Mother Jones, USA Today, Vox, The Guardian, Refinery29, Mashable, East Bay Times, The FADER, Washington Post, SFist, AOL and Fusion

Circa:

WATCH | Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe is being investigated by the Office of U.S. Special Counsel for violating The Hatch Act that prohibits FBI agents from campaigning in partisan races. — The Office of U.S. Special Counsel, the government's main whistleblower agency …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Emily Smith / New York Post:

CNN faced $100M lawsuit over botched Russia story — The specter of a $100 million libel suit scared CNN into retracting a poorly reported story that slimed an ally of President Trump's — and forcing out the staffers responsible for it, The Post has learned. — SEE ALSO

Discussion: Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, Althouse, NewsBusters, Mediaite, NPR, The Resurgent, Axios, Washington Post, The Last Tradition and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Michael O'Connell / Hollywood Reporter:

TV Ratings: Fallon Snaps Colbert's 5-Month Winning Streak — The NBC show narrowly outperforms its CBS competition among total viewers, as the latter excludes Thursday and Friday repeats from the Nielsen race. — It was bound to happen eventually. The tight audience battle between Stephen Colbert …

Discussion: Breitbart and The Daily Caller

The Daily Beast:

White House Threatened Syria While Trump Yawned, Insiders Say … Hours before the White House issued an ominous warning to Syria's dictator against launching another chemical assault, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gave the same message to Bashar Assad's patron in Moscow, The Daily Beast has learned.