memeorandum: A moment of truth for our country's financial future (Alan Simpson/Washington Post)

1:40 AM ET, November 30, 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, IJR, Media Matters for America, Mashable, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

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

Discussion: The Daily Beast, New York Times, Washington Post and AOL

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
NBC Fires Matt Lauer Over Sexual Misconduct Allegations

New York Times:

It Started as a Tax Cut. Now It Could Change American Life. — The tax plan has been marketed by President Trump and Republican leaders as a straightforward if enormous rebate for the masses, a $1.5 trillion package of cuts to spur hiring and economic growth.

Discussion: Washington Post

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

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

Discussion: Politicus USA

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, New York Magazine, The Week and Vox

The Hill:
Timing on tax vote slips amid intense talks

Discussion: New York Times and National Review

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: National Security, Business Insider, Axios, Raw Story and The Week

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 Hill, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, IJR, Axios and Daily Kos

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

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: NewsBusters, CNBC, Washington Free Beacon, Politico, The Daily Caller, Shakesville, bizpacreview.com, NOQ Report, Axios, IJR and Power Line

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

Discussion: Minneapolis Star Tribune, Associated Press, Mediaite, Politico, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, IndieWire, Mashable and The Week, 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:
Garrison Keillor, founder of ‘A Prairie Home Companion,’ fired after allegations of improper behavior

Discussion: The Daily Caller

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: Splinter, New York Magazine, The Week, Shareblue Media, Raw Story, Mediaite, Mashable, The Guardian and The Atlantic

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, The Week, Gizmodo, New York Magazine, ThinkProgress, Axios, Washington Free Beacon and Political Wire

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

Discussion: The Hill and Joe.My.God.

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

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

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

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Vox and The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »

Hot Air:
Another Alabama Poll Shows Roy Moore Surging Back Into The Lead

Discussion: KTLA, WHNT-TV and ABC News

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, Media Matters for America, New York Times 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: Mediaite, CNN and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

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

Discussion: Business Insider and BuzzFeed

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: BuzzFeed, The Gateway Pundit, Mashable, Mother Jones, Business Insider, CNN, The Verge, NBC News, Raw Story, Gizmodo, New York Magazine and John Hawkins' Right Wing News, more at Mediagazer »

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

How Hateful Are the Democrats? This Hateful — You can't make this stuff up: Vogue, a reliable Democratic Party outlet, has gone crazy over First Lady Melania Trump's White House Christmas decorations: … White decorations at Christmas? The horror! — No, wait, that was the Obamas in 2015.

Genevieve Glatsky / Politico:
News outlets split on whether to attend Trump's party

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

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, Raw Story and Business Insider

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

Discussion: The Daily Caller

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: Raw Story and New York Magazine

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, Detroit News, New York Daily News, RedState, The Daily Caller and Washington Times

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

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

Damon Root / Hit & Run:

Trump Administration Lawyer Pummeled by Sotomayor and Gorsuch in Cellphone Tracking Case — 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 of the bench delivered a thorough pummeling …

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

Alan Simpson / Washington Post:

A moment of truth for our country's financial future — (Michael Reynolds/EPA-EFE/Rex/Shutterstock) … Seven years and almost $7 trillion in new debt ago, we released a bipartisan package of tax and spending reforms as co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

Discussion: CRFB Papers and Blog Posts and Business Insider

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 …

Discussion: CNBC, NPR, CBS Denver, FOX59, KTLA and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

Hadas Gold / CNNMoney:

Charlie Rose staffers, in limbo, told they will be paid through the end of December — Watch how Charlie Rose covered sexual harassment before he was fired — Charlie Rose has been notifying the staff of his “Charlie Rose Show” that they will be out of their jobs, and their pay checks, at the end of next month.