memeorandum: Why Trump won't use his superpower on guns (Axios)

8:55 AM ET, February 22, 2018

Top Items:

Rebecca Morin / Politico:

Facing jeers and boos, Rubio shifts on guns during tense forum — The mass shootings in Newtown, Orlando, Las Vegas and even Fort Lauderdale didn't get Sen. Marco Rubio to seriously reconsider his position on guns. — But Rubio shifted on firearms Wednesday night as he weathered …

Discussion: Axios, Florida Politics, NewsBusters and Washington Post

CNN:

Trump suggests arming teachers as a solution to increase school safety — Watch CNN's town hall “Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action” live on Wednesday, February 21, at 9 p.m. ET on CNN TV and CNNGo. — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump, after listening to a series …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Axios, USA Today, Newsweek, TIME, Breitbart, CBS Miami, WGN-TV, Taylor Marsh, WTVR-TV, The Week, FOX6Now.com, KTLA, CBS Los Angeles, Mashable, thecut, FOX 61, NPR, WPIX 11 New York, AOL, Washington Free Beacon and CBS Pittsburgh

Daniella Diaz / CNN:

6 things Marco Rubio said at the CNN town hall that made news in the US gun debate — Washington (CNN)Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, facing high school students Wednesday night who survived the Parkland, Florida, shooting, defended his stance on gun rights — while changing the conversation surrounding the issue.

Discussion: VICE News, The Week and CBS Miami

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Marco Rubio Is Jeered and Lectured on Gun Control — WASHINGTON — Senator Marco Rubio and a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association were repeatedly heckled at a nationally televised forum on Wednesday night in Florida after they refused to back new gun control measures.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Jezebel and CNN

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

The economics of arming America's schools — Sitting with students and parents on Tuesday — including some students who were at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last week when a shooter killed 17 people — President Trump explored possible ways in which mass shooting incidents at schools could be prevented.

Discussion: Raw Story, Jamie Dupree - AJC, New York Times, CBS Pittsburgh, The Guardian, Mediaite, Joe.My.God., The Week and Talking Points Memo

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: Instapundit, The Daily Caller and MichelleMalkin.com

CNN:
Students are walking out in protest: Live updates

Discussion: AOL, twitchy.com, Mother Jones, Vox, New York Times, The Right Scoop, Jamie Dupree - AJC, ARLnow.com and Hit & Run

Associated Press:
Again the question: Could armed teachers stop shootings?

Discussion: Politico

Nicholas Fondacaro / NewsBusters:
CNN's Tapper Sits Back as Student Equates Rubio to School Shooter

Discussion: twitchy.com and Instapundit

Haley Britzky / Axios:
Father of Parkland victim presses Rubio on assault weapons at town hall

Discussion: Breitbart

David Smith / The Guardian:
Trump's solution to school shootings: arm teachers with guns

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Toronto Star, ThinkProgress and The Daily Beast

John Bowden / The Hill:
Student demonstrators protest gun violence in Fla. gov's office

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, Joe.My.God. and The Daily Caller

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 and Political Wire

Axios:

Why Trump won't use his superpower on guns — President Trump has a rare political superpower — he can get Republicans to do what seems like the impossible. He used this superpower to soften their opposition to Vladimir Putin, to instantly stir their distrust of the FBI, and embrace trillion-dollar deficits.

Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed:

The Pro-Trump Media Has Its Match In The Parkland Students — On Monday night, the pro-Trump media set its sights on a new political enemy: young adult survivors of gun violence. — The attack on outspoken survivors of the Parkland school shooting began with an article …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, more at Mediagazer »

John Herrman / New York Times:
The Making of a No. 1 YouTube Conspiracy Video After the Parkland Tragedy

more at Mediagazer »

Brianna Sacks / BuzzFeed:
Nope, The Florida School Shooting Survivors Demanding Gun Control Are Not Crisis Actors

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Woke Sloth, Splinter, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Beast and NBC News, more at Mediagazer »

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:

Bernie blames Hillary for allowing Russian interference — Bernie Sanders on Wednesday blamed Hillary Clinton for not doing more to stop the Russian attack on the last presidential election. Then his 2016 campaign manager, in an interview with POLITICO, said he's seen no evidence …

Discussion: Jacobin

Paul Sperry / RealClearInvestigations: Mueller Still Relying on Discredited Steele Dossier

Christina Wilkie / CNBC:

Trump's former bodyguard makes $15,000 a month from a GOP ‘slush fund’ — The Republican National Committee is paying a firm owned by Trump's former bodyguard $15,000 a month for consulting, according to its latest campaign filings. — Within weeks of leaving the White House …

Discussion: Daily Kos, ABC News, Shareblue Media, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Week, Business Insider, Mediaite, Axios and Political Wire

Jackie Wang / Dallas Morning News:

Fueled by a Democratic surge, Texans turn out in force on first day of early voting — AUSTIN — Of the 51,249 Texans who cast ballots Tuesday on the first day of early voting, more than half voted in the Democratic primary. — The total number of voters from 15 of the state's largest counties is high for a midterm year.

Discussion: Politico and Off the Kuff

U.S. Embassy / U.S. Embassy in Montenegro:

Security Alert - U. S. Embassy Podgorica, Montenegro (February 22, 2018) — Event: The U.S. Embassy in Podgorica advises U.S. citizens there is an active security situation at the U.S. Embassy in Podgorica. Avoid the Embassy until further notice. — Actions to Take:

Discussion: New York Times, ABC News, AOL, NPR, Politico and Sputnik International

Douglas Belkin / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Colleges Are Separating Into Winners and Losers — Schools that struggle to prepare students for success losing ground; ‘The shake-out is coming’ — Concord University in West Virginia and Clemson University in South Carolina were both founded shortly after the Civil War.

Jessica Guynn / USA Today:

Trump supporters, conservatives rage over Russian bot purge, #TwitterLockOut — Twitter revealed to congress that Russian bots had retweeted President Trump hundreds of thousands of times between September 1st and November 15th of 2016. For more on the story here is Zachary Devita. Buzz60

Discussion: Engadget, Politico, twitchy.com, Breitbart, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Yoel Roth / Twitter:
Automation and the use of multiple accounts

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Engadget, The Verge, Breitbart and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

Ryan Nobles / CNN:

Congresswoman claims most mass shooters are Democrats — Congressman booed at his gun control town hall — (CNN)Rep. Claudia Tenney, an upstate New York Republican who is up for re-election in one of the most competitive congressional districts in America, told a radio host in Albany …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Nate Cohn / New York Times:

Democrats Didn't Even Dream of This Pennsylvania Map. How Did It Happen? — They seemed not to believe that they would be allowed to strive for partisan balance in addressing Republican gerrymandering. — Few people expected that the Pennsylvania congressional map …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Shareblue Media, Roll Call, Vox and Hit & Run

John Bowden / The Hill:
Toomey calls for ‘conversation’ about impeaching state Supreme Court justices

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, Shareblue Media, New York Magazine, pottsmerc.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Washington Post, Philly.com, Townhall.com, Daily Kos, Law & Crime, Politicus USA and Political Wire

Donald Kirk / The Daily Beast:

Who Snubbed Who in Korea? Was it Pence's Truculence, or Little Sister Kim's Reticence? … PYEONGCHANG, South Korea—Days after the snub seen round the world, when U.S. Vice President Mike Pence appeared ossified, staring ahead in stony silence at the Winter Olympics rather than glance …

Discussion: One America News Network

Elizabeth Castillo / Politico:
Ivanka Trump to lead U.S. delegation to Olympics closing ceremonies

Discussion: RT, Axios and One America News Network

Wall Street Journal:

Saudi Arabia Stymies U.S. Over Pakistan Terror List — Saudi Arabia joins Turkey and China to block U.S.-led initiative — Saudi Arabia joined Turkey and China in a move to block a U.S.-led attempt this week to place Pakistan on an international terror-financing watch list …

Discussion: The American Conservative

Wall Street Journal:

Trump's Nominee for Indian Health Post Withdraws — Journal articles alleged Robert Weaver overstated work experience — President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Indian Health Service has withdrawn from consideration for the job, people familiar with the matter said.

Discussion: New York Times and CNBC

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

This photo of Trump's notes captures his empathy deficit better than anything — President Trump held a worthwhile listening session Wednesday featuring a range of views on how to combat gun violence in schools. And while Trump's at-times-meandering comments about arming teachers …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, New York Magazine, bizpacreview.com, twitchy.com and RedState

CNNMoney:

With last-minute cancellation of Gateway Pundit founder, drama once again unfolds ahead of CPAC — The Conservative Political Action Conference hasn't even started and a snafu is once again stealing the limelight ahead of the annual event. — News of the last-minute chaos emerged …

Discussion: Geller Report, RedState, The Right Scoop, Raw Story and Joe.My.God.

Jason Samenow / Washington Post:

Arctic temperatures soar 45 degrees above normal, flooded by extremely mild air on all sides … While the Eastern United States simmers in some of its warmest February weather ever recorded, the Arctic is also stewing in temperatures more than 45 degrees above normal.

Discussion: Grist and NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

David Ferguson / Raw Story:

MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle connects the dots in latest Mueller indictment to tie Trump directly to Putin — On Wednesday, MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle laid out how special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation is becoming “clearer by the indictment.” — Tuesday's guilty plea …

NBC News:

Mueller asking if Manafort promised banker White House job in return for loans — Federal investigators are probing whether former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort promised a Chicago banker a job in the Trump White House in return for $16 million in home loans, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told NBC News.