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First Read's Morning Clips: Terror in London

A roundup of the most important political news stories of the day
Image: Emergency services at Parsons Green
Emergency services attend the scene following a blast on an underground train at Parsons Green tube station in London, Sept. 15.Social Media / Reuters

TRUMP AGENDA: The latest on the terror attack in London

Breaking overnight — a suspected terror attack in London: “A rush-hour fire aboard a subway train in the British capital was being investigated as terrorism Friday, police said. Authorities confirmed 22 people had been injured at Parsons Green Tube station in southwest London. None of their wounds — mostly superficial burns — were considered serious or life-threatening.”

The AP: “U.S. President Donald Trump is calling a fire at a London subway station another attack “by a loser terrorist” and suggesting police there may have missed an opportunity to prevent it. He also is suggesting that the government cut off internet access to extremist groups.”

Leigh Ann Caldwell, on the DACA battle: “President Donald Trump's negotiations with Democrats over the fate of legal protections for so-called Dreamers is the latest shock to rattle Capitol Hill, leaving Congressional Republicans blaming their own party leaders for not being more involved in the negotiations.”

Trump’s immigration stances are straining his relationship with some of his staunch conservative defenders, notes the Washington Post.

NBC’s Mike Memoli: “President Trump made clear Thursday he is determined to get his wall. But his demands, and occasional threats to shut down the government over funding it, belie the stark reality facing his administration: Nine months into his presidency, there is no plan for constructing the kind of wall the president promised his voters for two years. A study Trump ordered in January on how to fully secure the border has not been completed. His transition team focused on immigration enforcement plans with greater chances of success. Proposed wall prototypes — which officials had hoped to deploy this summer — are months behind schedule. Construction firms have stayed away amid the prospect of political retaliation. And new NBC News polling suggests only lukewarm support for a wall the president today said would happen.”

The Washington Post’s Ashley Parker has this detail from the deal-making: “As Pelosi, the only woman at the table of 11, tried to make her point — that the president gets the cooperation of the Democrats, which he will likely need on a host of issues — the men in the room began talking over her and one another. “Do the women get to talk around here?” Pelosi interjected, according to two people familiar with the exchange. There was, at last, silence, and she was not interrupted again.”

POLITICO: “[I]t it shouldn’t be surprising that Trump has in the last week sought to strike deals where he can find them – with Democrats – even if many of his aides, supporters and Republicans in Congress think that means he’s looking for love in all the wrong places. In fact, Trump’s recent outreach to Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi is more readily explainable in terms of the president’s ego and psyche than it is in terms of any considered political or legislative strategy.”

ICYMI, the New York Times yesterday reported out details of Trump’s treatment of Jeff Sessions: “Shortly after learning in May that a special counsel had been appointed to investigate links between his campaign associates and Russia, President Trump berated Attorney General Jeff Sessions in an Oval Office meeting and said he should resign, according to current and former administration officials and others briefed on the matter… Ashen and emotional, Mr. Sessions told the president he would quit and sent a resignation letter to the White House, according to four people who were told details of the meeting. Mr. Sessions would later tell associates that the demeaning way the president addressed him was the most humiliating experience in decades of public life.”

NBC’s Suzy Khimm, following up on her scoop earlier this week: “After the sudden withdrawal this week of President Donald Trump's nominee for a top post at the Federal emergency Management Agency, Senate Democrats are raising concerns about the White House's vetting process. "The White House may have thought, 'Well, no one will pay any attention to this — this will be ignored.' Obviously, it was not ignored," said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., a member of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, which had been considering Daniel A. Craig's nomination for the No. 2 spot at FEMA. Craig withdrew his nomination on Wednesday after NBC News questioned him about the findings of an unreleased 2011 federal investigation, which concluded that he had submitted a fraudulent travel voucher and falsified timekeeping records during his time in the administration of President George W. Bush.”

The New York Times: “President Trump kept the Iran nuclear deal alive on Thursday as a critical deadline lapsed, a sign that he is stepping back from his threat to abandon an agreement he repeatedly disparaged. He is moving instead to push back on Iran’s ambitions in the Middle East in other ways.”

The Wall Street Journal notes that these days sort of feel like the 2016 campaign all over again.

OFF TO THE RACES: Democrats keep an eye on the Senate map

POLITICO: “Senate Democrats are three seats shy of a majority and almost entirely on defense in the 2018 elections, making it all but impossible for them to retake the chamber next year. But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and DSCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen are privately refusing to rule out an improbable midterm victory, even though they must first defend 10 incumbents in states President Donald Trump won. Their insistence is primarily to keep donors invested and excited about next year’s Senate races, said a handful of top party operatives. But Democrats also want to be prepared to ride a massive wave next fall should one develop, potentially taking advantage of bloody Republican primaries to spur a red-state surprise and swing the Senate.”

AL-SEN: A poll by the (pro-Strange) Senate Leadership Fund shows a tight race.

CA-SEN: Kamala Harris says she’d support Dianne Feinstein in a reelection bid “100 percent.”

FL-SEN: Donald Trump says that he hopes Rick Scott runs for Senate.

NJ-GOV: Does anyone care about the governor’s race? The New York Times: “It is a race that has struggled to gain even regional attention, despite having story lines that would normally attract the attention of voters and the news media.”

TX-GOV: The Dallas Morning News reports that Democrats are trying to convince Joaquín Castro to run against Greg Abbott.

VA-GOV: Democrats want Ed Gillespie to outline his past lobbying clients.