memeorandum: McConnell lays it on the line (John Bresnahan/Politico)

7:35 AM ET, September 22, 2017

Top Items:

Haley Byrd / IJR:

Republicans Attempt to Buy Murkowski's Vote in New Draft of Health Care Bill — A Republican Senate aide told Independent Journal Review Thursday that Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) are attempting to buy Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski's support through new changes …

Discussion: his vorpal sword, Honolulu Civil Beat, baker, New York Magazine, The Week, Washington Post, Hit & Run, Washington Monthly, ACA Signups, Shareblue, The Daily Caller, Vox, Axios, Political Wire and New York Times

Caitlin Owens / Axios:

The key states that would lose funding under Graham-Cassidy — A new estimate obtained by Axios from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) projects that Alaska, home to key swing vote Sen. Lisa Murkowski, would lose 38% of federal funding for premium subsidies and Medicaid by 2026 under the Graham-Cassidy proposal.

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, New York Magazine and The Federalist

Megan Messerly / The Nevada Independent:

Sandoval doubles down on criticism of Heller-sponsored measure; state analysis highlights up to $2 billion loss — Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, left, and Senator Dean Heller speak with media inside the Grant Sawyer State Office Building in Las Vegas on Friday, June 23, 2017. Daniel Clark/The Nevada Independent

Discussion: Political Wire

Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:

This Republican health-care bill is the most monstrous yet — Motivated by the cynical aims of fulfilling a bumper-sticker campaign promise and lavishing tax cuts on the wealthy, Republicans are threatening to pass a health-care bill they know will make millions of Americans sicker and poorer.

Discussion: Forbes, CNN, WTVR-TV, Daily Kos, Shareblue, The Mahablog, New York Magazine, NBC News and Politico

Louis Nelson / Politico:
Trump cautions GOP to pass Obamacare repeal or face the consequences

Discussion: Political Wire

CNN: Axelrod: I cried when they passed Obamacare

Daniella Diaz / CNN:
CNN to host town hall debate Monday with Graham, Cassidy, Sanders and Klobuchar

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, KTLA, Axios and The Atlantic

Brian Galle / Whatever Source Derived:
The “Alaska Purchase” Is Probably Unconstitutional

Discussion: Washington Post and IJR

Russell Berman / The Atlantic:
How Democrats Gave the GOP One More Chance to Repeal Obamacare

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:
Alaska could get relief from Senate repeal bill's Medicaid cuts

Discussion: Vox, The Henry J. Kaiser …, ABC News, Axios, Washington Examiner, Shareblue, New York Magazine, ThinkProgress, The Hill, The Week, Politicus USA and Washington Post

Associated Press:

Kim Jong Un: ‘Deranged’ Trump will ‘pay dearly’ for threat — UNITED NATIONS — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called President Donald Trump “deranged” and said, in a statement carried by the state news agency, that the U.S. president will “pay dearly” for his threats.

Discussion: USA Today, IJR, The Hill and Axios

Choe Sang-Hun / New York Times: Kim's Rejoinder to Trump's Rocket Man: ‘Mentally Deranged U.S. Dotard’

Yonhap News Agency:
N.K. FM says ‘highest-level’ actions in Kim's remarks may be H-bomb test in Pacific

Discussion: AOL, CNBC, NBC News, The Daily Caller and The Week

David Nakamura / Washington Post:
Trump imposes new sanctions on North Korea; Kim says he will ‘tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire’

Discussion: Business Insider, CNN, Mashable, Mediaite, The Week, RedState and New York Magazine

John Cassidy / New Yorker:
There is No Trump Doctrine, Only Contradictions and Bluster

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller, Salon, The Nation, WTVR-TV, KTLA, American Greatness, The Week, The Federalist and CNBC

John Verhovek / ABC News:

5 moments that mattered in the Alabama US Senate debate — Senator Luther Strange and former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore faced off tonight in the only debate before the runoff election for the GOP nomination next Tuesday to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the U.S. Senate.

Discussion: Politico

CNN:
Senate candidate Roy Moore in 2005: ‘Homosexual conduct should be illegal’

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Real Clear Politics, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Mediaite and Booman Tribune

Henry C. Jackson / Politico: 45 After Dark: The Gambler edition

John Bresnahan / Politico:
McConnell lays it on the line

Discussion: Washington Post

Shane Harris / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Monitored Manafort After He Left Trump Campaign — The surveillance came as part of a counterintelligence probe into Russian interference with presidential election — U.S. authorities placed Paul Manafort under surveillance after he was ousted as Donald Trump's campaign manager …

Discussion: The Hill and Washington Post

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

Mueller requested phone records about Air Force One statement — The special counsel has also recently made requests for documents concerning a statement made by Sean Spicer in the days preceding James Comey's firing as FBI director. — Special counsel Robert Mueller has sought phone records concerning …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Daily Kos, Politicus USA, Raw Story, IJR, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Media Matters for America, Occupy Democrats, Shakesville, Hullabaloo, Boing Boing, Business Insider, Common Dreams and AOL

Dan Diamond / Politico:

Price traveled by private plane at least 24 times — Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price has taken at least 24 flights on private charter planes at taxpayers' expense since early May, according to people with knowledge of his travel plans and a review of HHS documents.

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Week, Politicus USA, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, FierceHealthcare and Washington Post

Maria Danilova / Associated Press:
On work trips, DeVos flies on her plane at own expense

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Caller, twitchy.com and Hit & Run

Mark Zuckerberg:

I just went live a minute ago. Here's what I said: — Today is my first day back in the office after taking parental leave. It was really special to be with Priscilla and August after she was born, and to get to spend some more time with Max. — While I was out on leave …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, NPR, Facebook, Mashable, New York Times, The Daily Caller, RT, New York Magazine, The Verge, Gizmodo and Sunlight Foundation, more at Mediagazer »

CNNMoney: Facebook says it will hand Russian ads over to Congress

Colin Stretch / Facebook:
Facebook to Provide Congress With Ads Linked to Internet Research Agency

Discussion: CNNMoney, BuzzFeed, The Guardian, Deadline, The Week, Axios, Talking Points Memo, GeekWire, IJR, Engadget, WTVR-TV, Mother Jones, KTLA, The Verge, Mashable and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Financial Times:

Steve Bannon held secret meeting in Beijing — Steve Bannon flew to Beijing last week for a secret meeting with the second most powerful Chinese Communist party official, less than a month after the former chief White House strategist declared that America was at “economic war with China”.

Discussion: Raw Story

Nancy Cook / Politico:

Trump aides begin looking for the exits — After a wave of high-profile White House departures this summer, staffers who remained are reaching out to headhunters to discuss their next moves. — A fast-growing number of White House staffers are starting to look for the exits …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon and The Atlantic

Salon: Captain odious: Stephen Miller, White House “alt-right” survivor

Christopher Ingraham / Washington Post:

Flint's lead-poisoned water had a ‘horrifyingly large’ effect on fetal deaths, study finds — The fertility rate in Flint, Mich., dropped precipitously after the city decided to switch to lead-poisoned Flint River water in 2014, according to a new working paper.

Discussion: Mother Jones, AOL, Verrit, Jezebel, TheBlaze, Business Insider and The Reality-Based Community

New York Times:

Trump Poised to Drop Some Limits on Drone Strikes and Commando Raids — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is preparing to dismantle key Obama-era limits on drone strikes and commando raids outside conventional battlefields, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations.

Discussion: Just Security

Vann R. Newkirk II / The Atlantic:

There and Back Again … “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” So began the legendarium that dominated a genre, changed Western literature and the field of linguistics, created a tapestry of characters and mythology that endured four generations, built an anti-war ethos that endured …

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

The Media Has A Probability Problem — This is the 11th and final article in a series that reviews news coverage of the 2016 general election, explores how Donald Trump won and why his chances were underrated by most of the American media. — Two Saturday nights ago …