memeorandum: The stress on Trump's machine (Jonathan Swan/Axios)

11:05 PM ET, September 9, 2018

Top Items:

Bob Woodward: “People better wake up to what's going on” in the Oval Office — Watergate journalist Bob Woodward made headlines once again this past week, with his new book about the Trump White House, entitled “Fear.” This morning, in his first TV interview, Woodward paints a picture …

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

The stress on Trump's machine — It's hard to overstate the extremity and variety of pressures bearing down on President Trump and his understaffed White House. — The bottom line: Taken together, it's a jaw-dropping list of problems, and Trump's “fine-tuned machine” is creaking under this stress.

Discussion: Politico

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Scoop: Inside Trump's biggest hire — President Trump was bluffing when he tweeted that he knows the successor to White House counsel Don McGahn, and instead he is vacillating about new legal leaders as he girds for open warfare with Democrats and Robert Mueller.

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

Isaac Chotiner / Slate:

Nobody's Heroes — Bob Woodward's new book presents Trump staffers as our last line of defense. We're doomed. — Nearly 300 pages into Bob Woodward's new book, Fear: Trump in the White House, a West Wing aide named Zach Fuentes cautions fellow staffers.

Discussion: Daily Kos and Shareblue Media

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
'I wouldn't have used it': Bob Woodward disses New York Times op-ed

Discussion: Fox News, Axios and Splinter

Axios:
Omarosa claims White House staffers had hashtag to discuss 25th Amendment

Discussion: Breitbart

Ronan Farrow / New Yorker:

As Leslie Moonves Negotiates His Exit from CBS, Women Raise New Assault and Harassment Claims — Members of the board of the CBS Corporation are negotiating with the company's chairman and C.E.O., Leslie Moonves, about his departure. Sources familiar with the board's activities …

William D. Cohan / Vanity Fair:

Les Moonves Admits to Unwanted Kissing of His Doctor 19 Years Ago — Another wrinkle emerges in Moonves's negotiated exit from CBS, and within one of the more head-spinning #MeToo storylines yet. — BY - WILLIAM D. COHANSeptember 9, 2018, — The career arc of Les Moonves …

Discussion: Deadline and Mediaite

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Les Moonves is about to leave CBS, sources say — Farrow on new allegations against Moonves — Longtime CBS chief executive Les Moonves, facing new claims of sexual misconduct, will step down soon as part of a wide-ranging corporate settlement of a separate fight for control of CBS.

Discussion: CBS Corporation, Reuters, Raw Story, CNBC, Deadline, Engadget, IndieWire and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

CBS News:

Leslie Moonves departs as chief of CBS, financial package to be withheld pending investigation — CBS Corporation announced on Sunday that chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves is departing the company, effective immediately. Moonves' exit comes hours after The New Yorker published accounts …

Discussion: CBS New York, Mashable and IJR

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
CEO Leslie Moonves will leave CBS without severance package; separate deal will reshape CBS board, sources say

more at Mediagazer »

Sara Fischer / Axios:
New Moonves accusations prompt reports of his imminent departure

Discussion: One America News Network, The Guardian, abc7chicago.com and AOL

Washington Post:

GOP candidate for Fla. governor spoke at racially charged events — Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), a gubernatorial nominee who recently was accused of using racially tinged language, spoke four times at conferences organized by a conservative activist who has said that African Americans owe …

Discussion: Raw Story

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

The Urgent Question of Trump and Money Laundering — How Bruce Ohr, President Trump's latest Twitter target, fits a suspicious pattern of behavior on Russia. — Donald Trump has a long history of doing what he thinks is best for Donald Trump. If he needs to discard friends, allies or wives along the way, so be it.

Axios:

Trump expected to declassify Carter Page and Bruce Ohr documents — President Trump is expected to declassify, as early as this week, documents covering the U.S. government's surveillance of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page and the investigative activities of senior Justice Department lawyer Bruce Ohr …

Discussion: Political Wire and Mediaite

New York Times:

Dirty Politics in New York — A last-minute mailer from Democrats wrongly describing Cynthia Nixon as anti-Semitic is a disgrace. — The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section.

Discussion: New York Post and Splinter

New York Times: A Delayed Bridge Opening and an ‘Inappropriate’ Mailer Puts Cuomo on the Defensive

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Inside the GOP's rescue mission for Ted Cruz — With a string of polls showing GOP Sen. Ted Cruz's lead slipping, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick showed up in Washington on July 25 to deliver an urgent plea to White House officials: Send President Donald Trump. — Patrick, who chaired Trump's …

Discussion: HuffPost, CANNONFIRE, Vox, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Outside the Beltway, Hullabaloo, Political Wire, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Eli Watkins / CNN:
Cruz: Democrats want Texas to be ‘like California,’ have ‘tofu’ and ‘dyed hair’

Discussion: CBS News, Political Wire and New York Times

Roger Kimball / Spectator USA:

Whining Serena Williams is tennis's Hillary Clinton … No one expected Naomi Osaka to win the US Open yesterday. Everyone favoured her opponent. The crowd was solidly with Serena Williams, as were the bookies. But the 20-year-old Japanese-Haitian, who became the first player representing Japan …

Discussion: twitchy.com

Jonathan V. Last / Weekly Standard:
Serena Williams Got What She Deserved

Discussion: Sporting News, Washington Post and New York Times

Maureen Callahan / New York Post:
It's shameful what US Open did to Naomi Osaka

Discussion: Daily Wire, Althouse and The Atlantic

Rebecca Traister / The Cut:
Serena Williams and the Game That Can't Be Won (Yet) What rage costs a woman.

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, New York Times, Longreads, The Root, New York Post, Outside the Beltway and Vox

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Scary signs for Republicans — My colleague Mike Allen, who's covered a few midterm elections in his time, says it's rare to see so much evidence of a trend accumulate so many months out, only for all the signals to be proven wrong. — The big picture: Yes, the punditocracy is being cautious …

Emily Birnbaum / The Hill:

Three Miami Dolphins players protest during national anthem — Three Miami Dolphins players protested during the national anthem before their season opener against Tennessee on Sunday. — Wide receivers Kenny Stills and Albert Wilson knelt during the anthem while defensive end Robert Quinn raised …

Discussion: One America News Network, Palm Beach Post, Breitbart and New York Times

Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz / USA Today:
Dolphins' Kenny Stills, Albert Wilson first NFL players in Week 1 to kneel during anthem

Discussion: ABC News, ESPN, Bloomberg, The Gateway Pundit, AOL, abc7chicago.com, ThinkProgress and JONATHAN TURLEY

Greg P. / twitchy.com:

Twitter suspended Benghazi hero Kris Paronto but the account he allegedly offended never even reported him. What gives? — Benghazi hero Kris Paronto was suspended by Twitter and forced to delete a tweet where he tagged and mocked the anti-Trump account @itmustend_ for that account's tweet …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit and Daily Wire

Paul Wiseman / Associated Press:

Despite Trump tweet, Ford says it won't make hatchback in US — WASHINGTON (AP) — Ford won't be moving production of a hatchback wagon to the United States from China — despite President Donald Trump's claim Sunday that his taxes on Chinese imports mean the Focus Active can be built in America.

Taya Kyle / Fox News:

Nike, I love your gear, but your Colin Kaepernick ad exhausts my spirit — Nike is a business, and their decision to make Colin Kaepernick the star of their new ad campaign wasn't just a political move, it was a business move. But is it paying off? Sales surged in the days immediately …

Julie Zauzmer / Washington Post:

Catholic clergyman calls on Wuerl to resign, says he'll refuse to participate in Mass with him — A highly visible member of Washington's Catholic clergy has made a dramatic declaration calling on Cardinal Donald Wuerl to resign, the latest blow to Washington's embattled archbishop.

Geoffrey Kabaservice / Politico:

Liberals Don't Know Much About Conservative History — And both sides suffer for it. — The growing tendency of late for liberals and conservatives to regard each other as not just opponents, but enemies, has been one of the most alarming in an alarming era.

Discussion: Grasping Reality …

Frank Miele / Daily Inter Lake:

‘I am part of the resistance inside the news media,’ and I'm not anonymous — Over the years, I've been asked to run anonymous letters dozens of times, but I've never done so. The explanation is always the same: Our readers have a right to judge the validity of a submitted opinion based …

Tom Mitchell / Financial Times:

Beijing hopes Wall Street bankers can break Trump trade impasse — The Chinese government is inviting Wall Street's top bankers to a hastily arranged meeting in Beijing as President Donald Trump threatens to impose punitive tariffs on all Chinese exports to the US.

Discussion: Bloomberg

Gregg Re / Fox News:

Pence slams ‘disappointing’ Obama speech, says he'd take lie detector to prove he didn't write NYT Op-Ed — Vice President Pence lambasted Barack Obama's return to the campaign trail in an interview with “Fox News Sunday,” telling host Chris Wallace that the former president's rhetoric was a …

Discussion: Political Wire and Splinter

New York Times:

Watch us poll voters in West Virginia's 3rd Congressional District. — Can a Democrat win a district that voted for President Trump by 50 points? We've made 16859 calls, and 36 people have spoken to us. Our most recent calls: — Carol Miller, the Republican candidate, has a slight edge in our poll so far.