memeorandum: Rubio team shuts down ‘political stunt’ over missed phone call (Diana Stancy Correll/Washington Examiner)

4:50 PM ET, September 23, 2017

Top Items:

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

With ‘son of a bitch’ comments, Trump tried to divide NFL and its players — Trump: I wish NFL owners respected US flag — The Trump presidency is a test. Institutions like the courts, the news media and the business community have all been tested. Now it's the NFL and the NBA's turn.

Discussion: IJR, Mother Jones, Hullabaloo, Refinery29, CNN, The Atlantic, USA Today, Associated Press, Business Insider and Mediaite

Lee Moran / HuffPost:

NFL Stars Erupt In Anger Over Donald Trump's ‘Son Of A Bitch’ Speech — “I can't take anything our Celebrity in Chief says seriously. He's a real life clown/troll.” — National Football League stars past and present are expressing outrage after President Donald Trump used an address in Huntsville …

Discussion: Raw Story, Politicus USA and The Week

New York Times:

Trump Blasts Warriors' Curry. LeBron James's Retort: ‘U Bum.’ — President Trump took aim at two of the world's most powerful sports leagues and some of their most popular athletes, directly inserting himself into an already fiery debate over race, social justice and the role athletes have played in highlighting those issues.

Brandon Carter / The Hill:

NFL's Goodell: Trump's ‘divisive comments’ show a ‘lack of respect’ — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell fired back at President Trump on Saturday for encouraging league owners to remove players who take a knee during the national anthem, saying Trump's “divisive comments” show “an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL.”

Discussion: Axios, Mashable and Washington Free Beacon

Miranda Green / CNN:

NFL commissioner, LeBron James blast Trump for tweets against athletes — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump came under harsh criticism Saturday from the NFL and some of the NBA's top players after he blasted prominent athletes for kneeling during the national anthem …

Discussion: The Hill, Axios, Power Line, USA Today, KTLA, fox13now.com, IJR, The Daily Caller, FOX6Now.com and Mediaite

Henry C. Jackson / Politico:
Trump sparks war with NFL — and LeBron

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New York Times, Booman Tribune, The Hill, Conservative News Today, RT, Outside the Beltway, PerezHilton, IJR, Political Wire, TheBlaze and Mediaite

Alicia Cohn / The Hill:
Trump says NBA player Stephen Curry no longer invited to White House

Sam Amick / USA Today:
Steph Curry on Warriors' possible White House visit: 'I don't want to go'

Discussion: RedState, Shareblue, Talking Points Memo, IJR, The Root and Mashable

ESPN:
Steve Kerr: No decision on White House visit until we discuss as team

Discussion: Business Insider, Associated Press, IJR, Politico, Deadspin, The Last Tradition, Common Dreams, AOL, Vox, Mashable and East Bay Times

Eric Bradner / CNN:
Trump touts 'Big Luther's' loyalty, electability at Alabama rally

Discussion: WTVR-TV, NPR, Washington Times, FOX6Now.com, Associated Press, The Week, Politico, KTLA, ABC News and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Abby Phillip / Washington Post:

As Trump campaigns for Strange in Alabama, he expresses some doubts: ‘I might have made a mistake’ — HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — President Trump campaigned on Friday night for Alabama Senate candidate Luther Strange, in a race that has pitted him against his most loyal supporters and that holds …

Discussion: Breitbart, RedState, Slate and The Last Tradition

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Steve Bannon to headline Roy Moore rally in Alabama — Steve Bannon is heading to Alabama Sunday night to rally for Judge Roy Moore on Monday night with Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty. — Why it matters: This rally is three days after President Trump, Bannon's former boss …

Discussion: RedState, Political Wire and Mediaite

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:
'I love Alabama — it's special': At rally for Sen. Luther Strange, Trump vents frustrations in rambling speech

Discussion: Fox News and Talking Points Memo

Alex Isenstadt / Politico: Hannity to interview Bannon at Moore rally on eve of Alabama Senate run-off

Howard Koplowitz / al.com:
Trump claims he was first to call Strange ‘Big Luther’

Discussion: New York Magazine and No More Mister Nice Blog

Associated Press:

The Latest: US flies mission in airspace east of North Korea — The Latest on U.S.-North Korean tensions (all times local): — The Pentagon says B-1B bombers from Guam and F-15 fighter escorts from Okinawa, Japan, have flown a mission in international airspace over the waters east of North Korea.

Discussion: Politico and ABC News

Clark Mindock / The Independent:
‘Inevitable’ that North Korean missiles will hit US mainland after Donald Trump's insults …

Discussion: IJR

Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Clinton: Trump has ‘been even worse than I thought he would be’

Discussion: Conservative News Today, Political Wire, The Daily Caller and RT

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal: Trump Gets Blunt at the United Nations

Brian Bennett / Los Angeles Times:
Aides warned Trump not to attack North Korea's leader personally before his fiery U.N. address

Discussion: RedState, The American Conservative, The BRAD BLOG, Mediaite, FOX6Now.com and New York Times

Politico:

Republicans continue Obamacare repeal work despite opposition — Some Senate Republicans are continuing to work on their last-minute Obamacare repeal plan, according to sources familiar with the matter, even as the odds of success appear impossibly long. — Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana …

Atul Gawande / New Yorker:
If the U.S. Adopts the G.O.P.'s Health-Care Bill, It Would Be an Act of Mass Suicide

Discussion: New York Times, Liberal Values, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Talking Points Memo and KQED News

Diana Stancy Correll / Washington Examiner:
Rubio team shuts down ‘political stunt’ over missed phone call

Discussion: Daily Wire, Conservative News Today and RedState

John Bowden / The Hill:

Florida governor under fire over nursing home voicemails left during hurricane — Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) is facing criticism after his office revealed that four voicemails sent from a nursing home where eleven residents died in the aftermath Hurricane Irma were deleted.

CBS Miami:

Nursing Home Voicemail to Governor Deleted — Hollywood - The voicemail messages left on Gov. Rick Scott's personal cellphone by a Hollywood nursing home where at least 11 people have died following Hurricane Irma, were deleted, according to the governor's office.

Lois Beckett / The Guardian:

‘Junk science’: experts cast doubt on widely cited college free speech survey — Survey saying 20% of US college students believe it's appropriate to use violence against offensive speech was administered to an opt-in online panel … Polling experts are raising concerns …

Fox News:

Doomsday is not on Saturday after all, writer says after predicting end of the world — The end is still nigh — just not as nigh as it was earlier this week, a Doomsday writer says. — David Meade, who claimed the world is ending Saturday when a mysterious planet collides with Earth, is now backtracking on the calamitous claim.

Discussion: Christianity Today, Conservative News Today, USA Today, Slate, AOL, fox8.com and Mashable

Asha Rangappa / Just Security:

What the FISA Warrants Against Paul Manafort Tell Us About Mueller's Investigation — The Trump-Russia saga has more characters than War and Peace and plot twists harder to follow than Game of Thrones. So making sense of the latest news - that the FBI had taken out not one …

Discussion: Politico

Associated Press:

Federal government notifies 21 states of election hacking — https://apnews.com/cb8a753a9b0948589cc3 72a3c037a567 — Link copied! — The federal government on Friday told election officials in 21 states that hackers targeted their systems before last year's presidential election.