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Trump publicly backs healthcare effort, privately harbors doubts — While the president appears all in some in the White House wonder about Graham-Cassidy's contents and its chances. — In public, President Donald Trump is all-in on the Senate's final chance to repeal Obamacare.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Rewire, ABC News and Vox
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Cruelty, Incompetence and Lies — Graham-Cassidy, the health bill the Senate may vote on next week, is stunningly cruel. It's also incompetently drafted: The bill's sponsors clearly had no idea what they were doing when they put it together. Furthermore, their efforts to sell the bill involve obvious, blatant lies.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Forbes, The Week, Whatever Source Derived, AOL, Hit & Run, Business Insider, Bloomberg, The Nation, Vox and CNN


Sandoval doubles down on criticism of Heller-sponsored measure; state analysis highlights up to $2 billion loss — Gov. Brian Sandoval said Thursday that the flexibility fellow Republican Sen. Dean Heller promised will be good for Nevada in a health-care bill he's sponsoring is a “false choice” …
Discussion:
Washington Post and Political Wire


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:
ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Politico, baker, New York Magazine, IJR, Vox and Politicus USA

This Republican health-care bill is the most monstrous yet
Discussion:
CNN, KTLA, Politico, WTVR-TV, Daily Kos, Forbes, The Mahablog, New York Magazine and Shareblue

Medicaid directors issue warning on new ObamaCare repeal bill
Discussion:
Common Dreams and The Week

Trump cautions GOP to pass Obamacare repeal or face the consequences
Discussion:
Political Wire and Axios


Roy Moore leads Luther Strange in FOX10 News poll — If the Alabama GOP Senate runoff election were held today, former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore would defeat incumbent Senator Luther Strange, according to an exclusive, FOX10 News/Strategy Research statewide poll, conducted Wednesday.
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Trump: Strange has ‘gained mightily’ since my endorsement
Discussion:
ABC News

5 moments that mattered in the Alabama US Senate debate
Discussion:
Politico


North Korea Warns of Hydrogen-Bomb Test Over Pacific Ocean — Threat made in response to U.S. president's speech before U.N.; Kim Jong Un calls Donald Trump ‘mentally deranged’ — SEOUL—North Korea's foreign minister said the country could detonate a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean …
Discussion:
RedState, The Hill, Defense One, NBC News, Just Security, The Guardian and New York Times
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N.K. FM says ‘highest-level’ actions in Kim's remarks may be H-bomb test in Pacific
Discussion:
The Atlantic, AOL, CNBC, The Daily Caller, The Week and NBC News


Full Text of Kim Jong-un's Response to President Trump
Discussion:
Althouse, Washington Free Beacon and Daily Kos

Kim Jong Un Calls President Trump ‘Dotard’ and ‘Frightened Dog’
Discussion:
Daily Wire, CNN, NBC News, CNBC, The Daily Caller, The Root and IJR

Kim Jong Un calls Trump a ‘mentally deranged U.S. dotard’
Discussion:
RedState, The American Conservative, IJR, Mashable, Mediaite, The Week and New York Magazine

Kim's Rejoinder to Trump's Rocket Man: ‘Mentally Deranged U.S. Dotard’
Discussion:
Shakesville, Washington Free Beacon and Washington Post


Trump Administration Finalizes New Restrictions to Replace Travel Ban — Targeted rules would affect about eight or nine countries, vary based on factors including cooperation with U.S. mandates — The Trump administration is preparing to replace its controversial travel ban …
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How Tom Price decided chartered, private jets were a good use of taxpayer money — After Tom Price was sworn in as health and human services secretary, the Georgia Republican faced an inconvenience known to millions of Americans: His flight was delayed, an aide said, and he was forced to spend hours at an airport.
Discussion:
Shareblue, ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, Daily Kos and Politico
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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.


Trump aides begin looking for the exits — A fast-growing number of White House staffers are starting to look for the exits, even though the one-year mark of President Donald Trump's first term is still months away. — Many who joined the administration in January did so with the explicit idea …
Discussion:
The Week, Raw Story, Washington Free Beacon and twitchy.com


Trump says this is all a hoax. Mueller, Congress and Facebook disagree. — Special counsel Robert Mueller and three congressional committees are investigating Russian interference in the election, but President Trump is still telling his fans it's a “hoax.”
Discussion:
Shareblue, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, RT, CNN, CNBC, Mashable, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, IJR, Politicus USA, Deadline, Raw Story and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »
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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, JustOneMinute and Washington Post


Sebastian Gorka Gave A Classified “Tirade” About Radical Islam — The former Trump aide delivered a two-and-a-half-hour speech to students at a US Army elite special operations center, documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show. People who were there said it was a fiery speech …
Discussion:
Axios


Fighting Breaks Out at Turkish President's Speech in New York — Violence broke out at a New York hotel Thursday afternoon when protesters disrupted a speech by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. — In the middle of Mr. Erdogan's speech, delivered in Turkish, a man …
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Free Beacon and Business Insider
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For Puerto Ricans Off the Island, a Struggle to Make Contact After Maria
Discussion:
Gothamist, CBS New York, CBS Philly and Orlando Weekly


End-of-world prediction interrupts TV broadcasts in Orange County — Some Orange County residents were stunned Thursday, Sept. 21, when television programming was suddenly interrupted for about a minute with an ominous message predicting the end of the world.
Discussion:
Gizmodo, Sputnik International, Raw Story, CBS Los Angeles and The Last Tradition


Coulter: If we're not getting the wall, we may as well have an attractive dignified president — Ann Coulter on Wednesday slammed President Trump as less “attractive” and “dignified” than Vice President Pence and doubled down on her recent harsh criticism of the president by advocating replacing him with his second in command.
Discussion:
RedState


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”.


Woman from Video Yelling About Service Dog in Restaurant Defends Herself — The woman who was recorded going OFF on restaurant diners about a veteran's service dog being allowed inside says the clip of her profanity-laced tirade doesn't tell the full story.
Discussion:
Daily Wire and The Root


Virginia Republican unleashes most racist attack ad since Willie Horton — In this year's Virginia gubernatorial race, Republican candidate and former RNC chair Ed Gillespie is often portrayed as a gentlemanly, clean alternative to the ugliness of Donald Trump.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Washington Post and Daily Kos