memeorandum: John McCain's maverick moment (Lauren Fox/CNN)

12:15 PM ET, July 28, 2017

Top Items:

Ryan Lizza / New Yorker:

Anthony Scaramucci Called Me to Unload About White House Leakers, Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon — He started by threatening to fire the entire White House communications staff. It escalated from there. — On Wednesday night, I received a phone call from Anthony Scaramucci, the new White House communications director.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Atlantic, Vox, RedState, CNN, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Power Line, Bloomberg, New York Times, CNBC, Refinery29, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, Common Dreams, Gothamist, US News, The Root, Patterico's Pontifications, Washington Free Beacon, vice, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, CBS Los Angeles, TheBlaze, IJR, Salon, Weekly Standard, CANNONFIRE, The Week, Balloon Juice, Telegraph, National Review, WSJ, Politico, New York Post, BuzzFeed, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit, The Guardian, Reuters, Mother Jones, Real Clear Politics, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Associated Press, Splinter, The Hill, Fox News, Mashable, The Daily Beast, Knowledge is Power, Daily Wire, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Axios, The Times of Israel, Conservative News Today, The American Mirror, The American Conservative and Politicus USA

Mike Allen / Axios:

Trump “loved” Scaramucci's quotes — but he hates being upstaged — Top Republicans tell us that yesterday may have been an inflection point in the West Wing meltdown — that if behavior like this continues, apparently sanctioned by the President, people will finally leave.

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, Washington Post and The Daily Caller

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:

Why Anthony Scaramucci's Rant Probably Ticked Off the FBI … In his immediately infamous phone call to a New Yorker staff writer, Anthony Scaramucci didn't just say the White House chief of staff was a “f-king paranoid schizophrenic” or accuse the president's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, of engaging in autofellatio.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, CNBC, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, Politico, The Hill, The Atlantic, Daily Wire, Splinter, Business Insider and The Guardian

James Hohmann / Washington Post:

The Daily 202: Trump's hardball tactics backfire as ‘skinny repeal’ goes down — THE BIG IDEA: President Trump's attacks on Republican senators are finally catching up with him, and Lisa Murkowski will not be bullied. — A last-ditch effort to keep the Obamacare repeal effort alive went …

Discussion: Politico and Conservative News Today, more at Mediagazer »

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

Trump says he wants a ‘general’ to replace Priebus: report — President Trump has said privately that he wants to appoint “a general” to replace White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, The New York Times reports. — The president, the Times reported on Thursday, has so far focused …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Political Wire

Tony Lee / Breitbart:
The Scaramucci Show: New Communications Director Unloads Nasty Attack on White House Colleagues to Opposition Party

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Balloon Juice, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, IJR, Politico and TheBlaze

Ezra Klein / Vox:
I do not know how to convey how appalling the GOP's health care process or policy is

Discussion: Shareblue, Politico, CNBC, Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

Hadas Gold / Politico: Scaramucci's tirade — Healthcare's dramatic nightlong coverage — N.Y. Times is failing up

New York Times:
Anthony Scaramucci's Uncensored Rant: Foul Words and Threats to Have Priebus Fired

Discussion: Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, AOL, NBC News, CNBC, The Daily Caller, Common Dreams, The Week, IJR, Mediaite, Politico, CNN and Raw Story

Mike Allen / Axios:
Mooch to lower profile after New Yorker fracas

Discussion: Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Daniel Lippman / Politico:
HEALTH CARE BILL GOES UP IN FLAMES …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Fox News:
Anthony Scaramucci uses vulgar language to lash out at Priebus, make fun of Bannon in interview

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, JONATHAN TURLEY, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Shareblue, The Hill, The Week, Balloon Juice, Washington Free Beacon, The Guardian, Raw Story, ABC News and CBS New York

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:

How McCain tanked Obamacare repeal — Paul Ryan couldn't persuade him. Neither could Mike Pence. And in the end, President Donald Trump couldn't reel in John McCain either. — The president made a last-ditch effort, calling the Arizona senator and key holdout on the GOP's Obamacare repeal measure …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Common Dreams, ABC News, Political Insider blog, Mashable, Associated Press, New York Times, The Week, Washington Free Beacon and Axios

mccain.senate.gov:

STATEMENT BY SENATOR JOHN McCAIN ON VOTING “NO” ON “SKINNY REPEAL” — Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) released the following statement today on voting “no” on the so-called “skinny repeal” of Obamacare: — “From the beginning, I have believed that Obamacare …

Discussion: The Atlantic, CNBC, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, VICE News, twitchy.com, New York Times, Speaker.gov, TheBlaze, The Daily Signal, PRI, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Lawyers, Guns & Money, FOX40, KTLA, The Week, TalkLeft and Axios

New York Times:

Senate Rejects Slimmed-Down Obamacare Repeal as McCain Votes No — WASHINGTON — The Senate in the early hours of Friday morning rejected a new, scaled-down Republican plan to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, derailing the Republicans' seven-year campaign to dismantle President Barack …

Josh Barro / Business Insider:

John McCain saved Republicans from themselves — On Thursday, Sen. Lindsey Graham made a demand: He would vote for the terrible healthcare bill being offered before the Senate, a bill he thought would cause health-insurance market disaster if enacted, as long as he received clear assurances …

Discussion: bradford-delong.com, Jezebel, AOL, New York Magazine and Pacific Standard

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:

The night John McCain killed the GOP's health-care fight — It was the most dramatic night in the United States Senate in recent history. Just ask the senators who witnessed it. — A seven-year quest to undo the Affordable Care Act collapsed — at least for now — as Sen. John McCain …

Discussion: Shareblue, Vox, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, The Daily Beast and NPR

MJ Lee / CNN: Cryptic calls, lip-reading and a thumbs-down: Behind McCain's dramatic vote

Peter Sullivan / The Hill:
Senate ObamaCare repeal bill falls in shocking vote

Discussion: Politico, IJR, Politicus USA, CBS New York, Balloon Juice and Washington Free Beacon

Ben Terris / Washington Post:
‘Wait for the show’: High drama and low voices in a long, weird night at the Capitol.

Discussion: The Nation and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Enough about McCain. It was Collins, Murkowski and red-state Democrats who killed Trumpcare.

Discussion: Raw Story and The Guardian

Bloomberg:
Obamacare Repeal Collapses as Senate GOP Blocks Health Bill

Jonathan Cohn / HuffPost:
Obamacare Is Alive Because It Has Made Life Better For Millions

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Lauren Fox / CNN:
John McCain's maverick moment

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

CNN:
Health care debate: Turmoil in Senate as Republicans revolt against ‘skinny bill’

Discussion: CNNMoney, The Hill, New York Magazine, CBO's Publications, Business Insider, Why Evolution Is True, The Moderate Voice, Vox, New York Times, Hot Air, The Federalist, The Week, The Daily Caller and KTLA

Elise Viebeck / Washington Post:
Female senators are increasingly on receiving end of insults from male officials

Discussion: The Atlantic, CleanTechnica, DCReport.org, New York Times, Alaska Dispatch News, The Daily Caller, Vox, The Hill, RedState, ABC News, Washington Monthly and CNBC

Siobhan Hughes / Wall Street Journal: Senate ‘Skinny’ Repeal Vote Was All About John McCain

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
‘Skinny’ repeal isn't just a bad bill — it's an insult

Discussion: Daily Wire

Rachael Bade / Politico:
House weighs ‘martial law’ for Obamacare repeal

Discussion: New York Magazine, ABC News, Vox, Scripting News, Snopes.com, The Hill and The Daily Caller

New York Post:

Couple jump to their deaths because they 'can't afford' health care — A couple jumped to their death in Murray Hill early Friday. — Seth Gottfried — Manhattan parents struggling to pay their doctor's bills jumped to their deaths early Friday - leaving double suicide notes pleading …

Discussion: Raw Story and Daily Wire

Neil MacFarquhar / New York Times:

Russia Seizes 2 U.S. Properties and Orders Embassy to Cut Staff — MOSCOW — Russia seized two American diplomatic properties on Friday and ordered the United States Embassy in Moscow to reduce its staff by September, in the Kremlin's first retaliatory steps against proposed new American sanctions.

Discussion: New York Magazine, TASS, Shakesville, The Guardian and Mother Jones

Andrew Roth / Washington Post:
Russia demands U.S. reduce diplomatic staff in new round of conflict over election hacking

Discussion: Politico, PEN America and Axios

Gillian B. White / The Atlantic:

Emerson Collective Acquires Majority Stake in The Atlantic — David G. Bradley, the chairman and owner of Atlantic Media, is announcing this morning that he is selling a majority stake in The Atlantic to Emerson Collective, an organization led by philanthropist and investor Laurene Powell Jobs.

Discussion: bradford-delong.com, AOL and Gizmodo

Sydney Ember / New York Times:
Laurene Powell Jobs's Organization to Take Majority Stake in The Atlantic

more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

In One Day, Trump Administration Lands 3 Punches Against Gay Rights — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration abruptly waded into the culture wars over gay rights this week, signaling in three separate actions that it will use the powers of the federal government to roll back civil rights for gay and transgender people.

Discussion: Business Insider

Emma Green / The Atlantic: Trump's Battle Over LGBT Discrimination Is Just Beginning

USA Today:

Russia probe could reveal Trump's closest-held secrets — Since Election Day, President Trump's businesses have sold at least 30 luxury condos and oceanfront lots for about $33 million. That includes millions of dollars in properties to secretive shell companies, which can hide the identities …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:

National Income and Product Accounts — Gross Domestic Product: Second Quarter 2017 (Advance Estimate), and Annual Update — Real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the second quarter of 2017 — (table 1), according to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Discussion: CNBC, Mother Jones, New York Times, NTK Network and The Daily Caller

Anna Edney / Bloomberg:

Tobacco Shares Plunge After FDA Proposes Cut to Cigarette Nicotine — Goal is to cut nicotine to non-addictive levels, FDA says — Shares of Altria, British American Tobacco plunge Friday — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will work to cut the amount of nicotine in cigarettes …