memeorandum: Killed That Wall! Smugglers Defeating Trump's New Replacement Border Fence with $100 Power Saws (Tommy Christopher/Mediaite)

1:10 PM ET, November 2, 2019

Top Items:

Smugglers are sawing through new sections of Trump's border wall — SAN DIEGO — Smuggling gangs in Mexico have repeatedly sawed through new sections of President Trump's border wall in recent months by using commercially available power tools, opening gaps large enough for people and drug loads …

Discussion: Slate, Axios, POLITICUSUSA and News Breaking

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

Killed That Wall! Smugglers Defeating Trump's New Replacement Border Fence with $100 Power Saws — President Donald Trump's replacement border barrier program — which includes zero miles of new barriers — isn't going so well, according to Washington Post reporting that drug smugglers are defeating the new design with power saws.

Jason Leopold / BuzzFeed News:

The Mueller Report's Secret Memos — BuzzFeed News sued the US government for the right to see all the work that Mueller's team kept secret. Today we are publishing the first installment. — The 448-page report issued by then-special counsel Robert Mueller last March …

Kim Sengupta / The Independent:

'It's like nothing we have come across before': UK intelligence officials shaken by Trump administration's requests for help with counter-impeachment inquiry — As impeachment inquiries heat up, president's people are busy pursuing a counter offensive aimed at discrediting Mueller's findings that Russia interfered in 2016 election

Discussion: Daily Kos and POLITICUSUSA

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Donald Trump Jr. Critiques Mueller in New Book

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg:

Nancy Pelosi Is Worried 2020 Candidates Are on Wrong Track — Speaker questions appeal of Medicare For All, Green New Deal — Ideas could repel voters in swing Midwestern states, she says — Nancy Pelosi is issuing a pointed message to Democrats running for president in 2020 …

Discussion: Townhall, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Breitbart, Washington Times, Axios, Siena College Research …, Associated Press, PJ Media Home and New York Post

Natasha Korecki / Politico:

In Iowa, Biden confronts a growing threat: Pete Buttigieg — DES MOINES — Joe Biden dropped to fourth place in Iowa, according to a new poll released Friday, his worst showing to date in the pivotal early state. — A few hours later, at the largest gathering to date for any 2020 event, it was clear why.

Discussion: Des Moines Register, Breitbart, The Hill, CNN and Daily Mail

Harry Enten / CNN:
Iowa is anyone's game in a historically messy field

Discussion: Vox

Giovanni Russonello / New York Times:
5 Takeaways From the Latest Iowa Poll

Discussion: DemCast, The Hill and Mediaite

Bloomberg:
Warren Derides Biden as Running in ‘Wrong Presidential Primary’

Discussion: The Guardian, The Hill, New York Times, Hot Air, Power Line, CNN, National Review, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Post

New York Times:

In Trump's Twitter Feed: Conspiracy-Mongers, Racists and Spies — In September, an obscure Twitter account promoting a fringe belief about an anti-Trump cabal within the government tweeted out a hashtag: #FakeWhistleblower. — It was typical for the anonymous account …

Discussion: Political Wire and Mashable

New York Times:

How Trump Reshaped the Presidency in Over 11,000 Tweets — With a single tweet last fall, Mr. Trump sent his administration into a tailspin. “I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught,” he wrote in October 2018, angry about a caravan of migrants from Central America.

Discussion: The Hill and Althouse

Washington Post:

Growing number of GOP senators consider acknowledging Trump's quid pro quo on Ukraine — A growing number of Senate Republicans are ready to acknowledge that President Trump used U.S. military aid as leverage to force Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his family …

Discussion: Axios, Mediaite, Daily Kos, The Hill, Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Matt Shuham / Talking Points Memo:
WaPo: WH Record Of Trump-Zelensky Call Put Words In Ukrainian Prez's Mouth, Official Testified

Discussion: The Mahablog and Washington Post

CNN:
Top White House official tried to find out if ambassador went rogue or acted at Trump's direction on Ukraine

Discussion: Alternet.org

Washington Post:
White House official who heard Trump's call with Ukraine leader testified that he was told to keep quiet

Discussion: VICE, Outside the Beltway, Breitbart, POLITICUSUSA, The Atlantic, The Week, HuffPost, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Alternet.org, Vanity Fair, Daily Kos and The Hill

Jesse Dougherty / Washington Post:

Sean Doolittle on declining White House invite: 'I don't want to hang out with somebody who talks like that' — Ever since Sean Doolittle was traded to the Washington Nationals in the summer of 2017, the reliever was often asked whether he would visit the White House after winning the World Series.

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, The Guardian, PJ Media Home, Fox News, Mediaite, Blue Virginia, Axios, The Hill, New York Post, The Nation, Sports Illustrated and DCist

New York Times:

The Whimpering Terrorist Only Trump Seems to Have Heard — President Trump offered a vivid account of the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi “crying and screaming” in the final minutes before his death. The only problem: No one else knows what he's talking about.

Alexander Burns / New York Times:

Beto O'Rourke Drops Out of the Presidential Race — The former Texas congressman, who energized Democrats in a Senate race last year, began his White House run to great fanfare but failed to build significant support. — Former Representative Beto O'Rourke of Texas announced that he is dropping …

Discussion: Slate, Outside the Beltway, Breitbart, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Fox News, The Daily Caller, The Root, Alternet.org, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, The Resurgent, Townhall, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Daily Kos

Geoffrey Skelley / FiveThirtyEight:
Why Beto O'Rourke's Campaign Failed

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, ABC News and Breitbart

Beto O'Rourke:
Thank you. — Our campaign has been about seeing clearly …

John McDermott / New York Times:

Those People We Tried to Cancel? They're All Hanging Out Together — Depriving people of a platform works — in unexpected ways. — Katie Herzog was a largely unknown freelance journalist living in Seattle. Then she published an article in The Stranger about trans people who halt or reverse transitions.

Tom McCarthy / The Guardian:

Experts on Trump's conduct: ‘Plainly an abuse of power, plainly impeachable’ — Republicans may argue Trump's actions were not impeachable - but scholars say it's a solid example of a high crime — Was what he did really so bad? And even if it was bad - was it truly impeachable?

Everton Bailey Jr / Oregonian:

Baton attack during June protests in downtown Portland lands man in prison for nearly 6 years — June 29 2019 downtown Portland baton attack — A 24-year-old man who hit another man over the head with a baton in June during dueling downtown Portland demonstrations was sentenced Friday to nearly six years in prison.

Discussion: Big League Politics and The Gateway Pundit

Amy Chozick / New York Times:

Adam Neumann and the Art of Failing Up — WeWork's chief risk-taker found a kindred spirit with an open checkbook: SoftBank's Masayoshi Son. Now he's walking away from the wreckage with more than $1 billion. — Adam Neumann stood on the 57th floor of the Woolworth Building …

Daniel Marans / HuffPost:

Virginia Is On The Brink Of Cementing Its Democratic Status — Republicans risk losing their last footholds of power in the Old Dominion. — Democrats are poised to take control of both of Virginia's state legislative chambers on Tuesday, bringing the state under unified Democratic control for the first time in a quarter century.

Axios:

GOP worries banned political ads could upend Trump's 2020 campaign — Top Republicans are privately worried about a new threat to President Trump's campaign: the possibility of Facebook pulling a Twitter and banning political ads. — Why it matters: Facebook says it won't, but future regulatory pressure could change that.

Discussion: BuzzFeed News

Yahoo News:

Children were told to ‘build the wall’ at White House Halloween party — WASHINGTON — A Halloween party on Oct. 25 at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building featured candy, paper airplanes and — concerning for some attendees — a station where children were encouraged to help “Build the Wall” with their own personalized bricks.

Discussion: The Hill

Justin Fishel / ABC News:

Rules of impeachment, then and now: ANALYSIS — Republicans say the impeachment process isn't fair. Democrats say it's the fairest ever. — The cleanest answer to this question is that the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. — When it comes to these new impeachment rules …

Discussion: Vox and Breitbart

Matthew Choi / Politico:

Trump to Mississippi rally crowd: Impeachment is an affront to you — To President Donald Trump, the House's vote on impeachment wasn't just an affront to him, but to the millions of Americans who voted for him. — “Yesterday's vote by the radical Democrats is an attack on democracy itself …

Discussion: Vox and Political Wire

Associated Press: The Latest: Trump cites impeachment in Miss. campaign pitch

Shaun Walker / The Guardian:

George Soros: ‘Brexit hurts both sides - my money was used to educate the British public’ — The philanthropist who has spent billions promoting democracy talks populism, Trump and powerful enemies — Around three decades ago, George Soros was introduced to a brash property magnate …

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

Beto O'Rourke exits — and leaves broken hearts in his wake — Hundreds of supporters of Beto O'Rourke had come in from all over the country to cheer their candidate on at the big Democratic dinner, which launches the final stretch toward next February's Iowa caucuses.