memeorandum: Capitol Hill interns say Uber driver refused to take them to Trump DC hotel because they had MAGA hats (Morgan Gstalter/The Hill)

8:10 PM ET, July 15, 2018

Top Items:

“I think the European Union is a foe,” Trump says ahead of Putin meeting in Helsinki — Coming off a contentious NATO summit and a trip to the U.K. in which he seemed to undercut the government of America's closest ally, President Trump took aim at another Western institution just days …

Discussion: Axios, Raw Story, Vox, Home Page Rotator, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, Politico, AOL and The Week

David Ignatius / Washington Post:

Putin must wonder what else America knows about Russia — When Russian President Vladimir Putin sits down at the table in Helsinki on Monday, he will surely have in the back of his mind some intelligence worries that have nothing to do with the U.S. president seated across from him.

Quint Forgey / Politico:

Rand Paul on Russian election meddling: ‘We all do it’ — Sen. Rand Paul on Sunday sought to justify Russia's interference in America's 2016 presidential race, claiming that all countries meddle in foreign elections. — “I think really we mistake our response if we think it's about accountability from the Russians.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, CNN, The Week, Breitbart and New York Times

Quinn Scanlan / ABC News:

‘I find it hard to believe’ Putin didn't know about Russian interference in U.S. election: White House national security adviser — President Donald Trump's top national security adviser said he finds it “hard to believe” Vladimir Putin didn't know about top Russian military intelligence …

Discussion: Axios, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Politico and Breitbart

CBS News:
Trump on Putin meeting: “I go in with low expectations”

Discussion: Gizmodo, The Guardian, Bustle, Law & Crime, Washington Post, Joe.My.God., HuffPost, ABC News, Politico, NPR, TheBlaze, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, The Week, Washington Times and One America News Network

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Why Trump gives Putin a pass on Mueller revelations

Discussion: IJR, Hot Air, ABC News and The Guardian

Emily Tillett / CBS News:
Gowdy to Trump: Ask Putin where “we can pick up the 25 Russians” indicted in Mueller probe

Discussion: Mother Jones and Bustle

New York Times:
Just Sitting Down With Trump, Putin Comes Out Ahead

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Outside the Beltway

New York Times:
Trump, on Eve of Putin Meeting, Calls E.U. a Trade ‘Foe’

Discussion: USA Today, Politico, The Hill, Jamie Dupree - AJC and Vox

Brett Samuels / The Hill: Rand Paul on Russia indictments: We should focus on protecting elections instead of ‘witch hunt on the president’

New York Times:

U.K. Poisoning Inquiry Turns to Russian Agency in Mueller Indictments — LONDON — The same Russian military intelligence service now accused of disrupting the 2016 presidential election in America may also be responsible for the nerve agent attack in Britain against a former Russian spy …

The Daily Beast:

White House Retaliates Against CNN by Cancelling Interview — The White House cancelled an interview with CNN in retaliation for an interaction between President Trump and a network reporter at a press conference in London. CNN had secured an interview with national security adviser John Bolton …

Discussion: Raw Story, Daily Wire, HuffPost, Contemptor and Daily Kos, more at Mediagazer »

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
Fox News' Howard Kurtz on Trump-CNN Flap: Jim Acosta Was ‘Trying to Hijack the Question’

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Conservative News Today

New York Times:

Warren is Preparing for 2020. So Are Biden, Booker, Harris and Sanders. — RENO, Nev. — During a campaign-style tour of the West late last month, Senator Elizabeth Warren did not announce she was running for president. But in private events and public speeches, her message about 2020 was as clear as it was rousing.

Discussion: twitchy.com and Althouse

Ben Jacobs / The Guardian: Iowa awaits Democratic presidential hopefuls - but pickings are slim

Eleanor Busby / The Independent:

Elon Musk calls British diver who helped rescue Thai schoolboys ‘pedo guy’ in Twitter outburst — ‘Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it’ — POPULAR VIDEOS — Elon Musk has called a British diver who helped rescue schoolboys from a flooded cave in Thailand ‘pedo guy’ on Twitter.

Discussion: Breitbart, Joe.My.God., Mashable and Mediaite

Zeynep Tufekci / New York Times:
What Elon Musk Should Learn From the Thailand Cave Rescue

Discussion: The Tracinski Letter and The Guardian

YouTube:

Who Is America? (2018) | First Look | Sacha Baron Cohen SHOWTIME Series … WHO IS AMERICA? is a half-hour series from comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, in his return to series television for the first time in more than a decade in the genre he created first in Da Ali G Show.

Discussion: twitchy.com, The Daily Beast, The Guardian, Bustle, Breitbart and Talking Points Memo

Jill Serjeant / Reuters:
U.S. lawmakers shown backing fake kindergarten gun scheme in Sacha Baron Cohen satire

Discussion: Raw Story

Joe Romm / ThinkProgress:

EXCLUSIVE: Former Fox News reporter warns that Trump team is ‘still colluding’ with the Russians — Former Fox News Channel chief political correspondent Carl Cameron has a warning for America: “The Trump team were colluding with the Russians in 2016 - and they are still colluding.”

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

Cindy Chang / Los Angeles Times:

Judge orders L.A. Times to alter story about Glendale cop, sparking protest from newspaper — A federal judge on Saturday ordered the Los Angeles Times to remove information from an article that described a plea agreement between prosecutors and a Glendale police detective accused of working …

Discussion: Reason and KTLA, more at Mediagazer »

Maura Lerner / Star Tribune:

He, she or ze? Pronouns could pose trouble under University of Minnesota campus policy — Draft policy would punish those who ignore personal pronoun preferences. — Using the wrong pronoun could turn into a firing offense at the University of Minnesota.

Discussion: RedState

John Hinderaker / Power Line: Gender Follies at the University of Minnesota

Alexandra Arriaga / Chicago Sun Times:

Black woman says CVS manager called police because she had wrong coupon — Camilla Hudson wanted to use a manufacturer's coupon at CVS on North Broadway on Friday night, but a manager who said he'd never seen a coupon like that called the police, she said in a Facebook post.

Discussion: Advocate, Joe.My.God., Block Club Chicago, theGrio, The Root, Raw Story and WGN-TV

Masha Gessen / New Yorker:

World Cup 2018: The Moral Clarity of Pussy Riot's Protest — On Sunday, in the fifty-second minute of the final game of the World Cup, four women dressed in Russian police uniforms charged the field, briefly disrupting the match. They were members of the Russian protest-art group Pussy Riot.

New York Times:

How Israel, in Dark of Night, Torched Its Way to Iran's Nuclear Secrets — TEL AVIV — The Mossad agents moving in on a warehouse in a drab commercial district of Tehran knew exactly how much time they had to disable the alarms, break through two doors, cut through dozens of giant safes …

Emily Ngo / Newsday:

The evolution of Kirsten Gillibrand — Gillibrand once held more conservative views on guns and immigration, but in her nine years as New York's junior senator, she has swung steadily to the left on those and other issues. — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand describes her shift from defender …

The Times & The Sunday Times:

Royal family ‘snub’ Donald Trump during UK visit — Queen left to go it alone as Charles and William avoid president — Prince Charles and Prince William were unwilling to meet Donald Trump on his visit to Britain, leaving the Queen to greet the US president alone.

Discussion: Sputnik International, Bustle, The Week, Joe.My.God., IJR, AOL, Raw Story, Politico and Daily Mail

Morgan Gstalter / The Hill:

Capitol Hill interns say Uber driver refused to take them to Trump DC hotel because they had MAGA hats — Congressional interns said that an Uber driver refused to take them to President Trump — 's Washington, D.C., hotel because they had “Make America Great Again” hats.

Discussion: twitchy.com

Michael E. Miller / Washington Post:

Immigrant kids held in shelters: 'They told us to behave, or we'd be here forever' — BOSTON — When the 8-year-old stepped off a plane here earlier this month with freshly cut bangs and a shelter-issued sweatsuit, she was met by crowds and television cameras and finally …

Micaela Marshall / 13abc:

Arrest made in racially charged vandalism on Ogden Ave. — TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - Toledo police arrested Patricia Edelen for spray painting racial slurs on her neighbor's home Friday night. — “She had multiple warrants. She ran from the officers inside her residence.

Associated Press:

California Democratic Party snubs Feinstein, endorses rival — The California Democratic Party snubbed U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Saturday by handing its official endorsement and a badly needed boost to state Sen. Kevin de Leon, her longshot Democratic challenger.

Discussion: KQED, Politico, Breitbart, The Daily Caller and Axios