memeorandum: Susan Rice responds to political debate over negotiations for soldier's release (Ashley Killough/CNN)

4:25 PM ET, June 1, 2014

Top Items:

Ashley Killough / CNN:

Susan Rice responds to political debate over negotiations for soldier's release — (CNN) - White House national security adviser Susan Rice defended the Obama administration's decision to exchange Guantanamo detainees for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, amid criticism that the United States negotiated with terrorists in the process.

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Hinterland Gazette and Politico

Michael Gartland / New York Post:

The bizarre tale of America's last known POW — Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the last known American POW, was freed after five years in captivity — an ordeal that began and ended in Afghanistan under a shroud of mystery. — The Taliban turned over Bergdahl Saturday morning to US special forces …

Discussion: Power Line and Joe For America

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

Bergdahl release arrangement could threaten the safety of Americans, Republicans say — Amid jubilation Saturday over the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from captivity by the Taliban, senior Republicans on Capitol Hill said they were troubled by the means by which it was accomplished …

Discussion: ABC News, New York Times, Guardian, The Democratic Daily, Ed Driscoll, Hullabaloo, Lawfare, The Week, Liberaland, The Raw Story, Outside the Beltway and Mediaite

CNN:

Hagel: U.S. acted fast to save Bowe Bergdahl's life — (CNN) — The United States found “an opening” and acted quickly to save U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's life, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Sunday. — “We believed that the information we had, the intelligence we had …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and NBC News

Eli Lake / The Daily Beast:

Here are the Taliban Terrorists Obama Released to Free POW Bowe Bergdahl — In exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Berghdahl, the U.S. has released five senior Taliban commanders from the Guantanamo Bay prison. They are considered some of the worst of the worst. — The five Guantanamo detainees released …

Discussion: NO QUARTER USA NET, Taylor Marsh, Yahoo! News, Power Line, RedState and Patterico's Pontifications

Associated Press:

Hagel: Soldier's health required urgent action — WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly five years after his capture by insurgents, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's “safety and health were both in jeopardy” and officials had to act quickly to obtain his release, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Sunday.

Thomas Joscelyn / Weekly Standard:
Five of the Most Dangerous Taliban Commanders in U.S. Custody Exchanged for American Captive

Discussion: Twitchy, Joe For America, National Review, Independent Journal Review and The Gateway Pundit

Agence France-Presse:
‘We needed to get him out’: Hagel defends Bergdahl operation

Discussion: Hot Air

Ernesto Londoño / Washington Post:
Taliban-held U.S. soldier released in exchange for Afghan detainees

Discussion: Althouse, The Daily Caller and RedState

Eric Schmitt / New York Times:
Taliban Prisoner Swap Frees U.S. Soldier Held Nearly 5 Years

Associated Press:
US SOLDIER FREED FROM CAPTIVITY IN AFGHANISTAN

Discussion: Rolling Stone, NBC News and Scared Monkeys

New York Times:

N.S.A. Collecting Millions of Faces From Web Images — The National Security Agency is harvesting huge numbers of images of people from communications that it intercepts through its global surveillance operations for use in sophisticated facial recognition programs, according to top-secret documents.

Discussion: Business Insider, NPR, Hot Air, RT, Gawker, The Verge, emptywheel, Fox News and Engadget

Philly.com:

Lewis Katz, co-owner of The Inquirer, dies in plane crash — Lewis Katz, 72, co-owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Daily News and Philly.com, died Saturday night in the crash of a private jet at a Massachusetts airfield. — Katz's death was confirmed by Inquirer editor Bill Marimow …

Discussion: Poynter, Hinterland Gazette, Mediaite and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Obama's Foreign Policy Book — SULAIMANIYA, Iraq — When President Obama sits down to write his foreign policy memoir he may be tempted to use as his book title the four words he reportedly uses privately to summarize the Obama doctrine: “Don't Do Stupid Stuff” (with “stuff” sometimes defined more spicily).

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

Prisoners of Sex — IN an ideal world, perhaps, the testimony left by the young man who killed six people in Santa Barbara would have perished with its author: the video files somehow wiped off the Internet, his manifesto deleted and any printed copy pulped.

Discussion: Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog, Althouse, The Daily Banter and Roger Ailes

Ashley Killough / CNN:

Jim Webb weighs in on his political future — (CNN) - Former Democratic Sen. Jim Webb is still not ruling out a potential presidential bid. — “We're taking this one day at a time,” Webb said Sunday on CNN's “State of the Union” when asked if he was interested in the presidency.

Discussion: Politico

Jesse McKinley / New York Times:

Cuomo Secures Support of Working Families Party — ALBANY — Defusing a tense and potentially campaign-changing challenge from the left, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo secured the endorsement of the Working Families Party on Saturday night, easing the popular Democrat's path as he runs for re-election …