memeorandum: UNC board member calls for Confederate statue to be reinstalled on campus after protesters tear it down (Avery Anapol/The Hill)

9:30 PM ET, August 25, 2018

Top Items:

Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:

John McCain, War Hero, Senator, Presidential Contender, Dies at 81 — John S. McCain, the proud naval aviator who climbed from depths of despair as a prisoner of war in Vietnam to pinnacles of power as a Republican congressman and senator from Arizona and a two-time contender for the presidency, died on Saturday at his home in Arizona.

Discussion: New Republic, Arizona Republic, Power Line, Townhall, Associated Press, Outside the Beltway, Boing Boing, Refinery29, Joe.My.God. and Washington Monthly

Anne Gearan / Washington Post:

Bad blood between McCain and Trump lingers, even as the Arizona Republican nears the end — It got off to a bad start, and President Trump's venomous relationship with Sen. John McCain probably won't end well either. — The president was reportedly disinvited to McCain's funeral months ago …

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, Breitbart, Raw Story, One America News Network, AOL, TheBlaze, Patterico's Pontifications, POLITICUSUSA, Joe.My.God., The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, The Week, CNN and Reuters

Washington Post:

Sen. John McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee who was driven by a code of honor that defined and haunted him, dies at 81 — McCain endured more than five years of imprisonment and torture by the North Vietnamese as a young Navy pilot. He went on to battle foes — on the left and the right …

Elizabeth Chuck / NBC News:

Sen. John McCain, independent voice of the GOP establishment, dies at 81 — “With the Senator when he passed were his wife Cindy and their family,” McCain's office said in a statement. — John McCain, who shed a playboy image in his youth to become a fighter pilot, revered prisoner of war …

Discussion: Axios, Vox, The Right Scoop, CBS New York, The Gateway Pundit, The Week and Small Dead Animals

Mark McKinnon / The Daily Beast:

You Honored Our Deal, John McCain. I'll Honor Your Legacy. … The news of your imminent departure comes as no surprise given what we know about the disease that is taking you from us. And yet, it still hits on my heart like a ton of bricks. — Not just because of the depth of my respect, reverence and love for you.

Discussion: ABC News

Stephen Collinson / CNN:

John McCain, senator and former presidential candidate, dies at 81 — (CNN)Whenever America was in a fight during his long lifetime, John McCain was in the thick of it. — McCain, who has died at the age of 81, was a naval bomber pilot, prisoner of war, conservative maverick …

Discussion: WTVR-TV

Paul Kane / Washington Post: McCain was a force of nature in Washington with an unrivaled global stature

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
John McCain, ‘maverick’ of the Senate and former POW, dies at 81

Discussion: New York Times

Politico:
John McCain, towering senator and GOP ‘maverick,’ dies

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Washington Post

Daniel Marans / HuffPost:

Democrats Strip Superdelegates Of Power In Historic Reform Vote — The Democratic National Committee's changes aim to heal the lingering divisions of the 2016 presidential primary. — CHICAGO In a long-awaited bid to reinvigorate the Democratic Party and heal the divides of the 2016 presidential primary …

Discussion: New York Times, Associated Press, Common Dreams and Splinter

Politico:

Democrats strip superdelegates of power in picking presidential nominee — Party officials voted at a meeting to strip the party insiders of much of their influence, a big win for the party's base. — CHICAGO - Democratic Party officials voted Saturday to strip superdelegates …

Discussion: Fox News, Vox, Daily Caller News Foundation and Washington Monthly

David Weigel / Washington Post:
Democrats weaken ‘superdelegates’ in effort to avoid another bitter presidential primary

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Balloon Juice

Adam Levy / CNN:
Democrats adopt gender nonbinary language to charter

Discussion: Daily Wire and FOX40

Bill Barrow / Associated Press:
APNewsBreak: DNC, TV networks discuss presidential debates

Discussion: Daily Caller News Foundation and Political Wire

Ruby Cramer / BuzzFeed News:
Democrats Voted To Strip Power From Superdelegates

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Jennifer Epstein / Bloomberg:
Democrats Cut Party Leaders' Power to Pick Presidential Nominee

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:

'He can't get rid of any of this': Trump's wall of secrecy erodes amid growing legal challenges — President Trump's wall of secrecy — the work of a lifetime — is starting to crack. — His longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty last week to breaking campaign-finance laws …

The Hill: Trump Org. CFO's immunity deal is new problem for Trump

Maxwell Strachan / HuffPost:

David Pecker's DARKEST TRUMP SECRETS: A National Enquirer Insider Tells All! — Jerry George, a former senior editor at AMI, opens up about the company's CEO, the evolution of the Enquirer and the role it played in reshaping Trump's image. — By the time David Pecker arrived at American Media Inc …

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
The three illegal acts that may have helped Trump win the presidency

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Matt Apuzzo / New York Times:

What Will Mueller Do? The Answer Might Lie in a By-the-Book Past — The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has approached law enforcement consistently for decades: leading aggressive investigations marked by adherence to precedent and higher office. — WASHINGTON — Long …

Noam Scheiber / New York Times:

Trump's Power to Fire Federal Workers Curtailed by Judge — A federal district judge in Washington struck down most of the key provisions of three executive orders that President Trump signed in late May that would have made it easier to fire federal employees.

Discussion: Associated Press, TheBlaze, CNN, Daily Caller News Foundation, BuzzFeed News, Common Dreams, Mother Jones, The Western Journal, ThinkProgress, Conservative News Today, Joe.My.God., Axios and The Guardian

Lisa Rein / Washington Post:
In victory for unions, judge overturns key parts of Trump executive orders

Discussion: Politico and Splinter

Washington Post: Judge delivers victory to federal employee unions, overturning key parts of Trump executive orders

Grace Segers / CBS News:

Beto O'Rourke says “nothing more American” than NFL players protesting the national anthem — Rep. Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic candidate challenging Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, was featured in a viral video posted to Twitter on Tuesday giving an answer at a town hall defending NFL players who kneel during the national anthem before games.

Discussion: New York Times, The Right Scoop, Mediaite, Contemptor, Mashable, Hot Air, The Hill, theGrio, Conservative News Today and Breitbart

Ariel Edwards-Levy / HuffPost:

We Asked 1,000 People What Happened On Tuesday. Here's What Some Of Them Said. — Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, someone's lost cat and Post Malone. — On Tuesday, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted of federal charges, and former Trump lawyer …

David Wasserman / The Cook Political Report:

August House Overview: The Bottom Line in the 66 Most Competitive Races — The most critical phase of the battle for the House isn't October; it's right now. Republicans' only hope of defying a “Blue Wave” and saving their 23-seat House majority is to personally disqualify Democratic nominees …

Paul Sonne / Washington Post:

McMorris Rodgers says she is open to Jordan as speaker — The highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress said she is open to supporting a long-shot bid by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to replace House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), giving a boost to the conservative insurgency seeking to take over the House Republican caucus.