memeorandum: The Peril of Trump's Populist Foreign Policy (Robert B. Zoellick/Wall Street Journal)

11:20 PM ET, November 29, 2017

Top Items:

Matt Lauer Accused of Sexual Harassment by Multiple Women (EXCLUSIVE) — As the co-host of NBC's “Today,” Matt Lauer once gave a colleague a sex toy as a present. It included an explicit note about how he wanted to use it on her, which left her mortified.

TMZ.com:

Matt Lauer Caught on Video Telling Meredith Vieira, ‘Keep Bending Over, Nice View’ (UPDATE) — Matt Lauer creepily whispered to Meredith Vieira ... “Keep bending over like that. It's a nice view” — and it happened on set, while cameras were rolling. — This all went down in October 2006 …

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, IJR, Media Matters for America, The Gateway Pundit and Mashable

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

NBC Fires Matt Lauer Over Sexual Misconduct Allegations — NBC has fired its leading morning news anchor Matt Lauer over sexual harassment allegations, the network's president for news said in a memo to staff on Wednesday. — “On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague …

TMZ.com:
Katie Couric in 2012 said Matt Lauer Pinched Me on the Ass a Lot

Discussion: Business Insider, Mashable and IJR

Kate Coyne / People.com:
Ann Curry Is ‘Still Processing’ Matt Lauer Firing News: ‘We Need to Make Our Workplaces Safe’

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post and AOL

Emily Smith / Page Six:
Matt Lauer allegedly sexually assaulted staffer during Olympics

Discussion: NBC News, New York Post, CNNMoney, Mercury News, Yahoo, thecut, New York Times, Hot Air, TMZ.com, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, TYT Network, Mediaite, NY State of Politics, CBS Philly, Raw Story, Townhall.com, AOL, Variety, IJR and RedState, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:

CNN Exclusive: Jared Kushner met with special counsel about Flynn — Washington (CNN)Jared Kushner met earlier this month with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team as part of the investigation into Russia's meddling in the election, according to two people familiar with the meeting.

Discussion: Axios, Business Insider, Raw Story, The Week and Political Wire

CNN:

Special counsel delays grand jury testimony amid signs of Flynn deal talks — Flynn lawyers cut off talks with Trump team — (CNN)Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team has postponed an anticipated grand jury testimony linked to his investigation into Michael Flynn amid growing indications of possible plea deal discussions.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Raw Story, IJR and Axios

Matt Apuzzo / New York Times: Mueller's Prosecutors Are Said to Have Interviewed Jared Kushner on Russia Meeting

AARP:

Senate Bill: Millions of Older Americans Could See Higher Tax Bills — The Senate Finance Committee (SFC) recently passed its tax reform proposal — the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” This bill, like the House-passed tax legislation, warrants the attention of older Americans.

Discussion: Politicus USA

New York Times: It Started as a Tax Cut. Now It Could Change American Life.

Sarah Kliff / Vox:
The Senate's tax bill is a sweeping change to every part of federal health care

Discussion: Daily Kos, Shareblue Media, ABC News, Media Matters for America and Mother Jones

Naomi Jagoda / The Hill:
Joint Committee on Taxation: 60 percent of households will get at least $100 tax cut

Discussion: Politicus USA

Jim Tankersley / New York Times:
Trump Wanted a Bigger Tax Cut for the Rich, Ivanka Went Elsewhere

Discussion: AOL

John Bowden / The Hill: AARP: 5.2 million seniors could see taxes increased by GOP bill

New York Times:
Senate Considers Making a Terrible Tax Bill Even Worse

Discussion: NewsBusters, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Kos, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Signal, Politico and New York Magazine

Angie Andresen / Minnesota Public Radio:

STATEMENT FROM MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO REGARDING GARRISON KEILLOR AND A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION — ST. PAUL, Minn. - Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is terminating its contracts with Garrison Keillor and his private media companies after recently learning of allegations of his inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him.

Garrison Keillor / Washington Post:

Al Franken should resign? That's absurd. — My friend Pastor B.D. Christensen said something so good Sunday morning that I woke up and wrote it down: “[something something] . . . about making peace with the mistakes of the past [blah blah blah] and learning from them.

Discussion: CNBC, NewsBusters, Washington Free Beacon, Politico, The Daily Caller, bizpacreview.com and NOQ Report

Jeff Baenen / Associated Press:
Garrison Keillor fired over alleged ‘improper behavior’

Discussion: Associated Press, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Mediaite, Raw Story, Politico, IndieWire and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Neal Justin / Star Tribune:
Garrison Keillor fired by MPR: 'I put my hand on a woman's bare back,' he says

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Washington Post:

Trump veers past guardrails, feeling impervious to the uproar he causes — The Debrief: An occasional series offering reporters' insights — President Trump walks across the South Lawn of the White House to board Marine One on Nov. 29, 2017, as he heads to Missouri to pitch the Republican tax plan.

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, Media Matters for America and Mediaite

Editorials / New York Daily News:

Donald Trump is a madman: The President's Wednesday Twitter spasm confirms what many Americans have long suspected — After his latest spasm of deranged tweets, only those completely under his spell can deny what growing numbers of Americans have long suspected: The President of the United States is profoundly unstable.

Discussion: CNN, Mediaite and Balloon Juice

Annie Karni / Politico:
John Kelly's losing battle with Trump's Twitter feed

Discussion: Business Insider

Dan Merica / CNN:
White House defends anti-Muslim Trump tweets, says it doesn't matter if videos are real

Discussion: Southern Poverty Law Center, The Independent, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, Little Green Footballs and Media Matters for America

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
Trump's behavior raises questions of competency

Discussion: NPR, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, Politicus USA, Mediaite, The Guardian and Media Matters for America

Brandy Zadrozny / The Daily Beast:

Trump Bragged: ‘Nothing in the World Like First-Rate P**sy’ … In a previously unreported comment to the now-defunct Maximum Golf magazine, Donald Trump singled out a “young socialite” at his club at Mar-a-Lago by telling a reporter, “there is nothing in the world like first-rate pussy.”

Discussion: New York Magazine, Raw Story, Shareblue Media, Mediaite and The Guardian

Dan Vergano / BuzzFeed:

Trump's Counselor Kellyanne Conway Is Now His Opioids Czar — Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced pollster Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Donald Trump, will lead White House initiatives against the opioid overdose epidemic. — Reporting From Washington, DC

Discussion: U.S. Department of Justice, Political Wire, New York Magazine, Axios and Washington Free Beacon

Eric Boehlert / Shareblue Media:
Kellyanne Conway officially under investigation for endorsing alleged pedophile

Discussion: The Hill

Paul Gattis / al.com:
Roy Moore leads Doug Jones in another new Senate poll

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Hit & Run, Weekly Standard, Booman Tribune, Axios and Washington Monthly

Washington Post:
In Alabama Senate race, Trump thinks he will be fine either way

Discussion: CNN, Media Matters for America, Political Wire, ThinkProgress and Vox

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Meet the man who deactivated Trump's Twitter account — s Twitter tries to figure out how to lock down the parts of its platform that enable harassment, as well as the spread of misleading information and illicit content, there have been a number of moments that highlight how the service …

Discussion: Mother Jones, CNN, NBC News, Business Insider, Gizmodo, The Verge, New York Magazine, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Reuters, more at Mediagazer »

Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed:
This Is The Man Who Deactivated The President's Twitter Account

Discussion: Raw Story

CNN:

New York radio personality was Roger Stone's WikiLeaks contact — (CNN)President Trump's longtime associate Roger Stone was in contact with a New York radio personality who had conversations with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during the 2016 campaign season, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Business Insider and Raw Story

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:
Russia Investigators Subpoena a Comedian. No, Seriously.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Genevieve Glatsky / Politico:

News outlets split on whether to attend Trump's party — In the wake of CNN's decision to boycott the annual White House Christmas party for media, opinion on the event was split among other reporters: Some told POLITICO they would attend, while others expressed reservations over mingling …

Discussion: Axios, Splinter, IJR, Washington Post, The Root and Weekly Standard, more at Mediagazer »

John Hinderaker / Power Line: How Hateful Are the Democrats? This Hateful

WDIV-TV:

Sources: Rep. John Conyers won't seek re-election in wake of sexual harassment claims — Sources say Conyers will not resign — DETROIT - The controversy swirling around Michigan Rep. John Conyers has intensified this week as former staff members accused him of sexual harassment.

Discussion: Associated Press, RedState, New York Daily News, Detroit News, The Daily Caller and Washington Times

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Dem lawmaker: Pelosi harassment response set women back ‘decades’

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider and Townhall.com

Damon Root / Hit & Run:

Trump Administration Lawyer Pummeled by Sotomayor and Gorsuch in Cellphone Tracking Case — “Most Americans, I think, still want to avoid Big Brother.” — Fans of the Fourth Amendment got a rare treat today at the U.S. Supreme Court. During oral arguments, both the liberal and conservative sides …

Pew Research Center:

Europe's Growing Muslim Population — Muslims are projected to increase as a share of Europe's population - even with no future migration — In recent years, Europe has experienced a record influx of asylum seekers fleeing conflicts in Syria and other predominantly Muslim countries.

Discussion: The Guardian

Benjamin Weinthal / Jerusalem Post:
German Jews stop wearing Kippot due to Muslim attacks

Discussion: IJR and Jihad Watch

Addy Baird / ThinkProgress:

Textbook co-authored by Roy Moore in 2011 says women shouldn't run for office — Alabama Republican Senate Candidate Roy Moore co-authored a study course, published in 2011 and recently obtained by ThinkProgress, that instructs students that women should not be permitted to run for elected office.

Discussion: Shareblue Media

Kashmir Hill / Gizmodo:

People Are Getting Robocalls About Their “Derogatory” Trump Posts — Brett Vanderbrook was driving for Uber last week when he got a call from an unfamiliar number. He let it go to voicemail and when he listened to it later, he got a shock: It was a recorded message telling him to stop making …

Discussion: New York Magazine

Mary Schlangenstein / Bloomberg:

American Air Accidentally Gave Too Many Pilots Christmas Off — Carrier is offering premium pay for pilots to work on days off — Union files grievance on airline's proposed staffing solution — American Airlines Group Inc. is rushing to resolve a scheduling fault that gave time off …