memeorandum: 20 of America's top political scientists gathered to discuss our democracy. They're scared. (Sean Illing/Vox)

11:50 AM ET, October 13, 2017

Top Items:

Paul Demko / Politico:

Trump will scrap critical Obamacare subsidies — President Donald Trump plans to cut off subsidy payments to insurers selling Obamacare coverage in his most aggressive move yet to undermine his predecessor's health care law. — The subsidies, which are worth an estimated $7 billion this year …

Nicholas Bagley / The Incidental Economist:
Cutting off the cost-sharing payments.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, NPR, NBC News, ABC News and ThinkProgress

Sam Baker / Axios:
Trump takes a sledgehammer to the ACA

Discussion: Washington Post

David Anderson / New York Times:
Trump's Obamacare Order Will Deepen Health Inequality

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Commonwealth Fund, The Daily Signal, CNBC and Forbes

Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Obamacare bombshell: Trump kills key payments to health insurers

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Politico, The Resurgent and TheBlaze

Patrick Brzeski / Hollywood Reporter:

Oliver Stone on Harvey Weinstein: “It's Not Easy What He's Going Through” — The director addressed the international media at the Busan International Film Festival, where he is serving as chair of the event's competition jury. — Oliver Stone intitially declined to condemn Harvey Weinstein …

TMZ.com:

Harvey Weinstein's Contract Allowed for Sexual Harassment — Harvey Weinstein may have been fired illegally by The Weinstein Company, a company that wrote a contract that said Weinstein could get sued over and over for sexual harassment and as long as he shelled out money, that was good enough for the Company.

Discussion: Power Line, Raw Story, Hot Air, Mediaite, IndieWire, Fox News Insider, RedState, PerezHilton, twitchy.com, CNNMoney and IJR

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

Put Women in Charge — Most women I know — and probably most women you know — have stories about sexual harassment. Mine happened in college, with a professor who was older than my father and who made me think he was genuinely interested in my writing. One day in his office, he told me he wanted to “kiss and molest” me.

Discussion: Washington Post, Right Wing Watch, NewsBusters, BuzzFeed and Shakesville

Lisa O'Carroll / The Guardian:
Harvey Weinstein: English actor says alleged sexual assault ruined film career

Discussion: RedState

Los Angeles Times:
The fallout: How the Harvey Weinstein scandal exposed sexual harassment as Hollywood's dirty secret

Discussion: National Review, Axios, Mashable, AOL and PerezHilton

Christopher Flavelle / Bloomberg:

How the Pentagon Spun Hurricane Maria — U.S. officials inadvertently included a Bloomberg reporter on an internal email list. Here's a glimpse into their bid to put relief efforts in a positive light. — Late last month, Pentagon communications officials inadvertently included Bloomberg …

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:

69 Republicans vote against aid for Puerto Rico, other disaster sites — Legislation to provide $36.5 billion in aid for communities affected by recent wildfires and hurricanes, including Puerto Rico, secured widespread support in the House on Thursday save for 69 Republicans.

Discussion: Politico, Wall Street Journal and The Daily Caller

Eliza Barclay / Vox:
This CNN clip shows why we need an accurate death count from Puerto Rico

Discussion: The Hill, ABC News and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez

Caitlin Dickerson / New York Times:
Finding Water in Puerto Rico: An Endless Game of Cat and Mouse

Discussion: Vox

Sean Illing / Vox:

20 of America's top political scientists gathered to discuss our democracy. They're scared. — “If current trends continue for another 20 or 30 years, democracy will be toast.” — Is American democracy in decline? Should we be worried? — On October 6, some of America's top political …

Discussion: Raw Story

Kim Masters / Hollywood Reporter:

Amazon TV Producer Goes Public With Harassment Claim Against Top Exec Roy Price (Exclusive) — “You will love my d**k,” Price allegedly said to Isa Hackett, a producer on ‘The Man in the High Castle,’ who details a July 2015 incident at Comic-Con in San Diego.

Discussion: CNBC, Zero Hedge, CNNMoney, NBC News, New York Times, Mediaite, KTLA, AOL, NPR, Washington Post, Mashable, The Guardian and Axios, more at Mediagazer »

Daniel Holloway / Variety:
Amazon Suspends Entertainment Chief Roy Price (EXCLUSIVE)

Discussion: IndieWire, more at Mediagazer »

Kara Scannell / CNN:

Background check chief has ‘never seen’ mistakes and omissions at level of Jared Kushner forms — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)The head of a government bureau responsible for clearing background checks told lawmakers Wednesday he has “never seen that level of mistakes” when asked …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:

Senator Susan Collins Will Not Run for Governor of Maine — ROCKPORT, Me. — After several months of open deliberations about her future, Senator Susan Collins of Maine announced Friday that she would not run for governor and would remain in the Senate. — Ms. Collins, a Republican …

Discussion: NBC News, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, Refinery29 and LifeNews.com

Daniel Strauss / Politico:
Collins declines run for Maine governor

Discussion: Axios

Mattthew Lee / Associated Press:

Trumps said to disparage but not bolt from Iranian nuke deal — https://apnews.com/a660d3fd7e93484f8209 5122de8d4ff8 — Link copied! — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will say Friday the Iran nuclear deal is no longer in U.S. national security interests …

Discussion: Politico

New York Times:
Trump Won't Certify Iran Nuclear Deal, but He Also Won't Unravel It

Discussion: Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, Defense One and Lawfare

Washington Examiner: Trump gets realist on Iran

Josh Meyer / Politico:

Twitter deleted data potentially crucial to Russia probes — Twitter has deleted tweets and other user data of potentially irreplaceable value to investigators probing Russia's suspected manipulation of the social media platform during the 2016 election, according to current and former government cybersecurity officials.

Discussion: AOL and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Seth Stevenson / Slate:

The Massachusetts congressman is a white, centrist, Harvard-educated war hero who wants to remake the Democratic Party. Too bad no one wants that. — I'm squinting through the sun at the Polk County Steak Fry, trying to size up Seth Moulton. — It's a late September Saturday in Des Moines …

Alexander Nazaryan / Newsweek:

WHO BROKE CONGRESS? DENNIS HASTERT, FORMER SPEAKER, BREAKS TWO-YEAR SILENCE TO DENY ROLE IN GRIDLOCK — In 1978, E.J. Dionne Jr. was a young reporter covering New York state politics in Albany. That same year, a young historian from Georgia finally won a seat in the House of Representatives, after two failed attempts.

Discussion: twitchy.com

Lisa Rein / Washington Post:

Where's Zinke? The interior secretary's special flag offers clues. — At the Interior Department's headquarters in downtown Washington, Secretary Ryan Zinke has revived an arcane military ritual that no one can remember ever happening in the federal government.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Mediaite

Nancy Dillon / New York Daily News:

Hillary Clinton in talks with Columbia University to take on professor role — Hillary Clinton is testing the waters on a return to academia. — The former U.S. Secretary of State and presidential nominee is in talks with Columbia University to take on a formal role at the Ivy League …

Discussion: Political Wire, The Daily Caller and Washington Free Beacon

Washington Post:

‘Just ash and bone’: Death toll in California wildfires reaches historically grim heights — SANTA ROSA, Calif. — The horrific scale of death and destruction is coming into focus, even as the wildfires continue to rage throughout Northern California. — Thirty-one confirmed dead, many of them elderly.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and NPR

Tony Cook / Indianapolis Star:

As Trump slams media, an Indiana lawmaker has drafted a bill to license journalists — An Indiana lawmaker has drafted a bill that would require professional journalists to be licensed by state police. — Rep. Jim Lucas had the measure drawn up earlier this year and said he may file …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Talking New Media, TheBlaze, Raw Story and FOX59

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:

Hannity hits back at Sasse: ‘Call me when you repeal ObamaCare loser’ — Fox News host Sean Hannity fanned the flames of his feud with Sen. Ben Sasse — (R-Neb.) late Thursday, saying he has “done nothing” in D.C. and to “call me when you repeal ObamaCare loser.”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, TheBlaze and Mediaite

Devin Henry / The Hill:

Trump taps climate skeptic to lead White House environment office — President Trump has nominated a skeptic of climate change science to lead the White House's environmental policy board. — The White House late Thursday announced that Trump picked Kathleen Hartnett White to serve as a member …

Discussion: The Daily Caller