memeorandum: 8-year-old Cahokia football team kneels during anthem ahead of recent game (Kevin S. Held/FOX2now.com)

8:30 PM ET, September 19, 2017

Top Items:

Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:

Trump Uses Putin's Arguments to Undermine the World … The leader stepped to the podium of the United Nations General Assembly, as close to a literal world stage as exists, and issued a stringent defense of the principle of national sovereignty. — “What is the state sovereignty, after all …

Discussion: Raw Story

Politico:

Full text: Trump's 2017 U.N. speech transcript — President Donald Trump's statement to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 19, 2017, as prepared for delivery. — Mr. Secretary General, Mr. President, world leaders, and distinguished delegates: Welcome to New York.

Discussion: The Hill, Power Line, ABC News, TheBlaze, Washington Post, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, NPR, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, IJR, Althouse, Scripting News, twitchy.com, TalkLeft and Balloon Juice

Kaili Joy Gray / Shareblue:

World leaders watch “stone faced” as Trump casually threatens nuclear war at UN — In what might be his most unpresidential moment yet, Donald Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea while addressing the United Nations. — It was not a carefully planned part of his speech …

Discussion: CNN, Mediaite, Vox, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Hill, The Nation, NBC News, Washington Post, CNBC, Gothamist, Washington Free Beacon, Mother Jones, Business Insider, IJR, NPR, The Week, Axios, RT, CBS Dallas and ABC News

Kelly Swanson / Vox:
Read: Trump's full speech to the UN General Assembly

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Washington Post, The Root, Daily Wire, Faithwire, Washington Monthly, New York Times and ABC News

Rich Lowry / National Review: ‘Holy Sh**’: Trump at the U.N.

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
Trump warns that major portions of the world ‘are going to hell’

Discussion: The Hill, Power Line, Hullabaloo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Wire, ABC News, IJR and Just Security

David Nakamura / Washington Post:
In U.N. speech, Trump threatens to ‘totally destroy North Korea’ and calls Kim Jong Un ‘Rocket Man’

Discussion: Raw Story, The Guardian, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Refinery29, FITSNews, The Mahablog, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, IJR and Balloon Juice

New York Times:
At U.N., Trump Singles Out ‘Rogue’ Nations North Korea and Iran

Discussion: The Atlantic, NPR, Balloon Juice, The American Conservative, RedState, Washington Post, Gothamist and Althouse

Barbara Starr / CNN:
US considers shooting down NK missiles that don't pose a direct threat

Discussion: The National Interest, The Daily Caller, IJR, Washington Free Beacon, WKRG-TV and WTVR-TV

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Ryan, White House reject bipartisan health fix — House Speaker Paul Ryan and the White House have informed Senate Republican leaders that they oppose a bipartisan plan to stabilize Obamacare being written in the Senate, according to Trump administration and congressional sources …

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, Vox, Axios, RedState, New York Magazine, Washington Monthly, Business Insider, Bloomberg, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, New York Times, ThinkProgress, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Weekly Standard, The Atlantic and Fox News

Miranda Green / CNN:

Why Rand Paul opposes the GOP Obamacare repeal bill — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)Sen. Rand Paul continues to attack the latest Republican attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare — the Graham-Cassidy bill — calling it “another big government boondoggle.”

Discussion: Shareblue, CNNMoney, The Daily Signal and Hit & Run

Caitlin Owens / Axios:
Senate likely to start voting on GOP health plan next Wednesday

Discussion: Politicus USA

Benjy Sarlin / NBC News:
Obamacare Is Suddenly in Grave Danger. Here's Why.

Discussion: NBC News, Reuters, IJR, ThinkProgress and Scripting News

Kaitlan Collins / CNN:
Trump, White House go all-out for Graham-Cassidy Obamacare repeal bill

Discussion: Axios, Weekly Standard, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Washington Free Beacon, TheStreet, The Hill, IJR and Political Wire

Erin Granger / Fairbanks Daily News-Miner:
Walker airs concern about latest GOP health care bill

Discussion: The Hill, The Guardian, Slate and Talking Points Memo

Matt Fuller / HuffPost:
Senators Who Had Voted Against Obamacare Repeal Are Now Wavering

Discussion: CNN, Vox, Refinery29, New York Times, New York Magazine and Politicus USA

CNBC:

Trump using campaign, RNC funds to pay Russia probe legal bills: Reuters, citing sources — The U.S. Federal Election Commission allows the use of private campaign funds to pay legal bills arising from being a candidate or elected official. — Trump would be the first U.S. president …

Discussion: CNN, Vox, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, Politico, RedState, Axios, Raw Story, Mother Jones, IJR, Occupy Democrats, Political Wire, Jezebel, The Week and Eschaton

New York Times:

Trump Administration Rejects Study Showing Positive Impact of Refugees — WASHINGTON — Trump administration officials, under pressure from the White House to provide a rationale for reducing the number of refugees allowed into the United States next year, rejected a study by the Department …

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Common Dreams, Vox, Washington Blade, Daily Kos, Axios, Jezebel, New York Magazine, IJR and Raw Story

New Republic:
Ryu Spaeth — Donald Trump is the new Qaddafi of the United Nations General Assembly.

Discussion: IJR, Axios, Washington Post, Common Dreams and twitchy.com

CNN:

Exclusive: Mueller team's focus on Manafort spans 11 years — Washington (CNN)Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team is reaching back more than a decade in its investigation of Paul Manafort, a sign of the pressure Mueller is placing on President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman.

Discussion: Political Wire, Business Insider, Refinery29, Talking Points Memo, Media Matters for America and Daily Kos

Fox News Insider:
‘#TrumpVindicated’? Manafort Wiretap Report Could Boost Trump's Claim After Months of Media Mocking

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Slate and The Atlantic

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:

Bannon orders Breitbart to step up negative coverage of Trump-backed candidate — What you need to know about Steve Bannon — Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon on Tuesday morning ordered top editors at Breitbart to step up its overwhelmingly negative coverage …

Discussion: Raw Story

Nathan L. Gonzales / Roll Call:
Moore Campaign Removes Endorsement From Deceased Conservative Leader

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Morning Consult and Political Wire

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:
Roy Moore says 'we've asked for' shootings and killings by turning away from God

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Hill, RedState, Boing Boing, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Kate Linthicum / Los Angeles Times:

At least 105 killed as powerful 7.1 earthquake strikes central Mexico — A powerful earthquake shook central Mexico on Tuesday, crumbling buildings and sending thousands of people in Mexico City fleeing into the streets screaming. — A powerful 7.1 earthquake shook central Mexico on Tuesday …

Discussion: Associated Press, KTLA, Daily Wire and Deadspin

New York Times:
Powerful Earthquake Strikes Mexico, Killing Over 100

Discussion: CNN, Townhall.com, The Verge, Daily Wire, The Week, NPR, The Stranger …, The Daily Caller and Daily Kos

David Agren / The Guardian:
More than 100 dead after powerful earthquake hits southern Mexico

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic, Mediaite, Reuters, Hullabaloo, IJR, NBC News, CBS San Francisco, KQED News, FOX2now.com, CBS New York, CBS Dallas and Shakesville

Jerrod Laber / The Federalist:

Your Refusal To Date Conservatives Is One Reason We Have Donald Trump — The popular dating website OkCupid announced Wednesday that it would make the online dating scene a little easier for progressives who can't risk interacting with someone with whom they disagree (imagine the horror!).

Discussion: Washington Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mediaite

CNN:

READ: Michael Cohen's statement to the Senate intelligence committee — (CNN)Statement of Michael D. Cohen, Esq. to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on September 19, 2017 — Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today. — As part of this statement, I would like to accomplish two things.

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, Talking Points Memo, Axios and Mediaite

Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:
Trump's former lawyer to testify in public next month in Senate's Russia probe

Discussion: Politico, Shakesville, Axios, ABC News and Political Wire

Olivier Knox / Yahoo:

World leaders' faces react to Trump's U.N. speech — President Trump delivered a harsh message to world leaders on Tuesday, bluntly warning that the U.S. may have to “totally destroy” North Korea if it continues on its current path. Trump also criticized China, mildly rebuked Russia …

Discussion: Mashable, Mediaite and Politicus USA

Eric Boehlert / Shareblue:

Senator warns White House press secretary she could be indicted for obstruction of justice — White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders may be the next administration official who needs to lawyer up as Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation accelerates.

Discussion: Latest from Crooks and Liars

Bill Barrow / Associated Press:

Republican governors get into the ‘news’ business — https://apnews.com/f97fbf53c0c84468ae04 6f861ecf3b64 — Link copied! — ATLANTA (AP) — Republican governors are getting into the “news” business. — The Republican Governors Association has quietly launched an online publication …

Discussion: Salon, New York Times, Raw Story and Politicus USA, more at Mediagazer »

Tara Bahrampour / Washington Post:

Not drinking or driving, teens increasingly put off traditional markers of adulthood — When 17-year-old Quattro Musser hangs out with friends, they don't drink beer or cruise around in cars with their dates. Rather, they stick to G-rated activities such as rock-climbing or talking about books.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, Jezebel and Althouse

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

The fight over Jemele Hill's tweets won't go away. It's about truth and race in the Trump era. — I love words, but sometimes they just aren't up to the job. — Like the word “inappropriate,” which has been applied to certain tweets last week by Jemele Hill, the ESPN commentator …

Discussion: The Hill and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Gabriella Paiella / thecut:

The Story Behind the Greatest Internet Recipe Comment of All Time — Two years ago, below a New York Times recipe for Katharine Hepburn's brownies, a woman named Sydne Newberry left what is perhaps the greatest recipe comment of all time, in a genre known for excellence.

Mary Katharine Ham / The Federalist:

After My Husband's Death, I'm Learning To Steward The Light He Left Behind — When you lose someone, you go through a lot of metaphors. Our vocabulary falters in the face of death. — Today is the two-year anniversary of the death of my husband, Jake. It took me about a year to come …

Dana Ferguson / Argus Leader:

S.D. GOP whip shares meme endorsing vehicular assault on protesters — RAPID CITY — A Republican state lawmaker faced calls to apologize Tuesday after she shared an image on Facebook depicting protesters being hit by a vehicle under the caption, “All Lives Splatter.”