memeorandum: Inside Trump's Botched Attempt to Hire Trey Gowdy (New York Times)

6:00 AM ET, October 14, 2019

Top Items:

Macabre Video of Fake Trump Shooting Media and Critics Is Shown at His Resort — WASHINGTON — A video depicting a macabre scene of a fake President Trump shooting, stabbing and brutally assaulting members of the news media and his political opponents was shown at a conference for his supporters …

Discussion: Axios, Variety, Deseret News, Raw Story, The Hill, twitchy.com, HuffPost, The American Conservative, Mediaite, Deadline, Politico, CNN, Rolling Stone, The Week and The Wrap, more at Mediagazer »

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 …

Discussion: The Week

The Daily Beast:

The U.S. Spoiled a Deal That Might Have Saved the Kurds, Former Top Official Says — Forsaken by the U.S. and under attack by Turkish troops, the Kurds are turning to Russia for help. The last time they tried to do so, the Americans worked to talk them out of it.

Discussion: New York Times, Common Dreams, Occupy Democrats and Washington Post

Washington Post:

Unswayed by top advisers, Trump doubles down on decision to withdraw troops — President Trump's order to withdraw essentially all U.S. forces from northern Syria came after the commander in chief privately agitated for days to bring troops home, according to administration officials …

Discussion: The Daily Beast

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.

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

Discussion: The Defense Post, Al Jazeera, The Daily Beast and Defense One

Vladimir Isachenkov / Associated Press:
Kremlin relishes US pullback from Syria, turmoil in Ukraine

Discussion: One America News Network and Politico

Robin Wright / New Yorker:
Chaos in Syria: ISIS Detainees Escape as the U.S. Pulls Out

Discussion: CNN, New York Times and Breitbart

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

Discussion: The Defense Post and Al Jazeera

New York Times:
Abandoned by U.S. in Syria, Kurds Find New Ally in American Foe

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

Discussion: The Defense Post and The Guardian

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

Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:
Trump orders withdrawal of U.S. forces from northern Syria, days after Pentagon downplays possibility

Discussion: The Mahablog, Obsidian Wings, Daily Kos, UPI and Politico

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

Discussion: The Hill and Politico

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

Discussion: UPI, The Week, CBS News, NBC News, Hullabaloo, Slate and Associated Press

New York Times:

Inside Trump's Botched Attempt to Hire Trey Gowdy — For 24 hours last week, Trey Gowdy, the former South Carolina congressman best known for leading congressional investigations of Hillary Clinton, was the new face of President Trump's outside legal defense and a symbol of a streamlined effort …

Discussion: Law & Crime

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 …

Discussion: The Week

Alayna Treene / Axios:

Document request to Trump's ex-Russia adviser lays out impeachment roadmap — Ahead of this week's subpoenas and depositions, new documents obtained by Axios show how Democrats are taking the impeachment inquiry in two tightly focused directions: Ukraine and obstruction of justice.

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller: Schiff Says Congress May Not Need To Interview Whistleblower After All

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

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press, Washington Post, Breitbart, Daily Kos, The Hill and Vanity Fair

Jackson Diehl / Washington Post:

In a month, Trump has destroyed ‘America First’ — The uproar in Washington over President Trump's corruption in Ukraine and malfeasance in Syria has obscured a broader story. In little more than a month, virtually every other foreign policy initiative the Trump administration has pursued has imploded …

Discussion: Raw Story and New York Times

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

CBS News:
CBS News Battleground Tracker: Warren extends lead across early states, New Hampshire and draws even with Biden in Iowa

Discussion: Washington Times, Hullabaloo and Political Wire

New York Times:

Fox News Is Trump's Chief TV Booster. So Why Is He Griping About It? — Fed up with the coverage on his favorite cable news station, President Trump decided late this summer that a direct intervention was needed. So he telephoned the chief executive of Fox News, Suzanne Scott, and let loose.

Discussion: CNN, American Thinker, Townhall, The Hill, Political Wire, Mediaite, Breitbart and PJ Media Home, more at Mediagazer »

Taryn Luna / Los Angeles Times:

California becomes first state in the country to push back school start times — California will become the first state in the nation to mandate later start times at most public schools under legislation signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom Sunday, a proposal designed to improve educational outcomes by giving students more sleep.

Discussion: UPI and The Hill

Sean Patrick Maloney / Wall Street Journal:

Beijing Tries To Bully Congress — We were told we'd get visas to visit the mainland only if we abandoned our planned trip to Taiwan. — China took the extraordinary step earlier this month of denying visas to a bipartisan American congressional delegation.

Discussion: Bloomberg

CBS News:
Transcript: Senator Ted Cruz on “Face the Nation”, October 13, 2019

Discussion: Slate, NBC News and Breitbart

Claudia Koerner / BuzzFeed News:

Queen Made Donald Trump Take Down A Campaign Video Using “We Will Rock You” — The publisher of rock legends Queen forced President Trump to take down a campaign video that used “We Will Rock You” as its soundtrack. — The video, featuring Trump speaking to supporters at rallies …

Discussion: Breitbart, HuffPost and Slate

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Trump/Russia, Trump/Ukraine, Same As It Ever Was — Contemporary Ukraine and Russia are filled with multiple layers of corruption and political intrigue. The totality of their porous and entangled relationship with each other and with the United States over the last 5 years is difficult to summarize or convey simply.

Matthew Green / Reuters:

Scientists endorse mass civil disobedience to force climate action — LONDON (Reuters) - Almost 400 scientists have endorsed a civil disobedience campaign aimed at forcing governments to take rapid action to tackle climate change, warning that failure could inflict “incalculable human suffering.”