memeorandum: As U.S. and South Korea conduct military exercises, North Korea's leader taunts Trump over ICBM (Emily Rauhala/Washington Post)

12:25 PM ET, July 5, 2017

Top Items:

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:

How CNN found the Reddit user behind the Trump wrestling GIF — (CNN)The Reddit user who initially claimed credit for President Donald Trump's tweet that showed Trump tackling CNN issued an apology Tuesday for the video and other offensive content he posted — one day after CNN identified …

Ben Shapiro / Daily Wire:
THUG JOURNALISM: CNN Threatens To Reveal Identity Of Reddit Man Who Made Trump-CNN Bodyslam Meme If He Disobeys Them

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Conservative News Today, Washington Times and Mediaite

Emily Rauhala / Washington Post:

As U.S. and South Korea conduct military exercises, North Korea's leader taunts Trump over ICBM — BEIJING — Tensions over North Korea's July 4 missile test mounted Wednesday, with U.S. and South Korean forces conducting military exercises and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appearing to taunt the president of the United States.

Discussion: Fox News, Vox, Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic, United States Forces Korea, The Hill, CNBC and The Root

Motoko Rich / New York Times:

In North Korea, ‘Surgical Strike’ Could Spin Into ‘Worst Kind of Fighting’ — SEOUL, South Korea — The standoff over North Korea's nuclear program has long been shaped by the view that the United States has no viable military option to destroy it. Any attempt to do so, many say …

Discussion: The Week

Wall Street Journal:
The North Korean Missile Crisis

Discussion: New York Times, The Guardian, Just Security, The American Conservative and Politico

David Rothkopf / Washington Post:
The greatest threat facing the United States is its own president

Discussion: New York Times, Shakesville, Reuters, The Guardian, Power Line and CNN

CNN:
US, China divided over how to deal with new North Korean ICBM threat

Discussion: Shareblue, Washington Free Beacon, FOX31 Denver, Mediaite, WHNT-TV, The Week, Axios and Talking Points Memo

David Weigel / Washington Post:

At parades and protests, GOP lawmakers get earful about health care — EASTPORT, Maine — For the 15th year, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) spent July 4 marching through this town of 1,331, a short boat ride away from Canada. She walked and waved, next to marching bands and Shriner-driven lobster boats.

Discussion: The Texas Tribune, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, BillMoyers.com, Political Wire, Mediaite, The Week, Balloon Juice, Fusion and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

New York Times:

Senate Republicans Lay Low on the Fourth, or Face Single-Minded Pressure — ALDERSON, W.Va — In normal times, the Fourth of July parade is a fat pitch down the middle for the grinning politician. For instance, here was Senator Joe Manchin III, a Democrat facing re-election next year …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Vox

NBC4 Washington:

NJ Sand Sculpture Mocks Gov. Christie's Viral Beach Outing — The sand sculpture appeared in the wake of a state government shutdown largely blamed on the governor — Jersey Shore Sand Sculpture Mocks Gov. Chris Christie — A giant sand sculpture of Gov. Chris Christie lounging in a chair …

Aida Chavez / The Hill:
Jersey Shore sand sculpture mocks Christie's beach trip

Discussion: Daily Wire and Raw Story

Frank Bruni / New York Times:
Chris Christie's Tutorial in Hubris

Discussion: The Week, Mediaite, Business Insider, Power Line, No More Mister Nice Blog, CNN and Washington Post

Steven Shepard / Politico:

Poll: Majority of voters back Trump travel ban — A clear majority of voters supports President Donald Trump's travel ban on visitors from six predominantly Muslim countries, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. — Polling on the travel restrictions has varied wildly since …

Discussion: The Hill, ThinkProgress, AOL, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire, TheBlaze, The Week and Washington Free Beacon

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:
Majority in new poll backs Trump's travel ban

Discussion: RedState, Politico and Scared Monkeys

Jon Levine / Mediaite:

A GOP Congressman Made a Selfie Video From Inside Auschwitz — It's as Bad as You Think — There are few places more hallowed than the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. More than a million people, mostly Jews, were killed there during the second world war, many in the camp's infamous gas chambers.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Religion News Service and AOL

ABC News:
Auschwitz Memorial condemns congressman's gas chamber video

Discussion: Politico

Jed Lipinski / New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins' Auschwitz video draws criticism

Discussion: Washington Post, NBC News, Business Insider, WREG-TV, WTVR-TV, The Week and Washington Times

Karma Allen / ABC News:

NYC officer shot, killed while sitting in police car — An on-duty New York City police officer was killed early Wednesday after a man walked up to her patrol vehicle and fired shots through the window, authorities said. — Officer Miosotis Familia, a 12-year veteran assigned …

Discussion: CNN, The Root and The Daily Caller

New York Post:
NYPD officer assassinated in police vehicle

Discussion: New York Daily News, Daily Mail, Washington Free Beacon and Daily Wire

Sewell Chan / New York Times:
Police Officer Is Shot and Killed in ‘Unprovoked Attack’ in the Bronx

Discussion: New York Magazine, CBS New York, Washington Post, NPR, Mediaite, twitchy.com, WHNT-TV, Fox News Insider and New York Post

Julian Borger / The Guardian:

Investigators explore if Russia colluded with pro-Trump sites during US election — Questions raised as to whether Trump supports coordinated with Moscow to spread bogus stories aimed at discrediting Hillary Clinton — The spread of Russian-made fake news stories aimed at discrediting Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: Political Wire, Mediaite and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Ryan Martin / Indianapolis Star:

Indiana GOP asked Facebook for Obamacare horror stories. The responses were surprising. — That will leave about 76,000 Hoosiers without coverage, but there may be other options for them.. Dwight Adams/IndyStar — The Indiana Republican Party posed a question to Facebook on Monday: “What's your Obamacare horror story?

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Axios and Fusion

Olivia Beavers / The Hill:
Indiana GOP request for ObamaCare ‘horror stories’ goes wrong

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Indiana Republican Party and Raw Story

Sherisse Pham / CNNMoney:

Volvo: Gas-only cars are history after 2019 — The future of cars: Self-driving and electric — Volvo is going all in on the electric car. — The Swedish automaker is slamming on the brakes on vehicles powered solely by internal combustion engines, announcing that every car it makes from 2019 onward will have an electric motor.

Discussion: The Week

Volvo Car Group Global Media Newsroom:
Volvo Cars to go all electric

Discussion: ThinkProgress, NPR, The Guardian and The Verge

Julia Reinstein / BuzzFeed:

NPR Tweeted The Declaration Of Independence And Some Trump Supporters Were Offended — In celebration of the 4th of July, National Public Radio tweeted out the Declaration of Independence in a series of more than 100 tweets on Tuesday. … Many people responded with praise for the historic document, and thanked NPR for sharing it.

Discussion: Gizmodo, Raw Story, The Week and NPR

Robert Leonard / New York Times:

Want to Get Rid of Trump? Only Fox News Can Do It — KNOXVILLE, Iowa — President Trump's administration is in crisis, consumed by fears of what Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russia's meddling in the election, might find. Everyone's lawyering up — even the lawyers have lawyers.

New York Times:

Aides' Biggest Worry on Trump's Europe Trip: A Meeting With Putin — WASHINGTON — President Trump has been briefed repeatedly. His advisers have alerted him to the web of potential risks, complex issues and diplomatic snags. — But even his top aides do not know precisely what Mr. Trump …

Discussion: The American Conservative and Balloon Juice

Ronald Brownstein / CNN:

How accelerating change is deepening our political divisions — This is the first edition of “Fault Lines,” a new weekly column from CNN Senior Political Analyst Ronald Brownstein that analyzes the changing political landscape. — This column takes its name from its intention …

Mike Allen / Axios:

Steve Bannon is out of Trump's doghouse — Not a lot of people in the White House are having fun these days. But one top official is having a blast — inviting friends over for lunch, joking about good times from the campaign, plotting 2018 and even 2020.

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

Bernie Sanders is the Democrats' real 2020 frontrunner — He's staffing up, touring the country, and still drawing record crowds. — Amid a swirl of speculation about Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, and practically everyone else under the sun …