memeorandum: Parkland victim's father and Kavanaugh: The handshake that wasn't (Kalhan Rosenblatt/NBC News)

11:35 PM ET, September 4, 2018

Top Items:

Bob Woodward's new book reveals a ‘nervous breakdown’ of Trump's presidency — John Dowd was convinced that President Trump would commit perjury if he talked to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. So, on Jan. 27, the president's then-personal attorney staged a practice session to try to make his point.

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

Trump Unleashes on Woodward, Accuses Him of Making Up Quotes and Being a ‘Dem Operative’ — President Donald Trump is accusing veteran journalist Bob Woodward of running a “con” and being a “Dem operative.” — Earlier tonight, Trump tweeted out the statements from the White House …

Discussion: RedState, Politico and Deadline

Saagar Enjeti / The Daily Caller:

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Says Bob Woodward Has ‘A Lot Of Credibility Problems’ — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump addressed newly released excerpts from Bob Woodward's book on his administration, denying some specific allegations and accusing the author of credibility issues, in an exclusive Oval Office interview with The Daily Caller.

Discussion: Politico, CNBC, Washington Post, New York Times, Vox, twitchy.com, The Guardian, The Hill, CNN, Daily Wire, Raw Story, BuzzFeed News, AOL and Sputnik International

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Transcript: Phone call between President Trump and journalist Bob Woodward — Bob Woodward, an associate editor at The Washington Post, sought an interview with President Trump as he was writing “Fear,” a book about Trump's presidency. Trump called Woodward in early August …

Discussion: CNN, CNBC, Politico, Raw Story, Wall Street Journal, CBS Miami, Bloomberg, BloombergQuint, The Root and The Week

Gabriel Pogrund / Washington Post:

Southern Republican senators reject Trump's criticism of Sessions — Southern Republican senators defended Jeff Sessions after an explosive new book by Bob Woodward recounted how President Trump called his attorney general a “dumb Southerner” and mocked his accent.

CNN:

Bob Woodward: Trump's aides stole his papers ‘to protect the country’ — (CNN)WARNING: This story contains graphic language. — President Donald Trump's closest aides have taken extraordinary measures in the White House to try to stop what they saw as his most dangerous impulses …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Beast, CNNMoney, Florida Politics, Taylor Marsh, CBS Boston, CBS San Francisco, Raw Story, fox13now.com, Vox, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, WHYY and IJR

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Report: Everybody in the White House Considers Trump an Idiot — It is relatively easy to get White House staffers to leak mind-blowing anecdotes about President Trump's various derangements, and for that very reason, it is hard to find new anecdotes that register on the crazy-Trump scale.

Discussion: CNN, Shareblue Media, Raw Story, CNBC and The Daily Caller

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Rudy Giuliani to Trump advisors ripping the president in Bob Woodward's new book: Find another job

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Post, Hullabaloo and CNN

CNN: Mueller responds to Trump team; discussions focus more on written questions

Steven Nelson / Washington Examiner:
Ex-Trump lawyer John Dowd disputes details in Bob Woodward book

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press, TIME, Washington Post, Raw Story, CNBC, Townhall and Law & Crime

Bob Woodward / New Book Releases, Bestsellers …:
Fear — Trump in the White House — THE INSIDE STORY …

Discussion: New Republic

Max Boot / Washington Post:
President Trump is unfit for office. Bob Woodward's ‘Fear’ confirms it.

Discussion: Hit & Run, HuffPost, New York Times, USA Today and Raw Story

Kate Riga / Talking Points Memo:
The Most Shocking Excerpts From Woodward's White House Memoir

Discussion: Washington Post and The Hill, more at Mediagazer »

Kalhan Rosenblatt / NBC News:

Parkland victim's father and Kavanaugh: The handshake that wasn't — “I guess he did not want to deal with the reality of gun violence,” Fred Guttenberg, father of slain Parkland student Jaime Guttenberg, wrote on Twitter. — The father of a student killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas …

Discussion: CNN, CBS News and The Hill

Paul Farrell / Heavy.com:

Zina Bash Is the Woman Sitting Behind Brett Kavanaugh — The woman sitting behind Judge Brett Kavanaugh has emerged as a Twitter star as she has been accused of smirking when Democrats are speaking and looking “smug” during the hearing. The woman has been identified as Zina Bash, 36.

Discussion: News One, Politico, The Root, National Review, Hollywood Life, Hot Air, Daily Wire, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Times and The Gateway Pundit

Politico:
Schumer, Democrats wrestled over staging mass Kavanaugh walkout

Discussion: Power Line, Breitbart, ABC News, Political Wire, HuffPost, CNN, The Daily Beast and Shareblue Media

Hot Air:
Today's “Controversy”: Kavanaugh Declines Handshake From Father Of Murdered Parkland Student

Discussion: Townhall, Mother Jones, New York Times, ABC News and twitchy.com

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
The Democrats Are Crazy — I was working today and couldn't watch …

Discussion: CNN, Althouse and Instapundit

Michael Kranish / Washington Post:
The story behind the withheld documents of the Kavanaugh hearing

Discussion: Politico, Vox, The Atlantic and Shareblue Media

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
Kavanaugh's daughters rushed out of chaotic, ‘hot’ hearing

Discussion: HuffPost, The Last Refuge, Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit and LifeNews.com

David French / National Review:
Ben Sasse Conducts a Two-Minute Master Class in American Civics

Discussion: RedState and Breitbart

New York Times:

Mueller Will Accept Some Written Answers From Trump — The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, will accept written answers from President Trump on questions about whether his campaign conspired with Russia's election interference, Mr. Mueller's office told Mr. Trump's lawyers in a letter, two people briefed on it said on Tuesday.

Discussion: emptywheel, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, The Guardian, CNBC, POLITICUSUSA and Washington Times

Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post: Mueller tells Trump's legal team that he will accept written answers on campaign questions

Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:

Ayanna Pressley Upsets Capuano in Massachusetts House Race — BOSTON — Ayanna Pressley upended the Massachusetts political order on Tuesday, scoring a stunning upset of 10-term Representative Michael Capuano and positioning herself to become the first African-American woman to represent the state in Congress.

Discussion: Axios, New Republic, Vox and ThinkProgress

Gideon Resnick / The Daily Beast:

Ayanna Pressley Ousts 20-Year Incumbent Michael Capuano In Massachusetts Primary Shocker — She is the second progressive woman of color to defeat a long-term male white incumbent this cycle. — Another major upset of a Democratic congressman took place in Massachusetts on Tuesday night.

Discussion: Politico and HuffPost

Stephanie Akin / Roll Call:
Ayanna Pressley Upsets Rep. Capuano in Massachusetts Democratic Primary

Discussion: CQ.com

David Weigel / Washington Post:
Massachusetts primaries: Voters to settle Democratic Party brawls

Discussion: Politico, Mother Jones, Splinter, Daily Kos and ballotpedia.org

The Daily Caller:

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Critical, But Says Nike's Kaepernick Deal ‘Is What This Country Is All About’ — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Nike sent a “terrible message” this week by making former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick one of the faces representing the 30th anniversary of the company's “Just Do It” campaign.

Josh Barro / Business Insider:
Here's why more brands, like Nike with Colin Kaepernick, are openly liberal

Discussion: Yahoo Sports and AOL

Tyler Durden / zerohedge.com:
Nike's Kaepernick Ad Has Cost The Company Over $4 Billion So Far

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, Atlanta Black Star and The Gateway Pundit

NBC News:

FBI Director Christopher Wray becomes the latest target for Trump's ire — Wray is the latest in a growing list of Justice Department officials who have angered the president, NBC News has learned. — WASHINGTON — In recent conversations with confidants, President Donald Trump …

Discussion: Raw Story

Byron York / Washington Examiner: On Trump-Russia, too much secrecy keeps public in dark

Arizona Republic:

Ducey: ‘No one in Arizona more prepared’ than Kyl — “There is no one in Arizona more prepared to represent our state in the U.S. Senate than Jon Kyl,” Ducey said in a statement. “He understands how the Senate functions and will make an immediate and positive impact benefiting all Arizonans.

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Jon Kyl, Former Senator, Is Said to Be Choice to Replace McCain

Discussion: The Daily Beast, ABC News, Vox, FiveThirtyEight, Shareblue Media and twitchy.com

Bret Stephens / New York Times:

Now Twitter Edits The New Yorker — The venerable magazine hands the reins to the digital mob. — A common complaint of liberal journalists about conservative politicians is that the latter lack for courage. As in: Paul Ryan knows that Donald Trump is a bigot and a danger …

Discussion: Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Ringer, Pitchfork, NBC News, Coffee House, Vox and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Salena Zito / New York Post:

The Twitter trolls attacking my work are all wrong — “Dad, it's not true,” I said, fighting to keep my voice steady through tears. — My 81-year-old father had just seen a Huffington Post headline — “Take Salena Zito Neither Seriously Nor Literally On Trump Voters” — with a picture of me next to it.

Discussion: twitchy.com, more at Mediagazer »

Paul Crookston / Washington Free Beacon:

Chuck Schumer on Impeaching Trump: ‘The Sooner the Better’ — Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N. Y.) told a Brooklyn crowd Monday he wanted to impeach President Donald Trump, and “the sooner, the better.” — Flanked by security and staff holding signs saying “MEET SENATOR CHUCK SCHUMER,” …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Christopher Cadelago / Politico: Trump allies delight in video of Schumer appearing to endorse impeachment

Saagar Enjeti / The Daily Caller:

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Prepped Lawsuit Against NBC Over ‘Access Hollywood’ Tape — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump attacked NBC's journalistic credibility and called into question the authenticity and legality of the “Access Hollywood” tape leaked during the 2016 election …

Discussion: Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Observer, Deadline, Vox, Law & Crime, The Week, Axios and Washington Times, more at Mediagazer »

John Carreyrou / Wall Street Journal:

Blood-Testing Firm Theranos to Dissolve — Firm, tarred by scandal, will pay creditors its remaining cash — Theranos Inc., the blood-testing company accused of perpetrating Silicon Valley's biggest fraud, will soon cease to exist. — In the wake of a high-profile scandal …

BuzzFeed News:

In A New Email, Elon Musk Accused A Cave Rescuer Of Being A “Child Rapist” And Said He “Hopes” There's A Lawsuit — In an email to BuzzFeed News, Tesla CEO Elon Musk accused a Thai cave rescuer of moving to Thailand to take a child bride. The rescuer denied all the claims.

Discussion: Mediaite

David Ignatius / Washington Post:

Working with Russia on cybercrime is like hiring a burglar to protect the family jewels — Imagine a bully who's pounding your head against a wall. When you complain that it hurts and threaten to punch back, he offers to sign an international agreement against bullying. Meanwhile, he keeps pounding your head.

Michelle Nichols / Reuters:
Trump to chair U.N. Security Council meeting on Iran

Discussion: The American Conservative and Splinter

Anchorage Daily News:

Under pressure to withdraw, Begich reaffirms plan to stay in Alaska governor's race — Former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich held a press conference Tuesday afternoon to say that he isn't dropping out of the Alaska governor's race, after facing pressure from some in his party to do so.