Third time's the charm?

With the midterm elections almost upon us, the 2016 guessing game is kicking into high gear. And in the latest iteration, The Washington Post reports Sunday that Mitt Romney is quietly emerging as a top GOP campaign surrogate this year and thus raising speculation that he will throw his hat into the ring once more.

Despite Romney's insistence he won't run again, his loaded schedule has his old backers "yearning for him to give it a go and arguing that he would be a stronger candidate than last time."

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead (R), whom Romney recently endorsed for reelection, said in an interview that Romney remains the GOP's best hope of winning back the White House.

Asked whether he and other Republican officials are coalescing around Romney as a 2016 favorite, Mead said: "There is a movement afoot. . . . I'd tell him, 'Governor Romney, people here in Wyoming and around the country would encourage you to take another look at it.'" [The Washington Post]

The Romney 2016 speculation has percolated since last year, though it's gained momentum of late as other potential GOP candidates fizzled or became embroiled in scandal. A few admittedly early polls have found Romney running competitively in a GOP primary too, further fueling speculation he would be a formidable candidate should he run again. Jon Terbush

An Oklahoma City police officer shot and killed a deaf man carrying a metal pipe on Tuesday night, despite neighbors screaming that he couldn't hear commands to drop the pipe.

Police Capt. Bo Mathews said Magdiel Sanchez, 35, was Tasered and then shot after he approached officers while holding the pipe; a neighbor told The Associated Press Sanchez would take the pipe with him while going on walks at night to scare away stray dogs. Officers were at Sanchez's home investigating a hit-and-run that allegedly involved his father. Sanchez was not in the vehicle when the hit-and-run took place, Mathews said, and he had no criminal record.

The two-foot-long pipe was "wrapped in some type of material" and had a leather loop at the end, Mathews said. Lt. Matthew Lindsey considered the pipe a weapon, and called for backup, Matthews said. After Sgt. Chris Barnes arrived, they both ordered Sanchez to drop the pipe and get to the ground, but Sanchez, not hearing their commands, kept walking forward. Neighbors screamed that Sanchez was deaf and "He can't hear you," Mathews said, but he wasn't sure if officers heard them. "When you have a weapon out, you can get what they call tunnel vision," Mathews said. "Or you can lock into just the person who has the weapon, the threat against you."

Barnes shot Sanchez when he was 15 feet away, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Sanchez's father, whose name has not been released, confirmed to police that his son was deaf. The case is being investigated as a homicide, and Barnes has been placed on paid administrative leave, Mathews said. The officers were not wearing body cameras during the incident. Catherine Garcia

As part of its national day of service, Drake University students, staff, and alumni, as well as other volunteers, grabbed hammers, nails, and wood and got to building tiny houses that will be used to shelter the homeless.

Drake teamed up with Joppa, a nonprofit that assists the homeless in Des Moines, to build the tiny houses, which will be placed in a community Joppa is designing. The houses are just 100-square-feet, and the goal is to let a homeless person move in so they don't have to worry about their living accommodations as they search for work.

Drake's football team started things off by building the bases, and the homes were finished by campus groups, staff, alumni, and friends of the university last weekend. "This feels like a very tangible solution," Alex Ghekas, a junior at Drake University, told The Des Moines Register. "Each house we build will take someone off the streets and give them somewhere to go." Catherine Garcia

While he was still serving as Donald Trump's campaign chairman, Paul Manafort sent an email to a Kiev-based employee of his consulting business requesting he tell a Russian billionaire with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin that if he wanted "private briefings" on the presidential race, Manafort would set it up, several people familiar with the emails told The Washington Post.

Emails on the subject are part of the tens of thousands of documents now in the possession of special counsel Robert Mueller's team. The emails are very vague, and no exact name is ever used, but investigators believe they are referring to Oleg Deripaska, an aluminum magnate and one of the richest men in Russia. There is no evidence Deripaska ever received the message or any briefings, but investigators think this shows Manafort was ready to use his proximity to Trump for his own benefit, several people told the Post.

The Wall Street Journal reports it's been difficult for Deripaska to get visas to come to the U.S. because he might have ties to organized crime in Russia, something Deripaska denies. Deripaska has paid Manafort as an investment consultant, and in 2014 took him to court in the Cayman Islands, accusing Manafort of taking nearly $19 million in money set aside for investments and being unable to tell him what he did with the money or where it is. Read more about Manafort and Deripaska's relationship at The Washington Post. Catherine Garcia

On Wednesday, Mediaite published leaked outtakes from the filming of MSNBC anchor Lawrence O'Donnell's show on Aug. 29, 2017. The resulting eight-minute-long montage isn't pretty.

In the collected clips, O'Donnell can be seen getting absolutely irate at his staff over an apparent equipment malfunction, muttering cuss words under his breath and demanding to know who's to blame. "There's insanity in the control room tonight," O'Donnell says, twitching with anger.

When it happens again, O'Donnell appears even more irritated. "You have insanity in my earpiece," O'Donnell says, noting that he can hear someone talking and other background noise in his earpiece. He drops the F-bomb.

After it happens yet again, O'Donnell absolutely loses it. "Stop the hammering," he screams. "Stop the hammering out there. Who's got a hammer? Where is it? Where's the hammer? Go up on the other floor. Somebody go up there and stop the hammering. Stop the hammering. I'll go down to the goddamned floor myself and stop it, keep the goddamned commercial break going. Call f--king [MSNBC President] Phil Griffin. I don't care who the f--k you have to call. Stop the hammering. Empty out the goddamned control room and find out where this is going on."

He proceeds to crumple up pieces of paper and throw them to the ground while swearing.

In the next outtake, O'Donnell continues to curse. He berates his staff for nearly two minutes over an apparent slip-up. "I told you why I wanted those f--king words cut. It just f--king sucks, it f--king sucks to be out here with this out of control sh-t," O'Donnell screams.

Watch the entire eight-minute spectacle over at Mediaite. Becca Stanek

Special Counsel Robert Mueller appears to be delving specifically into President Trump's "behavior in the White House," The New York Times reported Wednesday. Mueller has recently requested more information on "13 different areas" related to Trump's actions in office, as part of his ongoing investigation into Russian election meddling and the Trump team's potential ties to it:

One of the requests is about a meeting Mr. Trump had in May with Russian officials in the Oval Office the day after James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, was fired. That day, Mr. Trump met with the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, and the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey I. Kislyak, along with other Russian officials. The New York Times reported that in the meeting Mr. Trump had said that firing Mr. Comey relieved "great pressure" on him.

Mr. Mueller has also requested documents about the circumstances of the firing of Michael T. Flynn, who was Mr. Trump's first national security adviser. Additionally, the special counsel has asked for documents about how the White House responded to questions from The Times about a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower. That meeting was set up by Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son, to get derogatory information from Russians about Hillary Clinton. [The New York Times]

Trump lawyer Ty Cobb has reportedly assured Mueller's team that he will turn over the relevant documents and notes this week. Becca Stanek

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) stunned his colleagues in the Senate when he torpedoed the Republican health-care bill with a tie-breaking no vote in July. With the GOP prepared to send its latest iteration of the health-care bill to the floor sometime next week, McCain is now poised to potentially make or break the legislation yet again.

Republicans have a Sept. 30 deadline for passing a health-care bill with only 50 votes. The Congressional Budget Office won't have its analysis on how much the bill would affect coverage or its costs for consumers until October. Additionally, the hearing on the bill will be before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee, which "does not have primary jurisdiction over health care, making a formal markup of the bill impossible," Politico writes.

Despite the bill's co-sponsor, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), being McCain's close friend, McCain has stressed to Politico that he is dissatisfied with how his party is pushing the bill. "Nothing has changed," he said Wednesday. "If [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell wants to put it on the floor, that's up to McConnell. I am the same as I was before. I want the regular order."

Asked to clarify if that means he is voting no, McCain replied: "That means I want the regular order. It means I want the regular order!"

Three GOP defections would kill the bill. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) are believed to be opposed to the bill. In addition to McCain, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is reportedly on the fence about the legislation. Jeva Lange

At a United Nations lunch Wednesday with African leaders, President Trump marveled at Africa's "tremendous business potential." "I have so many friends going to your countries trying to get rich," he said. "I congratulate you, they're spending a lot of money."

Trump thinks the U.S. could benefit from teaming up with Africa, too. "In this room I see partners for promoting prosperity and peace on a range of economic, humanitarian, and security issues. We hope to extend our economic partnerships with countries who are committed to self-reliance and to fostering opportunities for job creation in both Africa and the United States," Trump said, noting that "six of the world's 10 fastest growing economies are in Africa."

At another point in the speech, Trump referenced the country of Nambia, which does not exist.

Catch a snippet of his praise for Africa's business opportunities for his "many friends" below. Becca Stanek