memeorandum: Mystery mugger with note tries to rob woman on SF BART train (Evan Sernoffsky/San Francisco Chronicle)

10:30 PM ET, September 18, 2017

Top Items:

CNN:

Exclusive: US government wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman — Washington (CNN)US investigators wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort under secret court orders before and after the election, sources tell CNN, an extraordinary step involving a high-ranking campaign official …

Discussion: Vox, RedState, Axios, Mother Jones, Business Insider, AOL, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Week, Politicus USA, Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, IJR, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Shadowproof, Eschaton and Mediaite

New York Times:

With a Picked Lock and a Threatened Indictment, Mueller's Inquiry Sets a Tone — WASHINGTON — Paul J. Manafort was in bed early one morning in July when federal agents bearing a search warrant picked the lock on his front door and raided his Virginia home.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Weekly Standard, Shareblue, The Week, TheBlaze, Daily Wire, Politicus USA, Raw Story, Balloon Juice, IJR and Talking Points Memo

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
WH officials fear colleagues wearing wires for Mueller: report

Discussion: Washingtonian, Washington Post, Business Insider, Politico, The Atlantic, Balloon Juice, Taylor Marsh, Talking Points Memo, Vox, Shareblue, Politicus USA and Hullabaloo

CBO's Publications:

CBO aims to provide preliminary assessment of Graham-Cassidy bill by early next week — CBO is aiming to provide a preliminary assessment of the Graham-Cassidy bill by early next week. That assessment, which is being prepared with the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation …

Discussion: Washington Post, The AHA/ASA Newsroom, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Center For Children …, The Atlantic, New York Magazine, Business Insider and ACA Signups

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

McCain blasts latest ObamaCare repeal process — (R-Ariz.) ripped his party's process for trying to repeal and replace ObamaCare on Monday but stopped short of saying he would oppose their latest bill. — “I have talked and talked and talked about the need to do regular order.

Discussion: Politicus USA

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
On health care, Cassidy flunks his own ‘Jimmy Kimmel test’

Discussion: Occupy Democrats, The Guardian, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Daily Kos and New York Times

Dylan Scott / Vox:
John McCain might have just received permission to vote for Obamacare repeal

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Axios, Shareblue and Daily Kos

New York Times:
Obamacare Repeal, Thought Dead in July, May Be Revived in Senate

Discussion: Arizona Republic, Vox, Washington Post, Balkinization, ACA Signups, Talking Points Memo, NPR, The Daily Caller and Axios

Sen. Rand Paul / Fox News:
Graham/Cassidy does NOT repeal ObamaCare and I oppose it

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Heather Caygle / Politico:
Obamacare repeal plan won't get full CBO analysis by key deadline

Discussion: Washington Post, IJR, MSNBC, Talking Points Memo, FiveThirtyEight, Daily Kos, LifeNews.com, Vox, FierceHealthcare, ThinkProgress, Common Dreams, The Week, Political Wire, Washington Free Beacon, Politicus USA and TheBlaze

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:
Momentum builds for Obamacare repeal

Discussion: Vox

Paige Winfield Cunningham / Washington Post: The new GOP health-care measure goes further than the failed one

Judy Stone / Forbes:
The Graham-Cassidy Bill: A Last-Ditch GOP Effort To Deprive Millions Of Health Care

Discussion: Vox, Center for American … and Shareblue

New York Times:

Sean Spicer Says He Regrets Berating Reporters Over Inauguration Crowds — During his surprise comedy skit at the Emmys on Sunday, Sean Spicer may have made light of his six-month tenure as the White House press secretary, but a message was also embedded in his performance.

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today, The Hill, Slate, Raw Story, East Bay Times, Mashable, AOL, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, Axios, IJR, theGrio and Political Wire

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Why did the Emmys help Sean Spicer rebrand?

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, Hollywood Reporter, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washingtonian, The Guardian, Jezebel, The Root, Washington Post, IJR, The Atlantic, Business Insider and Page Six, more at Mediagazer »

Charly Wilder / New York Times:
The Best and Worst Moments of the 2017 Emmys

Discussion: RedState

Dominic Patten / Deadline:
Emmy Awards Match All-Time Low Of 2016 With 11.4M Viewers; Hits Demo Low

Discussion: Conservative News Today, The Federalist, Red Alert Politics, NewsBusters, Washington Free Beacon, Decider, Washington Post, Mediaite, USA Today and TVLine

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Hollywood helps Sean Spicer turn misinformation into money

Discussion: EW.com

Emily Steel / New York Times:

Fox News Contributor Says Rape Allegation Blacklisted Her — Fox News, which for more than a year has dealt with the fallout from an embarrassing sexual harassment scandal, was sued on Monday by the political commentator Scottie Nell Hughes, who claimed that she had been raped …

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Refinery29, Business Insider, Mediaite and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Terry Gross / NPR:

Clinton Won't Rule Out Questioning 2016 Election, But Says No Clear Means To Do So — Hillary Clinton says she would not rule out questioning the legitimacy of the 2016 election if new information surfaces that the Russians interfered even more deeply than currently known.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Politico, CNN, IJR, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, RedState, TheBlaze, Outside the Beltway, Talking Points Memo, Politicus USA, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

Hillary Clinton just floated the possibility of contesting the 2016 election — (CNN)In interviews over the last week surrounding the release of her 2016 memoir “What Happened,” Hillary Clinton has been hugely critical of President Donald Trump. She's suggested he is a misogynist …

Discussion: IJR and Mediaite

New York Times:

Donald Trump Jr. Gives Up Secret Service Protection, Seeking Privacy — WASHINGTON — Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son, has elected for forgo protection by the Secret Service, according to a senior administration official. — The agency ceased protecting Mr. Trump …

Discussion: Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story

John Villasenor / The future of the West:

Views among college students regarding the First Amendment: Results from a new survey — College students' views of the First Amendment are of profound importance for multiple reasons. First, colleges and universities are places where intellectual debate should flourish.

Catherine Rampell / Washington Post: A chilling study shows how hostile college students are toward free speech

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:

Moore laments racial division between ‘reds and yellows’ — Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, one of two Republicans competing in a primary runoff next week, appeared to use racially insensitive terms to describe Native Americans and Asians during a campaign speech on Sunday.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, NTK Network, Raw Story, Politico, Hullabaloo, NBC News, Talking Points Memo, AOL, Washington Times, Axios and The Week

Eugene Scott / Washington Post:
Roy Moore includes ‘reds and yellows’ on list of racially divided groups

Discussion: New York Magazine and No More Mister Nice Blog

David Siders / Politico:

Jerry Brown compares Trump supporters to cave dwellers — California Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday called President Donald Trump's approach to climate change and North Korea “stupid and dangerous and silly,” sharpening his criticism of the president and comparing his supporters to cave dwellers.

Discussion: Associated Press, Occupy Democrats, JustOneMinute, Fox News Insider, The Daily Caller, Washington Times and Washington Free Beacon

Anna Fifield / Washington Post:
Trump's claim there were long gas lines in North Korea has residents puzzled

Discussion: Weekly Standard, NewsBusters, CNBC, Toronto Star, New York Times, RT, IJR, Talking Points Memo, NPR, CBS Dallas, ABC News, The Guardian, ThinkProgress, CNN, Washington Times, Vox, RedState, Deadline and The Daily Caller

Gerald F. Seib / Wall Street Journal: The Key Question at the U.N.: What Does North Korea Want?

CNN:

Hurricane Maria is now a Category 5 — Maria is now a Category 5 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said. — Hurricane Maria became a Category 4 storm on Monday afternoon as it barreled toward Dominica in the Caribbean's Leeward Islands and took aim for the US territory of Puerto Rico.

Discussion: FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV, WTVR-TV and New York Magazine

Sarah Ferris / Politico: Virgin Islands lack supplies for second hurricane pummeling

Bloomberg:

Equifax Suffered a Hack Almost Five Months Earlier Than the Date It Disclosed — New timeline could have implications for executive stock sales — The company is the subject of multiple investigations — Equifax Inc. learned about a major breach of its computer systems in March …

Discussion: USA Today, Gizmodo, Mashable, TheBlaze and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »

Bloomberg:
Equifax Stock Sales Are the Focus of U.S. Criminal Probe

Discussion: Daily Kos, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Vox, Engadget, Mother Jones, Axios and The Week, more at Techmeme »

Mara Siegler / Page Six:

Did Jedediah Bila exit ‘The View’ because of Hillary Clinton? … Jedediah Bila shocked audiences when she departed “The View” on Monday — and according to a source, this sudden departure may have something to do with Hillary Clinton. — Clinton was on the show last Wednesday promoting her book …

Discussion: Daily Wire, Washington Free Beacon, IJR, Conservative News Today and Axios

CNNMoney:
Meghan McCain in talks to join 'The View"

Discussion: Page Six, Mediaite, TVNewser, Decider, Washington Free Beacon, PerezHilton, IJR and AOL

Thomas E. Ricks / Foreign Policy:

Veterans Administration throws suicide stats out the back door on Friday at 5 p.m. — Veterans are about 20 percent more likely than nonveterans to kill themselves, according to a Veterans Affairs press release issued on Friday afternoon at the close of business.

Ryan Broderick / BuzzFeed:

Anti-Fascists Used Twitter To Find A Neo-Nazi Walking Around Seattle And Beat Him Up — On Sunday afternoon, a Twitter account called @bigotbasher posted a photo of a man apparently riding Seattle's D line while wearing a swastika armband. — Around the same time, the photo was posted to Reddit's Seattle subreddit.

Discussion: Occupy Democrats, TheBlaze, Mediaite, Raw Story, theGrio, The Daily Caller and New York Magazine

CBS San Francisco:

Demonstrators Shout Down Pelosi At San Francisco DREAM Act Event — SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A vocal group of undocumented youths and their supporters drowned out House Minority Nancy Pelosi Monday at a news conference where she was calling for the immediate passage of the DREAM Act.

Discussion: Fox News Insider, Washington Post, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Conservative News Today, Common Dreams, RedState, Los Angeles Blade, Daily Wire and The Daily Caller

Max Abelson / Bloomberg:

Obama Goes From White House to Wall Street in Less Than One Year — Ex-president speaks to Carlyle, Cantor, Northern Trust — ‘If someone is willing to pay him to give a speech, God bless’ — Follow @bpolitics for all the latest news, and sign up for our daily Balance of Power newsletter.