memeorandum: Warren Leads Tight Iowa Race as Biden Fades, Poll Finds (Alexander Burns/New York Times)

3:00 PM ET, November 1, 2019

Top Items:

‘Fireside chat on live television’: Trump says he wants to read Ukraine call transcript to American people — A defiant President Trump signaled he will not cooperate with the Democratic Party's impeachment proceedings, insisting his telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was …

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:

Trump Isn't Ready for the Impeachment Hearings — He's always been more comfortable with chaos than teamwork and preparation. — After weeks of damaging testimony from current and former White House advisers and career diplomats, the House of Representatives voted on Thursday to publicly endorse …

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, Just Security, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, New York Post and Axios

Meghann Myers / Military Times:

How the Army officer who testified against Trump could end up in a court-martial — When Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman appeared before members of Congress on Tuesday to discuss what he knew about President Trump's conversations with Ukraine's president, he was violating an order from his commander …

Discussion: Don Surber, Outside the Beltway and Washington Post

Washington Post:

As Trump moves to bully witnesses and derail impeachment, Democrats see obstruction — President Trump has sought to intimidate witnesses in the impeachment inquiry, attacking them as “Never Trumpers” and badgering an anonymous whistleblower. He has directed the White House to withhold documents …

Discussion: Hot Air

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The GOP defense of Trump is getting more corrupt. Here's what's next. — President Trump, who possesses supreme confidence in his mesmerizing charisma and powers of persuasion, is considering a plan to recite the text of his corrupt call with the Ukrainian president on live national television.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Breitbart and Raw Story

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump's allies want to focus the Ukraine scandal on the tree, so you miss the forest

Discussion: CNN, DemCast and Breitbart

Reuters:
Exclusive: U.S. withholding $105 million in security aid for Lebanon - sources

Discussion: Brookings, Politico and The Hill

Deb Riechmann / Associated Press:
Impeachment inquiry focuses on 2 White House lawyers

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Post, Political Wire, ABC News, Florida Politics and Associated Press

Fox News:

Warren's $52T ‘Medicare-for-all’ plan revealed: Campaign still claims no middle-class tax hikes needed — EXCLUSIVE: Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren's long-awaited “Medicare-for-all” funding plan projects the government-run health care system would cost a staggering sum of …

Discussion: Townhall, The Hill, Politico, The Daily Caller, PJ Media Home, ABC News, The Gateway Pundit, Towleroad Gay News, Axios, Mediaite, National Review and Sara A. Carter

New York Times:

Elizabeth Warren Proposes $20.5 Trillion Health Care Plan — Ms. Warren would impose huge tax increases on businesses and billionaires to pay for “Medicare for all,” but she said she would not raise taxes on the middle class. — WASHINGTON — Senator Elizabeth Warren on Friday proposed $20.5 trillion …

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Post and Washington Free Beacon

Ryan Lizza / Politico:

The issue that Obama alums think could doom Elizabeth Warren — An Elizabeth Warren event is like the candidate herself: well-organized, precise, unpretentious. The candidate, almost always clad in her campaign uniform of black sneakers, black pants and a black camisole covered …

Discussion: Fox News, Mediaite and YouTube

Sean McElwee / Memos: Memo: Polling Medicare for All

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
Elizabeth Warren may as well have said Mexico is going to pay for ‘Medicare for all’

Discussion: Reason, Vox and Washington Free Beacon

Kathryn Krawczyk / The Week:
Jeff Bezos would pay nearly $7 billion to Elizabeth Warren's Medicare-for-all tax

Discussion: Mother Jones, Disrn, Rolling Stone and Balloon Juice

Elizabeth Warren / Team Warren:
Ending the Stranglehold of Health Care Costs on American Families

Discussion: CNBC, The Atlantic, The Intercept, Washington Post, American Prospect, NBC News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Tax Foundation, Breitbart, Redstate, Daily Kos, UPI and People's Policy Project

Matt Bruenig / People's Policy Project:
Warren's Perpetual Medicare Head Tax Is Unworkable and Bad

Discussion: Washington Post and Bloomberg

CNN:
Elizabeth Warren releases plan to fund Medicare for All, pledges no middle class tax hike

Discussion: Alternet.org and Raw Story

Alexander Burns / New York Times:

Warren Leads Tight Iowa Race as Biden Fades, Poll Finds — Ms. Warren garnered 22 percent in a New York Times/Siena College poll, to 19 percent for Bernie Sanders. Pete Buttigieg has surged, while Mr. Biden's travails have put the race in flux. — Which of these Democrats would be your first choice in the Iowa caucuses?

Discussion: Associated Press, Fox News, The Hill, Washington Post, PJ Media Home, Axios, DemCast, CNN, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, NBC News, National Review, Siena College Research …, Bloomberg, Mediaite, Washington Times, Politico and Breitbart

David Brooks / New York Times:
Impeach Trump. Then Move On.

Discussion: Jewish Insider, PJ Media Home, Axios and Washington Post

Laura Litvan / Bloomberg: Nancy Pelosi Says She's ‘Not a Big Fan’ of Medicare for All

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:

Revealed: Trump wanted to build a megachurch — Of all the projects real estate mogul Donald Trump wanted to build, here's one that nobody saw. — According to his long-time personal pastor, Paula White-Cain, Trump, in 2006 was taking steps to build a glass cathedral.

Discussion: Townhall, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, New York Times and Alternet.org

Gary Langer / ABC News:

Americans divided 49% to 47% on impeachment, with criticism for both sides: POLL — Americans are split essentially even on impeaching Donald Trump and removing him from office, with criticism on both sides of the issue — toward Trump, for his response to the inquiry, and toward congressional Democrats …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Hill and Bloomberg

Washington Post:
Americans sharply divided over whether to impeach and remove Trump from office, Post-ABC poll finds

Discussion: Vox, Mediaite, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, POLITICUSUSA, CNN, The Hill, NBC News, WTVR-TV and Associated Press

Billy House / Bloomberg:
Pelosi Expects Public Impeachment Hearings to Begin This Month

Discussion: Axios, Talking Points Memo, Conservative Review, Изв …, The Hill, Raw Story, Washington Post and Vox

Jenny Leonard / Bloomberg:
Pelosi Calls USMCA ‘Easiest Trade Deal,’ Sees Vote When Ready

Discussion: The Truth About Cars

Marc Tracy / New York Times:

How Deadspin Imploded — The last meeting for many of Deadspin's journalists took place on Wednesday in a conference room adorned with fake black cobwebs, a large spider and bloody handprints beside the words: “HELP US.” — The plea, it seemed, went unanswered.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Stranger, Spectator USA, Vox, The Week and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Bryan Curtis / The Ringer:
The Mavening of Sportswriting — Deadspin staffers resigned …

Discussion: Drew Magary, Nieman Lab, New York Post, Breitbart and BizPac Review, more at Mediagazer »

Reuters:

Exclusive: U.S. opens national security investigation into TikTok - sources — NEW YORK/BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government has launched a national security review of TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co's $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly …

Discussion: Axios, Politico, Variety and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »

Ed Mazza / HuffPost:

GOP Lawmaker Head-Butts Camera Rather Than Answer A Question About Trump — Rep. Don Young really didn't want to answer this one. — Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) came up with a novel way to avoid a question about President Donald Trump on Thursday. — Instead of ignoring the activists …

Discussion: Townhall, Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and Contemptor

Zachary Evans / National Review:
GOP Rep Head-Butts Camera of Progressive Activist

Discussion: Washington Post, Alaska Public Media and The Daily Caller

Ross Ramsey / The Texas Tribune:

Texas voters evenly split on impeachment of Donald Trump, UT/TT Poll finds — Texas voters are divided on whether the president should be removed from office, but nearly half think impeachment investigations should proceed, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

CNN:

Videos show indicted Giuliani associate standing behind Trump at 2018 rally — (CNN)News footage from an October 20, 2018, midterm election rally in Nevada shows indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas standing behind President Donald Trump. — Parnas and his business partner …

Discussion: Raw Story, Contemptor and Political Wire

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Trump: The Soviet Witch Coup Has Found Me Innocent — Republicans have spent weeks calling impeachment proceedings a coup, and then a witch hunt. Confusingly, they appear to believe witch hunts are quasi-judicial proceedings run by actual witches, and accordingly circulated merchandise depicting Democrats as a coven.

Discussion: The Hill, Shareblue Media and Washington Post

ThinkNow:

Progressive Latino pollster: 98% of Latinos do not identify with “Latinx” label — One of the greatest challenges facing marketing departments and political campaigns today is the inability to discern signals from noise. As a professional market researcher, I see this on a daily basis.

PBS NewsHour:

Schiff says House GOP hasn't taken advantage of depositions — On Thursday, the House formalized procedures for the impeachment inquiry's next phase — with no Republican support. California Rep. Adam Schiff chairs the House Intelligence Committee, which is central to the process.

Discussion: The Hill

Ben Terris / Washington Post: Adam Schiff once wanted to be a screenwriter. Can he give the Trump presidency a Hollywood ending?

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:

Trump abandons proposing ideas to curb gun violence after saying he would following mass shootings — President Trump has abandoned the idea of releasing proposals to combat gun violence that his White House debated for months following mass shootings in August, according to White House officials …

Discussion: HuffPost, The Week, The Hill, One America News Network, Shareblue Media, Daily Kos and IJR

Ben Makuch / VICE:

Ghislaine Maxwell Was a Guest at Jeff Bezos's Secret Book Retreat — Motherboard has learned Jeffrey Epstein's alleged fixer attended the Amazon CEO's exclusive book retreat ‘Campfire’ last year. — Every fall, the elite of the literary world and Hollywood convene at a highly secretive …

Discussion: Breitbart and CNBC

Charles Sykes / USA Today:

The Republican Party must choose between Donald Trump and the party's fundamental values — Trump aims to discredit and delegitimize the impeachment process by turning it into a circus. But circuses need clowns. Is the GOP up for that? — This is the stark political reality …

Discussion: R Street and Washington Post

Michael Kunzelman / Associated Press:

Police officer retires after far-right group ties revealed — A Connecticut police officer has retired after a civil rights organization raised concerns about his membership in a far-right group known for engaging in violent clashes at political rallies, a town official said Friday.

GOP.com:

Internal RNC Polling: More Want Biden Investigated Than Trump — Ahead of Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff driving the Democrat Party off a cliff today, see below for a breakdown of internal RNC polling that should serve as a warning to Democrats as they further politicize their bogus impeachment agenda.