memeorandum: White House wants to change environmental rules to speed up highway projects, pipelines and more (Washington Post)

9:00 AM ET, January 9, 2020

Top Items:

Natasha Korecki / Politico:

Bernie emerges as growing threat to Biden — CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — When Bernie Sanders attacked Joe Biden recently, the former vice president dismissed his former Senate colleague with a contemptuous brush-off. — “You guys expect me to take Bernie's comments seriously?

Detroit News:

Poll: Biden, Bloomberg hold largest leads against Trump in Michigan — Former Vice President Joe Biden and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg hold the best chances among the leading Democratic presidential hopefuls of defeating President Donald Trump in Michigan, according to a new statewide poll.

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Times and New York Times

Sheila Bair / Washington Post:

I am a Republican, and I hope the Democrats pick a candidate I can vote for — Sheila Bair is the former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and has held senior appointments in four Republican and Democratic administrations. — Over the past 40 years — about as long as I've …

Discussion: The Hill and Politico

Amie Parnes / The Hill: Bernie-Hillary echoes seen in Biden-Sanders primary fight

Washington Post: Inside Elizabeth Warren's effort to court her vanquished rivals — and why it's worth her time

Washington Post:

Facebook won't limit political ad targeting or stop false claims under new ad rules — But changes announced Thursday will allow users to exercise control over more of the ads they see. — Facebook on Thursday defied public calls to adopt significant limits on political advertising ahead …

Discussion: About Facebook, CNBC, The Verge and Mashable

Mike Isaac / New York Times:

Facebook Says It Won't Back Down From Allowing Lies in Political Ads — The company was under intense pressure to adjust its policies. But in this presidential election year, no big changes are planned. — SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook said on Thursday that it would not make any major changes …

Discussion: Axios, more at Mediagazer »

Dylan Byers / NBC News:
Facebook's final word on political ads: No changes to microtargeting but more control for users

Discussion: The American Independent

Barbara Ortutay / Associated Press: Facebook again declines to limit political ad targeting

Zach Montellaro / Politico: Facebook sticking with policies on politicians' lies and voter targeting

Susan Page / USA Today:

Exclusive: Americans say Soleimani's killing made US less safe, Trump ‘reckless’ on Iran — Americans by more than 2-1 say the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani has made the United States less safe, a nationwide USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds, amid broad concerns about the potential consequences ahead.

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:

U.S. officials knew Iranian missiles were coming hours in advance — The Iranian missile strike on U.S. bases in Iraq on Tuesday was a calibrated event intended to cause minimal American casualties, give the Iranians a face-saving measure and provide an opportunity for both sides to step …

Discussion: The Federalist, CANNONFIRE, The National Interest and Fox News

Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:

Trump Has a Bizarre Idea of Winning — Let's tally up the results of his efforts with Iran. — For now we seem to have averted an all-out shooting war between the United States and Iran. — Yet it's not over. The world is more dangerous than it was a week ago, and President Trump's exuberance suggests …

Discussion: Washington Post, Althouse, Raw Story and The Week

NBC News:

‘Insulting and demeaning’: Two GOP lawmakers rip Trump administration after Iran briefing — “It was probably the worst briefing I've seen at least on a military issue in the nine years I've served” in the Senate, said GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah. — WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on both sides …

Discussion: The Hill, The American Independent, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Alternet.org and Mediaite

Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
Pelosi Statement on Vote on War Powers Resolution

Discussion: The Atlantic, UPI, The Sun US, Washington Post, Breitbart, CNN, Axios, Townhall, Reason, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Politico

Michael Goodwin / New York Post:
The Chicken Littles got everything wrong on Trump and Iran

Discussion: HillReporter.com, Associated Press and The American Independent

Igor Bobic / HuffPost:
Angry GOP Senator Trashes ‘Insulting’ Trump Administration Briefing On Iran

Discussion: Common Dreams, The Gateway Pundit and HillReporter.com

Garrett M. Graff / Wired:
Did Donald Trump and Iran Use Twitter to Prevent a War?

Discussion: New York Post, Slate, Newsweek, Washington Post, Daily Kos, The Wrap and Mediaite

Washington Post:

Mnuchin seeks delay of proposed disclosure of Secret Service spending on presidential travel until after election — The Trump administration is seeking to delay a Democratic effort to require the Secret Service to disclose how much it spends protecting President Trump and his family when they travel …

Discussion: Raw Story, Slate, The Week, POLITICUSUSA, The Hill, CNN, Hullabaloo, Law & Crime and Talking Points Memo

Jake Sherman / Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Pelosi is on the brink of sending the impeachment articles — HERE'S WHAT'S CLEAR if you talk to House and Senate Democratic insiders: Speaker NANCY PELOSI is on the brink of ending her hold of the impeachment articles. The House is going to send them to the Senate in the near future …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Vox, Fox News, The American Spectator and Raw Story

CNN:
McConnell and Trump talk impeachment at White House meeting

Discussion: Politico

Molly Ball / TIME:

'We've Upped the Ante.' Why Nancy Pelosi Is Going All in Against Trump — Nancy Pelosi isn't wild about the question. The impeachment of President Donald Trump is under way, and I've asked the Speaker of the House if she thinks it's the most important thing she'll ever do.

Rebecca English / Daily Mail:

Harry and Meghan to step back as senior royals — Harry and Meghan quit as senior Royals, announcing they will split their time between the UK and North America, and are understood to have done so without discussing the matter with other Royals.

Discussion: The Sun US, The Daily Beast, New York Times and The Week

Henry Austin / NBC News:
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to ‘step back as senior members of the Royal Family’

Discussion: The Daily Beast, One America News Network, Breitbart and The Sun

Dominic Green / Spectator USA: Megxit: Harry and Meghan are doomed

Michelle Ye Hee Lee / Washington Post:

6 million Democratic donors gave $1 billion in 2019 through ActBlue, officials say — Democratic small-dollar donors gave $1 billion through the online fundraising platform ActBlue in 2019, said Thursday, highlighting the explosion of online giving on the left heading into the presidential election year.

Brian Slodysko / Associated Press:
Democrats' contempt for Trump fuels an online cash surge

Discussion: Axios

Tatiana Siegel / Hollywood Reporter:

Warner Bros. Signs Deal for AI-Driven Film Management System (Exclusive) — The studio has made a pact with Cinelytic to use its project management system that was launched last year. — Resistance is futile. Warner Bros. has become the latest studio to publicly embrace artificial intelligence.

Discussion: The Verge

New York Times:

3 Hours From Alert to Attacks: Inside the Race to Protect U.S. Forces From Iran Strikes — Intelligence that foreshadowed the Iranian attack set off a tense, often confusing afternoon in the White House Situation Room. — WASHINGTON — The alert came to the White House shortly after 2 p.m. on Tuesday …

Discussion: Associated Press

New York Times:

The Mystery of Teen Vogue's Disappearing Facebook Article — The online magazine deleted a glowing story about Facebook after questions were raised about whether it was an ad. — On Wednesday, Teen Vogue published an article on Facebook's efforts to safeguard political speech.

Discussion: Mashable, Mediaite, The Hill and Teen Vogue, more at Mediagazer »

BuzzFeed News:

Fox News Hosts Were Against A Ground War With Iran. Trump Listened. — Fox News personalities by and large supported President Donald Trump's confrontation with Iran over the past week. But between the lines, even the most ardent Trump supporters on Fox's opinion side like Sean Hannity stopped short …

Discussion: Fox News, Slate, The Hill, Politico and Mediaite

John Cassidy / New Yorker:
One Speech Can't Clean Up Trump's Iran Mess

Discussion: Vox

Washington Post:

White House wants to change environmental rules to speed up highway projects, pipelines and more — The White House is moving to exempt projects without significant federal funding from environmental reviews that have been required for 50 years, a major shift that would make it easier to build mines …

Chelsea Janes / Washington Post:

Pete Buttigieg wins first endorsement from a black member of Congress — Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg received his first endorsement from a member of the Congressional Black Caucus on Thursday when former Maryland lieutenant governor Anthony G. Brown announced his support for the outgoing mayor of South Bend, Ind.

Discussion: Bloomberg

Bill Scher / Politico:
Iowa Matters Less Than Ever in 2020

Discussion: Ballotpedia, 2020 Presidential … and Dallas Morning News

CNN:

How Ruth Bader Ginsburg is trying to check the conservative majority — Washington (CNN)Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is in the liberal minority on the Supreme Court but has a way of steering the debate on a case. — Ginsburg spoke to CNN in a rare interview in her chambers this week.

Discussion: New York Times, The Guardian, The Dispatch, ABC13, Jezebel, The Gateway Pundit, HuffPost, Politico, Washington Post, Breitbart, KTLA, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, The Week and Axios

Yahoo News:

Thai journalist sentenced over tweet warns of threat to media freedom — A Thai journalist sentenced to two years in prison for defaming the owner of a poultry farm via a tweet said Thursday the kingdom's criminal libel laws are eviscerating media freedom. — A court convicted Suchanee Cloitre …

Reade Pickert / Yahoo Finance:

A Great Year for U.S. Jobs Is Also Likely to Be Worst Since 2011 — (Bloomberg) — Sign up here to receive the Davos Diary, a special daily newsletter that will run from Jan. 20-24. — It was both a great year for the U.S. jobs market, and the worst in almost a decade.

Jessica Schulberg / HuffPost:

War With Iran Is Nothing To Worry About, Men Who Launched Iraq War Promise — 2020 is the new 2003. — Over the past week, the American people have been glued to cable news broadcasts with blaring red chyrons warning of imminent military conflict in the Middle East.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Reuters:

Denied U.S. entry, Mexican cuts own throat on bridge over Rio Grande — MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican asylum-seeker slit his own throat on a bridge across the Rio Grande after being denied entry into the United States, two Mexican security officials said on Wednesday.

Madison Feller / ELLE:

Elizabeth Warren Wants You To Ditch That Guy, Get A Dog, And Vote To Tax The Wealthy — In an exclusive video with ELLE.com, Warren answers reader questions because—if you haven't heard—she has a plan for that. — If you've read any news about 2020 Democratic presidential candidate …

Discussion: Twitchy

Sunrise Movement:

Sunrise Movement endorses Bernie Sanders for President — the summer of 2017 we launched Sunrise Movement to create a political home for young people in the United States who are scared about what climate change meant for our future. Uniting in our fear, together we have found hope in the movement we have built since then.

Discussion: New York Times, Axios, HuffPost, The Hill and Common Dreams

Washington Post:

GOP leaders spar over adding House members to Trump's impeachment defense team — A turf war over who should defend President Trump in a Senate impeachment trial is raging behind the scenes in Congress, as House Republicans push to join Trump's legal team — an idea that piques the president's interest …

Discussion: Raw Story

Suadad al-Salhy / Middle East Eye:

REVEALED: Iraqi armed factions not ready to strike US forces, commanders say — A top Hashd al-Shaabi commander has threatened retaliation against the US, but leaders of armed factions tell MEE they are in a state of chaos after assassinations — The Iranian-backed Iraqi armed factions are lost …