memeorandum: Meet the Press - May 22, 2016

8:00 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

Don Surber:

For the first time, Trump now leads the average of national polls — Remember how Charles Krauthammer said if Trump won the nomination he could lose like Goldwater? National polls today confirm that once again, Krauthammer may have gotten Trump's chances wrong again.

Discussion: Washington Post

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, Hullabaloo, AOL, Washington Free Beacon, The Gateway Pundit and Politico

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
Begrudging WaPo poll: Trump 46%, Clinton 44%

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

Gary Langer / ABC News:
A Post-Primary Rally Boosts Trump, Albeit with Challenges Aplenty (POLL)

Discussion: The Daily Caller, JustOneMinute, 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, Guardian, Outside the Beltway and New York Times

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

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, Independent Journal … and Vox Popoli

Daily Mail:

Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood says Hollywood is gripped by a powerful pedophile ring and Tinseltown is covering up a ‘seedy’ underbelly full of predatory ‘vipers’ — Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood claims that young actors in Hollywood are being sexually abused by predatory high-powered ‘vipers’ working in the industry..

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News

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 …

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

Tom Kludt / CNNMoney:

Michelle Fields to resume covering Donald Trump - for Huffington Post — Michelle Fields, the conservative reporter who had Donald Trump's campaign manager charged with battery, has a new job. — Fields is heading to the Huffington Post, where she will cover the 2016 campaign with a specific focus on Trump and the Republican Party.

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

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and AOL

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: The Daily Caller and RedState

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 …

NBC News:

Meet the Press - May 22, 2016 — CHUCK TODD: — This Sunday, now it's the Democrats who are fighting in public. — SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: — Before we will have the opportunity to defeat Donald Trump, we're going to have to defeat Secretary Clinton. — CHUCK TODD:

Discussion: Althouse and Balloon Juice

Eugene Scott / CNN:
Mark Cuban: I'd listen if Clinton wanted to talk about VP — but she needs ‘to go more to center’

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Washington Post

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.

Ruby Cramer / BuzzFeed:

Bernie World Debates What's Next — Bernie Sanders may be focused on the road to June 7. But inside and outside his presidential campaign, some supporters, former aides, and current staffers are already moving on to the next big question: What happens to his “political revolution”?

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Hot Air, RedState and Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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.

Discussion: alan.com