memeorandum: Mark Hamill strikes back at Cruz: Thanks for ‘smarm-spaining’ net neutrality to me (Jacqueline Thomsen/The Hill)

9:50 PM ET, December 17, 2017

Top Items:

Sen. John McCain returns to Arizona, will miss vote on GOP tax bill — Republican Sen. John McCain is returning to Arizona after spending several days in a Maryland hospital recovering from side effects from chemotherapy treatment for brain cancer, CBS News has learned.

Discussion: RedState, Arizona Republic, Washington Post, Politico, CNN, New York Times, The Daily Beast, New York Magazine, Democrats.com, The Daily Caller, The Guardian, Axios, twitchy.com, IJR and AOL

David Sirota / International Business Times:

Tax Bill: John Cornyn Says Tax Cut Potentially Benefiting Bob Corker Was Part Of Effort To Secure Votes For Passage — Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the majority whip, on Sunday said a tax provision, which could personally enrich key Republican lawmakers, was added to the final tax bill as part of an effort to …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and ABC News

Emily Stewart / Vox:
John Cornyn doesn't have a good answer on tax bill loophole that means millions for Corker and Trump

Discussion: CNBC, Tennessean.com, Politicus USA, NewsBusters, Common Dreams, The Hill, Fox News and International Business Times

Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:
McCain returns to Arizona, won't vote on GOP tax bill: report

Discussion: CBS News

New York Times:
The Winners and Losers in the Tax Bill

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Josh Keefe / International Business Times:
Last-Minute Real Estate Tax Break In GOP Bill Will Benefit Trump

Discussion: Washington Post, Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

Mike Allen / Axios:

Trump: “My people are very upset” about Mueller obtaining emails — Officials of President Trump's transition team plan to ask Special Counsel Robert Mueller to return “many tens of thousands” of transition emails they contend were unlawfully provided to him.

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Raw Story, New York Magazine, Power Line, The Gateway Pundit, IJR, Hullabaloo, The Right Scoop, The Week and emptywheel, more at Mediagazer »

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:

Image of Cooperation Between White House and Mueller Starts to Fracture — WASHINGTON — For much of the seven months since Robert S. Mueller III was appointed special counsel, President Trump's lawyers have stressed their cooperation with him, believing that the more they work with his investigation …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Gizmodo, The Daily Caller and Balloon Juice

Brandon Carter / The Hill:

Mueller team defends obtaining Trump transition emails — Special counsel Robert Mueller's office on Sunday defended its work after a lawyer for President Trump — 's transition team accused investigators of improperly obtaining thousands of emails from transition officials.

Discussion: RedState and AOL

Aída Chávez / The Intercept:
Former Nixon White House Counsel: Trump Might Have Obstructed Justice to Prevent Russia Investigation

Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story

Martin Matishak / Politico:
Firing Mueller ‘obviously’ up to Trump, Mnuchin says

Discussion: CNN

Carrie Johnson / NPR: 3 Ways Trump Or His Allies Might Try To Disrupt The Mueller Russia Probe

Gregg Jarrett / Fox News:
Mueller's allegedly lawless acts have corrupted his probe and demand his removal

Discussion: IJR

Vladimir Isachenkov / Associated Press:

Kremlin says Putin thanked Trump for CIA tip on bombings — MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin telephoned U.S. President Donald Trump Sunday to thank him for a CIA tip that helped thwart a series of bombings in St. Petersburg, the Kremlin said.

Discussion: TASS, Axios, New York Magazine and The Daily Caller

Poolreports / Public Pool:
Subject: Readout of President Donald J. Trump's Call with President Vladimir Putin

Discussion: IJR

David Filipov / Washington Post:
Putin thanks Trump for CIA intel that foiled a planned terrorist attack in Russia

Discussion: Power Line, Bloomberg, Splinter, TheBlaze and The Gateway Pundit

Washington Post: Putin phoned Trump to thank him for CIA intel that foiled a planned terrorist attack in Russia, the Kremlin says

BBC:
Trump Putin call: CIA ‘helped stop Russia terror attack’

Discussion: Shareblue Media, RedState and NBC News

CNN:

Power outage cripples Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport — (CNN)A power outage at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the world's busiest airport, is leaving thousands of passengers stranded and planes grounded indefinitely. — The Federal Aviation Administration issued …

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Raw Story, ABC News, New York Magazine, The Gateway Pundit and CBS New York

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Ex-Obama transportation chief on Atlanta airport power outage: ‘Total and abject failure’ — A former transportation secretary in the Obama administration ripped Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta for its response to a massive power outage on Sunday. — “Total and abject failure here at ATL Airport today.

Discussion: The Guardian and Raw Story

Cornel West / The Guardian:

Ta-Nehisi Coates is the neoliberal face of the black freedom struggle — The disagreement between Coates and me is clear: his view of black America is narrow and dangerously misleading — a-Nehisi Coates' We Were Eight Years in Power, a book about Barack Obama's presidency and the tenacity …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:

Mark Hamill strikes back at Cruz: Thanks for ‘smarm-spaining’ net neutrality to me — Mark Hamill struck back at Sen. Ted Cruz — (R-Texas) after Cruz tried to use the actor's “Star Wars” movies to defend net neutrality. — “Luke, I know Hollywood can be confusing …

Discussion: Politico, RedState, The Daily Beast and IJR

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Paranoia grips Capitol Hill as harassment scandal spreads — The details change almost daily, but the rumor won't die: A credible news organization is preparing to unmask at least 20 lawmakers in both parties for sexual misconduct. — Speculation about this theoretical megastory is spreading …

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:

How China got a U.S. senator to do its political bidding — A congressional delegation led by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) presents frozen steaks to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on April 10 in Beijing. The gift was meant to underscore the importance of opening Chinese markets to U.S. beef imports.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times:

Sarah Palin's oldest son, Track, arrested on domestic violence charges — Track Palin is shown at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., in September 2008. (Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images) — Track Palin, the oldest son of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin …

Mark Murray / NBC News:

Democrats hold biggest lead in congressional preference since 2008 — WASHINGTON — Fresh off their victory in Alabama's special Senate election, Democrats now enjoy their largest advantage in congressional preference in nine years, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll …

Discussion: Axios

New York Times:

As Venezuela Collapses, Children Are Dying of Hunger — For five months, The New York Times tracked 21 public hospitals in Venezuela. Doctors are seeing record numbers of children with severe malnutrition. Hundreds have died. — Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world.

Discussion: Power Line and twitchy.com