memeorandum: POLICE, SOLDIERS SWARM MEXICO'S ACAPULCO, KILLINGS CONTINUE (Mark Stevenson/Associated Press)

5:55 PM ET, May 22, 2016

Top Items:

Poll: Election 2016 shapes up as a contest of negatives — The coming presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump begins in a virtual dead heat, a competition between two candidates viewed unfavorably by a majority of the current electorate and with voters motivated as much by whom …

Discussion: New York Times, Mediaite, Hot Air, Politico, Patterico's Pontifications and RedState

Mark Murray / NBC News:

Clinton's Lead Over Trump Shrinks to 3 Points: New NBC News/WSJ Poll — Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton Clash over Gun Control 2:10 — Hillary Clinton's advantage over Donald Trump has narrowed to just three points — resulting in a dead-heat general-election contest with more than five months …

Discussion: RedState, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Hullabaloo, AOL, Washington Free Beacon and Politico

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:

Begrudging WaPo poll: Trump 46%, Clinton 44% — It's not the headline, and it takes 219 words to get there, but a new Washington Post poll on the presidential race reveals that Republican Donald Trump leads Democrat Hillary Clinton among registered voters 46 percent to 44 percent.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Scared Monkeys, Prntly and Althouse

Gary Langer / ABC News:

A Post-Primary Rally Boosts Trump, Albeit with Challenges Aplenty (POLL) — A new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows a close contest in presidential election preferences, with Republicans lining up behind Donald Trump as their party's presumptive nominee while the continued Democratic race …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Daily Caller, BizPac Review, The Gateway Pundit and The Last Refuge

Matthew Nussbaum / Politico:
Sanders: Voters see Clinton as ‘the lesser of two evils’

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Post, Guardian, Outside the Beltway and New York Times

Jessie Hellmann / The Hill: Sanders: Clinton can beat Trump in November

ABC News:
‘This Week’ Transcript: Sen. Bernie Sanders

Discussion: The New Civil Rights Movement, Politicus USA, Raw Story and Politico

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Weakend at Bernie's — WASHINGTON — HILLARY CLINTON is the Democratic nominee.

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite and No More Mister Nice Blog

Meg Gatto / WVUE-TV:

Five-year-old shoots, kills self while playing with gun — A five-year-old in Laplace gets her hands on a gun, and accidentally shoots and kills herself. The accident happened Saturday at 9:45 a.m. at the girl's home on Country Club Drive. — Many residents on Country Club Drive …

Discussion: Raw Story

Jennifer Crockett / WDSU-TV:

St. John sheriff: 5-year-old kills self with father's gun — Haley Moore died at the hospital Saturday — Five-year-old Haley Moore was spending the weekend at her dad's house with her older sister and brother. The family was supposed to go see a movie Saturday.

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and AOL

David Edwards / Raw Story:

Donald Trump: 'I'm not advocating guns in classrooms' but ‘teachers should have guns in classrooms’ — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump refuted Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton by insisting that he was …

Discussion: NBC News

Sara Jerde / Talking Points Memo: Trump: I Don't Want Guns In Classrooms, But Some Teachers Should Have Guns

Dan Merica / CNN:
Clinton: Trump is in the pocket of the gun lobby

Discussion: Daily Mail, ThinkProgress and Clash Daily

Mike Miller / Independent Journal Review:
‘Never Trump Guy’ Locks Horns With Fox News' Eric Bolling-Let's Just Say It Doesn't End Well

Discussion: RedState

Henry Bodkin / Telegraph:

Elijah Wood: ‘Hollywood in the grip of child abuse scandal similar to Jimmy Savile’ — Hollywood is in the grip a child sexual abuse scandal similar to that of Jimmy Savile in Britain, Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood has claimed. — The 35-year-old former child actor said paedophiles …

Discussion: RedState and Vox Popoli

Associated Press:

CLINTON SHRUGS, SEES BENEFITS IN TRUMP'S PERSONAL ATTACKS — WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton has a message for Donald Trump: keep on talking. — She's just weeks away from wrapping up the Democratic presidential nomination, and friends, aides and supporters describe a candidate …

Mark Stevenson / Associated Press:

POLICE, SOLDIERS SWARM MEXICO'S ACAPULCO, KILLINGS CONTINUE — ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — Along with beach towels or sandals, there's a new popular beach accessory that says a lot about the violence gripping this once-glamorous resort: a small black leather tote hanging from the neck or shoulders of some men.

David Cay Johnston / Politico:

Just What Were Donald Trump's Ties to the Mob? — In his signature book, The Art of the Deal, Donald Trump boasted that when he wanted to build a casino in Atlantic City, he persuaded the state attorney general to limit the investigation of his background to six months.

John Myers / Los Angeles Times:

Bernie Sanders supporters sue to have California's voter registration extended until election day — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders addresses supporters during a rally on May 21, 2016, in National City. (Sandy Huffaker / Getty Images) — A federal lawsuit alleging …

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Trump camp quietly courts Muslims — 's top foreign policy adviser has quietly opened backchannels within Muslim and Middle Eastern communities in the U.S. in an attempt to win over a small but increasingly important voting bloc. — Walid Phares, a top national security adviser for Trump …

Discussion: Hot Air

Jim Brunner / The Seattle Times:

Washington state GOP convention backs Cruz over Trump — Donald Trump may be the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, but Washington state's GOP convention awarded 40 out of 41 elected delegate slots to Ted Cruz. However, delegates are bound by party rules to cast national-convention ballots based …

Discussion: RedState