The Open Thread for March 26, 2018

The much-anticipated 60 Minutes interview aired last night on CBS.  Here is the transcript.

Washington Post: “The adult film star offered little new evidence for her allegation of a 2006 affair with Donald Trump, but described the intimidation strategies she claims were used to silence her since she first sought to tell her story in 2011, including a threat against her young daughter.”

I was kinda let down, because we already knew all the major details already.  Oh well.

What we learned from the Stormy Daniels "60 Minutes" interview: https://t.co/HYKA7CfNf0 pic.twitter.com/sJgz73husd

— New York Magazine (@NYMag) March 25, 2018

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) told CNN that students protesting for gun control legislation would be better served by taking CPR classes and preparing for active shooter scenarios.  Said Santorum: “How about kids instead of looking to someone else to solve their problem, do something about maybe taking CPR classes or trying to deal with situations that when there is a violent shooter that you can actually respond to that.”

Funny, I never knew CPR could fix gunshots to the head.

Why the Stormy Daniels story matters, in one paragraph https://t.co/PrQWt3sUrx

— Vox (@voxdotcom) March 26, 2018

Sources have told City&State PA that Rep. Ryan Costello (R-PA) has decided not to seek reelection in Pennsylvania’s hotly contested 6th congressional district.

“Despite filing petitions on Tuesday to run for another term, four Republican sources said Costello indicated at a recent meeting with state and local GOP officials that he intends to drop out of the race in the weeks before the May Primary.”

CNN: “With Costello bowing out, there is currently one other candidate, Greg McCauley, a local tax attorney, seeking the Republican nomination, while Chrissy Houlahan, an Air Force veteran, former teacher and former business and nonprofit executive, is the lone Democrat in the 6th Congressional District race.”

Amid limited help from the government, a small but expanding ecosystem of community-based groups has emerged to help returning migrants, particularly Dreamers, find their footing in Mexico. https://t.co/6ZPrTEPvAl

— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) March 26, 2018

Jonathan Swan: “John Bolton knows he’s being portrayed as a warmonger as he becomes national security adviser, but he’s trying to build internal credibility with a more studied, lower-decibel approach, according to people familiar with his thinking. Bolton’s forest of op-eds trumpet his hawkish views. But my sources say that at least at the outset, Bolton plans to rein those in — aiming to be seen more as an honest broker for the war cabinet, and less as blatant advocate.”

NEW: Fox News Poll show strong support for stronger gun control pic.twitter.com/u2yrbDMOXN

— FoxNewsSunday (@FoxNewsSunday) March 25, 2018

President Trump “has decided not to hire two lawyers who were announced last week as new additions to his legal team, leaving him with a shrinking stable of lawyers as the investigation by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, enters an intense phase,” the New York Times reports.

Said lawyer Jay Sekulow: “The president is disappointed that conflicts prevent Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing from joining the president’s special counsel legal team. However, those conflicts do not prevent them from assisting the president in other legal matters. The president looks forward to working with them.”

This image (left) being spread by guns rights activists is FAKE and a photoshopped image of @Emma4Change tearing up the Constitution. She’s actually tearing up paper target in the pic (right). Spread the word. pic.twitter.com/pWa1X1Xvka

— Samhita Mukhopadh-YAY 🧜🏾‍♀️ (@TheSamhita) March 25, 2018

“With passage of an enormous budget bill, the GOP-controlled Congress all but wrapped up its legislating for the year,” the AP reports.  “But will it be enough to convince voters to give Republicans another term at the helm?”

“There are signs Americans wanted more: immigration reforms, gun control legislation, even an infrastructure plan that President Trump promised voters. Tax cuts, for now, will have to do.”

If year one of the Trump era was marked by the relief that so few of the president’s opinions became official policy, year two may be defined by the catastrophes that follow a reckless leader unleashing his impulses upon the world. https://t.co/q6sCw7tNhE

— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) March 23, 2018

“But in that final month on the trail, there was something else weighing on Trump’s mind, even more than the assault allegations. According to three top campaign officials, speaking to the Daily Beast on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, Trump began pressing senior staffers about the specific dates that the women were alleging that the assaults, affairs, or harassment took place.”

“If the date fell within the time period of the early stage of his marriage to Melania Trump—and the birth of their son Barron—Trump would suddenly care more about the story and quiz campaign aides more closely about it. Officials concluded that Trump’s true concern was not so much being accused of sexual harassment as it was, in the words of one aide, about ‘pissing off Melania.’”

A new Pew Research study looks at the growing divide in party identification based on educational attainment, gender, and generation.  The most striking finding is that the Democratic advantage among millennial women has soared from roughly 20-points in 2014 to 47-points last year.

Here are a few more highlights:

• Democrats have a stunning 27-point advantage with millennials overall.
• The share of women identifying with Democrats increased from 51% in 2010 to 56% in 2017.
• The share of whites identifying with Democrats increased from 42% to 46%, although 51% are still Republican identifiers.
• Democrats enjoyed a 15-point advantage with college degree holders in 2017, up from a one or two point advantage in 2014.
• 46% of Democrats identify as liberal, the highest share of the party to do so since 2000 (though still notably a minority of the party).

A new Ogden & Fry poll in Illinois finds J.B. Pritzker (D) running way ahead of Gov. Bruce Rauner (R)  in the governor’s race, 46% to 28%.  Key finding: Rauner’s approval rating is a dismal 32% to 68%.

Gov. John Kasich (R) told CNN that lawmakers should be held accountable during this fall’s midterm elections for their inaction on gun laws following a number of high-profile mass shootings around the country.  Said Kasich: “I think people should be held absolutely accountable at the ballot box.”

Stan Collender: “No one used the word while this bill was put together, but there should be no doubt that ‘earmarks‘ — money set aside for a specific purpose — were used extensively to buy votes. Some were the traditional small amounts for a particular state, district, industry or company; others were the inclusion of whole programs. Either way, they were almost precisely what congressional Republicans, led by former Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), swore to stop doing.”