memeorandum: She Had Questions. He Had No Answers. Flirting Began. (Nina Reyes/New York Times)

8:00 PM ET, October 1, 2017

Top Items:

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

Puerto Rico is all our worst fears about Trump coming real — A real crisis comes and Trump can't handle it. — For the first nine months of his administration, observers have had occasion to wonder — and wonder, and wonder, and wonder — how exactly Donald Trump would manage to handle …

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Atlantic, Washington Post, NBC News, Taylor Marsh, Hullabaloo, The Root, The Daily Caller, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, CNN, Mother Jones, USA Today, Conservative News Today and Bangor Daily News, more at Mediagazer »

Caroline Orr / Shareblue:

Trump heads off to golf trophy ceremony after a weekend spent attacking Puerto Rico — After two days of golfing and tweeting insults at hurricane victims in Puerto Rico, Donald Trump will cap off his weekend by participating in the Presidents Cup Golf Tournament trophy presentation Sunday evening.

Olivia Beavers / The Hill:

Trump dedicates golf trophy to hurricane victims — President Trump on Sunday dedicated a golf trophy to the victims of recent powerful storms that tore through Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, all the while defending the government's response to the disasters.

Discussion: RedState and Raw Story

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:

Pentagon: More than half of Puerto Ricans without access to drinking water — The number of Puerto Ricans without access to drinking water has risen sharply, the Defense Department announced on Saturday. — Fifty-five percent of the population did not have access to drinking water, the Pentagon said in a Saturday press release.

Discussion: RedState and Raw Story

Mike Allen / Axios:

Full text: Homeland security adviser's update on Puerto Rico — Here's the full text of an update on Puerto Rico that White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert sent his West Wing colleagues: — To inform you, I traveled with Brock to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands on Monday …

Discussion: ABC News, Politico and Mother Jones

Ingrid Arnesen / The Daily Beast:
Puerto Rican Troops Are Still Waiting for Orders While Residents Cry for Help

Discussion: Althouse and Mother Jones

Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Los Angeles Times: In one Puerto Rican nursing home, a struggle to get power and keep patients alive

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE:
DoD Accelerates Hurricane Relief, Response Efforts in Puerto Rico

Discussion: Shareblue, Raw Story, Bloomberg and The Last Refuge

Mike Allen / Axios:
Scoop: Homeland security adviser pushes upbeat PR campaign for Puerto Rico

Discussion: ABC News, Business Insider, Hullabaloo, New York Magazine, IJR and Mediaite

Richard Fausset / New York Times:
Puerto Rico Is Getting a Surge of Aid, Governor Says

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Guardian, ABC News and Daily Kos

Chris Gillette / Associated Press:
In hurricane-hit Puerto Rico, a stunning silence

Discussion: Axios and New York Times

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
Neighboring mayor praises Trump, says San Juan mayor playing ‘politics,’ AWOL at meetings

Discussion: RedState and CNN

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:
Baldwin returns to SNL as confused Trump responding to Puerto Rico

Discussion: RedState

Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:
Trump calls San Juan mayor ‘ingrate’ in propaganda war over Puerto Rico relief

Discussion: Philly.com, The Hill, Deadline, Washington Post and Mashable

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
Trump sent 18 tweets on Puerto Rico on Saturday. And made things a whole lot worse

Discussion: ABC News, Axios, Mediaite, France 24, The Daily Caller, AOL, Conservative News Today, Washington Post, RedState, IJR, CBS Los Angeles, Vox and twitchy.com

The Daily Caller:
EXCLUSIVE: Fellow Puerto Rico Mayor Rips San Juan Mayor — 'She's Not Participating In Any Meetings'

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Scoop: Trump urges staff to portray him as “crazy guy” — In an Oval Office meeting earlier this month, President Trump gave his top trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, an Art of the Deal-style coaching session on how to negotiate with the South Koreans. — Trump's impromptu coaching came …

Discussion: Raw Story, Business Insider, Shareblue, France 24, NPR, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller, Mashable, Vox, The Week, IJR, Althouse, SARAH PALIN and Mediaite

Dave Lawler / Axios:
Trump v. Trump admin on foreign policy

Discussion: Politico

Krishnadev Calamur / The Atlantic:
Trump's Undermining of Rex Tillerson

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, Washington Post, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and RedState

David Cohen / Politico:
Trump undercuts Tillerson's efforts on North Korea

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications

Washington Post:
Trump signed presidential directive ordering actions to pressure North Korea

Discussion: Engadget, The Daily Caller and The Week, more at Techmeme »

Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times:

Column Time's up: As CHIP expires unrenewed, Congress blows a chance to save healthcare for 9 million children — Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price voted twice against expanding CHIP as a George state legislator. — Advocates for children's health started worrying months ago …

Valerie Strauss / Washington Post: 9 million kids get health insurance under CHIP. Congress just let it expire.

Eli Watkins / CNN:

Kasich hints at leaving GOP if it's not ‘fixed’ — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich said on CNN's “State of the Union” Sunday that a time could come when he no longer supports the Republican Party. — “If the party can't be fixed, Jake, then I'm not going to be able to support the party.

Discussion: Business Insider

Akbar Shahid Ahmed / HuffPost:

John Kasich Hints That He May Need To Leave The GOP — The Ohio governor also noted that Americans seem enthusiastic about the idea of candidates outside the two main parties. — WASHINGTON Ohio governor John Kasich, a top Republican leader and former candidate for the party's presidential nomination …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and IJR

New York Times:

Grace du Pont, Conor Sutherland — Grace Hays Holcomb du Pont was married Sept. 30 to Conor Jackson Sutherland in Manhattan. The Rev. J. Donald Waring performed the ceremony at Grace Episcopal Church. — The bride and groom both graduated from Princeton, she cum laude and he magna cum laude

ESPN:

NFL owners struggled to retain control after Trump's attacks, rise of player protests — As DeMaurice Smith drove Monday morning to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport for a flight to his annual locker room meeting with the Buffalo Bills, his phone rang. It was Roger Goodell.

Discussion: IJR, East Bay Times and ProFootballTalk

David Montero / Los Angeles Times:

O.J. Simpson released from Nevada prison — O.J. Simpson signs documents at the Lovelock Correctional Center late Saturday. (Brooke Keast / Nevada Dept. of Corrections / AP) — Former football star O.J. Simpson was released from a Nevada prison early Sunday after serving nine years …

Discussion: Washington Post, RedState and The Daily Caller

CNN:
O.J. Simpson walks out of Nevada prison after 9 years

Discussion: ABC News, IJR, The Week and twitchy.com

Caroline Orr / Shareblue:

“Pretty safe bet”: Former national security adviser warns Kushner compromised by foreign intel — The National Security Agency warned top Trump administration officials in a series of classified briefings that using their personal cell phones and emails could make them vulnerable to espionage …

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Washington Examiner and NPR

Amy B Wang / Washington Post:

Semen-contaminated flutes might have been given to children, California school officials warn — Several school districts in Southern California warned parents this weekend that flutes and recorders given to children through a nonprofit music program may have been contaminated with bodily fluids.

Discussion: Orange County Register, Associated Press, CBS Los Angeles and CBS13

Nina Reyes / New York Times:

She Had Questions. He Had No Answers. Flirting Began. — Sonia Moghe and Eric Douglas Koch were married Sept. 30 in West Dennis, Mass. Pandit Jayant Sane, a Hindu priest, officiated at the Lighthouse Inn, in a ceremony that also included the Greek wedding tradition of placing crowns on the heads of the bride and the groom.