memeorandum: Most of the Democratic gun control agenda dies early in Senate committee (Patrick Wilson/www.richmond.com)

11:55 AM ET, January 16, 2018

Top Items:

Inside the tense, profane White House meeting on immigration … When President Trump spoke by phone with Sen. Richard J. Durbin around 10:15 a.m. last Thursday, he expressed pleasure with Durbin's outline of a bipartisan immigration pact and praised the high-ranking Illinois Democrat's efforts …

Mike Allen / Axios:

The recidivism presidency — After a triumphant end to 2017, White House sources tell Axios that they see a dangerous pattern forming for this year: a backslide into bad habits of the chaotic early days of the Trump presidency. — Be smart: The White House should be making the best use …

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, Raw Story, Washington Post, Business Insider and The Week

Rick Klein / ABC News:
The Note: Shutdown is the new ‘s-word’ as blame game begins

Discussion: Politico, WPLG-TV and TheBlaze

Lauren Fox / CNN:
Clock ticking toward shutdown as Congress returns to one big spending mess

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, FOX40, Breitbart, Washington Monthly and Jamie Dupree - AJC

New York Times:
As Shutdown Talk Rises, Trump's Immigration Words Pose Risks for Both Parties

Bari Weiss / New York Times:

Aziz Ansari Is Guilty. Of Not Being a Mind Reader. — I'm apparently the victim of sexual assault. And if you're a sexually active woman in the 21st century, chances are that you are, too. — That is what I learned from the “exposé” of Aziz Ansari published this weekend …

Discussion: Fox News, Refinery29, Betsy's Page, The Daily Beast, The Resurgent, Daily Wire, twitchy.com, babe, The Verge, Washington Post, FOX6Now.com and Vox

Andrea Peyser / New York Post:
The #MeToo movement has officially jumped the shark

Discussion: The Guardian, National Review, Vox, The Week, Washington Post, Refinery29 and Mediaite

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Babe editor stands by Aziz Ansari story

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, babe, Althouse, TheBlaze and KTLA, more at Mediagazer »

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
The President and the Porn Star

Discussion: babe

Annie Karni / Politico:

The Democrat Trumpworld fears most — In early December, as President Donald Trump's approval rating reached a new low of 32 percent, the commander in chief was rating the 2020 Democratic field from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders …

Discussion: The Hill, The Week, Raw Story, Political Wire and Politicus USA

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Warned Jared Kushner About Wendi Deng Murdoch — Officials said the businesswoman could be trying to further Beijing's interests, people familiar with the matter say — WASHINGTON—U.S. counterintelligence officials in early 2017 warned Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son …

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Business Insider, New York Magazine, AOL, Breitbart, CNBC, Splinter, The Week, RedState, Washington Press, Raw Story and Axios

Daniel Lippman / Politico: THREE DAYS until a shutdown, and we break down the stakes …

Bloomberg:

GOP Access to FBI Files Rattles Agents Caught in Political Fight — Sensitive sources or material may be exposed, agents say — Republicans question FBI amid probe into Russian collusion — The Justice Department's decision to give congressional Republicans access to documents …

Discussion: Raw Story

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Trump dossier probes now include possible State Department involvement — Congressional investigations into the Trump dossier have so far been focused on the FBI and Justice Department. They still are, but now investigators are also looking into a possible Obama State Department role …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Toluse Olorunnipa / Bloomberg:

Sanders Says Trump Isn't Racist, Citing ‘The Apprentice’ — White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said claims that President Donald Trump is racist are “outrageous,” citing his success as a public figure and star turn on television as a host on NBC's reality show “The Apprentice.”

Discussion: New York Magazine and Political Wire

CBS News:

DHS Secretary on Trump's reported vulgar comments, DACA policy — Kirstjen Nielsen, President Trump's Homeland Security secretary, tells CBS News that immigrants in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, need to follow the law.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Week, The Daily Caller and twitchy.com

Washington Post:
‘I did not hear that word used’: DHS Secretary Nielsen responds when asked about Trump's vulgar comments

Discussion: Axios

Katie Bo Williams / The Hill:

Bannon gives closed-door testimony to House Intel panel — Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon on Tuesday morning went behind closed doors with the House Intelligence Committee to testify in the panel's ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election.

Discussion: RedState

Matthew Haag / New York Times:

13 Siblings, Some Shackled to Beds, Were Held Captive by Parents, Police Say — A 17-year old girl who said she was being held captive by her parents in her home in Perris, Calif., escaped on Sunday and alerted the authorities, who then rescued her 12 siblings — several of whom were found shackled …

Discussion: CNN, KTLA, FOX40 and The Gateway Pundit

Kelly Whitney / NBC Southern California:
13 Children Hospitalized, Parents Jailed on Torture Charges

Discussion: abc7.com, fox5sandiego.com, twitchy.com, CBS Los Angeles, Breitbart, Daily Wire and TheBlaze

Brian Fung / Washington Post:

The Senate's push to overrule the FCC on net neutrality now has 50 votes, Democrats say — Fifty senators have endorsed a legislative measure to override the Federal Communications Commission's recent decision to deregulate the broadband industry, top Democrats said Monday.

Discussion: Gizmodo, The Verge, Bangor Daily News, Engadget and TheBlaze

Zac Auter / Gallup:

U.S. Uninsured Rate Steady at 12.2% in Fourth Quarter of 2017 — WASHINGTON, D.C. — The percentage of U.S. adults without health insurance was essentially unchanged in the fourth quarter of 2017, at 12.2%, but it is up 1.3 percentage points from the record low of 10.9% found in the last quarter of 2016.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, ACA Signups, The Daily Caller, The Week and Balloon Juice

Niraj Warikoo / USA Today:

Too old for DACA, man who spent 30 years of his life in U.S. is deported … Jorge Garcia, 39, of Lincoln Park, hugs his wife and two kids before being escorted by ICE agents to be deported to Mexico, on Jan. 15, 2018, at Detroit Metro Airport. Erik Shelley

Niraj Warikoo / Detroit Free Press:
After 30 years in U.S., metro Detroit immigrant deported to Mexico

Discussion: CNN, Media Matters for America, Splinter, The Resurgent, Lawyers, Guns & Money, ThinkProgress and Raw Story

Andrew Ross Sorkin / New York Times:

BlackRock's Message: Contribute to Society, or Risk Losing Our Support — On Tuesday, the chief executives of the world's largest public companies will be receiving a letter from one of the most influential investors in the world. And what it says is likely to cause a firestorm …

Jonah Goldberg / Los Angeles Times:

Column What if diversity isn't America's strength? — Sen. Lindsey Graham says he scolded the president for saying something scatological about certain countries and their immigrants. “Diversity has always been our strength,” he allegedly said. By my count, this makes Graham …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Jose Lambiet / miamiherald:

Trump's Mar-a Lago cited by state inspectors for poor maintenance — A year after the discovery of foods that could sicken people at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, his Winter White House was just cited by inspectors for poor maintenance.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, AOL, Washington Press, Raw Story and Politicus USA

Steven Shepard / Politico:

Trump's first-year report card: Voters say he's no genius — Donald Trump's quarterly report card is in — and if he were back in school, he'd find himself on academic probation. — More voters give Trump a failing grade for his first year as president than think he deserves an “A” or …

Discussion: The Week and Political Wire

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:

Trump has revealed who he is. Now it's our turn. — Sometimes it is necessary to begin with the obvious. The claim that America needs more Norwegian immigrants and fewer Africans from “shithole countries” is racist. It is not the same as arguing for a higher-skilled immigrant pool.

Discussion: Raw Story, NPR and The Week

Natasha Bertrand / Business Insider:

Devin Nunes is under mounting pressure to release the transcript of a House Intel interview with Fusion GPS — Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee want its Republican chairman, Devin Nunes, to release the transcript of the panel's interview with Fusion GPS cofounder Glenn Simpson.

Discussion: The Hill, Roll Call and TheBlaze