memeorandum: Las Vegas Strip shooter targeted aviation fuel tanks, source says (Jeff German/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

9:15 AM ET, October 5, 2017

Top Items:

Las Vegas Strip shooter targeted aviation fuel tanks, source says — Fuel tanks near the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, pictured on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, were targeted by Strip shooter Stephen Paddock when he fired on concert-goers from his Mandalay Bay room Sunday night.

Discussion: Associated Press, RedState, Daily Wire, Raw Story and The Daily Caller

Justin Glawe / The Daily Beast:

Unarmed Security Guard Took On Las Vegas Killer Stephen Paddock … LAS VEGAS — Jesus Campos had no firearm when he found Stephen Paddock and approached his room on the 32rd floor of Mandalay Bay on Sunday night. — Paddock, who had rigged cameras in the hallway and on the peephole of the door …

Discussion: The Federalist, AOL and IJR

New York Times:

Republicans Open to Banning ‘Bump Stocks’ Used in Massacre — Top congressional Republicans, who have for decades resisted any legislative limits on guns, signaled on Wednesday that they would be open to banning the firearm accessory that the Las Vegas gunman used to transform his rifles to mimic automatic weapon fire.

Discussion: USA Today, Weekly Standard, The Hill, ABC News, Splinter, No More Mister Nice Blog, Guns.com, New York Magazine, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Week, The Resurgent, Washington Post, Raw Story, Axios, NBC News and Talking Points Memo

New York Times: Las Vegas Gunman Chased Gambling's Payouts and Perks

The Trace:
Amid Talk of Banning Bump Stocks for Guns, Retailers Are Selling Out of the Devices

Discussion: Conservative News Today, The Daily Caller, ABC News, Los Angeles Times, Mediaite, IJR, Daily Kos, Business Insider and The Week

CNN:
Las Vegas shooter rented room during earlier music festival

Discussion: The Guardian, Media Matters for America, Gizmodo, Business Insider, fox13now.com, Axios and Mediaite

CNN:
Las Vegas gunman planned to escape after massacre, sheriff says

Discussion: Splinter and TheBlaze

Charlotte Alter / TIME: They Survived the Las Vegas Shooting. But They Don't Want More Gun Control

Stephen L. Miller / Fox News:
The media doesn't understand guns — and doesn't want to

Discussion: Friendly Atheist, Doug Ross, IJR, New York Times and SARAH PALIN

CNN:
Republicans signal some openness to new gun legislation on ‘bump stocks’

Discussion: Politico, Shareblue, WREG-TV, Des Moines Register and New Republic

Newsweek:
RETRACTED: PADDOCK'S GIRLFRIEND USED TWO SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS AND WAS MARRIED TO TWO MEN AT THE SAME TIME

Discussion: IJR, Conservative News Today, The Last Refuge and Daily Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Anne Gearan / Washington Post:

‘Death spiral’: Tillerson makes nice but may not last long with Trump — The moment was as remarkable as it was unprecedented: A sitting U.S. secretary of state took to the microphone to pledge his fealty to the president — despite his well-documented unhappiness in the job and the growing presumption …

Discussion: Axios, Politico, The Week, The Hill and New York Times

The Daily Beast:

White House Aides Wanted Rex Tillerson to Resign for Calling Trump a ‘F**king Moron’ … As Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took to the microphones Wednesday morning to address reports that he had called his boss, President Donald Trump, a “f**king moron,” aides in the White House held out hope that he would offer his resignation.

Discussion: The Week, Daily Kos and Politico

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
Bob Corker just told the world what he really thinks of Donald Trump

Discussion: Vox, The Week, New York Times, Splinter, Fox News Insider, Hullabaloo, Talking Points Memo, IJR, Mediaite, The Atlantic, Washington Post and Daily Wire

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Sen. Bob Corker's extraordinarily dim portrayal of the Trump administration

Discussion: USA Today, ThinkProgress, Vox, ABC News, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Just Security, The Daily Caller, Informed Comment, The Week, Axios, New York Magazine and Liberal Values

Bret Stephens / New York Times:

Repeal the Second Amendment — I have never understood the conservative fetish for the Second Amendment. — From a law-and-order standpoint, more guns means more murder. “States with higher rates of gun ownership had disproportionately large numbers of deaths from firearm-related homicides …

Discussion: Mediaite, ThinkProgress, Slate, The Daily Signal and Washington Free Beacon

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:

Blood Pact With the N.R.A. — We are once again in the throes of a worn and increasingly fruitless post-massacre protocol that ritualizes our stages of grief and anesthetizes our expectations of action. — On Sunday night, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, taking a sniper's position on the32nd floor …

Discussion: Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, Q13 FOX News, Daily Kos and Romper

Michael Moore:
My Proposal to Repeal the Second Amendment and Replace It With This:

Discussion: Mediaite, IJR, The Hill, Fox News Insider, RedState, Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Wire, NewsBusters and TheBlaze

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Angry GOP donors close their wallets — Republicans are confronting a growing revolt from their top donors, who are cutting off the party in protest over its inability to get anything done. — Tensions reached a boiling point at a recent dinner at the home of Los Angeles billionaire Robert Day.

Discussion: Raw Story, Daily Kos, Daily Wire and National Review

Jeet Heer / New Republic: The Republican Party Isn't Cracking Up. It's Getting Even Stronger.

Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:
Roy Moore's disruption of Washington has already begun, and more is on the way

Discussion: Balloon Juice

CBS Pittsburgh:

Pro-Life Rep. Tim Murphy Will Not Seek Re-Election After Reports Of Urging Abortion — PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Congressman Tim Murphy, of Upper St. Clair, has reached a decision about his political future. — In a statement to KDKA's Jon Delano, the embattled anti-abortion Republican says he won't seek re-election.

Discussion: Business Insider, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Axios, The Daily Caller, WPMT FOX43 and WTVR-TV

John Bresnahan / Politico:
Embattled GOP Rep. Tim Murphy to retire

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Post, NPR, New York Times, Splinter, The Week, NBC News, Snopes.com, Washington Monthly, Dispatches From the …, Friendly Atheist, Common Dreams, LifeNews.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Root, Shareblue, CNN, Vox, Daily Kos, AOL and RedState

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
GOP lawmaker Tim Murphy to retire at end of term

Discussion: Shareblue, New York Times and CBS Pittsburgh

Erica Orden / Wall Street Journal:

Sally Yates, Preet Bharara Stress High Bar for Criminal Charges in Russia Probe — Prosecutors fired by Trump say Special Counsel Robert Mueller has challenging task and may not bring charges — Two of the most high-profile law-enforcement officials fired by President Donald Trump …

Mark Hosenball / Reuters:
‘Trump dossier’ on Russia links now part of special counsel's probe: sources

Discussion: The Week, US News, Business Insider, The Last Refuge and Axios

Washington Post:

Democrat Northam leads Republican Gillespie in race for Virginia governor, new poll finds — A relatively unified party base gives Democrat Ralph Northam a clear lead over Republican Ed Gillespie heading into the final month of the Virginia governor's race, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll.

Discussion: Political Wire

Louis Nelson / Politico:

Trump pushes for Senate intel panel probe of ‘Fake News Networks’ in U.S. — President Donald Trump urged Congress Thursday morning to launch an investigation of the news media, wondering online “why so much of our news is just made up.” — “Why Isn't the Senate Intel Committee looking …

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Colin Wilhelm / Politico:

White House walks back Trump's Puerto Rico comments as Wall Street reels — NEW YORK — On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump casually told Geraldo Rivera on Fox News that the United States would have to wipe out $75 billion in debt owed by Puerto Rico to bondholders around the world.

Discussion: New York Times, Shareblue, CNNMoney, his vorpal sword, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, The Intercept, Political Wire, Joe.My.God., The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress, The Week, Axios and Bloomberg

Liz Peek / Fox News:
President Trump isn't responsible for Puerto Rico's decades of corruption and collapse

Discussion: Vox and Instapundit

Robby Soave / Hit & Run:

Black Lives Matter Students Shut Down the ACLU's Campus Free Speech Event Because ‘Liberalism Is White Supremacy’ — Students affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement crashed an event at the College of William & Mary, rushed the stage, and prevented the invited guest …

Discussion: Flat Hat News, Power Line, IJR, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Daily Caller

Eric Schmitt / New York Times:

3 Special Forces Troops Are Killed and 2 Wounded in Ambush in Niger — WASHINGTON — Three United States Army Special Forces were killed and two were wounded in an ambush in Niger on Wednesday while on a routine patrol with troops they were training from the West African nation, American military officials said.

Discussion: The Resurgent, CNN, Associated Press, Washington Post, FDD's Long War Journal, RedState and Axios

Jimmy Carter / Washington Post:

What I've learned from North Korea's leaders — Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, is founder of the nonprofit Carter Center. — As the world knows, we face the strong possibility of another Korean war, with potentially devastating consequences to the Korean Peninsula …

Discussion: The First Street Journal

Associated Press:
NKorean workers prep seafood going to US stores, restaurants

Discussion: Washington Post, Balloon Juice and Mother Jones

Caitlin Owens / Axios:

ACA premiums blame game may turn against Republicans — For years, Democrats have been on the receiving end of political attacks about rising Affordable Care Act premiums. But the roles are about to be reversed — and it's not clear whether Republicans will be able to avoid the blame.

Discussion: baker

Variety:

Harvey Weinstein Lawyers Up for Bombshell New York Times, New Yorker Stories — Harvey Weinstein has hired a high-powered team of attorneys to push back on soon-to-be-published bombshell stories from the New York Times and the New Yorker detailing sexual allegations and improper workplace behavior against him.

Discussion: East Bay Times and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »