memeorandum: Trump Needs to Come Clean. Democrats Need to Be Careful. (Eli Lake/Bloomberg)

2:05 PM ET, July 13, 2017

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 …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, IJR and Vox

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 …

Discussion: Vox, The Guardian, Mother Jones and Lawyers, Guns & Money

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

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:

Republican Senators Left Exposed in Health Care Ad Wars — By now, we know that Republicans in the Senate are having a tough time coming to agreement on a health care bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took the drastic step this week of cancelling at least the first two weeks …

Discussion: Reuters and New York Times

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 and Politico

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: Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Daily Kos and NBC News

Sarah Karlin-Smith / Politico:
Senate Republicans release new Obamacare repeal bill

Discussion: The Hill, TheBlaze, Washington Post, Business Insider and Political Insider blog

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
TEXT: Cruz amendment would allow insurers to escape these nine Obamacare regulations

Discussion: Vox and ACASignups.net

Axios:
The new things in the Senate health bill

Discussion: The Atlantic, Vox and Washington Post

David Nather / Axios: Lindsey Graham's health care idea: Turn it over to the states

Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:
Competing plans deal Senate health-care push a surprise setback

Discussion: Political Wire and New York Magazine

Sam Baker / Axios:
Here comes the brand new Senate health bill

Discussion: Politico, Vox, Business Insider and Political Wire

Burgess Everett / Politico: Graham introduces repeal back-up plan

New York Times:
Senate G.O.P. Leaders Unveil Health Care Bill to Try Winning Over Skeptics

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller and CNBC

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.

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, Washington Post, The Hill, Shakesville, CNBC, Shareblue, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, Raw Story, Washington Free Beacon and Political Wire

Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:

Team Trump Hunts for ‘Traitors’ While the President ‘Growls’ at the TV … Three days after the Donald Trump Jr. email revelations broke, the White House seems stuck in purgatory, with aides still deeply unsure about who leaked the damaging information, and the president still yelling at the TV.

Discussion: Telegraph, The Guardian, Washington Post, Weekly Standard, Axios, Daily Kos, New York Times, IJR and NPR

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:

Trump Needs to Come Clean. Democrats Need to Be Careful. — The Donald Jr.-Russia revelations are a tipping point but not treason. — It's fashionable among President Donald Trump's defenders to dismiss the reports of his eldest son meeting with a Russian lawyer who promised damaging information …

Discussion: New York Times, American Prospect, Mediaite, Vox, Raw Story, The Daily Caller and Washington Post

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 …

Discussion: Vox, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Conspiracy or Coincidence? A Timeline Open to Interpretation — WASHINGTON — At 6:14 p.m. on June 7, 2016, Donald Trump Jr. clicked the send button on an email to confirm a meeting with a woman described as a “Russian government attorney” who would give him “information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia.”

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, BillMoyers.com, Politico, The Colorado Independent, Just Security, AOL, Vox and National Review

Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News:
The Note: Dark cloud hangs over Trump's visit to City of Lights

Discussion: Mediaite, The Guardian, Associated Press, Axios, Shareblue, Reuters, The Root, NBC News and The Daily Caller

Josh Siegel / Washington Examiner:
Roger Stone dismisses ‘desperate’ lawsuit alleging he and Trump campaign conspired with Russia over emails

Discussion: Washington Times and New York Times

Kurt Schlichter / Townhall.com: This Time We Liberals Have Totally Got Trump. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

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.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, National Security, Shakesville, IJR, Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog and Outside the Beltway

The Hill:

Exclusive: DOJ let Russian lawyer into US before she met with Trump team — The Russian lawyer who penetrated Donald Trump — 's inner circle was initially cleared into the United States by the Justice Department under “extraordinary circumstances” before she embarked on a lobbying campaign …

Aaron Rupar / ThinkProgress:
Ordered by court to disclose his Russia contacts, Sessions releases blank sheet of paper

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Just Security, Raw Story, Mother Jones, Shareblue and TheBlaze

Tyler Durden / zerohedge.com/fullrss2.xml:
Why Did Loretta Lynch Grant Trump Jr's Russian Lawyer A Special Visa To Enter America?

Discussion: Politico, The Rush Limbaugh Show and IJR

American Oversight:
Updated: DOJ Releases Redacted Page of Sessions's SF-86 to American Oversight

Discussion: Shareblue, The Atlantic and Daily Kos

Katie Zavadski / The Daily Beast:
Was Donald Trump Jr.'s Russian Connect in U.S. Illegally?

Discussion: Fox News, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, TheBlaze, RedState and The Gateway Pundit

Geoff Bennett / NPR:

Committee Chair Requests Donald Trump Jr. Testify On Capitol Hill — Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, tells NPR that he has sent a letter to Donald J. Trump Jr. saying that he wants him to testify in an open session of the committee as early as next week and will subpoena him if necessary.

Discussion: Axios and The Daily Caller

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
America needs to hear from Jared Kushner

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Salon, Hullabaloo, Business Insider, AOL and Townhall.com

Manu Raju / CNN:
Grassley to send Trump Jr. letter asking him to testify

Discussion: IJR

Shane Harris / WSJ:
Russian Officials Overheard Discussing Trump Associates Before Campaign Began

Discussion: Foreign Policy, Washington Post, Suburban Guerrilla …, Mediaite, Raw Story, CNBC, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly and Wall Street Journal

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

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: The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post and fox13now.com

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
Jimmy Carter hospitalized after collapsing while working on Habitat for Humanity house

Discussion: RedState

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: Vox, New York Times, National Review, Washington Post and TheStreet

Patrick Wilson / Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Corey Stewart to announce run Thursday for Tim Kaine's Senate seat — Receive daily news emails sent directly to your email inbox — A month after nearly toppling Ed Gillespie in the GOP race for governor with a campaign centered on the Confederate flag and restricting immigration …

Discussion: IJR, Hampton Roads Daily Press and The Daily Caller