memeorandum: America's immigration agency removes “nation of immigrants” from its mission statement (Dara Lind/Vox)

5:30 PM ET, February 22, 2018

Top Items:

Trump Promotes Arming Teachers, but Rejects Active Shooter Drills — WASHINGTON — President Trump on Thursday intensified his calls for arming highly trained teachers as part of an effort to fortify schools against shooting massacres like the one that occurred in Parkland, Fla., last week …

Washington Post:

NRA goes on the offensive after Parkland shooting, assailing media and calling for more armed school security … After a week of media silence following the school shooting in Florida, the National Rifle Association went on the offensive in its first public response to the massacre …

CBS News:

NRA's Wayne LaPierre makes it clear he isn't backing down on guns — or the culture wars — National Rifle Association Executive Director and CEO Wayne LaPierre launched into criticisms of socialists, the FBI and the media Thursday, as he defended gun rights from the stage of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Discussion: Politico, RedState, The Daily Beast, Joe.My.God., NBC News, twitchy.com, IJR, Washington Post, Mediaite and The FADER

Eli Rosenberg / Washington Post:

A superintendent threatens to suspend students protesting gun laws. But that's not legal. … The superintendent of a Texas public school district is drawing harsh criticism after issuing a written threat Tuesday to suspend any students who take part indemonstrations about gun violence after the school shooting in Florida last week.

Discussion: CNN, Hit & Run, Refinery29 and Los Angeles Times

E.J. Dionne Jr. / Washington Post:
Why is only one side in the gun culture war required to show respect?

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Daily Kos and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jeffrey Solochek / Tampa Bay Times:
Florida House approves bill to post “In God We Trust” in all public schools

Discussion: USA Today, The Daily Signal, The Daily Caller and Friendly Atheist

Washington Post:
Does the Second Amendment really protect assault weapons? Four courts have said no.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
NRA's Wayne LaPierre accuses Democrats of exploiting Parkland shooting in speech

Discussion: The Stranger …, Deadline, New York Times and NBC News

Lauren Fox / CNN:
NRA chief accuses Democrats of pushing ‘socialist’ agenda in wake of Florida shooting

Discussion: Vox, RT, alicublog, Media Matters for America, New York Times, ThinkProgress, WTVR-TV, Right Wing Watch, The Guardian, Washington Free Beacon, Mediaite and Axios

John Bacon / USA Today:
Trump plan at odds with teacher #ArmMeWith movement

Discussion: Shareblue Media and Media Matters for America

Louis Nelson / Politico:
Trump: I never said ‘give teachers guns’

Discussion: ABC News and Breitbart

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
The economics of arming America's schools

Stephanie Ebbs / ABC News:
President Trump calls active shooter drills ‘a very negative thing’

Discussion: Washington Post, RedState, National Review, Fox News, The Last Refuge and Axios

Washington Post:

Special counsel Mueller files new charges in Manafort, Gates case … New charges were filed Thursday against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business partner, ratcheting up the legal pressure on them as they prepare for a trial later this year.

Discussion: Axios

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:

Ex-Trump Staffer Rick Gates Fires His Lawyer in Russia Probe … Former Trump campaign official Rick Gates has fired his lawyer, The Daily Beast has learned. And, contrary to recent media reports, Gates is not about to make a deal with the special counsel Robert Mueller, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Discussion: ABC News, WTVR-TV, CNN, CNBC and True Pundit

Josh Gerstein / Politico: Judge rejects Manafort's latest bail offer

CNN:

School shooter threatened others with a gun, first host family told police — Shooter showed violence and mental instability — (CNN)Just months before Nikolas Cruz killed 17 at his former high school in South Florida, the host family who had taken him in immediately after his mother's …

Discussion: RedState, New York Post, Business Insider, KTLA, Law & Crime, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com and WNEP-TV

Lisa J. Huriash / Sun-Sentinel:
Video delays misled cops at Stoneman Douglas shooting

Discussion: Orlando Sentinel, New York Times, KTLA, myfox8.com, Business Insider, AOL and WSVN-TV

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
The Student Teachers — In one short week, the students …

Discussion: Recode, New Republic, Dame Magazine, Reuters, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CNN, The Atlantic, Washington Post and The Week

Washington Post:
How a survivor of the Florida school shooting became the victim of an online conspiracy

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Raw Story, New York Magazine, Mediaite and Washington Times, more at Mediagazer »

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:
Fla. shooting survivor's mother: We have received death threats

Discussion: Washington Post, RedState, Washington Press, Raw Story and Joe.My.God.

Ian Schwartz / RealClearPolitics:

Shooting Survivor: CNN Gave Me “Scripted Question” After Denying Question About Armed Guards — Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Colton Haab said he was approached by CNN to ask a question at Wednesday night's town hall but decided not to after the network gave him a “scripted question,” quashing one he wrote himself.

Discussion: Townhall.com, The Resurgent, The Last Refuge, Conservative Review, The Daily Caller, RedState, bizpacreview.com, The Federalist, Front Page Magazine, True Pundit and Instapundit

CNN:
Transcript: Stoneman students' questions to lawmakers and the NRA at the CNN town hall

Discussion: Mother Jones, Washington Post, Weekly Standard, The Guardian, Jezebel, Raw Story, Business Insider, Breitbart, Refinery29, NewsBusters and The Week

Peter Burke / WPLG-TV:
CNN refutes Parkland school shooting survivor's ‘scripted’ question claim

Discussion: IJR, AOL, True Pundit, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com, Breitbart, RT, Business Insider, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and RedState

Daniella Diaz / CNN:
6 things Marco Rubio said at the CNN town hall that made news in the US gun debate

Discussion: Politico, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, The Week, The Resurgent, VICE News, New Republic and IJR

Ryan Devereaux / The Intercept:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Will Remove “Nation of Immigrants” From Mission Statement — The lead U.S. agency tasked with granting citizenship to would-be Americans is making a major change to its mission statement, removing a passage that describes the United States as a nation of immigrants.

Discussion: Axios, Refinery29 and The Daily Caller

Dara Lind / Vox: America's immigration agency removes “nation of immigrants” from its mission statement

CNN:

McMaster could leave WH after months of tension with Trump — Washington (CNN)With tensions flaring between President Donald Trump and national security adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the Pentagon is considering options that would allow the President to potentially move the three-star general …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Politico, The Right Scoop, RedState, Outside the Beltway, Shakesville, AOL, Raw Story and The Week

ESPN:
Warriors to spend part of D.C. trip with local kids, as they won't be heading to White House

Discussion: Breitbart, The Daily Caller, The Comeback, New York Magazine, Washington Free Beacon, Axios and Deadspin

Heather Sher / The Atlantic:

What I Saw Treating the Victims From Parkland Should Change the Debate on Guns — As I opened the CT scan last week to read the next case, I was baffled. The history simply read “gunshot wound.” I have been a radiologist in one of the busiest trauma centers in the nation for 13 years …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Stranger … and Daily Kos

Kim Janssen / Chicago Tribune:

Gov. Rauner drinks chocolate milk to demonstrate his commitment to diversity — In an awkward onstage appearance this week, Gov. Bruce Rauner drank a glass of chocolate milk to demonstrate his belief in diversity. — “It's really, really good,” Rauner said after taking a sip of the sugary drink.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Political Wire, The Daily Caller, The Hill and Capitol Fax.com

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Margaret Brennan Named Host of ‘Face the Nation’ on CBS — WASHINGTON — Margaret Brennan, the senior foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News, will be the next moderator of “Face the Nation,” the network's prestige Sunday morning public affairs show and one of the most influential venues in American politics.

CBS News:
Margaret Brennan named Face the Nation moderator

Discussion: Politico and CBS Denver

Dustin Volz / Reuters:

Exclusive: U.S. official focused on election security being shoved aside — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of a federal agency who has helped U.S. states protect election systems from possible cyber attacks by Russia or others is being removed from his post by Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and the White House.

Discussion: Political Wire and The Verge

Krystie Lee Yandoli / BuzzFeed:

Meryl Streep And Jennifer Lawrence Have Slammed Harvey Weinstein For Using Their Words In His Defense — In a court filing Wednesday, Harvey Weinstein asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed against him by six women who say he assaulted them. — In a motion to dismiss the suit …

Discussion: Deadline, East Bay Times, TMZ.com, IndieWire, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller and The Blast

Katie Kilkenny / Hollywood Reporter:
Meryl Streep Slams Harvey Weinstein for Naming Her in Lawsuit

Discussion: AOL, bizpacreview.com, The Daily Caller and The Guardian

Gideon Resnick / The Daily Beast:

Trump: ‘Maybe They Have to Put a Rating System’ on Movies … During a meeting Thursday with state lawmakers, President Trump suggested violent entertainment is to blame for mass shootings in the United States. — His proposed solution? A ratings system for movies.

Washington Post:

Mattis expected to back allowing transgender troops to stay in the military … Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is expected to propose to President Trump that transgender members of the U.S. military be allowed to continue serving despite the president's call last summer for a ban on all transgender service …

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:

Cruz: Dems are ‘the party of Lisa Simpson’ — (R-Texas) compared the Democrats to know-it-all cartoon character Lisa Simpson in a Thursday appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference. — “The Democrats are the party of Lisa Simpson and Republicans are happily the party of Homer …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Political Wire, East Bay Times and Joe.My.God.

Anita Wadhwani / Tennessean.com:

TBI: Nude cellphone photos, deleted chats may show evidence of crime in Mayor Megan Barry affair — Michael Schwab / USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says it has obtained nude photos of a woman taken on the phone of former Sgt. Rob Forrest …

Discussion: Political Wire and Tennessee Star