memeorandum: ‘The Apprentice’ Creators Look Back (Kelly McEvers/Television : NPR)

5:15 PM ET, October 7, 2017

Top Items:

Hoping to Have Trump Cleared, Legal Team Eases Resistance to Inquiry — WASHINGTON — White House officials once debated a scorched-earth strategy of publicly criticizing and undercutting Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating Russian efforts to disrupt last year's election.

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:

Collusion and the Trump Dossier — If the Trump dossier is a tissue of lies, why are the Justice Department and FBI, now controlled by Trump appointees, concealing information about it? — It is an article of faith among the president's most ardent supporters: The Trump dossier is a completely discredited piece of garbage.

Discussion: Last Men and OverMen, Politico and The Guardian

Daily Mail:

Eleven injured as taxi driver ‘deliberately mows down pedestrians’ after mounting the pavement outside London's Natural History Museum before being pinned to the ground and arrested in front of stunned tourists — Man arrested in the heart of capital's museum land after several pedestrians were mowed down by a vehicle

Discussion: The Last Refuge

The Guardian:

Natural History Museum crash that injured 11 ‘not terror-related’ - police — Incident, in which car mounted pavement and members of public apparently detained driver, being treated as traffic accident — Eleven people have been injured after a car struck pedestrians outside the Natural History Museum in west London.

Discussion: Mother Jones and The Week

Jon Sharman / The Independent:
Natural History Museum: Police incident after ‘car mounts pavement’, injuring number …

Discussion: SARAH PALIN, IJR and The Daily Caller

Angelina Chapin / HuffPost:

Attorney Lisa Bloom Drops Harvey Weinstein As Sexual Harassment Allegations Escalate — A Friday report alleged the media mogul trapped a woman in a hallway and masturbated in front of her. — The high-profile attorney Lisa Bloom is stepping down from her role as an adviser …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Gothamist, CBS Los Angeles and Patterico's Pontifications, more at Mediagazer »

Yashar Ali / HuffPost:

TV Reporter Says Harvey Weinstein Masturbated In Front Of Her — The new revelation, which allegedly took place a decade ago, comes after an explosive New York Times report said Weinstein had previously settled eight sexual harassment claims. — Harvey Weinstein once trapped a woman …

Keli Goff / The Daily Beast:
Yes, Hillary—and the Democrats—Do Have a Harvey Weinstein Problem

Discussion: New York Times, Business Insider, Last Men and OverMen, The Hill, IJR and American Greatness

Sandra Gonzalez / CNN:
How Hollywood has reacted to Weinstein allegations

Discussion: RedState and CNNMoney, more at Mediagazer »

Franco Ordoñez / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Leadership fears Trump staff undermining president on Dreamers — WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders fear President Donald Trump's staff are exploiting the president's busy schedule to push their own agenda and undermine his pledge to protect Dreamers. — According to four political …

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Political Wire

Associated Press: Expressing empathy remains a challenge for Trump

CNN: Tillerson chaos lays bare Kelly's struggle to manage White House

Mike Martindale / Detroit News:

Michigan rapist gets joint custody — A Sanilac County Circuit judge has granted parenting time and joint legal custody of an 8-year-old boy to a convicted sex offender who allegedly raped the child's mother nine years ago. — Christopher Mirasolo, 27, of Brown City was awarded joint legal custody …

Discussion: Raw Story

TMZ.com:

Nelly — Arrested for Rape — EXCLUSIVE — 9:25 AM PT — Nelly's lawyer tells TMZ, “Nelly is the victim of a completely fabricated allegation. Our initial investigation, clearly establishes the allegation is devoid of credibility and is motivated by greed and vindictiveness.

Discussion: RedState, Associated Press, Q13 FOX News, Refinery29, Fort Smith/Fayetteville News, The Root, IJR and The FADER

Bob Brigham / Raw Story:

Watergate legend Carl Bernstein reveals GOP Congress has ‘lost confidence’ in Trump's fitness for office — Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Carl Bernstein described the Trump administration as “unlike anything I have seen in 50 years in Washington” while reporting that Republicans …

Washington Post:

Hurricane Nate strengthens on its path to Gulf Coast landfall Saturday evening — Hurricane Nate is approaching the northern Gulf Coast on Saturday afternoon, predicted to make landfall somewhere between New Orleans and Mobile on Saturday evening as a Category 2.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Reuters, TalkLeft, New York Magazine and Sputnik International

NHC Webmaster / NHC Atlantic Wallet 1:
Hurricane Nate Public Advisory

Discussion: CNN, Fox News, SARAH PALIN, Common Dreams, NPR, FOX6Now.com, Shareblue and IJR

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

Schumer: I told Trump that ObamaCare repeal was ‘off the table’ — (D-N.Y.) said Saturday he told President Trump that Democrats would be open to stabilizing the health-care system, but that another push to repeal and replace ObamaCare was “off the table.” — “The president wanted …

Discussion: Liberal Values and RedState

Mike Allen / Axios:
Scoop: Trump phones Schumer for help on health care, worrying GOP

Discussion: New York Magazine, Politico, ABC News, Vox, Talking Points Memo, SARAH PALIN, The Week, RedState and twitchy.com

Sarah K. Burris / Raw Story:

Maher nails why only white people get away with gun violence: If you can't see it 'you're probably racist' — Bill Maher couldn't help but note that the way Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock is being treated differently than other terrorists that have attacked Americans in the past.

Doug Sosnik / Washington Post:

Trump is on track to win reelection — Doug Sosnik, a Democratic political strategist, was a senior adviser to President Bill Clinton from 1994 to 2000. — More than half of Americans don't think Donald Trump is fit to serve as president, yet he has a clear path to winning reelection.

Foreign Policy:

As U.S. Retreats From World Organizations, China Steps in to Fill the Void — Beijing is trying to repurpose abandoned international agencies like UNESCO to serve its strategic interests — such as controlling the internet. — China's latest bid to flex its diplomatic muscles …

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

How Leftism Can Ruin a Once-Proud School District — Edina is one of the Twin Cities' wealthiest suburbs. For decades, its public schools have been viewed as among the nation's finest. But no longer: a leftist political agenda now dominates the Edina school system, and quality of instruction has slipped badly.

Discussion: StarTribune.com

Alicia Cohn / The Hill:

Ivana Trump speculates Ivanka could run for president — The mother of Ivanka Trump is speculating her daughter could run for president someday. — President Trump's daughter, who is also an adviser to the president, has never run for office. — “Maybe in fifteen years,” …

Discussion: RedState and The Week

Jonathan Lemire / Associated Press: In book, Ivana Trump relives divorce from future president

Megan McArdle / Bloomberg:

Debt Alone Won't Crush Puerto Rico. Depopulation Is the Curse. — Erasing the island's bond obligations would not be sufficient, if migration continues. — “They owe a lot of money to your friends on Wall Street,” Donald Trump told Geraldo Rivera. “We're going to have to wipe that out.

Discussion: Instapundit