memeorandum: Exclusive video: Man with bloodied hands speaks at Woolwich scene (National Updates)

8:25 AM ET, May 23, 2013

Top Items:

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

U.S. Acknowledges Killing 4 Americans in Drone Strikes — WASHINGTON — One day before President Obama is due to deliver a major speech on national security, his administration on Wednesday formally acknowledged that the United States had killed four American citizens in drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan.

Wall Street Journal:

Obama Restarts Bid to Close Guantanamo — Plan Calls for Speeding Up Detainee Transfers, Kick-Starting Drive to Shut Prison; Hunger Strike Has Increased Pressure — The Obama administration is set to restart transfers of detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, U.S. officials said, kick-starting a long-stalled drive to close the prison.

Discussion: msnbc.com and The PJ Tatler

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Darrell Issa: Lois Lerner lost her rights — House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa said embattled IRS official Lois Lerner waived her Fifth Amendment rights and will be hauled back to appear before his panel again. — The California Republican …

Orin Kerr / The Volokh Conspiracy:
Can A Congressional Witness Deny Guilt and Then Plead the Fifth?

Discussion: NewsMax.com, The Fix, Power Line and Politico

Ian Swanson / The Hill:
Issa may haul IRS's Lerner back

Discussion: Politico

Katie Glueck / Reuters:
Rush Limbaugh: Darrell Issa let Lois Lerner get away at IRS hearing

Discussion: CNN, Conservatives4Palin, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Politico

National Updates:

Exclusive video: Man with bloodied hands speaks at Woolwich scene — ITV News has obtained footage of a man with bloodied hands addressing a camera on a south London street. — He makes a series of political statements before walking towards a man, believed to be a soldier, lying prone on the street.

Discussion: BBC, News Desk, Shakesville, The Raw Story and The Huffington Post

BBC:

Man dead in suspected Woolwich terror attack — A man has died and two are injured after police responded to a reported machete attack in south-east London. — The government is reported to be treating the attack as a suspected terrorist incident and the prime minister said it was “truly shocking”.

Discussion: Washington Post, Guardian, Telegraph, The Spectacle Blog, Mediaite, Gawker, FP Passport, News Desk, The Week, The PJ Tatler, Business Insider, CNN, Spectator, The Sun, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Hinterland Gazette and The Daily Caller

Sky News:
Woolwich Assailants ‘Filmed’ Hacking Attack

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite

Daily / Telegraph:
‘Soldier beheaded’ in ‘Islamist terror attack’ oustide barracks in Woolwich

Discussion: The Raw Story, LiveLeak.com, Belmont Club, Weasel Zippers, Joe. My. God., The Other McCain, Taylor Marsh, Spectator, AMERICAN DIGEST, The Times of Israel, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Dish

Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:

Tensions Brew Inside White House Over Counsel's Role — Has an overly-aggressive White House Counsel's office gotten Obama into trouble more than once? — Via: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters — WASHINGTON — As they watched President Obama lumber into controversy over mandating contraception coverage …

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air and Yahoo! News

Alexander Mooney / CNN:
You catch more flies with honey...

Discussion: The Hill and Politico

Keith Koffler / White House Dossier:
Michelle Said to be Considering an Extended Vacation

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Claire Duffin / Telegraph:

Mum talked down Woolwich terrorists who told her: ‘We want to start a war in London tonight’ — Exclusive: A cub scout leader confronted terrorists just seconds after they had beheaded a soldier asking them to hand over their weapons and warning them: “It is only you versus many people, you are going to lose.”

Discussion: Spectator, BBC, The Sun, Gawker, National Updates and Althouse

Jimio / Twitter Blog:

Getting started with login verification — Every day, a growing number of people log in to Twitter. Usually these login attempts come from the genuine account owners, but we occasionally hear from people whose accounts have been compromised by email phishing schemes or a breach of password data elsewhere on the web.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Wired.co.uk, BBC, NYT Bits, Wired, The Verge, AllThingsD, TechCrunch, Riehl World News and Plain Dealer, more at Mediagazer »

Ginger Gibson / Politico:

Ted Cruz: 'I don't trust the Republicans' — Sen. Ted Cruz proclaimed on the Senate floor Wednesday that he doesn't trust other Republicans to fix the country's fiscal situation, explaining why he objects to sending the Senate budget to conference with the House.

Discussion: The Monkey Cage, Yahoo! News, Hot Air, CNN, National Review and The Hill

Talking Points Memo:
Ted Cruz: 'I Don't Trust The Republicans'

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Washington Monthly, The Impolitic and The Maddow Blog

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
GOP moderates feud with conservatives over stall tactics on budget

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin, A plain blog about politics, The Hill, Booman Tribune and Post Politics

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Appeals court limits labor board's lawlessness — Early in an opinion issued recently by a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Judge A. Raymond Randolphsaid: “Although the parties have not raised it, one issue needs to be resolved before we turn to the merits of the case.”

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Sam Baker / The Hill:
Appeals court strikes down Arizona abortion law

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

CBS News:

Ibragim Todashev implicated Tsarnaev, himself in triple homicide before FBI shooting — PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO — A friend of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev implicated himself and Tsarnaev in an unsolved triple homicide before authorities say he instigated a violent confrontation …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and Twitchy

Susan Candiotti / CNN:
Man killed by FBI agent knew Tsarnaevs, official says

Discussion: FBI, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Weasel Zippers, CBS Boston, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, WCVB.com, TalkLeft and Outside the Beltway

New York Times:
Man Linked to Boston Suspect Is Shot Dead

Discussion: Business Insider, Lawfare, americanthinker.com and Wall Street Journal

Thom Shanker / New York Times:

Sergeant Accused of Secretly Filming Female Cadets — WASHINGTON — A sergeant first class on the staff of the United States Military Academy at West Point faces charges for allegedly videotaping female cadets without their consent, sometimes when they were in the shower, according to Army officials.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Gawker, msnbc.com, Politico, U.S. News, The Raw Story, Shakesville and Outside the Beltway

ThinkProgress:

House Attempts To Force Approval Of Keystone Pipeline That Would Create Just 35 Permanent Jobs — In what will likely prove as meaningless a vote as the 37th repeal vote of Obamacare, on Wednesday night 241 members of the House of Representatives voted to approve the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Reuters, Bloomberg and E2-Wire

Daily Mail:

Blood on his hands, hatred in his eyes: 2.30pm on a suburban high street, Islamic fanatics wielding meat cleavers butcher a British soldier, taking their war on the West to a new level of horror — Clutching a bloodied meat cleaver after executing a soldier on a crowded street, he delivers a chilling message of hate.

Discussion: Power Line, Scared Monkeys, Real Science and Israpundit

Yahoo! News:

With civil unions, Bisbee, Ariz., joins gay-rights revolt against red states — Christian Science Monitor - 17 hrs ago — Until recent weeks, this old mining town tucked in the mountains of southeast Arizona was known as a mecca for artists, retirees, and tourists who linger in eclectic shops, bookstores, and cafés.

Discussion: Firedoglake

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

The Climate-Change Wars Begin This Summer — The biggest piece of President Obama's second-term agenda is his widely expected plan for the Environmental Protection Agency to issue new carbon regulations for power plants, a move that could bring the United States in line with the greenhouse-gas-reduction goals …

Discussion: ACS Blog and The Huffington Post

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Harry Reid escalates ‘nuclear’ threat

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, PostPartisan, Plain Dealer, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos and Hullabaloo

Mitch McConnell / Washington Post:

The IRS scandal and Obama's culture of intimidation — Mitch McConnell, a Republican, represents Kentucky in the Senate, where he is the minority leader. — Revelations about the Internal Revenue Service targeting conservative groups have raised important questions about the Obama administration's commitment to the First Amendment.

Discussion: msnbc.com

Tesla Motors:

TESLA REPAYS DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY LOAN NINE YEARS EARLY — ONLY AMERICAN CAR COMPANY TO HAVE PAID BACK GOVERNMENT — PALO ALTO, Calif.— Tesla Motors announced that it has paid off the entire loan awarded to the company by the Department of Energy in 2010.

Discussion: CleanTechnica, Politico, The Verge and ThinkProgress