memeorandum: Detroit man settles race discrimination lawsuit, then bank won't cash his check (Tresa Baldas/Detroit Free Press)

4:00 PM ET, January 23, 2020

Top Items:

From Judy Woodruff: Longtime PBS NewsHour Anchor and Co-Founder Jim Lehrer Has Passed Away — Washington, DC (January 23, 2020) — It is with great sadness that I share the news that co-founder and longtime anchor of the PBS NewsHour Jim Lehrer died today, Thursday, January 23, 2020, peacefully in his sleep at home.

Discussion: NPR, Political Wire, TVNewser, The Wrap, The Hill, Mediaite, The Week, HuffPost and WTKR-TV

PBS NewsHour:

Remembering Jim Lehrer — PBS NewsHour co-founder Jim Lehrer, a giant in journalism known for his tenacity and dedication to simply delivering the news, died Thursday at the age of 85. — For Jim, being a journalist was never a self-centered endeavor. He always told those who worked with him: “It's not about us.”

more at Mediagazer »

Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:

Jim Lehrer, Longtime PBS News Anchor, Is Dead at 85 — For 36 years, mostly teaming with Robert MacNeil, he offered an alternative to network evening news programs with in-depth reporting, interviews and news analysis. — Jim Lehrer, the retired PBS anchorman who for 36 years gave public television viewers …

Discussion: TVNewser

Charlie Nash / Mediaite:

Fox & Friends Airs Brutal Bloomberg Ad Highlighting Trump's ‘Erratic and Out of Control’ Attacks on the Military — Fox News' Fox & Friends, often reported to be one of President Donald Trump's favorite shows, aired an attack ad on the president from 2020 Democratic presidential candidate …

Discussion: Fox News, IJR and Contemptor

Axios:

Mike Bloomberg copies Trump to beat Trump — To beat President Trump, Mike Bloomberg wants to be candidate Trump. — The state of play: Axios visited Bloomberg's new campaign HQ in Times Square yesterday, and we were struck by how much his 1,000+-person team is learning from …

Discussion: Raw Story

Joe Garofoli / San Francisco Chronicle:

San Francisco Mayor London Breed endorses Mike Bloomberg for president — San Francisco Mayor London Breed endorsed Mike Bloomberg for the Democratic presidential nomination, boosting the billionaire's chances in a delegate-rich state where he got off to a late start but is now spending millions to try to win.

Discussion: The Week and The Hill

Zachary Petrizzo / Mediaite:
Trump Goes Off on ‘Mini Mike Bloomberg’ After Fox & Friends Airs Attack Ad

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Hill, Politico and New York Times

Sam Meredith / CNBC:

Mnuchin says Thunberg can tell us what to do ‘after she goes and studies economics in college’ — Speaking at a press briefing at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mnuchin was asked whether the world's largest economy needed to completely and immediately divest from fossil fuels.

Discussion: The Guardian, Vanity Fair, One America News Network, Common Dreams, VICE, The American Independent and The Daily Beast

Maria Cramer / New York Times:

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Takes Jab at Greta Thunberg at Davos — At a Swiss economic forum, Mr. Mnuchin dismissed criticisms by Ms. Thunberg, the teenage environmental activist. — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin dismissed criticisms by the climate activist Greta Thunberg on Thursday …

Discussion: CNBC, Bloomberg, IJR, Earther, Reason, One America News Network, The Gateway Pundit, Axios and National Observer

Anthony Brooks / WBUR:

Sanders Widens Lead In N.H. In New WBUR Poll — With the New Hampshire presidential primary less than three weeks away, a new WBUR poll suggests Bernie Sanders might be peaking at just the right time. The survey of more than 426 likely Democratic primary voters finds Sanders in the lead …

Discussion: Fox News, National Review, CNBC, CNN, Common Dreams, The Hill, The Week, Reason, Politico, Mediaite, Washington Times, TheBlaze, Sean Hannity and FiveThirtyEight

Laura Barrón-López / Politico:

Why Biden's rivals can't break his lock on black voters — GREENVILLE, S.C. — Julius Stephens is 74, black, and calls himself a liberal. — Standing outside Big Rod's Barber Shop in North Augusta after watching Joe Biden surrogates rally on behalf of the vice president last week …

Discussion: Washington Post and New York Times

Greg Sargent / Associated Press:

Schiff asked GOP senators a tough question. The answer is awful. — As Rep. Adam Schiff continued building his case against President Trump late into Wednesday evening, Trump fired off one angry Twitter missive after another, until he finally crossed the 140 mark, perhaps his most prolific day of tweeting and retweeting ever.

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story and New York Times

Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist: 6 Democratic Senators To Watch In Impeachment Trial

Emma Loop / BuzzFeed News:

The US's Top Intelligence Official Missed A Deadline To Turn Over A Report On Jamal Khashoggi's Killing, In Violation Of The Law — WASHINGTON — The country's top intelligence official has failed to turn over to Congress a report on the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi …

Discussion: Responsible Statecraft and Vanity Fair, more at Mediagazer »

Dan Primack / Axios:
MBS' alleged Bezos phone hack touches the highest levels of American power

Discussion: The Verge, Columbia Journalism Review and VICE, more at Techmeme »

Tresa Baldas / Detroit Free Press:

Detroit man settles race discrimination lawsuit, then bank won't cash his check — Sauntore Thomas is reeling from a one-two punch. — First, the Detroiter sued his employer alleging racial discrimination in a lawsuit that settled confidentially. Then he went to the bank this week to cash …

Discussion: New York Times, TheBlaze, New York Post, VICE and Raw Story

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Jerry Nadler ‘stunned’ Susan Collins into writing a note to John Roberts — The Maine Republican said in an interview that she believed a violation of Senate rules had occurred during a heated exchange on the floor. — Sen. Susan Collins. Sen. Susan Collins was “stunned” …

Discussion: Washington Post and CNN

Politico:
Dems unload ‘overwhelming’ impeachment case on the Senate — even as they press for more

Discussion: New York Times, Breitbart, Reuters, Letters from an American, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, Raw Story, The Hill, CNBC and Washington Post

Jason Easley / POLITICUSUSA: Senator Confirms Republicans Are Leaving And Not Listening To Evidence Against Trump

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Mick Mulvaney becomes top Democratic impeachment target — Democrats are zeroing in on Mick Mulvaney as their top demand for witness testimony during President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. — That doesn't mean the party doesn't also want to hear from former national security adviser John Bolton …

Discussion: Raw Story and NBC News

Dareh Gregorian / NBC News:
Executive privilege can't stop John Bolton from testifying, House manager says

Discussion: Breitbart and MSNBC

Coral Davenport / New York Times:

Trump Removes Pollution Controls on Streams and Wetlands — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday will finalize a rule to strip away environmental protections for streams, wetlands and other water bodies, handing a victory to farmers, fossil fuel producers and real estate developers …

Discussion: FOX2now.com, courthousenews.com, Associated Press, HuffPost, Tangle, The Week, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CNN, Axios, Progress Pond and The Guardian

Annie Snider / Politico:
Trump erodes water protections: 6 things to know

Discussion: ABC News

Kate Sullivan / CNN:

CNN cancels Democratic presidential town halls because of impeachment trial — Washington (CNN)CNN has canceled the Democratic presidential town halls scheduled to take place next week ahead of the Iowa caucuses because of the ongoing impeachment trial, a CNN spokesperson said Thursday.

Discussion: The Hill

Des Moines Register: The last Iowa Poll of the caucus season will be released Feb. 1 in conjunction with a live reveal on CNN

HuffPost:

Trump's Doral Resort Spikes Its Room Rates Ahead Of His RNC Visit — The near doubling of rates may have increased taxpayer costs for housing Secret Service and other staff who traveled there ahead of the president's trip. — DORAL, Fla. ― The president's Miami golf resort that puts money …

Discussion: Politico and Daily Kos

NBC News:

Trump impeachment defense lawyers Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz share disturbing problem — While the president still stands accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women, two of his lawyers are embroiled in their own sexual misconduct and assault scandals.

Discussion: The Atlantic

Sarah Ellison / Washington Post:

Trumpworld has converted the nation's regional talk radio hosts into a loyal army — RICHMOND — With breakfast from McDonald's in his left hand and his softsided briefcase rolling behind him, John Fredericks strolled into his radio studio, housed in a small, isolated building on the south side of this city.

FiveThirtyEight:

Republican Voters Increasingly Back The GOP's Move To Block Impeachment Witnesses — On Tuesday, the impeachment trial of President Trump featured hours of acrimonious debate over whether witnesses should be called and what a fair process would look like. Now, as the House impeachment managers begin …

Discussion: Hotair and IJR

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Republicans: The case for impeachment is terrible — and the portions are so small

Discussion: The Hill, Vanity Fair and Daily Kos

Scott Bixby / The Daily Beast:

Bernie Sanders Once Compared Vermont Workers to Black ‘Slaves’ — As the leading member of a self-described “radical political party” in the 1970s, Bernie Sanders repeatedly compared Vermont workers to enslaved black people. — In recent weeks, Sen. Bernie Sanders has criticized his rivals …

Discussion: TheBlaze and Sara A. Carter

Peter Nicholas / The Atlantic:

Donald Trump Has One Problem — Donald Trump faces the diciest moment of his presidency, a Senate impeachment trial, with a pair of distinct handicaps: shattered credibility and a West Wing that is broken into fiefdoms and often clueless about his intentions. Both were years in the making; neither seems easily fixed.

Vanessa Gera / Associated Press:

Islamic leaders make ‘groundbreaking’ visit to Auschwitz — WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Muslim religious leaders joined members of a U.S. Jewish group at Auschwitz on Thursday for what organizers described as “the most senior Islamic leadership delegation” to visit the site of a Nazi German death camp.

Louise Boyle / Daily Mail:

Ghislaine Maxwell's personal emails were HACKED sparking fears that damaging information about high-profile individuals linked to Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking case, including Prince Andrew, could be leaked — Lawyers for the British socialite revealed the hack while discussing …

Discussion: Redstate, The Daily Caller, Fox News and Big League Politics

Tobias Hoonhout / National Review:

Stacey Abrams Urges Fellow Dems to ‘Stop Re-Litigating Past Elections’ — Stacey Abrams said it was time “to stop re-litigating past elections” during a speech at the University of New England in Portland, Maine on Wednesday, despite failing to officially concede her 2018 loss to Georgia governor Brian Kemp.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon and Associated Press

CNN:

Snakes could be the source of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak — (CNN)Snakes — the Chinese krait and the Chinese cobra — may be the original source of the newly discovered coronavirus that has triggered an outbreak of a deadly infectious respiratory illness in China this winter.

Discussion: The New Daily, The Daily Wire, Popular Science, The Gateway Pundit, Bustle, FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV and KTLA

Stephanie Mencimer / Mother Jones:

Evangelicals Love Donald Trump for Many Reasons, But One of Them Is Especially Terrifying — The enemies of Israel have unleashed a massive air attack on the Promised Land. Hundreds of fighter jets streak across the sky. But before Israel can be destroyed, fire rains from the heavens …

Discussion: Raw Story

Zolan Kanno-Youngs / New York Times:

Trump Moves to Block Visas for Pregnant Women on ‘Birth Tourism’ — The Trump administration grants visa officers more power to block pregnant women from visiting the United States if applicants are believed to be traveling to give birth. — WASHINGTON — The State Department on Thursday moved …

George Packer / The Atlantic:

The Enemies of Writing — Editor's Note: The Hitchens Prize is awarded annually by the Dennis & Victoria Ross Foundation to an author or a journalist whose work, in the spirit of the late Christopher Hitchens, “reflects a commitment to free expression and inquiry, a range and depth of intellect …

Harriet Sherwood / The Guardian:

Sex is for married heterosexual couples only, says Church of England — Pastoral guidance also calls for Christians in gay or straight civil unions to be abstinent — The Church of England has stated that sex belongs only within heterosexual marriage, and that Christians in gay …

Discussion: PinkNews

New York Times:

The Saudi Connection: Inside the 9/11 Case That Divided the F.B.I. — A small team of agents spent years investigating whether one of Washington's closest allies was involved in the worst terror attack in U.S. history. This is their story. — This article is a partnership between ProPublica …

Aaron Rupar / Vox:

Fox News devised a way to cover the impeachment trial without covering it at all — The News Corp. building on Sixth Avenue in New York City, home to Fox News, pictured in 2019. Kevin Hagen/Getty Images — Viewers were shown video without the audio, allowing hosts to spin the proceedings in real time.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Wrap, New Yorker and No More Mister Nice Blog

Jim Hanson / The Investigative Journal:

The Failure of Iran's Shia Crescent — Iran is facing major challenges to its position as a regional power. Economic problems brought about by mismanagement and corruption and increased by U.S. sanctions have made funding its network of proxy forces difficult.

New York Times:

New York City to Force Stores to Accept Cash — The City Council is set to pass a bill that would put New York at the forefront of a national movement to ban cashless businesses. — From a cup of coffee to a car ride, mobile devices or plastic cards are becoming the preferred …

Elisha Fieldstadt / NBC News:

Michelle Carter, convicted in texting suicide case, released from jail — Carter was denied parole in September, but her early release Thursday is due to good behavior. — A Massachusetts woman who encouraged her boyfriend to kill himself was released from jail Thursday, after just under a year behind bars.