memeorandum: Poll: Almost half of voters question Trump's mental stability (Rebecca Morin/Politico)

1:05 PM ET, January 22, 2018

Top Items:

A President Not Sure of What He Wants Complicates the Shutdown Impasse — WASHINGTON — When President Trump mused last year about protecting immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children, calling them “these incredible kids,” aides implored him privately to stop talking about them so sympathetically.

Elana Schor / Politico:

Congress set to end shutdown — In a dramatic turnaround, Senate Democrats said they would vote to re-open the government on Monday after receiving a commitment from Republicans to hold a vote on immigration legislation — paving the way to end the three-day shutdown.

Discussion: New Republic, Daily Wire, Breitbart and Washington Post

Talking Points Memo:

Democrats Poised To Accept Deal To End Shutdown — Senate Democrats are on the brink of accepting a deal to end the government shutdown in exchange for the promise of a vote on the DREAM Act in the coming weeks, three sources tell TPM. — The details of the deal aren't yet clear.

CNN:

Senate to vote on Monday on ending shutdown — Washington (CNN)Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pledged Sunday to take up legislation to address the expiring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program if enough Democrats vote to re-open the government, and scheduled a key vote for noon Monday.

Discussion: Vox, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Times, Breitbart, TheBlaze, Outside the Beltway, Hit & Run, CNBC, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, CBS New York, Hullabaloo, Joe.My.God., Roll Call, Mediaite and The Hill

Wall Street Journal: Working for the Weekend, Lawmakers Dress Down

CNN:
‘Dealmaker in chief’ largely absent in weekend shutdown negotiations

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, WQAD-TV, CBS San Francisco, AOL, IJR, CNBC, Raw Story and TheBlaze

Alice Stewart / CNN:
On shutdown, Democrats have a lot of explaining to do

Discussion: Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Geller Report

Ralph Ellis / CNN:
White House changes public voice mail to blame Democrats for shutdown

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Daily Signal and Washington Free Beacon

Associated Press:
The Latest: Dems align on plan to fund gov't, end shutdown

Discussion: Politico

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
Stephen Miller: Immigration agitator and White House survivor

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politico, The Hill, Splinter, Breitbart, Vox and RedState

CNN:
Senate to vote at noon on whether to end government shutdown

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, The Verge, New York Times, Breitbart, FOX6Now.com, CNBC, bizpacreview.com, WTVR-TV, The Atlantic, USA Today, CBS News, AOL, ImmigrationProf Blog, Vox, LifeZette, IJR, NPR, Politicus USA and Shareblue Media

Sofi Sinozich / ABC News:

Democrats solidify their lead in midterm elections matchup (POLL) — Democrats have solidified their position in the November midterm elections in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, maintaining a 12-point lead among registered voters while improving to a wide 14-point advantage among likely voters in congressional preference.

Discussion: Shareblue Media

Elena Gaona / Center for American Progress …:

RELEASE: Most Americans Blame President Trump and Republicans in Congress for the Government Shutdown, New Poll Shows — Washington, D.C — Two days into the government shutdown, Americans clearly blame President Trump and congressional Republicans for the closure, a new poll released tonight finds.

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

The Democrats Are Right — and Should Settle — The government shutdown is overwhelmingly the fault of Republican leaders. They, not Democrats, are the ones trying to make sharp changes in federal policy, like reduced legal immigration and a border wall. Democrats are largely trying …

Discussion: Power Line, National Review, Hullabaloo and Politico

Scott Clement / Washington Post:

Women and independents drive advantage for Democrats ahead of midterm elections, Post-ABC poll finds — Strong support from women and independents is fueling Democrats' large early advantage ahead of this year's congressional elections, a sign that two groups that have recoiled …

Discussion: Jezebel, Vox, Hit & Run and The Week

Rebecca Morin / Politico:
Poll: Almost half of voters question Trump's mental stability

Discussion: The Week, Political Wire, Taylor Marsh and ABC News

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:

‘Defiance Disorder’: Another new book describes chaos in Trump's White House — In late July, the White House had just finished an official policy review on transgender individuals serving in the military and President Trump and his then-chief of staff, Reince Priebus, had agreed to meet …

Discussion: Salon, The Daily Beast, ABC News, Hullabaloo, Raw Story, Mediaite, Politico and Joe.My.God.

Kendall Karson / ABC News:
White House defends ad calling Democrats ‘complicit’ in killings

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

CNN:

2 IEDs explode at Florida mall, police say — (CNN)Police are looking for a man they're describing as a person of interest after two improvised explosive devices detonated at a Florida mall on Sunday. No one was injured. — At 5:22 p.m. Sunday, officers responded to a smoke alarm call …

Discussion: The Week

Wfla Web / WFLA-TV:
FBI: 2 flares were ignited at Eagle Ridge Mall, not pipe bombs

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Associated Press and KTLA

Emily Smith / Page Six:

Matt Lauer's wife kicks him out of Hamptons house — Disgraced anchor Matt Lauer has been kicked out of his home by his furious wife after multiple women came forward with allegations of his “inappropriate sexual behavior.” — Lauer's wife of nearly two decades, Dutch former model Annette Roque …

Discussion: AOL, The Daily Beast, Jezebel, In Touch Weekly and thecut

Samantha Schmidt / Washington Post:

ICE detains a Polish doctor and green-card holder who has lived in the U.S. for nearly 40 years — Lukasz Niec was 5 years old when his parents brought him and his sister to the United States from Poland. With two suitcases in tow, his parents — both doctors — left behind a country on the verge of social turmoil.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Jezebel, Eschaton and WCMH-TV

Dean Balsamini / New York Post:

Police union slashes number of ‘get out of jail free’ cards issued — The city's police-officers union is cracking down on the number of “get out of jail free” courtesy cards distributed to cops to give to family and friends. — Patrolmen's Benevolent Association boss Pat Lynch slashed …

Discussion: Marginal REVOLUTION, Business Insider and SiliconBeat

Darran Simon / CNN:

Planned Parenthood president tells white women to ‘do better’ in fight for equality — Pro-choice activist: White women can do better — (CNN)The president of Planned Parenthood called on white women to do more to “save this country from itself,” crediting women of color with many of the recent political victories.

Discussion: RedState, The Root, NewsBusters and Daily Wire

Dakin Andone / CNN:
Women's Marches end with eyes on the midterms

Discussion: CBS Sacramento, Taylor Marsh and FOX6Now.com

Associated Press:

The Latest: Pence calls report on Trump affair baseless — JERUSALEM (AP) — The Latest on Vice President Mike Pence's interview with The Associated Press (all times local): — Vice President Mike Pence says reports that an adult film star had an alleged affair with President Donald Trump are “baseless allegations.”

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:

Here Are the Senators Trying to Find a Bipartisan Solution to the Government Shutdown — WASHINGTON — On the second day of the shutdown, a bipartisan group of senators emerged as a primary force behind the effort to end the gridlock and reopen the government.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:

Trump Kept One Promise. The Shutdown Is Proof. — We all should have seen it coming. — Over and over and over, first as a candidate and then as president, Donald Trump made a pledge to voters: He would run the White House just like he's run his business. That's a promise that he's kept.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Politicus USA

Tommy Hicks / The Hill:

Schumer's shutdown reveals: Democrats will destroy America just to spite Trump — BY TOMMY HICKS, JR., OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 01/21/18 06:30 AM EST THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL — Donald Trump was inaugurated one year ago after promising to make America great again.

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:

Dan Rather launching weekly show with progressive outlet The Young Turks Network — Former “CBS Evening News” anchor Dan Rather wasn't too familiar with The Young Turks Network when he took a meeting with the online progressive news network's founder and chief executive officer, Cenk Uygur.

Discussion: TheBlaze, Daily Wire, Washington Times, TVNewser and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Larry Elliott Economics / The Guardian:

Inequality gap widens as 42 people hold same wealth as 3.7bn poorest — Oxfam calls for action on gap as wealthiest people gather at World Economic Forum in Davos — The Inequality Project is supported by … The development charity Oxfam has called for action to tackle the growing gap between rich …

Lyndsay Winkley / Los Angeles Times:

Video of La Mesa police officer throwing handcuffed teen to ground sparks outrage … Video footage of a La Mesa police officer slamming a handcuffed high school student to the ground has sparked outrage, with some community members calling for the officer's removal.

Discussion: The Root and Raw Story