memeorandum: Iran's Zarif Says Congress Can't Stop Obama (Josh Rogin/Bloomberg View)

8:05 AM ET, April 30, 2015

Top Items:

Prisoner in van said Freddie Gray was ‘trying to injure himself,’ document says … BALTIMORE — A prisoner sharing a police transport van with Freddie Gray told investigators that he could hear Gray “banging against the walls” of the vehicle and believed that he “was intentionally trying to injure himself …

Baltimore Sun:
The truth about Freddie Gray's ‘pre-existing injury from car accident’

Discussion: The American Conservative, The Intercept, Talking Points Memo and The Fourth Estate

Dave Gram / Associated Press:

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders: ‘I am running for president’ — 1 photo — MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Promising to fight what he deems “obscene levels” of income disparity and a campaign finance system that is a “real disgrace,” independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said Wednesday he will run for president as a Democrat.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Washington Post, Daily Kos, BuzzFeed, Politico and PoliticusUSA

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Sanders: ‘I am running for president’ — Hillary Clinton got her first official challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination Wednesday night, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announcing he intends to seek the White House in 2016. — “I am running for president,” Sanders said in an interview with the Associated Press.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business and Instapundit

Erin Kelly / USA Today:

Bernie Sanders: ‘I am running in this election to win’ — WASHINGTON — Bernie Sanders knows he faces an uphill battle against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, but he believes he can win by reaching out to overworked, underpaid Americans anxious for change.

Discussion: NPR, The Week and Mediaite

Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone:
Give 'Em Hell, Bernie

Discussion: naked capitalism, Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hullabaloo, RedState and MintPress News

Rebecca Ballhaus / Wall Street Journal:
Sen. Bernie Sanders to Seek Democratic Presidential Nomination

Discussion: The Daily Banter, Outside the Beltway and Politico

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Gender Bias Issue Could Tip Chief Justice Roberts Into Ruling for Gay Marriage — WASHINGTON — In a telling moment at Tuesday's Supreme Court arguments over same-sex marriage, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. suggested that he may have found a way to cast a vote in favor of the gay and lesbian couples in the case.

Discussion: Fox News, Hot Air, The Daily Beast, ACS Blog, Washington Times, Salon, Washington Post, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, Balkinization and Slate

Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:
Justice Scalia's Shameful Joke

Discussion: Washington Post, SCOTUSblog, The Daily Signal, Public Discourse, ACS Blog, The Week and Bloomberg View

Heidi Przybyla / Bloomberg Business:
Ted Cruz: Anti-Gay Marriage Crusader? Not Always

Discussion: Daily Kos, Trail Blazers Blog and The Daily Caller

Rick Hasen / Election Law Blog:
Breaking News and Analysis: #SCOTUS Upholds Ban on Judicial Candidates Personally Soliciting Campaign Contributions

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, SCOTUSblog, Vox, Bloomberg View, The Huffington Post, Outside the Beltway and Forbes

Todd Starnes / Townhall.com:
‘We Will Not Obey’: Christian Leaders Threaten Civil Disobedience if Supreme Court Legalizes Gay Marriage

Discussion: American Thinker, Washington Monthly and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Bill Keller / The Marshall Project:

David Simon on Baltimore's Anguish — David Simon is Baltimore's best-known chronicler of life on the hard streets. He worked for The Baltimore Sun city desk for a dozen years, wrote “Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets” (1991) and with former homicide detective Ed Burns co-wrote …

Washington Post:
How Hillary Clinton is running against parts of her husband's legacy

Discussion: BizPac Review

Andrew Prokop / Vox:
READ: Hillary Clinton's huge new speech on criminal justice reform

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Post, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, The Intercept, ThinkProgress, American Spectator, Guardian, BuzzFeed and The Huffington Post

A.B. Stoddard / The Hill:

Jeb no longer in front — Four months into the 2016 presidential campaign, Jeb Bush has all the money and none of the mojo. — Despite the financial juggernaut the former Florida governor has built — Bush said this week he had raised more than anyone else has at this point …

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Cruz accuses Obama of inflaming racial tensions — The Republican presidential hopeful says Obama has squandered chance to be unifying force — Sen. Ted Cruz on Wednesday accused President Barack Obama and his administration of inflaming racial tensions and pitting Americans against each other on major societal issues.

Discussion: Mediaite

Fox News:

Source: Baltimore mayor ordered police to stand down — Despite a firm denial by Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a senior law enforcement source charges that she gave an order for police to stand down as riots broke out Monday night, raising more questions about whether …

Discussion: New York Post, CNN, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The PJ Tatler, Fox News Insider, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal and PUNDIT PRESS

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

Elijah Cummings Yells at Fox Reporter on Bullhorn: ‘People Are Going Home!’ — Maryland Democrat Elijah Cummings is in Baltimore tonight, and he started using a bullhorn at around 10 pm to tell people to clear out after the police-imposed curfew for protesters.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Melinda Henneberger / Bloomberg Politics:

What Brought Carly Fiorina Down at HP Is Her Greatest 2016 Asset — More than 30 years ago, on Carly Sneed's third date with her co-worker, Frank Fiorina, he told his not-yet-30-year-old dinner companion that one day she would run AT&T, the company where he was at that point a rung ahead of her on the corporate ladder.

Jennifer Jacobs / Des Moines Register:
Carly Fiorina ‘picking up speed’ in Iowa, GOP activists say

Discussion: Hot Air and OnPolitics

Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:

Clinton Foundation in campaign tailspin — Donors are having second thoughts about big giving as accusations fly about Hillary Clinton's role. — Getty — A handful of deep-pocketed donors are reconsidering their gifts to the $2 billion Clinton Foundation amid mounting questions …

Discussion: Greek News, Clinton Foundation, Capital New York and Power Line

Josh Rogin / Bloomberg View:

Iran's Zarif Says Congress Can't Stop Obama — If Iran strikes a deal with the West, all sanctions will be lifted very quickly and there's nothing the U.S. Congress can do to stop it, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told a New York audience Wednesday.

Discussion: Power Line

Adam Kredo / Washington Free Beacon:
Report: Kerry Told Iran He Wishes 'U.S. Had a Leader like Iran's Supreme Leader'

Discussion: RedState, BizPac Review, American Spectator, Hot Air, Fars News Agency, The Daily Caller and Power Line

David Voreacos / Bloomberg Business:

Former Christie Ally David Wildstein Set to Plead Guilty — David Wildstein, a former ally of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, is set to plead guilty on Thursday, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, suggesting he may be cooperating with prosecutors probing traffic jams he ordered near the George Washington Bridge.

Discussion: CBS News, Political Wire, New Jersey Online, New Jersey 101.5, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo and Balloon Juice

David Byttow / Medium:

Sunset — After a lot of thought and consultation with our board, I've decided to shut down Secret. — This has been the hardest decision of my life and one that saddens me deeply. Unfortunately, Secret does not represent the vision I had when starting the company …

Discussion: New York Times, The Atlantic, Mashable, TechCrunch and The Verge

Bob Price / BREITBART.COM:

Blue Lives Matter: Texas Cop Survives 14 Stab Wounds in Assassination Attempt — HOUSTON, Texas - A Houston Community College police officer has survived an assassination attempt after being stabbed by her assailant 14 times. The officer was saved by civilians who stepped in and stopped the attacker.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit