memeorandum: Behind the scenes of the Trump bluff that kicked off Turkey's invasion (Jonathan Swan/Axios)

8:25 PM ET, October 13, 2019

Top Items:

America's Former Allies in Syria Team Up With Damascus Government — About 700 family members of Islamic State fighters escaped a Kurdish-run camp in northern Syria as Turkish-led assault unleashes chaos. — The American military was unable to transfer about five dozen “high value” …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Politico, Al-Monitor, Raw Story, Townhall, Hot Air, Fox News, POLITICUSUSA, Occupy Democrats, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Mother Jones, Political Wire, Progress Pond and Mediaite

New York Times:

Pullback Leaves Green Berets Feeling ‘Ashamed,’ and Kurdish Allies Describing ‘Betrayal’ — WASHINGTON — American commandos were working alongside Kurdish forces at an outpost in eastern Syria last year when they were attacked by columns of Syrian government tanks and hundreds of troops, including Russian mercenaries.

Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:

Trump orders withdrawal of U.S. forces from northern Syria, days after Pentagon downplays possibility — President Trump has ordered a withdrawal of U.S. forces from northern Syria in the face of a Turkish military offensive targeting Kurdish fighters in the region, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper …

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos and Obsidian Wings

CNN:

Retired Marine Gen. John Allen: 'There is blood on Trump's hands for abandoning our Kurdish allies' — Washington (CNN)A retired four-star Marine general on Sunday bluntly criticized President Donald Trump over the ongoing Turkish military offensive in northern Syria, saying …

Mazloum Abdi / Foreign Policy:
If We Have to Choose Between Compromise and Genocide, We Will Choose Our People

Discussion: CNN

Committee to Protect Journalists:
Syrian Kurdish journalist killed in Turkish airstrike on civilian convoy

Discussion: Al Jazeera

Elizabeth Tsurkov / The Forward: ‘Oh My God, Why Are They Doing This?’ Northeastern Syrians Await Their Fate

Washington Post:
U.S. troops withdraw from another Syrian town as Turkish forces block supply lines

Discussion: Power Line, Common Dreams, The Mahablog, The Guardian and Occupy Democrats

Zack Budryk / The Hill:
GOP congressman: ‘We all know’ Turkey wouldn't have attacked if U.S. troops remained at border

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico and Raw Story

Robert Burns / Associated Press:
Esper says Trump orders US troops to leave northern Syria

Discussion: The Hill and Politico

CBS News:
U.S. “preparing to evacuate” remaining troops from northern Syria, defense secretary says

Discussion: Vox, NBC News, HuffPost and Townhall

CNN: Defense secretary: Trump orders withdrawal of remaining US troops from northern Syria

Bethan McKernan / The Guardian:
At least 750 Isis affiliates escape Syria camp after Turkish shelling

Discussion: The Week, Hullabaloo, Slate and New York Times

CBS News:
Transcript: Secretary of Defense Mark Esper on “Face the Nation,” October 13, 2019

Discussion: Task & Purpose, NPR, National Review and UPI

The Daily Beast:
U.S. ‘Withdraws’ as Kurds Strike Deal to Let Assad's Forces Into Region

Discussion: Latest from Crooks and Liars, Associated Press, Mediaite and Common Dreams

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Behind the scenes of the Trump bluff that kicked off Turkey's invasion — The big picture: Trump would tell Erdoğan that if he wanted to invade Syria he would have to own whatever mess ensued, according to these sources. Erdoğan would have to take care of ISIS …

George Mesires:

A Statement on behalf of Hunter Biden, dated October 13, 2019 — Hunter Biden's business activities have received significant press attention. Since 2016, I have served as Hunter's lawyer. In recent weeks, I have received numerous questions about those activities, many of which have been shaped …

Discussion: Arizona Republic, NBC News, Townhall, Bloomberg, New York Times, Washington Post, Fox News, Reuters, Vox, Breitbart, Althouse, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, CNBC, New York Post, UPI, Mediaite, Politico, RedState and The Hill

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

The media needs to focus on the real corruption — Bloomberg reports: “Hunter Biden is stepping down from the board of a Chinese-backed private equity company and promising to forgo all foreign work if his father, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, is elected president in 2020.”

Discussion: Bloomberg and The Week

Stephanie Baker / Bloomberg:
Hunter Biden Steps Down From Chinese Board as Trump Attacks

Discussion: RedState, Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Fox News, Deadline, Axios, Washington Post, NBC News, twitchy.com, The Hill, Mediaite, Townhall and Balloon Juice

Marc Caputo / Politico:
Giuliani bungling gives Biden a new punchline

Discussion: Raw Story and New York Times

New York Times:

12 Hours. 4 Syrian Hospitals Bombed. One Culprit: Russia. — The Russian Air Force has repeatedly bombed hospitals in Syria in order to crush the last pockets of resistance to President Bashar al-Assad, according to an investigation by The New York Times.

New York Times:

Russia Bombed Four Syrian Hospitals. We Have Proof. — The Times obtained thousands of air force recordings, which reveal for the first time that Russia repeatedly bombed hospitals in Syria. — PLAYLISTUp Next in VISUAL INVESTIGATIONS — Killing Khashoggi: How a Brutal Saudi Hit Job Unfolded

CBS News:

CBS News Battleground Tracker: Warren extends lead across early states, New Hampshire and draws even with Biden in Iowa — Early-state Democratic voters say President Trump's allegations against Joe Biden have not affected their views of Biden and largely think they aren't true.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Washington Times and Political Wire

Axios:

Elizabeth Warren is still Trumpworld's dream candidate — President Trump's allies still fear a general election matchup against a banged-up Joe Biden more than a run against an invigorated Elizabeth Warren, people close to the president tell Axios. — Driving the news …

Discussion: Associated Press and Political Wire

Allan Smith / NBC News:
Sanders draws line between himself and Warren: A ‘capitalist to her bones’

Discussion: The Week and Common Dreams

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:

Schiff Says Congress May Not Need To Interview Whistleblower After All — Rep. Adam Schiff said Sunday that the House Intelligence Committee might not need to interview the CIA analyst who filed a whistleblower complaint against President Donald Trump, a reversal for the Democrat …

Heather Caygle / Politico:
Adam Schiff says whistleblower may not testify in impeachment probe

Discussion: Axios, The Guardian, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Daily Kos and The Hill

CBS News:

Transcript: Senator Ted Cruz on “Face the Nation”, October 13, 2019 — The following is a transcript of an interview with Senator Ted Cruz that aired Sunday, October 13, 2019, on “Face the Nation” — MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to Face the Nation. We spoke yesterday with Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz.

Discussion: Slate

Allan Smith / NBC News:
Ted Cruz: ‘Of course’ Trump was wrong to ask China to probe Bidens

Discussion: Breitbart

Washington Post:

There's yet another level to the Trump administration's corruption in Ukraine — IT'S BECOMING evident that the Trump administration's corruption in Ukraine was not limited to the president's pressure for politicized investigations that could help his reelection campaign.

Casey Michel / The Daily Beast:

Water Finds Its Level as Fox News Hires Dictator-Loving, Deep State-Loathing John Solomon — Journalism's leading conspiracy theorist has finally found his natural home. But he was a fact-masseuse long before Trump came along. — BEAST INSIDE — Over the weekend, Fox News announced …

Brittany Shammas / Washington Post:

A local reporter grilled Mike Pompeo about Ukraine. He accused her of working for the DNC. — Nancy Amons, a longtime investigative reporter at Nashville's WSMV, had just seven minutes to interview Secretary of State Mike Pompeo while he was in town Friday to speak to a group about religious freedom.

Discussion: Political Wire, The Guardian, Rolling Stone and WSMV-TV

Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg:

Schiff Says Secret Testimony Aimed at Keeping Trump in the Dark — Says impeachment now in ‘grand jury’ phase of investigation — Whistleblower testimony not needed to determine what happened — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff defended holding testimony behind closed doors …

Will Bunch / Inquirer.com:

How Rudy Giuliani's epic slide, from crime buster to conspirator, reveals America's broken windows — It's been 27 long years now, but I can still vividly remember where I was on Sept. 16, 1992 — at my preinternet computer terminal in the New York Newsday newsroom, working on an innocuous story …