memeorandum: In blow to Hezbollah, senior commander killed in Syria (Hugh Naylor/Washington Post)

11:10 PM ET, May 13, 2016

Top Items:

Donald Trump masqueraded as publicist to brag about himself — The voice is instantly familiar; the tone, confident, even cocky; the cadence, distinctly Trumpian. The man on the phone vigorously defending Donald Trump says he's a media spokesman named John Miller, but then he says …

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:

Trump Hangs Up When WaPo Reporters Ask Him About Posing As Publicist — Donald Trump abruptly hung up on Washington Post reporters when they asked him Friday afternoon about reports that he used to masquerade as his own publicist in interviews. — The Post's Marc Fisher and Will Hobson reported …

Discussion: Washington Post

Callum Borchers / Washington Post:

Trump claims he didn't regularly use a fake name. That's not what he said under oath. — Donald Trump on Friday denied that the voice of “John Miller” on a 25-year-old recording obtained by The Washington Post is, in fact, his own. Appearing on NBC's “Today” show, the presumptive Republican …

Associated Press: Trump denies he posed as his spokesman during tabloid days

Eun Kyung Kim / TODAY.com:
Donald Trump denies posing as spokesman in recordings Washington Post uncovered

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite, The Atlantic, Daily Kos, RedState, Guardian, NBC News, The Hill, New York Times, NPR, Talking Points Memo and Business Insider

Tal Kopan / CNN:
Donald Trump on recording: Not me

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite and Blue Nation Review

David Catanese / US News:

Ralph Nader: Trump's Done Some Good, Clinton's Winning By ‘Dictatorship’ — He heaps praise on Bernie Sanders, but won't reveal how he'll vote in November. — The five-time presidential candidate had more positive comments abut Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton in an interview with U.S. News.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Guardian, Washington Times and Washington Free Beacon

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:

Sorry, liberals. Elizabeth Warren isn't going to be Hillary Clinton's running mate. — As speculation on whom the presidential nominees will select as their running mates gets louder, almost inevitably eyes are turning to Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren.

Discussion: Slate, CNN, AOL, Althouse, BizPac Review, The Huffington Post and Politico

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

Nader: Clinton winning by ‘dictatorship’ — is “going to win by dictatorship” in her Democratic primary race against Bernie Sanders — “Twenty-five percent of superdelegates are cronies, mostly. They weren't elected,” Nader, an activist and former Green Party presidential candidate, told U.S. News in a story published Friday .

Associated Press:
Some Democrats step up pressure on Sanders to exit race

Discussion: whorunsGov, Washington Post, Liberal Values and Bloomberg

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
Bill Clinton gets into combative exchange over crime bill

Discussion: Hot Air

Caitlin Emma / Politico:

Obama transgender edict incites the right — While the Obama administration's directive on bathroom access for transgender students was praised by supporters as a historic moment for civil rights, the sweeping new rules have re-energized the right — and a top lawmaker in Texas even argues …

Discussion: Washington Post, Austin American-Statesman, Houston Chronicle and The Hill

12NewsNow.Com:
PN-G ISD Superintendent on Obama admin's transgender letter: It's going in the paper shredder

U.S. Department of Justice:
U.S. Departments of Justice and Education Release Joint Guidance to Help Schools Ensure …

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Texas AG Hints At Lawsuit Over Obama Siding With Transgender Students

Discussion: New York Times, Mother Jones, Outside the Beltway, Advocate and The Week

Malia Zimmerman / Fox News:

Flight logs show Bill Clinton flew on sex offender's jet much more than previously known — Epstein, (inset left), and Clinton flew together at least 26 times on the disgraced financier's “Lolita Express.” (John Coates, airport-data.com) — Former President Bill Clinton …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Last Tradition, Washington Free Beacon, Althouse and Fire Andrea Mitchell!

Cosmos Magazine:

Should we synthesise a human genome? — As specialists gather in private to discuss a grand plan for constructing a human genome, Drew Endy and Laurie Zoloth argue that such an enormous moral gesture should not be discussed behind closed doors. — At Harvard today, an invitation-only group …

Discussion: STAT, Washington Post and Hit & Run

Andrew Pollack / New York Times:
Scientists Talk Privately About Creating a Synthetic Human Genome

Discussion: Gizmodo, Daily Mail and Engadget

Megan Cassidy / Arizona Republic:

Photos: Sheriff Joe Arpaio through the years … It's official: A federal judge has found Sheriff Joe Arpaio in civil contempt of federal court. — A federal judge ruled that the Maricopa County lawman and three of his top aides violated a federal court order meant to curtail racial profiling …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

J. Weston Phippen / The Atlantic: Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Contempt of Court

Erik Eckholm / New York Times:

Pfizer Blocks the Use of Its Drugs in Executions — The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced on Friday that it has imposed sweeping controls on the distribution of its products to ensure that none are used in lethal injections, a step that closes off the last remaining open-market source of drugs used in executions.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, NPR, NBC News, Washington Post, The Week and The Verge

Evan Axelbank / WTVT:

Family dog takes rattlesnake bite for 7-year-old — TAMPA (FOX 13) - His owners call him the perfect dog. Haus is a 2-year-old German Shepard, and usually 68 pounds of loyalty and love, especially when it comes to his 7-year-old, Molly DeLuca. After Haus possibly saved Molly's life …

Discussion: WQAD-TV, AOL, WNCT-TV and The Daily Caller

Scott Wong / The Hill:

GOP rep refuses to apologize for racial slur — Former House Homeland Security Chairman Pete King (R-N.Y.) is refusing to apologize for using the racial slur “Japs” during an interview on MSNBC on Friday morning, saying people are “too politically correct.”

Discussion: AOL and NBC News

David Samuels / New York Times:

Through the Looking Glass with Ben Rhodes — My interest in Ben Rhodes began with a photograph I saw from Senator Barack Obama's insurgent campaign for president in 2008. The photograph showed a group of Obama's young speechwriters celebrating a victory. In the shallow background was a young writer …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Mediaite, Hot Air, Business Insider, Immigration Reform Blog, Washington Free Beacon, Politico, The Atlantic, The Week and Power Line

Matthew Diebel / USA Today:

This woman is the only person left born in the 1800s — Emma Morano from Italy is the last known person on Earth who was born in the 1800s. Here's her secret to a long, healthy life. — The death of 116-year-old Susannah Mushatt Jones in New York City on Thursday leaves just one person on Earth who was alive in the 1800s.

Discussion: The Atlantic

Nick Squires / Telegraph:
The secret to longevity is eating two raw eggs a day, says newly-crowned oldest person in the world

Discussion: Slantpoint, Raw Story, Washington Post and The Week

Telegraph:

Ivanka Trump praises her father for ‘elevating’ the election campaign — Play! — Donald Trump's daughter has launched a robust defence of her father, describing him as a man who has “elevated” the political discussion, but confessing that she didn't discuss the election with her friend Chelsea Clinton.

Discussion: New York Magazine, mrctv.org/videos, Washington Monthly, Politico, BizPac Review and Independent Journal …

Josh Barro / Business Insider:

MARK CUBAN: Trump is that guy in the bar who will say anything to get laid — Billionaire investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban isn't holding back his opinion about his frenemy, Donald Trump. — “There's that guy who'll walk into the bar and say anything to get laid.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, CNNMoney, bradford-delong.com, CNN, Slantpoint, AOL, Dallas Morning News and Independent Journal …

Olivia Nuzzi / The Daily Beast:

Hillary-Hating Fan Fiction Feeds Trump — Donald Trump has hinted he has a lot of dirt on Hillary Clinton. But where is he getting his information from? Some of the best, worst Hillary fan fiction money can buy. — Hillary Clinton is a murderer and a lesbian and she buys her muumuus on Amazon.com.

Discussion: alan.com, Mediaite, Hullabaloo, Media Matters for America, Right Wing Watch and Althouse

Jonathan Swan / The Hill:

Third-party effort fizzling out — An effort by prominent conservatives to recruit a third party candidate to run against Donald Trump — is fizzling out. — A serious third party run would cost millions, and GOP donors have so far been reluctant to embrace a bid.

Discussion: Washington Post, BizPac Review, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

Ari Melber / NBC News:

Trump Campaign Could Use New Donations to Pay Donald Trump $36M for Loan — After railing against a “corrupt” fundraising system in the Republican primaries, Donald Trump now says he will raise hundreds of millions of dollars to compete in the general election.

Discussion: NBC News, RedState and Politico

Natasha Korecki / Politico:

Kirk, on tape: Menendez indicted for opposing Obama's Iran deal — CHICAGO — U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk hasn't let up on his insistence that President Obama is using his power as president to lash out at a political enemy. — At a fundraising event last month in Chicago, the Illinois Republican …

Discussion: Blue Nation Review

New York Post:

Cop questioned in NYPD corruption probe kills himself at golf course — More On: — An NYPD deputy inspector who had been questioned in the ongoing corruption probes of the department fatally shot himself in the head on Friday, The Post has learned. — Deputy Inspector Michael Ameri …

Discussion: Gothamist, Politico, CBS New York and New York Magazine

Fox News:

Antsy ISIS militant orders his own killing so he can get to heaven on time — An Islamic State fighter captured in Iraq last week reportedly begged Kurdish troops to kill him right away because he didn't want to be late for a 4 p.m. religious ceremony in heaven.

Discussion: Jihad Watch, Daily Mail and Townhall.com