Top Items:
Dana Bash / CNN:
First on CNN: Graham, Cassidy unveil details of alternative health care plan — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)With the prospects for passing the current Senate Republican health care bill still in jeopardy, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana …
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Axios, ThinkProgress, neo-neocon, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire and IJR
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Sarah Karlin-Smith / Politico:
Senate Republicans one vote away from Obamacare repeal failure — The Senate Republican effort to repeal Obamacare is on the cusp of defeat, with two Republican senators threatening to kill the measure before the Senate can even start debate. — GOP leaders released a modified draft …
Discussion:
The Hill, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, CNN, Axios, Vox, Washington Post, Business Insider, TheBlaze and Political Insider blog
Paige Winfield Cunningham / Washington Post:
The Health 202: Doctors make last-ditch effort to sink GOP health-care bill — THE PROGNOSIS — Senate Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) attends a new conference following party policy lunch meeting. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria TPX) — It's looking increasingly …
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Vox, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, IJR, The Guardian, Mother Jones, Daily Wire and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Caitlin Owens / Axios:
Draft GOP health bill will include Cruz provision — A controversial idea championed by Sen. Ted Cruz will be included in today's draft of the GOP health care bill, according to three sources familiar with the bill. It's similar to the provision Cruz worked on with Sen. Mike Lee …
Discussion:
IJR, NBC News, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos
Haley Byrd / IJR:
Senate Republicans are Considering Alternative Scoring for Cruz Amendment Instead of Waiting for CBO — Republicans are considering using alternative scoring methods for a version of Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) Consumer Freedom Option in order to proceed with their health care push next week rather …
Discussion:
Daily Kos and Business Insider
Dylan Scott / Vox:
Leaked outline shows Senate bill will allow bare-bones health plans — It will also keep some — but not all — of the Affordable Care Act taxes on the rich. — The Senate Republicans' revised health care bill will keep Obamacare's taxes on high-income Americans in place and allow the sales …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:
Republican Senators Left Exposed in Health Care Ad Wars
Republican Senators Left Exposed in Health Care Ad Wars
Discussion:
Reuters and New York Times
Sarah Kliff / Vox:
Senate Republicans exempt own health coverage from part of latest proposal
Senate Republicans exempt own health coverage from part of latest proposal
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Politicus USA
Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:
Revised Senate health-care bill still lacks the votes to pass
Revised Senate health-care bill still lacks the votes to pass
Discussion:
Politico, New York Magazine and Political Wire
Ezra Klein / Vox:
The new Senate health bill is terrible for anyone who is sick, has been sick, or will be sick
Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
TEXT: Cruz amendment would allow insurers to escape these nine Obamacare regulations
TEXT: Cruz amendment would allow insurers to escape these nine Obamacare regulations
Discussion:
ACASignups.net and Daily Wire
Axios:
The new things in the Senate health bill
The new things in the Senate health bill
Discussion:
HuffPost, The Nevada Independent and Vox
Rusty Surette / KBTX-TV:
Rep. Flores says President Trump's children should be removed from White House — A Republican U.S. Representative from the Brazos Valley believes the President's children should be removed from the White House. — Rep. Bill Flores, District 17, made the remarks on Wednesday …
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The Texas Tribune, Washington Times, Mediaite, Raw Story, Vox and The Daily Caller
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Reuters:
Highlights of Reuters interview with Trump — 7 MIN READ — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Here are highlights of the Reuters Oval Office interview with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday. — ON WHETHER HE WAS AWARE HIS SON DONALD TRUMP JR. WAS MEETING WITH A RUSSIAN LAWYER — “No. That I didn't know.
Shane Harris / Wall Street Journal:
Russian Officials Overheard Discussing Trump Associates Before Campaign Began
Russian Officials Overheard Discussing Trump Associates Before Campaign Began
Discussion:
Foreign Policy, Washington Post, Suburban Guerrilla …, Raw Story, Mediaite, Business Insider, Daily Kos and CNBC
Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News:
The Note: Dark cloud hangs over Trump's visit to City of Lights
The Note: Dark cloud hangs over Trump's visit to City of Lights
Discussion:
Washington Post, Mother Jones, Politico, Mediaite, CNBC, Associated Press, The Guardian, Shareblue, The Root and Axios
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Conspiracy or Coincidence? A Timeline Open to Interpretation
Conspiracy or Coincidence? A Timeline Open to Interpretation
Discussion:
BillMoyers.com, Daily Kos, Los Angeles Times, JustOneMinute, The Colorado Independent, Politico, Reuters, Just Security, Washington Post, AOL and Vox
Brian Beutler / New Republic:
What Did Republicans Know About the Russia Scandal? America Deserves an Answer.
What Did Republicans Know About the Russia Scandal? America Deserves an Answer.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Salon and Hullabaloo
Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:
Team Trump Hunts for ‘Traitors’ While the President ‘Growls’ at the TV
Team Trump Hunts for ‘Traitors’ While the President ‘Growls’ at the TV
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Telegraph, The Guardian, NBC News, Weekly Standard, New York Times, Daily Kos, IJR and NPR
Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:
All Roads Now Lead to Kushner
All Roads Now Lead to Kushner
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Vox, The Mahablog, Washington Post, Mediaite, AOL, Business Insider, TheBlaze and Washington Monthly
Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
Trump Needs to Come Clean. Democrats Need to Be Careful.
Trump Needs to Come Clean. Democrats Need to Be Careful.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Vox, Mediaite, American Prospect, Raw Story, The Daily Caller and Mother Jones
Mark Katkov / NPR:
Justice Department Releases Sessions' Disclosure Form, A Day Late — Updated 11 a.m. — A day late, the Justice Department complied this morning with a federal court order and released part of a security clearance form dealing with Attorney General Jeff Sessions' contacts with foreign governments.
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Erick Erickson / The Resurgent:
Were Democrats Working With Russia Against Trump? That Russian Lawyer Has Ties to Democrat Oppo Researchers
Were Democrats Working With Russia Against Trump? That Russian Lawyer Has Ties to Democrat Oppo Researchers
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo, Patterico's Pontifications, Raw Story and TheBlaze
The Hill:
Exclusive: DOJ let Russian lawyer into US before she met with Trump team
Exclusive: DOJ let Russian lawyer into US before she met with Trump team
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Fox News, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Power Line, Politico, The Guardian, Axios, IJR, AOL, Conservative News Today, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, NBC News, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire, Scared Monkeys, Breitbart, Al Jazeera English, AlterNet, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Clayton Cramer, RedState, MichelleMalkin.com and The Gateway Pundit
Joseph Bernstein / BuzzFeed:
Leaked Documents Suggest Secretive Billionaire Trump Donors Are Milo's Patrons — Photo illustration by BuzzFeed News; Getty Images — Secretive hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer and his family launched themselves into the top rank of American power through a series …
Shane Savitsky / Axios:
Trump: I'd invite Putin to the White House — On board Air Force One en route to Paris last night, President Trump held an off the record gaggle with reporters, but he changed his mind this morning allowed his remarks — on everything from Russia to the border wall to China — to be released on the record.
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Politico
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Hadas Gold / Politico:
Trump's off-the-record on-the-record toggle vexes reporters
Trump's off-the-record on-the-record toggle vexes reporters
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Shannon Vavra / Axios:
Susan Collins, Rand Paul to vote no on revised health bill — Republican Senators Susan Collins and Rand Paul will both be voting no on the revised Senate health bill. This comes after Mitch McConnell unveiled his new health care bill Thursday, which would let insurers sell skimpy policies …
Discussion:
Political Wire, Hit & Run and Jamie Dupree - AJC
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Russell Berman / The Atlantic:
What's Inside Mitch McConnell's Latest Health-Care Proposal
What's Inside Mitch McConnell's Latest Health-Care Proposal
Discussion:
The Hill, Red Alert Politics, RedState and Refinery29
Benjamin Weiser / New York Times:
Sheldon Silver's Conviction Is Overturned — A federal appeals court on Thursday overturned the 2015 corruption conviction of Sheldon Silver, the once-powerful New York State Assembly speaker who obtained nearly $4 million in illicit payments in return for taking official actions that benefited others …
Discussion:
Jewish Telegraphic Agency and New York Magazine
U.S. Department of Justice:
National Health Care Fraud Takedown Results in Charges Against Over 412 Individuals Responsible for $1.3 Billion in Fraud Losses — Largest Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action in Department of Justice History — Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Health and Human Services …
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Washington Post, RedState, Daily Wire, Washington Free Beacon, STAT and Axios
CBO's Publications:
An Analysis of the President's 2018 Budget — Under the President's proposals, budget deficits from 2018 through 2027 would total nearly one-third less than those in CBO's baseline projections, ranging between 2.6 percent and 3.3 percent of GDP, down from 3.6 percent in 2017.
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Times, National Review, Vox and TheStreet
Aidan Geary / CBC News:
Jimmy Carter OK after collapsing from dehydration in Winnipeg — Former U.S. president and wife Rosalynn were helping construct a Habitat for Humanity home — Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter received medical attention for dehydration while in Winnipeg on Thursday, where he is helping build a Habitat for Humanity home.
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Post, The Hill, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller and fox13now.com
Craig Unger / New Republic:
Trump's Russian Laundromat — How to use Trump Tower and other luxury high-rises to clean dirty money, run an international crime syndicate, and propel a failed real estate developer into the White House. — In 1984, a Russian émigré named David Bogatin went shopping for apartments in New York City.
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the daily howler and Scripting News