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Mueller Expands Probe to Trump Business Transactions — Special counsel examines dealings of Kushner, Manafort, Trump — Trump has warned Mueller against going beyond Russia in probe — The U.S. special counsel investigating possible ties between the Donald Trump campaign and Russia …
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In Interview, Trump Expresses Anger at Sessions and Comey, and Warns Mueller — WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Wednesday that he never would have appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions had he known Mr. Sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation that has dogged …
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Excerpts From The Times's Interview With Trump — President Trump spoke on Wednesday with three New York Times reporters — Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman — in an exclusive interview in the Oval Office. Also in attendance was Hope Hicks, a White House spokeswoman.
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Vox, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Shareblue, The Week, Salon, Business Insider, The Mahablog, Lawfare, Daily Kos, TheStreet, IJR, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …, First Draft, PinkNews, Just Security, Mashable, Raw Story, The Slot, Shakesville, Joe.My.God., FiveThirtyEight, Fusion, NBC News, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mother Jones, New York Times and The Local


Donald Trump: L'état, C'est Moi — In his bizarre New York Times interview, Donald Trump expresses his characteristic assortment of fever-dream assertions. The president believes Hillary Clinton “was totally opposed to any sanctions for Russia,” that a properly amortized health-insurance plan …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Vox, Business Insider, Salon, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …, IJR and The Week

Trump goes off-script and fumes about Sessions and Russia probe
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The Atlantic, Washington Post, IJR, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., Balloon Juice, Talking Points Memo, The Last Tradition and Mediaite

Sessions: No plans to resign after Trump criticism
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Axios, Talking Points Memo, RedState, New York Times, Washington Post, Feeds, Raw Story and Media Matters for America

The Note: Trump's bombshell interview drops on his 6-month mark
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Business Insider, IJR, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Trump says he wouldn't have picked Sessions if he knew he'd recuse himself
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Vox, vice, Washington Post, Conservative News Today, IJR, Politico, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Mother Jones, RedState, The Week, Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon

Trump warns Mueller against investigating his family's finances beyond Russia probe
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Axios, Washington Post, IJR, Raw Story, Politico, The Week, Hullabaloo, Business Insider, NPR, Mediaite, ABC News and rubber hose

The President vs. Federal Law Enforcement: Trump Attacks Everyone
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Hit & Run, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo and ThinkProgress


Inspiring Little Fear in Senators, Trump Struggles to Sell Health Bill — WASHINGTON — President Trump thought he could sell balky Republican senators like Ron Johnson of Wisconsin on the Senate health care bill through pleasantries, cajoling and, ultimately, some Oval Office muscle.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Politico, Mediaite, Raw Story, Politicus USA, The Week, ThinkProgress and twitchy.com
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Republicans lament an agenda in ‘quicksand’ — Sen. David Perdue persuaded Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week to scrap two weeks of August recess to advance President Donald Trump's agenda. But since then, the GOP's Obamacare repeal effort has almost entirely collapsed …

Which is politically worse for Republicans — failing to pass this health bill or actually passing it?
Discussion:
ABC News, Talking Points Memo and Mother Jones


Team Trump Used Obamacare Money to Run PR Effort Against It … The Trump administration has spent taxpayer money meant to encourage enrollment in the Affordable Care Act on a public relations campaign aimed at methodically strangling it. — The effort, which involves a multi-pronged social media push …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Axios, New York Magazine and Mediaite
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How Democrats Won the Healthcare War
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Bloomberg.com and Washington Free Beacon


Column Bill Nye on the terrifying ascendancy of American ‘dingbatitude’ — From the Emmy-winning “science guy on” the PBS children's television program to the lab-coat crusader who “saves the world” on Netflix, Bill Nye is a longtime science-is-entertaining educator, a onetime mechanical engineer and a perpetual science lover.
Discussion:
TheBlaze, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller and Washington Free Beacon
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Bill Nye: Older people need to ‘die’ out before climate science can advance
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NPR, MichelleMalkin.com, The Daily Caller, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and twitchy.com


Big German Bank, Key to Trump's Finances, Faces New Scrutiny — During the presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump pointed to his relationship with Deutsche Bank to counter reports that big banks were skeptical of doing business with him. — After a string of bankruptcies in his casino …
Discussion:
Raw Story and Balloon Juice


H.R. 1628, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017: An Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute — CBO and JCT estimate that enacting this legislation would reduce federal deficits by $420 billion over the coming decade and increase the number of people who are uninsured by 22 million in 2026 relative to the number under current law.
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AlphaBay, the Largest Online ‘Dark Market,’ Shut Down — ‘Dark Net’ Site Was Major Source of Fentanyl and Heroin, Linked to Overdose Deaths, and Used By Hundreds of Thousands of People to Buy and Sell Illegal Goods and Services Anonymously over the Internet
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, New York Times and Engadget
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Massive blow to criminal Dark Web activities after globally coordinated operation
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Motherboard and The Verge, more at Techmeme »


IQ costs Oregon parents their kids, but is that fair? (Column) — Gallery: Redmond couple fights for custody of their children — The nursery in Amy Fabbrini and Eric Ziegler's home is filled with unread children's books and unworn baby clothes. A Winnie the Pooh blanket lies untouched inside …


Manafort Was in Debt to Pro-Russia Interests, Cyprus Records Show — Financial records filed last year in the secretive tax haven of Cyprus, where Paul J. Manafort kept bank accounts during his years working in Ukraine and investing with a Russian oligarch, indicate that he had been in debt …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Chicago Tribune, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, CNBC, The Week, Raw Story, Balloon Juice, Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

The ‘Game of Thrones’ Creators' Next Show Sounds Stupid as Hell … The takes are already rolling in on Confederate, a forthcoming HBO series from the showrunners of Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss — but all you really need to know is that this show sounds stupid as hell.
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HBO ANNOUNCES CONFEDERATE, A NEW DRAMA SERIES CREATED BY DAVID BENIOFF AND D.B. WEISS
Discussion:
vice, New York Times, Fusion and Refinery29


One in eight people who voted for Trump having second thoughts - Reuters/Ipsos poll — 6 MIN READ — NEW YORK (Reuters) - About one in eight people who voted for President Donald Trump said they are not sure they would do so again after witnessing Trump's tumultuous first six months in office …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God., The Daily Caller and Talking Points Memo

The Democratic Party's Billion-Dollar Mistake — The Democratic Party is at risk of repeating the billion-dollar blunder that helped create its devastating losses of 2016. With its obsessive focus on wooing voters who supported Donald Trump, it is neglecting the cornerstone of its coalition …


We Must Elect Senator Kid Rock — The news that Southern-fried rock/rapper Kid Rock will be running for some timeserving Dem hack's Senate seat in Michigan should make every normal American smile and spill a 40 to his homies. The future Senator Rock deserves your eager support for two critical reasons …


Henrico McDonald's takes ‘appropriate action’ after employee refused to serve uniformed police officer … An on-duty officer with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries says he was denied service at a McDonald's restaurant in Henrico County because of his profession …


Everyone Hates Neoliberals, So We Talked to Some — If I've learned anything from having my eyes glued to politics Twitter and the punditry it inevitably spawns for 12 hours a day, it's that I am ruining my life and desperately need help. But more to the point, I've also learned that in leftist circles …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money


Trump kills 16 regulations for every new one, crushing 2-for-1 goal — President Trump's administration, on orders to kill two regulations for every new one, ripped up the playbook during its first six months, eliminating 16 old rules for every new one, according to top officials.
Discussion:
Politico and Washington Free Beacon


Exclusive: Cecil the Lion's son Xanda killed by trophy hunter — Cecil the lion: Son Xanda killed by trophy hunters — One of Cecil the Lion's cubs has been shot dead by a big game trophy hunter in Zimbabwe, just two years after his father was killed in similar circumstances.
Discussion:
The Guardian, Washington Post and Raw Story


Fact Check: Trump's Confusing Remarks To Senate Republicans On Health Care — President Trump did not do much to sell the Senate health care bill before its failure. But he gave the sale a shot Wednesday in the White House before cameras and a captive audience of nearly all the Republican senators.
Discussion:
WGBH News, Common Dreams and Politico


Sen. John McCain has brain cancer, aggressive tumor surgically removed — Lab results from a surgery on Friday confirmed the presence of glioblastoma associated with the blood clot — (CNN)Sen. John McCain, 80, has been diagnosed with a primary glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Business Insider, The Moderate Voice, IJR, The Atlantic, Refinery29, The Last Refuge, The Root, TVNewser, BuzzFeed and Politicus USA