memeorandum: Trump strikes optimistic tone on North Korea: 'We're making a lot of progress' (Jeremy Diamond/CNN)

12:05 AM ET, November 8, 2017

Top Items:

Live Election Results and Estimates: Virginia Governor Race — Dem. — 1,390,597 — Ed Gillespie — Rep. — 1,160,314 — Lib. — 30,020 — 99% reporting (2,561 of 2,566 precincts) — Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, won a decisive victory in the race for governor of Virginia …

Discussion: Vox, Politico, New Republic, CNN, viraltop1, The Daily Signal and The Gateway Pundit

Lisa Hagen / The Hill:

Northam wins big in Virginia, thrilling Democrats — FAIRFAX, Va. — Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) won the Virginia governor's race in a blowout Tuesday, fending off a potential gut punch for his party and giving Democrats a badly needed jolt of momentum ahead of the 2018 midterms.

Discussion: ABC News and Politico

New York Times:

Live Estimates of the Final Vote — Our estimates are based on the results reported so far, the results of the previous election and demographic data. Unlike reported results, they attempt to account for precincts that have not yet reported their votes. The shaded area in the gauge below shows the range of our forecasts.

Discussion: Politicus USA

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Northam beats Gillespie in Virginia governor's race — Democrat Ralph Northam was elected governor of Virginia on Tuesday in a sweeping victory that defied the conventional wisdom of a tightening race. — The lieutenant governor's victory joins Democrat Phil Murphy's win …

Eric Bradner / CNN:

Democrats sweep in Virginia, New Jersey — Trump factor looms large in Virginia race — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam has won the Virginia governor's race, CNN projects, defeating Republican Ed Gillespie. — Northam's win is a huge boost …

Discussion: New Jersey Online, Shareblue Media, WTVR-TV, IJR, The Guardian, Business Insider, KXLY-TV, Axios, The Nation, BuzzFeed, Mother Jones, WTKR-TV, HuffPost, New Republic, The Week, Mediaite and Washington Post

John Verhovek / ABC News:

Transgender Virginia candidate makes history and other races to watch — The first openly transgender person elected and seated in a state legislature defeated her conservative Republican opponent in a closely watched Virginia election. — In a historic bid, Democrat Danica Roem beat …

Discussion: Axios, IJR and Vox

Gary Langer / ABC News:
Voters' concern about health care boost Northam, corruption a top issue for NJ voters: exit polls

Discussion: Politico, Mother Jones, Vox, Axios and Associated Press

Lisa Hagen / The Hill:
Dem Murphy wins New Jersey governor's race

Discussion: ABC News and RedState

Gregory S. Schneider / Washington Post:
Democrat Ralph Northam defeats Ed Gillespie in race for Virginia governor closely watched by national parties

Discussion: Townhall.com, New York Times, Talking Points Memo and Business Insider

Nick Corasaniti / New York Times:
Phil Murphy Is Elected Governor of New Jersey, in a Lift for Democrats

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Antonio Olivo / Washington Post:

Danica Roem is Va.'s first openly transgender elected official, unseating conservative in House race — Democrat Danica Roem ousted longtime incumbent Del. Robert G. Marshall (R) Tuesday, becoming the first openly transgender elected official in Virginia — and one of very few in the nation.

Discussion: TheBlaze, The Slot, Refinery29, The FADER, The Week, Raw Story, Shareblue Media, Mother Jones and viraltop1

Trudy Ring / Advocate:
Trans Woman Andrea Jenkins Elected to Minneapolis City Council

Discussion: Raw Story

Brandon Carter / The Hill:
First openly transgender woman of color elected to public office in US

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Business Insider and Rewire

Bloomberg:

Senator Menendez Juror Asks Trial Judge: ‘What Is a Senator?’ — On their first full day of jury deliberations at the bribery trial of Senator Robert Menendez, a juror asked the judge a basic question: What is a senator? — U.S. District Judge William Walls declined to answer the question …

Discussion: Instapundit and twitchy.com

Laura Jarrett / CNN: Menendez jury's first question involves the role of a US senator

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

Omarosa's West Wing bridal adventure highlights broader dysfunction — One Saturday in early April, Omarosa Manigault caused a stir in the White House. — The “Apprentice” villain turned senior White House official brought members of her 39-person bridal party to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue …

Discussion: Axios, The Root, The Atlantic, The Slot, AOL, Raw Story, Business Insider, Mediaite and Joe.My.God.

CBS News:

“The time for excuses is over,” Trump says in South Korea — President Trump told North Korea to “not underestimate us,” in a speech before the South Korea's National Assembly Wednesday morning local time. — “Do not underestimate us. Do not try us. We will defend our common security …

Discussion: The Hill

Associated Press:
The Latest: Trump ‘frustrated’ by cancelled visit to DMZ

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Devin Dwyer / ABC News:
Trump warns Kim ‘regime in grave danger ... we will not be intimidated’

Discussion: Axios and Associated Press

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
Trump strikes optimistic tone on North Korea: 'We're making a lot of progress'

Discussion: KTLA, New York's PIX11, The Korea Times, ThinkProgress and CBS13

Aaron Wische / Click2Houston.com:

Sutherland Springs church shooter escaped mental health facility months after attack on wife, child — Police report shows Kelley made death threats against military superiors — HOUSTON - Channel 2 Investigates uncovered law enforcement documents showing Devin Kelley escaped …

Discussion: Washington Post, Shareblue Media, Business Insider, KRON4.com, VICE, KXAN-TV, New Republic, RedState, AOL, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, National Review, The Root, USA Today, Denver Post and The Week

Richard Pérez-Peña / New York Times:
Texas Gunman Once Escaped From Mental Health Facility

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Axios, The Root and The Week

Sarah Kliff / Vox:

Maine just became the 33rd state to expand Medicaid — A ballot initiative will allow as many as 89,000 Maine residents to gain coverage. — Maine will become the 33rd state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, expanding coverage to as many as 89,000 low-income residents.

Discussion: Politico, Axios and Mother Jones

New York Times:
Maine Ballot Question 2: Expand Medicaid Eligibility

Discussion: Forbes, Rewire and Balloon Juice

Ryan Struyk / CNN:

Poll: Views of Democratic Party hit lowest mark in 25 years — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)Favorable views of the Democratic Party have dropped to their lowest mark in more than a quarter century of polling, according to new numbers from a CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

Discussion: IJR, RedState, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller and Washington Times

Sean McElwee / The Nation:
Pandering to Racists Won't Get Democrats Anywhere

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Leigh Ann Caldwell / NBC News:

Trump Tells Democrats He'll ‘Get Killed’ Financially in GOP Tax Bill — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump called 12 Senate Democrats Tuesday, hoping to sway them in favor of the Republican tax cut bill, and told them he would personally “get killed” financially by the GOP bill.

Discussion: Raw Story

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Congresswoman tolerated abusive behavior by top aide, female ex-staffers say — A lawmaker pushing for a more aggressive response to sexual harassment on Capitol Hill has kept her chief of staff on payroll despite receiving multiple complaints by women in her office about his behavior toward them, according to several former aides.

Discussion: The Root, IJR, The Daily Caller and Talking Points Memo

Heather Caygle / Politico:
Congresswoman's top aide suspended after harassment claims

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Carrie Dann / NBC News:

NBC/WSJ Poll: In ‘Trump Counties,’ More Say U.S. Is Worse Off Than Better Off — WASHINGTON — One year after Donald Trump's shocking election upset, many Americans who live in the key counties that propelled him to victory remain unconvinced that the country is better off now that he's in the White House …

Discussion: The Hill, Shareblue Media and Daily Kos

Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost:

Jeff Sessions' DOJ Drops Prosecution Of Woman Who Laughed At Jeff Sessions — Desiree Fairooz was set to face her second trial in connection with her arrest for laughing during Sessions' confirmation hearing for attorney general. — WASHINGTON Justice Department prosecutors have dropped …

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, IJR, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, Axios and Balloon Juice

The Intercept:

CIA Director Met Advocate of Disputed DNC Hack Theory — at Trump's Request — CIA Director Mike Pompeo met late last month with a former U.S. intelligence official who has become an advocate for a disputed theory that the theft of the Democratic National Committee's emails during …

Discussion: Politico, emptywheel, NBC News, Business Insider, IJR, The Week, The Daily Caller, Shareblue Media, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, Media Matters for America, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, New Republic, RedState and Raw Story

Kevin Poulsen / The Daily Beast:

Exclusive: Russia Activated Twitter Sleeper Cells for Election Day Blitz … As U.S. polling places opened last Nov. 8, Russian trolls in St. Petersburg began a final push on Twitter to elect Donald Trump. — They used a combination of high-profile accounts with large and influential followings …

Discussion: Raw Story

Olivia Solon / The Guardian:

Facebook asks users for nude photos in project to combat revenge porn — In Australia pilot effort, company will ‘hash’ images, converting them into digital fingerprints that prevent any other attempts to upload the same pictures … Facebook is asking users to send the company their nude photos …

Discussion: The Verge and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Dan Alexander / Forbes:

The Case Of Wilbur Ross' Phantom $2 Billion — Fresh off a tour through Thailand, Laos and China, United States Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross Jr. picked up the phone on a Sunday afternoon in October to discuss something deeply personal: how much money he has.

Discussion: Center for Public Integrity, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Shareblue Media, RedState, AOL, IJR, Mediaite, Raw Story, rbc.ru, The Week, Talking Points Memo, The Mahablog, New York Magazine and CNBC

Jane Wakefield / BBC:

Facebook's fake news experiment backfires — A Facebook test that promoted comments containing the word fake to the top of news feeds has been criticised by users. — The trial, which Facebook says has now concluded, aimed to prioritise “comments that indicate disbelief”.

Discussion: The Verge, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller and Boing Boing, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:

Disney Ends Ban on Los Angeles Times Amid Fierce Backlash — Amid a growing backlash, the Walt Disney Company on Tuesday reversed its decision to bar The Los Angeles Times from press screenings of its movies following an investigation by the newspaper into the media giant's business dealings in Anaheim.