memeorandum: President Trump and the warping of democratic governance (Dan Balz/Washington Post)

11:20 PM ET, September 21, 2019

Top Items:

Brianne Pfannenstiel / Des Moines Register:

Elizabeth Warren leads Register's Iowa Poll for the first time, besting Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders — Elizabeth Warren has surged in Iowa, narrowly overtaking Joe Biden and distancing herself from fellow progressive Bernie Sanders, the latest Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows.

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Post, Axios, Breitbart, The Daily Beast, Political Wire, New Jersey Globe, The New Civil Rights Movement and Mediaite

CNN:

Elizabeth Warren surges and Joe Biden fades in close Iowa race, new poll shows — (CNN)A surging Sen. Elizabeth Warren is challenging Joe Biden's dominance in the race for the Democratic nomination, standing at 22% to the former vice president's 20% in a new CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll of likely Iowa caucusgoers.

New York Times:

Warren Leads in New Iowa Poll With Biden Second — The latest poll numbers from The Des Moines Register and CNN were very good for Elizabeth Warren as she and Joseph R. Biden Jr. broke away from the rest of the Democratic pack. — DES MOINES — Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts …

Discussion: Des Moines Register

Daniel Strauss / Politico:

Sanders deputy field director in Iowa is no longer with campaign — Bernie Sanders has parted ways with one of his deputy field directors in Iowa, the campaign confirmed Saturday. — Kevin Lata joined the Vermont senator's 2020 team after working in several positions during his first run for the White House.

Anya van Wagtendonk / Vox:
An exchange at an LGBTQ forum reopens questions about Joe Biden's treatment of women

Discussion: USA Today, Mediaite, twitchy.com and New York Times

David Siders / Politico:
Warren on pace with Biden in Iowa

Discussion: Des Moines Register

Nick Coltrain / Des Moines Register:
Bernie Sanders slides to third in Iowa Poll as fewer respondents view him favorably

Discussion: U.S. Political News … and Raw Story

New York Times:
Joe Biden Has Tense Exchange Over L.G.B.T.Q. Record

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Daily Kos, LGBTQ Nation, Washington Blade, Reuters, Vox and Towleroad Gay News

Serhiy Leshchenko / Washington Post:

Rudy Giuliani accused me of exposing Paul Manafort's Ukraine deals to help U.S. Democrats. That's a lie. — Serhiy Leshchenko is a Ukrainian journalist and political activist. — On Aug. 19, 2016, I convened a news conference in Kiev at which I revealed previously secret records of payments …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and CNN

Washington Post:

Trump's Ukraine call reveals a president convinced of his own invincibility — When the July 24 congressional testimony of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III deflated the impeachment hopes of Democrats, President Trump crowed “no collusion” and claimed vindication from accusations …

Discussion: Vox

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

President Trump and the warping of democratic governance — Not for the first time, President Trump has revealed the fragility of this country's democratic system. Three years into his presidency, the evidence of a weakened system is all around. It has happened in plain sight.

Discussion: Opinion Today and Raw Story

Tom Nichols / The Atlantic:

If This Isn't Impeachable, Nothing Is — The president of the United States reportedly sought the help of a foreign government against an American citizen who might challenge him for his office. This is the single most important revelation in a scoop by The Wall Street Journal …

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, Breitbart, The Moderate Voice, Bleeding Heartland, Balloon Juice, RedState, The Mahablog, Center for American …, Vox, The Week, Power Line, New York Times, Mother Jones and Mediaite

en.hromadske.ua:

“Trump Did Not Pressure Zelenskyy, Ukraine Is Independent State” - Foreign Minister Prystaiko — Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko denies that U.S. President Donald Trump had pressured President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a telephone conversation. — Prystaiko said this in an interview with hromadske.

Discussion: Fox News

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:
Why Trump's Ukraine scandal could backfire on Biden

Discussion: Breitbart, NPR, The Independent, U.S. Political News …, Wall Street Journal and Daily Kos

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
Joe Biden: 'I've Never Spoken to My Son About' Ukraine Business Deals

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:
Trump and Election Interference, Whistle-Blower Edition

Discussion: Breitbart, American Military News and Hullabaloo

Robert Kraychik / Breitbart:
Peter Schweizer on Whistleblower: Media Trying to Turn a Biden Scandal into a Trump Scandal

Discussion: YouTube, Daily Wire, Fox News and Splinter

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:

Cory Booker memo: May not be in race ‘much longer’ if he can't raise millions in days — The Democratic presidential candidate's campaign manager warned the NJ senator won't stick around without a viable chance to win. — WASHINGTON — Sen. Cory Booker must raise nearly $2 million …

Discussion: RedState, Daily Wire, The Independent, Washington Free Beacon, Slate, Breitbart, twitchy.com, New York Post, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Cameron Cawthorne / Washington Free Beacon:

Dems Cook 10,500 Steaks While Lecturing Americans About Eating Less Meat — Several Democratic presidential candidates will be attending an annual steak fry event, despite lecturing Americans about the need to eat less meat because of climate change. — The organizers of the Iowa Polk …

Discussion: CBS News and The Gateway Pundit

Elena Schneider / Politico:

Biden goes hard after Trump in Iowa over Ukraine accusations — DES MOINES — Joe Biden moved quickly under an arch of balloons and a marching band, past an ice cream truck and dozens of supporters — then he lit into Donald Trump. — At the Polk County Steak Fry, one of the biggest political affairs …

Discussion: Occupy Democrats, Washington Post, Mother Jones, Slate and The Guardian

Cory Booker / Medium:
Now or Never: Radical Transparency about the Next 10 Days of This Race

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, BizPac Review, Splinter, The Root, Fox News, The Guardian, Axios and The Daily Beast

Pat Rynard / Iowa Starting Line:
Campaigns Prep Early For Steak Fry Spectacle

Discussion: twitchy.com, The Cook Political Report and New York Times

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
Booker campaign warns end is near without fundraising surge

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Dion Nissenbaum / Wall Street Journal:

Yemeni Rebels Warn Iran Plans Another Strike Soon — The information has been passed along to the Saudis and the U.S., according to people briefed on the warnings — BEIRUT—Houthi militants in Yemen have warned foreign diplomats that Iran is preparing a follow-up strike to the missile …

Washington Post:

Should U.S. troops put their lives on the line for Saudi Arabia? — PRESIDENT TRUMP has so far responded with sanctions and diplomacy to the attack on Saudi Arabia's oil production facilities last weekend, which his administration and the Saudi government have blamed on Iran.

South China Morning Post: China, Russia, Iran ‘plan joint naval drill in international waters’

Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:

Tucker Carlson 2024 — I tried to imagine a president worse than Trump. Welcome to my nightmare. — Presidents these days always seem to get worse, don't they? — To many on the left, Donald Trump is an order of magnitude more disastrous a commander in chief than was George W. Bush …

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:

Bernie Sanders Calls for Eliminating Americans' Medical Debt — On top of his “Medicare for all” proposal, Mr. Sanders's new plan would wipe out an estimated $81 billion in existing medical debt and ignore such debt in credit scores. — WASHINGTON — Bernie Sanders has long wanted to remake …

Discussion: New York Post, Breitbart, twitchy.com and Axios

Dylan Scott / Vox:
Bernie Sanders's plan to eliminate medical debt, explained

Discussion: Daily Kos, Mother Jones, Fox News and Bloomberg

Washington Post:

Rep. Kennedy announces Democratic primary challenge to Sen. Markey — BOSTON — Rep. Joe Kennedy, the latest generation of the famous political family to hold office, announced Saturday that he would challenge Sen. Edward J. Markey in Massachusetts's Democratic primary, a bid certain to divide the party in the state and in Washington.

Discussion: Politico, Fox News, U.S. Political News …, The Week and One America News Network