memeorandum: Canada, Mexico to firmly reject US NAFTA proposals but will offer to keep negotiations going: Sources (CNBC)

9:00 PM ET, October 17, 2017

Top Items:

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

Spicer interviewed by Mueller's team — The former press secretary met with prosecutors in the Russia probe on Monday. — President Donald Trump's former press secretary Sean Spicer met with special counsel Robert Mueller's team on Monday for an interview that lasted much of the day …

Discussion: IJR, Political Wire, Axios, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Raw Story and Politicus USA

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

Jared Kushner Adds Charles Harder to Legal Team As West Wing Pressure Mounts — On Friday, Reince Priebus testified for hours with lawyers on special counsel Robert Mueller's team. While Priebus has been careful not to criticize the president openly, sources who have spoken to him say he's …

Natasha Bertrand / Business Insider:

Mueller has interviewed the cybersecurity expert who described being ‘recruited to collude with the Russians’ — A cybersecurity researcher who described being recruited to vet hacked Hillary Clinton emails last year by a GOP operative tied to President Donald Trump's campaign team …

Discussion: NBC News, Raw Story, Last Men and OverMen, Foreign Policy, CNN and Talking Points Memo

The Daily Beast:

Trump White House Uses John Kelly's Dead Son to Trash Obama … On Tuesday morning, the White House, not just President Donald Trump, went out of its way to turn Chief of Staff John Kelly's dead son into a political football for the purpose of attacking Barack Obama's character.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Hullabaloo and Raw Story

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
Trump invokes death of John Kelly's son in furor over calls to fallen soldiers

Discussion: New York Magazine, Washington Post, Vox, Raw Story, Mashable, The Federalist, twitchy.com, TheBlaze and New York Times

The Hill:
Trump speaks to families of Green Berets killed in Niger

Discussion: RedState and The Resurgent

Ashley Parker / Washington Post: The Debrief: An occasional series offering a reporter's insights

Dan Merica / CNN:
Trump: Ask Kelly whether Obama called after his son was killed in action

Discussion: The Guardian and Daily Kos

Melissa Quinn / Washington Examiner:
Trump on calling families of fallen troops: ‘Ask General Kelly’ if Obama called when his son died

Discussion: Associated Press, Conservative News Today, Washington Post, twitchy.com, IJR, ThinkProgress and CNN

Dana Blanton / Fox News:

Fox News Poll: Roy Moore, Doug Jones neck-and-neck in Alabama Senate race — Republican Roy Moore, the anti-Republican establishment candidate, is tied at 42 percent apiece with Democrat Doug Jones in the U.S. Senate race in deep-red Alabama. — A Fox News Poll also finds that among …

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Hill, ThinkProgress, Political Wire, RedState, New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, The Resurgent and Washington Examiner

Monmouth University:

Monmouth University Polling Institute — Virginia — Race for Governor Deadlocked — Regional partisan divides widen; Eastern/Central VA up for grabs — West Long Branch, NJ - The campaign for governor of Virginia remains up for grabs, with Republican Ed Gillespie and Democrat Ralph Northam locked in a one point race.

Discussion: Politico, Weekly Standard, Washington Monthly, The Judy Ford Wason Center …, Roanoke College, Vox, National Review, Washington Free Beacon and Political Wire

Julia Glum / Newsweek:

HOW HILLARY CLINTON STILL CAN, AND SHOULD, BECOME PRESIDENT AFTER THE TRUMP-RUSSIA INVESTIGATION — Sure, it's been more than 340 days since Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton, but there's still one very narrow, highly unlikely and entirely unprecedented way that Clinton could become president.

The Hill:

FBI uncovered Russian bribery plot before Obama administration approved controversial nuclear deal with Moscow — Before the Obama administration approved a controversial deal in 2010 giving Moscow control of a large swath of American uranium, the FBI had gathered substantial evidence …

Discussion: RedState, Commentary Magazine, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Conservative News Today, TheBlaze, Liberal Values, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Rush Limbaugh Show, National Review, Power Line, NewsBusters, Patterico's Pontifications, IJR, Infowars and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Matthew Nussbaum / Politico:
White House denies Trump joked about Pence being anti-gay

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Longreads, IJR, Refinery29, CNBC, NBC News and Shareblue Media

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Bob Weinstein Accused of Sexual Harassment by TV Showrunner — A female showrunner who worked on the Weinstein Co. drama “The Mist” has accused Bob Weinstein of sexual harassment during the production of the Spike TV series. — Amanda Segel, an executive producer of “Mist,” …

Discussion: TMZ.com, Mediaite, Deadline, The Guardian, twitchy.com, Washington Free Beacon, AOL, The Ringer, IndieWire, NBC News, The Daily Caller, Mashable and Gothamist, more at Mediagazer »

TMZ.com:
Harvey Weinstein, I'm Gonna Keep Making Movies, With or Without TWC

Discussion: Variety, Shakesville, The Daily Caller and Althouse

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Amazon Studios head Roy Price resigns amid harassment allegations, company says

Discussion: New York Times, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon, FOX6Now.com, The Verge and The Ringer, more at Mediagazer »

Ken Thomas / Associated Press:

Trump issues warning to McCain after senator's tough speech — https://apnews.com/cd337697c2f04726b690 76627c014eb7 — Link copied! — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a warning shot after Republican Sen. John McCain questioned “half-baked, spurious nationalism” in America's foreign policy.

Discussion: Arizona Republic, Little Green Footballs, Daily Wire and Political Wire

Sophie Tatum / CNN:
Sen. John McCain warns against ‘spurious nationalism’ in Liberty Medal speech

Discussion: Hit & Run, KTLA, IJR and The Daily Caller

Elana Schor / Politico:
Trump and McCain smack at each other over ‘spurious nationalism’ comments

Discussion: The Hill, ABC News, Axios and The Daily Caller

CNN:

Exclusive: Putin's ‘chef,’ the man behind the troll factory — (CNN)Yevgeny Prigozhin is a Russian oligarch dubbed “chef” to President Vladimir Putin by the Russian press. In 2002, he served caviar and truffles to President George W. Bush during a summit in St. Petersburg.

Discussion: Meduza, Business Insider, Axios, Mediaite, Raw Story and amp.meduza.io

Shaun Walker / The Guardian:
Russian troll factory paid US activists to help fund protests during election

Discussion: Raw Story, Mother Jones and ABC News

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Clinton lawyer pounds CNN's Chris Cillizza on email analysis piece — CNN politics reporter and editor-at-large Chris Cillizza grabbed his Outrage-Timing Stopwatch. He used this device to count the number of days that had passed before former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton denounced …

Discussion: Vox, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:

CNN poll: Trump approval steady, but more say he's leading in the wrong direction — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump's approval rating holds steady in a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, but that overall stability belies declining views on how things are going in the country today.

Discussion: Axios, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, AOL, Vox and Political Wire

Eric Boehlert / Shareblue Media:
New poll predicts unprecedented defeat for House Republicans in 2018

Discussion: The Hill and McClatchy Washington Bureau

Mike Allen / Axios:

Trump's alternative reality — President Trump “goes there, on just about every topic imaginable,” as NBC's Brian Williams put it, during a pair of Q&As, two hours apart yesterday — one in the Cabinet Room and one with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Rose Garden .

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, Washington Post, Business Insider, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos and AOL

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
White House says Obama didn't call Kelly after his son's death

Discussion: Shareblue Media, FOX News Radio, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, NPR, Politicus USA, Mediaite and The Hill

Melissa Etehad / Los Angeles Times:

Jesus Campos, Vegas security guard shot before rampage, appears to have vanished — A security vehicle blocks an entrance at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Oct. 4 in Las Vegas. (David Becker / Getty Images) — The story seemed straightforward: The unarmed security guard approached …

Discussion: Fox News, National Review, AOL, Business Insider, The Truth About Guns and RedState

Paraic O'Brien / Channel 4 News:

Exclusive: Neo-Nazi and National Front organiser quits movement, opens up about Jewish heritage, comes out as gay — After a lifetime of involvement with the far-right Kevin Wilshaw announces on Channel 4 News that he is leaving the movement - at the same time publicly coming out as gay.

Discussion: Raw Story

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

McCaskill's false claim that she 'wasn't here' when the DEA bill was passed — “Now, I did not go along with this. I wasn't here at the time. I was actually out getting breast cancer treatment. I don't know that I would have objected. I like to believe I would have, but the bottom line is …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Washington Post:
Trump says drug czar nominee Tom Marino is withdrawing after Washington Post/'60 Minutes' investigation

Discussion: Vox, CBS News, Hit & Run, Washington Examiner, Deadline, TheBlaze, Sputnik International, RedState, The Atlantic, hsgac.senate.gov, The Root and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Matt Zapotosky / Washington Post:

Federal judge blocks Trump's third travel ban — A federal judge on Tuesday largely blocked the Trump administration from implementing the latest version of the president's controversial travel ban, setting up yet another legal showdown on the extent of the executive branch's powers when it comes to setting immigration policy.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, RedState and Shakesville

Vivian Yee / New York Times: Judge Temporarily Halts New Version of Trump's Travel Ban

Jeff Cox / CNBC:

‘Dr. Doom’ Faber: ‘Thank God white people populated America’ — The market pessimist Marc “Dr. Doom” Faber claims that the U.S. is great primarily because it is ruled by white people. — “I am not a racist, but the reality — no matter how politically incorrect — needs to be spelled out …

Discussion: RedState, Calculated Risk and Talking Points Memo

Chris Isidore / CNNMoney:

Trump's net worth drops $600 million on Forbes' rich list, falls 92 spots — Trump's golf clubs in Scotland are losing millions — The rich are getting richer. But not Donald Trump. — The Forbes list of 400 richest Americans shows that the billionaire-in-chief's fortune fell by $600 million to $3.1 billion.

Discussion: Business Insider, Daily Kos and Raw Story

Wall Street Journal:

George Soros Transfers $18 Billion to His Foundation, Creating an Instant Giant — The pioneer of hedge-fund investing has transferred the bulk of his wealth to Open Society Foundations — George Soros, who built one of the world's largest fortunes through a famous series of trades …

Discussion: Crime and Consequences Blog, LifeNews.com, rbc.ru and Instapundit

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:

Alexander, Murray strike bipartisan Obamacare deal providing subsidies, state flexibility — Sens. Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray say they have reached an agreement on a bipartisan Obamacare deal to fund a key insurance subsidy program and provide states flexibility to skirt some requirements of the health care law.

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, Axios, Associated Press, ABC News, CNN, The Atlantic, Weekly Standard, Mother Jones, KTLA, Outside the Beltway and IJR

Fox News:

Jane Fonda says she's not proud of America — Jane Fonda made it clear she is not proud of America. — During a recent interview with the BBC, Fonda was asked, “Are you proud of America today?” — The actress was very quick to reply with a hard “no.” — “But, I'm proud of the resistance,” she elaborated.

Discussion: Breitbart, Conservative News Today, RedState, IJR and The Daily Caller

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

Trump leaning toward former pharma exec for health secretary — President Donald Trump is leaning toward nominating Alex Azar, a former pharmaceutical industry executive and George W. Bush administration official, to serve as Health and Human Services secretary, according to two White House officials.

Discussion: Vox, Washington Times and Business Insider

Mark Anthony Green / GQ:

LeBron James Is the Greatest Living Athlete (and Here's Why) — LeBron James has been basketball's best player for the better part of 14 years. But it's his work off the court—in business, in movies, and increasingly in politics—that will define the depth of his greatness.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, AOL, TMZ.com and Deadspin