memeorandum: Lawmakers to Go on Vacation (Associated Press)

6:50 AM ET, July 14, 2016

Top Items:

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Speakers at Donald Trump's Convention: Tim Tebow, Peter Thiel, but No Sarah Palin? — CLEVELAND — A night highlighting the tragedy in Benghazi, Libya. An appearance by onetime football star Tim Tebow. A presentation detailing former President Bill Clinton's sexual misconduct.

Discussion: Politico, RedState, New York Magazine, Washington Post, The Week, fox8.com and WANE-TV

Byron Tau / Wall Street Journal:

Ahead of GOP Convention, Cleveland Officials Affirm Protesters May Carry Guns — But water guns, toy guns, knives, aerosol cans, rope, tennis balls are barred — CLEVELAND — Cleveland officials said Wednesday that they will uphold the right of protesters at the Republican National Convention …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, The Marshall Project, Daily Kos, Business Insider and The Stranger …

NBC News:

Here Are the Republican National Convention Speakers We Know Of — What Trump should be doing before the RNC 5:54 — Donald Trump and his campaign started boasting about his speaker lineup for the Republican National Convention two weeks ago, promising — and so far, failing …

Discussion: Detroit Free Press, Instapundit, Daily Kos and Politico

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Republican Officials Brace for Chaos at Convention

Discussion: ImmigrationProf Blog, Outside the Beltway and Towleroad

CNN:

Sources: Sean Hannity flew Gingrich to Trump meeting — (CNN)Newt Gingrich, a finalist on Donald Trump's vice presidential shortlist, flew to Indianapolis to meet with Trump on a private jet provided by Fox News host Sean Hannity, two sources with knowledge of the situation told CNN.

Discussion: Bloomberg, New York Magazine, Taylor Marsh, Media Matters for America, Politico, The Week, RedState, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Raw Story, National Review and Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Rich Lowry / Politico:

The Case for Newt — Donald Trump is on the verge of crowning a contender as a running mate. — If the reporting is accurate, he doesn't have great choices. John Kasich, the popular governor of Ohio, would have been a natural pick but doesn't want to be in the same room as Trump, let alone on the same ticket.

CNN:

Donald Trump lists top VP picks, Chris Christie still in the running — Washington (CNN)Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump said Tuesday that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are his top potential picks to be his vice president.

Discussion: ProPublica, New York Times, Political Insider blog, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, The Week, Daily Kos, Politico, The Daily Caller and Talking Points Memo

Mother Jones:

The Swinging Days of Newt Gingrich — Newt's 2nd wife says he wanted an open marriage. This 1984 Mother Jones' profile was the first to expose Gingrich's wild side. — DAVID OSBORNE NOV. 1, 1984 4:00 AM … The original illustration from the November 1984 issue of Mother Jones.

Discussion: Politico

David Catanese / Associated Press:
Trump Family, Staff Divided Between Gingrich, Pence

Discussion: Hot Air, 6abc.com, Politico, The Hill, Independent Journal Review, Washington Post, NBC News and WISH-TV

Kristin Salaky / Talking Points Memo:
RNC Chair: Trump's White, Male VP Frontrunners Are Diverse! (VIDEO)

Discussion: alan.com

Media Matters for America:
Gingrich Previously Said Trump Would Be “Delusional” And Need “Psychiatric Help” If He Picked Him As Running Mate

Discussion: Politicus USA

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

Trump's Racist Appeal Becomes More Explicit Every Day — I can't believe I missed this, but I did: … Josh Marshall: … Trump's explicit race baiting has been so normalized by now that we hardly notice this stuff. This kind of talk from a major-party candidate for president should be front-page news everywhere.

Discussion: Gawker, The Atlantic, Raw Story, bradford-delong.com and Politicus USA

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
A Propagator of Race Hatred and Violence

Discussion: Balloon Juice and The Moderate Voice

U.S. ELECTIONS:

Trump seeks $10 million from former aide in disclosure case — WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is seeking $10 million in damages from a former senior campaign consultant, Sam Nunberg, alleging that Nunberg leaked confidential information to reporters in violation of a nondisclosure agreement.

Discussion: CNN, Balloon Juice, RedState, Hot Air, Guardian, Media Matters for America, New Republic, Mother Jones, Joe.My.God., Heat Street, Politicus USA, AOL, The Week, LawNewz, National Review and Media Matters for America

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:

Here Is The Confidentiality Agreement Signed By A Former Trump Campaign Adviser — WASHINGTON — In a lawsuit filed in New York this week, a copy of a non-disclosure agreement that Donald Trump required of one of his employees was made public. — Much has been made of the campaign's use of non-disclosure agreements.

Discussion: Media Matters for America and Slate

Emily Smith / Page Six:
Trump staffer responds to Trump lawsuit over ‘leaked’ Page Six story

Discussion: NBC News, Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, RedState, Washington Post, ThinkProgress and LawNewz

John Shumway / CBS Pittsburgh:

Couple Refuses To Sit Near Police At Restaurant, Officers Pick Up Their Tab — HOMESTEAD (KDKA) — It is a difficult time for the country as nerves between some in the community and police are frayed, but recently, four local officers handled an uncomfortable situation without any confrontation.

Discussion: WNCN

Andy Greene / Rolling Stone:

The Last Word: Rachel Maddow on Trump, Dystopias and Success — MSNBC host on relationships, the Republican Party's WTF moment and keeping a cool head — The Rachel Maddow Show has been the cornerstone of MSNBC's primetime lineup ever since it debuted in the fall of 2008 …

Discussion: The Lid, Politico, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon and TVNewser

Joe Concha / The Hill:
Maddow: I'm studying Hitler to prep for Trump

Discussion: Mediaite

Kylee Wierks / Fox 59:

Chilling photo from fatal crash appears to show man's spirit leaving his body — STANTON, KY. - A chilling photo taken at the scene of a fatal motorcycle crash in Kentucky is getting a lot of attention online. Many people believe the photo shows the motorcycle driver's spirit leaving his body.

Discussion: WGN-TV, The American Mirror, FOX News Radio and KFOR-TV

Sandra Pedicini / Sun-Sentinel:

Disney firefighters were warned to stop feeding alligators — PICTURE GALLERY: A 2-year-old boy who was vacationing with his family was dragged by an alligator into the Seven Seas Lagoon at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14. — Orlando Sentinel

Discussion: AOL and NBC News

Louis Nelson / Politico:

Sen. Tim Scott reveals incidents of being targeted by Capitol Police — Tim Scott delivered a powerful and deeply personal speech from the Senate floor on Wednesday in which he detailed how, even inside the Capitol building, the relationship between law enforcement and the black community can be strained.

Discussion: ABC News and Washington Post

Giovanni Russonello / New York Times:

Race Relations Are at Lowest Point in Obama Presidency, Poll Finds — Sixty-nine percent of Americans say race relations are generally bad, one of the highest levels of discord since the 1992 riots in Los Angeles during the Rodney King case, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Discussion: Guardian and The Gateway Pundit

Mtschnyder / CBS Dallas:

Off-Duty Firefighter And 1 Other Person Stabbed At Walmart In Princeton — PRINCETON (CBSDFW.COM) - An off-duty McKinney firefighter and one other person were attacked at the Walmart in Princeton, allegedly by an employee who soon became a former employee. — Both victims were taken via CareFlite to the hospital.

Discussion: WGN-TV

Amie Parnes / The Hill:

Clinton torn between caution and risk in VP pick — has always been cautious. Too cautious, her critics would say. — Such criticism is at the center of the most important question facing her today. Who should she pick as her running mate? — Does the presumptive Democratic …

Discussion: alan.com and Politico

Gary Legum / Salon:

Poor Jeb is right for once: His brand of conservatism is dead — and he's partly to blame — Jeb Bush is bummed that the con he's played on Republicans for decades has finally collapsed on itself — For those of you who thought “Please clap” was rock bottom for the depths of sadness plumbed …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Associated Press:

Lawmakers to Go on Vacation — Congress is about to leave for a seven-week vacation without giving the Obama administration any of the $1.9 billion it's seeking to battle the Zika virus, and a Senate effort to revive the nuts-and-bolts process of passing agency budgets faces another setback at the hands of Democrats.

Discussion: Politico

Lindsay Gibbs / ThinkProgress:

‘Enough Is Enough’: NBA Stars Take Major Stand Against Gun Violence — The ESPY Awards are known to blend sports and pop culture seamlessly. But, on Wednesday night, ESPN's sports awards show included a heavy dose of current events and politics. — Instead of host John Cena kicking off …

Discussion: The Week, Raw Story, Mashable and 6abc.com

Kristinn Taylor / The Gateway Pundit:

BlackLivesMatter Icon ALTON STERLING Was Jailed in Similar Armed Violent Police Resistance in 2009 — Black Lives Matter icon Alton Sterling, who was shot dead by Baton Rouge police while resisting arrest on July 5 was jailed in 2009 for an incident that is almost an exact duplication of his deadly 2016 encounter with police.

Discussion: Law Officer

Greg Meriwether / WAFB-TV:
The Investigators: New details show eerily similar incident involving Sterling, police

Discussion: CBS News and SOOPERMEXICAN

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Donald Trump Heads Into The Convention With Barely Any Campaign At All — Many of the numbers listed for his state offices don't even work. — Elise Foley — Immigration & Politics Reporter, The Huffington Post — As he heads for the Republican convention in Cleveland next week …

Discussion: New York Magazine

Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:

New York Post: FBI Agents Tell Us Lynch and Clinton Struck a Deal on That Plane — Just one week before FBI Director James Comey announced the Bureau would not recommend charges be filed against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for storing and transferring top secret …