memeorandum: 3 Cabinet officials under fire for taking costly flights (Julianna Goldman/CBS News)

9:35 AM ET, September 27, 2017

Top Items:

Mike Allen / Axios:

Trump, at war with everyone, mocks McCain, McConnell — In private, President Trump has taken to physically mocking M&M: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (slumped shoulders; lethargic body language) and Sen. John McCain (imitating the thumbs-down of his historic health-care vote).

Discussion: FIREHOUSE Strategies, Political Wire, Business Insider, The Week, Washington Post, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, Raw Story and AOL

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

After Alabama, GOP anti-establishment wing declares all-out war in 2018 — Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore spoke Sunday at a campaign rally in Fairhope, Ala. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) — The stunning defeat of President Trump's chosen Senate candidate in Alabama on Tuesday amounted …

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, Althouse, Axios and Mickey Kaus

Jordan Gehrke:

Alabama Senate Memo: Return of the Civil War and the Fall of Mitch McConnell — To: Interested Parties — From: Jordan Gehrke, A Time for Choosing PAC — Date: September 26, 2017 — Re: Alabama Senate Memo: Return of the Civil War and the Fall of Mitch McConnell

Discussion: BuzzFeed and The Federalist

New York Times:

Roy Moore Wins Senate G.O.P. Runoff in Alabama — MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Roy S. Moore, a firebrand former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, overcame efforts by top Republicans to rescue his rival, Senator Luther Strange, defeating him on Tuesday in a special primary runoff, according to The Associated Press.

Discussion: IJR, The Last Tradition and Political Wire

Mike Allen / Axios:

Mitch McConnell's epic losing streak — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, once viewed as the wiliest politician in Washington, is on an epic losing streak: — His candidate, incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, got crushed by 10 points in last night's Republican primary in Alabama.

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress and New York Times

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

Regrets? In Alabama Senate race, Trump had a few — President Donald Trump began distancing himself from Sen. Luther Strange before ballots were even cast in Alabama's GOP Senate primary, saying at a dinner on Monday night that the candidate he backed was likely to lose …

Discussion: ABC News, CNN, The Atlantic, Washington Post, Business Insider, Axios, Raw Story, Shareblue, The Hill, Political Wire, The Daily Caller, National Review, Joe.My.God. and CNBC

Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight:

The Republican Establishment And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republican establishment had a terrible day on Tuesday. First, Senate Republicans' latest effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act was shelved.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, The Federalist and Balloon Juice

Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:

Trump deletes tweets backing Strange after primary loss — President Trump on Tuesday began deleting his tweets supporting Sen. Luther Strange — (R-Ala.) in Alabama's Senate primary after Strange lost the race to former state Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore.

Josh Dawsey / Politico:
Mitch McConnell's dreadful day

Discussion: Washington Post

New York Times:
Alabama Election Results: Roy Moore Advances in Race for U.S. Senate Seat

Discussion: Weekly Standard, USA Today, Above the Law, The Atlantic, Real Clear Politics, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, Splinter and Joe.My.God.

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
With lack of wins, GOP faces '18 primary woes

Discussion: Politico and Axios

Russell Goldman / New York Times:
Trump Deletes Tweets Supporting Luther Strange

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, IJR, Political Wire, WIAT-TV, The Daily Signal, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon, BuzzFeed and Mediaite

McClatchy Washington Bureau: Democrats suddenly wonder: Can they compete in Alabama?

Callum Borchers / Washington Post:
Bannon beat Trump in Alabama (kind of)

Discussion: The Week and TheBlaze

Paul Kane / Washington Post: Tuesday started as a bad day for Mitch McConnell. It only got worse.

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart:
With Roy Moore Win, Trump Voters Reject New Direction on DACA, Democrats

Discussion: National Review and Vox

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Moore's win spells trouble for GOP establishment in 2018

Discussion: Splinter

Thomas Kaplan / New York Times:
McConnell Says Republicans Are Giving Up on Health Bill

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Liberal Values, Splinter, The Hill, CNN, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Shareblue, The Last Tradition, Outside the Beltway, Jezebel, Forbes and Common Dreams

Timothy Gardner / Reuters:

U.S. denies request for Puerto Rico shipping waiver — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Tuesday denied a request to waive shipping restrictions to help get fuel and supplies to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, saying it would do nothing to address the island's main impediment to shipping, damaged ports.

Megan Cerullo / New York Daily News:
Pitbull sends private plane to Puerto Rico to bring cancer patients to U.S. for chemo

Discussion: The Root and KFOR-TV

New York Times:
‘This Is Like in War’: A Scramble to Care for Puerto Rico's Sick and Injured

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Week

Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:
Clinton pressed Trump to deploy hospital ship Comfort to Puerto Rico. Now it's preparing to go.

Discussion: Vox, ABC News, Jezebel, The Daily Caller, TalkLeft, twitchy.com, CNN and Washington Free Beacon

Nicole Chavez / CNN: Puerto Ricans still waiting for aid a week after Maria's devastation

John Bowden / The Hill:
US won't waive shipping restrictions for Puerto Rico relief

Discussion: mccain.senate.gov, CNN, DCReport.org and rubber hose

Nelson A. Denis / New York Times:
The Law Strangling Puerto Rico

Discussion: Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight, Honolulu Civil Beat, Grist, Splinter, The Atlantic, Fox News, CNN, Raw Story and Big Think

CNN:

Exclusive: IRS shares information with special counsel in Russia probe — Washington (CNN)The IRS is now sharing information with special counsel Robert Mueller about key Trump campaign officials, after the two entities clashed this summer over both the scope of the investigation …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Raw Story, RedState, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, Business Insider and Axios

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Blumenthal: ‘99 percent sure’ of Russia indictments

Discussion: Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Axios, Political Wire, Politicus USA and Balloon Juice

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:

Head of Drug Enforcement Administration to Leave, Alluding to Dismay Over Trump — WASHINGTON — The acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration will resign at the end of the week, according to law enforcement officials, who said he had become convinced that President Trump had little respect for the law.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, The Root, New York Magazine, NBC News, CNBC, The Week, Mediaite, Mother Jones, Politicus USA and Washington Free Beacon

Chris Kahn / Reuters:

A majority of adults disagree with Trump on firing athletes who kneel during anthem: Reuters/Ipsos poll — NEW YORK (Reuters) - A majority of Americans disagree with President Donald Trump's assertion that football players should be fired for kneeling during the national anthem …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Wall Street Journal:
DirecTV Allows Some NFL Refunds After Anthem Controversy

Discussion: USA Today, CNBC, Forbes, Daily Wire, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, New Orleans Times-Picayune, ProFootballTalk, ABC News, Mashable, ThinkProgress, WYFF-TV, The Daily Caller, AOL, Washington Free Beacon and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Republicans to unveil broad tax cuts, put off tough decisions — President Trump and top Republicans will promise a package of far-reaching tax cuts for companies and individuals, people briefed on the planning said, but the GOP leaders will stop short of labeling many of the tax breaks …

Discussion: The Atlantic and Axios

Ben White / Politico:
Trump hits the road to sell tax plan - but some worry what he'll say

Discussion: Reuters, New York Times, Political Wire, Axios, Wall Street Journal, Vox, CNBC and Business Insider

David Morgan / Reuters:
Trump's tax plan to propose deep U.S. rate cuts, lacks revenue details

Discussion: The Week

Rachana Pradhan / Politico:

Price's private-jet travels included visits with colleagues, lunch with son — Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price took a government-funded private jet in August to get to St. Simons Island, an exclusive Georgia resort where he and his wife own land, a day and a half before he addressed …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, New York Magazine, The Week, baker, Raw Story, Axios, Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

Rhonda Cook / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

U.S. Supreme Court grants stay of execution to Georgia killer — 10:31 p.m.: The U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of execution tonight to condemned killer Keith Tharpe, three and a half hours after he was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection. — In a 6-3 decision …

Discussion: The Root

CNN: SCOTUS stays execution of Georgia death row inmate amid claims of racial bias

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

Rolling Stone 's Sales Pitch to Investors: Go Monthly, Slash Editorial Budget, Pivot to Video — Jann Wenner and his millennial son capitulate to magazine reality. — Last week, Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner put his iconic magazine on the market, a decision that represents …

more at Mediagazer »

Julianna Goldman / CBS News:

3 Cabinet officials under fire for taking costly flights — WASHINGTON — For EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, June 7 was a busy day. — First, he had a trip to Cincinnati with President Trump. Then, he went on to New York's JFK Airport on an Air Force jet, leaving behind $350 commercial flights …

Politico:

Trump's most (and least) popular cabinet members — NEW POLITICO/MORNING CONSULT POLL — MOST POPULAR CABINET MEMBERS: Defense Secretary James Mattis topped the list of Trump's most popular advisers with a 40%favorable rating (+20% net favorable), according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.

Discussion: Axios

ABC News:

Special counsel probing flow of Russian-American money to Trump political funds — WATCH: One of the FBI's top investigators, tapped by special counsel Robert Mueller just weeks ago to help lead the probe of Russian meddling in last year's presidential election, has left Mueller's team, sources tell ABC News.

Discussion: Raw Story and Politicus USA