memeorandum: The Daily 202: Tension over adding ‘triggers’ to the tax bill highlights the Republican identity crisis over deficits (James Hohmann/Washington Post)

11:25 AM ET, November 29, 2017

Top Items:

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 …

Discussion: Althouse, Common Dreams, The Gateway Pundit, IJR, FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Political Wire, Refinery29 and Joe.My.God., more at Mediagazer »

Emily Smith / Page Six:

Matt Lauer allegedly sexually assaulted staffer during Olympics — Matt Lauer allegedly sexually assaulted a female NBC staffer during the Rio Olympics, sources told Page Six. — The staffer, who has not been named and wishes to remain anonymous, complained to NBC News bosses yesterday, prompting them to move fast and fire him.

Discussion: Raw Story, twitchy.com, Power Line, Mediaite, AOL and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

TMZ.com:

Katie Couric in 2012 said Matt Lauer Pinched Me on the Ass a Lot — Katie Couric straight-up said Matt Lauer pinched her on the ass a lot during their 9-year run on the “Today” show. — Katie appeared on Andy Cohen's “Watch What Happens Live” back in 2012, and during a segment …

Discussion: Business Insider and The Daily Caller

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

NBC fires Matt Lauer after complaint about ‘inappropriate sexual behavior’ — Matt Lauer was fired from NBC News on Wednesday after an employee filed a complaint about “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace,” the network announced. — Savannah Guthrie made the announcement at the top of the “Today” show.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, RedState, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider, twitchy.com, IJR, Scared Monkeys, The Daily Caller, Deadline and Vox Popoli

Erik Ortiz / NBC News:

NBC News fires ‘Today’ anchor Matt Lauer after sexual misconduct review — Matt Lauer, the anchor of “Today” for two decades, was fired by NBC News after a detailed complaint about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace. — “Today” co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb announced …

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, IJR and CBS Philly

CNNMoney:
Read Andy Lack's statement on Matt Lauer's firing

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Shakesville and The Gateway Pundit

Morgan Winsor / ABC News:
NBC News fires Matt Lauer for alleged ‘inappropriate sexual behavior’

New York Times:

Trump Once Said the ‘Access Hollywood’ Tape Was Real. Now He's Not Sure. — WASHINGTON — Shortly after his victory last year, Donald J. Trump began revisiting one of his deepest public humiliations: the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape of him making vulgar comments about women.

Jason Schwartz / Politico:
CNN to boycott White House Christmas party

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Scared Monkeys, MichelleMalkin.com, The Root, IJR, RedState, Mediaite, bizpacreview.com, The Daily Caller, Politicus USA, The Gateway Pundit, NewsBusters, Business Insider, Axios and Washington Free Beacon, more at Mediagazer »

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine: New Reports Suggest Trump Might Not Be a Liar at All, But Truly Delusional

Washington Post:
From ‘Access Hollywood’ to Russia, Trump seeks to paint the rosiest picture

Discussion: ABC News, New York Times, Raw Story, Mediaite, The Week, Mashable, IJR and Vox

Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:
Trump still privately questions Obama's birth certificate: report

Discussion: Vox, RedState, Business Insider, Raw Story and Politicus USA

New York Times:

Trump Shares Inflammatory Anti-Muslim Videos — WASHINGTON — President Trump shared videos supposedly portraying Muslims committing acts of violence on Twitter early Wednesday morning, images that are likely to fuel anti-Islam sentiments popular among the president's political base in the United States.

Discussion: Business Insider, NBC News, The Root and The Week

Nico Hines / The Daily Beast:

President Trump Tweets Out Anti-Muslim ‘Snuff Film’ … LONDON—Donald Trump retweeted an apparent snuff video to his 40 million followers Wednesday morning, with footage depicting what looked like a brutal murder carried out by an Islamist mob that had been posted by a far-right British political activist.

Discussion: Politico

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
Trump retweets inflammatory and unverified anti-Muslim videos

Discussion: Raw Story, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Associated Press: Trump retweets videos purporting to show violence by Muslims

Shane Savitsky / Axios:
Trump retweets anti-Islam videos from far-right British politician

Discussion: Newsweek, Washington Post, The Independent, Business Insider, IJR, Shareblue Media, New York Magazine, Raw Story, Roll Call, Mediaite and Mashable

The Guardian:
Donald Trump retweets British far-right leader's anti-Muslim videos

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, ABC News, New Republic, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, Business Insider and Joe.My.God.

New York Times:

Republicans Clear Major Hurdle as Tax Bill Advances — WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans took a significant step toward passing a sweeping tax overhaul on Tuesday, with a key panel giving its approval and several wavering senators indicating they would support the tax package …

Discussion: New Republic and The Week

Erica Werner / Washington Post:

No feeling of party loyalty for Johnson, a key Senate holdout for the GOP tax bill — Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) watched angrily last fall as his fellow Republicans gave up on his reelection campaign, convinced he was doomed and that their dollars and hours would be better spent elsewhere.

James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Tension over adding ‘triggers’ to the tax bill highlights the Republican identity crisis over deficits

Discussion: Politico, The Week, Hays Post and WCCO | CBS Minnesota

Paul Gattis / al.com:

Exclusive: Accuser to Roy Moore, ‘Where does your immorality end?’ — In an impassioned letter released exclusively today to AL.com, Leigh Corfman, who accused Roy Moore of undressing her when she was 14 and he was 32, demanded the Republican Senate candidate stop calling her a liar …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, ABC News, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Splinter, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, Shareblue Media and Mediaite

Toluse Olorunnipa / Bloomberg:

Trump's Tax Promises Undercut by CEO Plans to Reward Investors — Corporate leaders say tax cut proceeds will go to shareholders — President has said corporate tax cut will boost hiring, wages — Major companies including Cisco Systems Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. say they'll turn …

Discussion: Washington Post

Anna Fifield / Washington Post:

North Korea's latest missile launch appears to put U.S. capital in range — TOKYO — North Korea claimed the entire United States mainland was within reach after “successfully” testing a new kind of intercontinental ballistic missile, which it called the Hwasong-15, and said could carry a “super large heavy warhead.”

Discussion: The Guardian, CNN, Politico, ABC News, Just Security, The American Conservative, The Week, The Korea Herald, Yonhap News Agency, RedState, New York Times, Daily Kos and Instapundit

New York Times:
North Korea Fires a Ballistic Missile, in a Further Challenge to Trump

Discussion: CNN, Foreign Policy, Yonhap News Agency, NY State of Politics, CNBC, Outside the Beltway, Politico and The Week

CNN:
Trump on North Korean missile launch: ‘We will take care of it’

Discussion: The Hill, New York Magazine, New York Times, KTLA, Gizmodo, Power Line, All Things Nuclear, WHNT-TV, The Daily Caller, FOX59, Joe.My.God., IJR and Shakesville

Beth Reinhard / Washington Post:

Undercover conservative activist rented basement apartment in home of top Democratic operative — Shortly after announcing online that she was joining the “conservative media movement,” Jaime Phillips checked into an Airbnb apartment for a two-week stay in the basement of the Capitol Hill home …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, The Week, Dallas Morning News, Slate, WHNT-TV, Business Insider, Media Matters for America, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Weekly Standard and Outside the Beltway, more at Mediagazer »

Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:
Conservative media critic: O'Keefe is ‘hurting the conservative movement’

Discussion: ABC News, RedState and Joe.My.God.

Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:

The Internet Is Dying. Repealing Net Neutrality Hastens That Death. — The internet is dying. — Sure, technically, the internet still works. Pull up Facebook on your phone and you will still see your second cousin's baby pictures. But that isn't really the internet.

Discussion: The Badger Herald

WCHS-TV:

Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship to run for U.S. Senate — Eyewitness News has learned that former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship plans to run for U.S. Senate. (WCHS/WVAH) — AA — CHARLESTON, WV (WCHS/WVAH) — Eyewitness News has learned that former Massey Energy …

Discussion: Political Wire

NBC News:

Millennial poll: Strong majority want a third political party — A strong majority of millennials — 71 percent — say the Republican and Democratic parties do such a poor job of representing the American people that a third major party is needed, according to the results of a new NBC News/GenForward poll.

Discussion: Political Wire

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

New documents: Trump paid over $1 million to settle labor lawsuit — President Trump paid out more than $1 million in the late 1990's to a group of Polish workers in the country illegally who demolished the building that would eventually be replaced by Trump Tower in Manhattan, according to recently unsealed documents.

Discussion: RedState, New York Times and AOL

James Winnefeld / The Atlantic:

No Family Is Safe From This Epidemic — The last photograph of my son Jonathan was taken at the end of a new-student barbecue on the campus green at the University of Denver. It was one of those bittersweet transitional moments. We were feeling the combination of apprehension and optimism …

Keith Myers / Kansas City Star:

Kansans beg Sen. Jerry Moran: ‘Why take this failed experiment nationwide?’ — By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board — Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran is not just another Republican who has to decide which way to jump on the tax bill. For one thing, his could be the deciding vote.

Discussion: bradford-delong.com and The Week

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Trump weighs 11th-hour boost for Roy Moore — The president likely won't visit Alabama, but he could try to activate his vast support network there before the Dec. 12 special election. — President Donald Trump isn't planning to go to Alabama, but he still might use the weight of his office …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Hill and Weekly Standard