memeorandum: Dean Heller is keeping his options open on health care (Caitlin Owens/Axios)

5:25 PM ET, July 20, 2017

Top Items:

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 …

CNN:

Trump's blast of Sessions has ‘chilling’ effect inside West Wing — Trump: ‘I love getting even with people’ (1992) — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)For President Donald Trump, loyalty in Washington is a one-way street. — Trump's trashing of several of his administration's …

Discussion: New York Times, Politico, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, JONATHAN TURLEY, Above the Law, The Resurgent, Feeds and Axios, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:

GOP senators dismayed at Trump's criticism of DOJ officials — Sessions: I plan to continue as attorney general — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)A group of Republican senators criticized President Donald Trump on Thursday, a day after the President rebuked top law enforcement officials …

Discussion: Power Line, Politico, ABC News, The Hill, Raw Story, Political Wire, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Monthly, Shareblue, Washington Post, Media Matters for America, RedState, Daily Wire and IJR

New York Times:

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.

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Washington Post, ABC News, NBC News, Politico, Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, Shareblue, Raw Story, Hullabaloo, East Bay Times, The Atlantic, Common Dreams, CityLab, Refinery29, Media Matters for America, Axios, Vox, Political Wire, The Week, Salon, Business Insider, The Root, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …, Fusion, Washington Free Beacon, Talking Points Memo, The Mahablog, Lawfare, TheBlaze, Mediaite, Daily Wire, AOL, Daily Kos, IJR, Just Security, First Draft, TheStreet, The National Interest, Mashable, PinkNews, The Slot, No More Mister Nice Blog, CBS New York, FiveThirtyEight, RedState, Shakesville, Joe.My.God., Geller Report, CNBC, Weekly Standard, The Daily Caller, Conservative News Today, New York Times, JustOneMinute, The American Conservative, BuzzFeed, Little Green Footballs, NPR, The Last Refuge, New York Magazine, Infowars, Politicus USA, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Last Tradition and Power Line

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

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: New York Times, The Atlantic, Washington Post, ABC News, Business Insider, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …, The Week, National Review and Salon

Bwittes / Lawfare:
The President vs. Federal Law Enforcement: Trump Attacks Everyone

Discussion: Washington Post, Hit & Run, AOL, IJR, Business Insider, Axios, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Daily Wire and Raw Story

Matthew Chapman / Shareblue:
Now Trump thinks health insurance costs $12 a year

Discussion: Raw Story, Forbes, Washington Post, IJR and The Atlantic

Louis Nelson / Politico:
Sen. Paul backs Trump's frustration with Sessions' recusal

Discussion: ABC News, Axios, Sputnik International, WWAY-TV and The Daily Caller

New York Times:

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: Take Care Blog, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Politicus USA, The Week and twitchy.com

Rachael Bade / Politico:

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 …

Discussion: Vox, Washington Post, Business Insider, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Talking Points Memo

Alice Ollstein / Talking Points Memo:
Key Trumpcare Holdout Says He's A Yes If Guaranteed A Vote On His Amendment

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Caitlin Owens / Axios:

Dean Heller is keeping his options open on health care — Sen. Dean Heller has been tight-lipped on the Senate health care plan ever since his fiery joint press conference with Gov. Brian Sandoval last month, following the release of the first version of the bill.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Senate GOP's latest health care push sputters

Discussion: Vox, ThinkProgress and Washington Examiner

Matt Fuller / HuffPost: Senate Republicans Report New Life On Their Health Care Bill

Dylan Scott / Vox:
A clear guide to what the hell is going on with the Senate health care bill

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Outside the Beltway, The Nation and Talking Points Memo

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Trumpcare still isn't dead

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and Lawyers, Guns & Money

TMZ.com:

Linkin Park Singer Chester Bennington Dead, Commits Suicide by Hanging (UPDATE) — 12:32 PM PT — Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Bennington was home alone at the time of the suicide. We're told his family was out of town and he was found upstairs by an employee.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Caller, AOL, New York Times, Snopes.com, Refinery29, CBS San Francisco, Raw Story, Fox 59, myfox8.com, Daily Wire, FOX6Now.com and Mashable

Sam Stein / The Daily Beast:

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: Business Insider, Bloomberg, Daily Kos, Shakesville, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, Axios, IJR and New York Times

Lisa Rein / Washington Post:

Interior Dept. ordered Glacier park chief, other climate expert pulled from Zuckerberg tour — Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg flew to Glacier National Park on Saturday to tour the melting ice fields that have become the poster child for climate change's effects on Montana's northern Rockies.

CBO's Publications:

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.

Discussion: ABC News, The Hill, Health Affairs Blog, New York Magazine, IJR, Daily Kos, Business Insider, CNBC, The Daily Caller, The Nevada Independent, ACASignups.net, Political Wire and Washington Times

Bloomberg:

GOP Health Bill's $13,000 Deductibles Would Be Illegal, CBO Says — 22 million would become uninsured in latest GOP health plan — Measure would reduce deficit by $420 billion over 10 years — The GOP health bill promises lower premiums for consumers.

Discussion: NPR

Chris Conte / WTVF-TV:

White County Inmates Given Reduced Jail Time If They Get A Vasectomy — Inmates in White County, Tennessee have been given credit for their jail time if they voluntarily agree to have a vasectomy or birth control implant, a popular new program that is being called “unconstitutional” by the ACLU.

Discussion: Business Insider, Above the Law, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, The Root and Fusion

Cindy Boren / Washington Post:

An apologetic O.J. Simpson is granted parole, to be released in October — After nearly nine years in prison, O.J. Simpson was granted his freedom Thursday by four members of the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners and will leave prison on or after Oct. 1.

Discussion: IJR, The Week and Scared Monkeys

Los Angeles Times:
O.J. Simpson is granted parole after serving 9 years for Vegas robbery

Discussion: The Resurgent

Steve Phillips / New York Times:

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 …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Dems see huge field emerging to take on Trump

Discussion: RedState and Washington Free Beacon

CorpComm AG / Newsroom:

Massive blow to criminal Dark Web activities after globally coordinated operation — Takedown of AlphaBay and Hansa will lead to hundreds of new investigations in Europe — Months of preparation and coordination have resulted today, 20 July 2017, in the takedown of two of the largest criminal Dark Web markets, AlphaBay and Hansa.

Discussion: Motherboard, Mother Jones, Mashable, NPR and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

U.S. Department of Justice:
AlphaBay, the Largest Online ‘Dark Market,’ Shut Down

Discussion: Motherboard, Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, Engadget and Talking Points Memo

Bloomberg:

Here's the Chain Reaction Trump Could Set Off by Trying to Fire Mueller — Warning on Russia investigation renews speculation of firing — Dismissing Mueller ‘not politically survivable,’ Democrat says — President Donald Trump's interview with the New York Times on Wednesday …

Discussion: The Big Picture

Samantha Swindler / Oregonian:

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 …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Raw Story and Jezebel

New York Times:

Kamala Harris and Rand Paul: To Shrink Jails, Let's Reform Bail — Kalief Browder, a 16-year-old New Yorker, was arrested on charges of stealing a backpack in 2010. To ensure he would show up for trial, and because of a previous offense, the judge set bail at $3,000. But his family could not afford to pay.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Patt Morrison / Los Angeles Times:

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: Washington Examiner, TheBlaze, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, MichelleMalkin.com, IJR, twitchy.com and Washington Free Beacon

Chris Kahn / Reuters:

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: The Rush Limbaugh Show, Shakesville, Joe.My.God., Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller and Instapundit

Melanie Zanona / The Hill:

GOP signals infrastructure bill must wait — The timing and fate of President Trump's infrastructure plan may depend on whether the GOP enacts major tax reform — a task that could prove challenging amid the struggle to pass a healthcare bill. — Republicans are signaling …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Political Wire

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:

Louise Mensch's Destructive Fantasies — Mensch, a former British MP, is now the purveyor of fantastical conspiracy theories about Donald Trump and Russia. — A few years back, my father and I voluntarily submitted ourselves to an episode of Question Time, a long-running program on the BBC …

Discussion: Daily Wire

Pew Research Center:

Since Trump's Election, Increased Attention to Politics - Especially Among Women — Most find it stressful to talk politics with those who differ on Trump — Following an election that had one of the largest gender gaps in history, women are more likely than men to say they are paying increased attention to politics.

Discussion: Axios and Washington Post

Lucia I. Suarez Sang / Fox News:

Two members of missing Burundi robotics team spotted crossing into Canada, police say — Two members of an African robotics team who were reported missing from an international robotics competition in Washington, D.C. were spotted crossing into Canada on Thursday morning, authorities said.

Discussion: New York Times, Conservative News Today and The Gateway Pundit

Alana Semuels / The Atlantic:

The Mystery of Why Japanese People Are Having So Few Babies — TOKYO—Japan's population is shrinking. For the first time since the government started keeping track more than a century ago, there were fewer than 1 million births last year, as the country's population fell by more than 300,000 people.