Trump spends the weekend rage-tweeting, the Nunes Memo is exposed as a fraud, and Jim Comey blesses us with punditry. Then students from Parkland, Florida and Chicago talk about their efforts to register young voters and reduce gun violence, and DeRay Mckesson joins to talk about his upcoming book, On The Other Side of Freedom.

Show Notes:

Walking back the walk back:

• Washington Post: Trump has now walked back his walk-back on U.S. intelligence and Russia
• Washington Post: Trump calls for end of Mueller probe, saying it’s ‘discredited’ by Carter Page surveillance
• New York Times: As Trump Struggles With Helsinki’s Fallout, Congress Faces a New Charge: Complicity
• Washington Post: In one tweet, Trump reveals nearly everything he gets wrong about the Mueller investigation
• Politico: Trump directs a Washington invite for Putin
• New York Times: Trump to Invite Putin to Washington, Blindsiding His Intelligence Chief
• Washington Post: Trump’s Putin fallout: Inside the White House’s tumultuous week of walk-backs

Russia threats, Carter Page, and FISA:

• CNN: Trump says he wasn’t warned in 2016 about Russia threats. He was
• NBC News: FBI warned Trump in 2016 Russians would try to infiltrate his campaign
• Washington Post: Carter Page FISA warrants underscore the difficulty of disproving presidential falsehoods
• Washington Post: Responding to FISA release, Carter Page calls spying allegations ‘ridiculous’
• Washington Post: Administration releases application to wiretap Trump campaign adviser
• New York Times: How a Trump Decision Revealed a G.O.P. Memo’s Shaky Foundation
• Lawfare: What to Make of the Carter Page FISA Applications
• Washington Post: With the release of new documents, Devin Nunes’s memo on Carter Page has gotten even less credible
• The Hill: Schiff: Surveillance warrant docs show that Nunes memo ‘misrepresented and distorted these applications’
• Vox: The FBI released records on Carter Page surveillance. It thought he was being recruited by Russia.
• ABC News: Nunes used political donations to buy $15k Celtics tickets, lavish dinners
• Politico: Nunes declares war on the media
• New York Times: Without Evidence, Trump Claims Vindication From Release of Carter Page Documents
  

Trump’s all-caps threat at Iran:

• New York Times: Trump Threatens Iran on Twitter, Warning Rouhani of Dire ‘Consequences’
• BBC: Trump and Iran’s Rouhani trade angry threats
• The Atlantic: Is Trump Going to War With Iran?
• Axios: Pompeo invokes human rights to defend administration’s Iran policy
• Axios: 1 big thing: “America First” becomes a global reality
• Washington Post: After Trump slams Iran’s president, Iranian officials accuse him of ‘psychological warfare’

Cohen tapes:

• New York Times: Michael Cohen Secretly Taped Trump Discussing Payment to Playboy Model
• Washington Post: In secret recording seized by FBI, Trump and Cohen discuss buying rights to model’s account of alleged affair
• New York Times: Tabloid Company, Aiding Trump Campaign, May Have Crossed Line Into Politics
• Washington Post: 2 troubling questions for Trump in light of the new Michael Cohen tape revelation
• Washington Post: ‘This is not the only tape’: Michael Avenatti says there are more secret recordings of Trump
• The Atlantic: Can the Cohen Tapes Bring Down Trump?
• New Yorker: What We Know About Michael Cohen’s Tape

Does the continuing Putin fallout even matter?:

• Washington Post: Americans give Trump negative marks for Helsinki performance, poll finds
• NBC News: NBC/WSJ poll: Trump is stronger with the base, weaker with the middle
• FiveThirtyEight: GOP Criticism Of Trump Is All Talk — But It Still Matters
• FiveThirtyEight: How the Trump-Putin Press Conference Rates on our Opposition Scale
• CBS News: CBS News poll: Most Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of Putin summit

Rand Paul is ridiculous:

• CNN: Rand Paul to ask Trump to revoke Brennan security clearance
• Politico: Rand Paul to ask Trump to revoke security clearance of ex-CIA chief Brennan

Trump tax cut and the Democratic strategy:

• Bloomberg: Trump’s Tax Cut Hasn’t Done Anything for Workers
• Politico: Trump promised them better, cheaper health care. It’s not happening.
• Vox: Poll: in 48 GOP districts, voters think Republicans are “more corrupt” than Democrats
• Vox: The fate of the ACA could turn on Judge Kavanaugh’s appointment
• Vox: The Trump administration’s latest steps to undermine the Affordable Care Act, explained
• NY Mag: White House: U.S. Can’t Afford Veterans’ Health Care Without Cuts
• Washington Post: How Trump’s tariffs on Mexico are taking jobs from U.S. workers
• CNN: Tax cut triggers $437 billion explosion of stock buybacks
• Forbes: Trump’s Medicaid Work Rules Hit States With Costs And Bureaucracy

What kind of alternative should Democrats offer?:

• Huffington Post: Op-Ed by Robert Kuttner – Yes, Democrats Need To Run Left — On Economics
• Vox:  Democrats are banking on a pro-coal, pro-teachers strike candidate to deliver for them in Trump country
• LA Times: Can moderate Democrats rise again? The answer may be in Ohio
• The Intercept: Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan Is Telling People He Will Run For President In 2020, Hoping To Win “Yoga Vote”
• Politico: House Dems unveil new midterm campaign slogan
• Roll Call: With Eye on 2019 Majority, Hoyer Unveils Priority Economic Proposals
• Washington Post: Comey cautions Democrats against ‘socialist left.’ Democrats pounce.
• New York Times: There Is a Revolution on the Left. Democrats Are Bracing.
• Daily Beast: Democrats Agree that ’90s Centrism Is Dead—but How Far Left Is Enough?
• Wall Street Journal: America’s Factory Towns, Once Solidly Blue, Are Now a GOP Haven

DeRay Mckesson:

• LA Times: Activist DeRay Mckesson will publish his first book in September
• BuzzFeed: DeRay Mckesson Landed A Book Deal
• Crooked Media: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Pod Save The People
• Washington Post: The Trump administration has a new argument for dismantling the social safety net: It worked
• Axios: Trump declares success in War on Poverty
• ESPN: Brewers fans cheer Josh Hader in first appearance since Twitter controversy
• Deadspin: Giving A Guy Who Was Racist Online A Standing Ovation To Own The Libs
• Vox: The Miami Dolphins acted on the NFL’s anthem policy. The league was unprepared for the backlash.