memeorandum: Trump budget seeks huge cuts to disease prevention and medical research departments (Joel Achenbach/Washington Post)

9:10 PM ET, May 22, 2017

Top Items:

Trump asked intelligence chiefs to push back against FBI collusion probe after Comey revealed its existence — President Trump asked two of the nation's top intelligence officials in March to help him push back against an FBI investigation into possible coordination between his campaign …

Discussion: Axios, The Atlantic, Vox, Mother Jones, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, RedState, Political Wire, Hit & Run, NPR, CNBC, The Times of Israel, KTLA, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Politicus USA, The Week and Washington Free Beacon

CNN:

Trump asked DNI, NSA to deny evidence of Russia collusion — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump called two top intelligence community figures to request that they deny in public any evidence of collusion between his campaign and the Russian government during the 2016 election …

Discussion: Washington Post and Talking Points Memo

CNN:

First on CNN: Mueller briefed on secret Comey memos, source says — Special counsel to lead Russia investigation — (CNN)Robert Mueller — the former FBI director now overseeing the Department of Justice's investigation into Russia's election-year meddling and contact with the Trump campaign …

Discussion: Mediaite

Austin Wright / Politico:
Chaffetz postpones Wednesday hearing after speaking with Comey

Discussion: Sputnik International and Daily Kos

Simon Maloy / The Week:
The Trump White House is collapsing

Discussion: Washington Post, New Republic, New York Magazine, The Mahablog, Gothamist, Vox and CNBC

Seung Min Kim / Politico: Sessions' Senate testimony canceled this week

Kevin Rawlinson / The Guardian:

Police report fatalities after explosion at Manchester Arena — Greater Manchester police have warned people to stay away from the area while they deal with the emergency at pop concert … Police dealing with a “serious incident” in Manchester have confirmed a “number of fatalities” amid unconfirmed reports of an explosion.

Discussion: Sky News, Heat Street, Breaking911, Infowars, CBS New York, WGN-TV, RedState, Mediaite, FOX6Now.com, FOX40, IJR, KFOR-TV, myfox8.com, CBS Denver, The Week and media.btp.police.uk

CNBC:

19 dead in possible suicide blast at Ariana Grande UK concert — At least 19 people were killed and about 50 others were injured in a suspected suicide bombing Monday night after an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in England, authorities said. — Greater Manchester Police said the incident was being treated as terrorism.

Discussion: RedState, National Review, The Daily Caller, AOL, The Week and Daily Kos

Alistair Smout / Reuters:

British police says responding to serious incident at venue where Ariana Grande performing — British police said on Monday they had responded to a serious incident at a venue in the northern English city of Manchester where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing.

Discussion: twitchy.com, Raw Story and The Daily Caller

The Guardian:

Manchester Arena: police confirm fatalities after explosion at Ariana Grande concert - live — Greater Manchester police have warned people to stay away after explosion at pop concert — The ambulance service have warned people only to call “for life threatening emergencies” and said a …

Discussion: Gizmodo, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and The Week

Daily Mail:
At least 20 dead in Manchester Arena explosions

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Post, Patterico's Pontifications, twitchy.com and Weasel Zippers

BBC:
Manchester Arena blast: 19 dead and about 50 hurt

Discussion: CNN, BBC, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Beast, Blazing Cat Fur, NPR and Politicus USA

New York Times:
Explosion, Panic and Death at Ariana Grande Concert in England

Discussion: Mother Jones, CBS Boston, myfox8.com, KTLA, Refinery29 and Why Evolution Is True

New York Times:

Michael Flynn Misled Pentagon About His Russia Ties, Letter Says — WASHINGTON — Michael T. Flynn misled Pentagon investigators about his income from Russian companies and contacts with Russian officials when he applied for a top-secret security clearance last year, according …

Discussion: NPR, Daily Wire, ThinkProgress, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, The Week, Washington Free Beacon, Associated Press and Balloon Juice

Eli Watkins / CNN:

Chris Christie: I warned Trump about Flynn — Source: Michael Flynn to plead the Fifth — Washington (CNN)New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on Monday that if it were up to him, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn never would have had a White House job. — After ending his own presidential bid …

Discussion: The Week, Axios, Political Wire, IJR and Mediaite

NBC News:
Flynn ‘Lied to Investigators’ About Russia Trip, Says Top House Dem

Discussion: Raw Story and Talking Points Memo

Associated Press:
The Latest: AP Source says Flynn will invoke Fifth Amendment

Discussion: Politico, Townhall.com, Washington Post, HuffPost, ABC News, New York Magazine and Patterico's Pontifications

CNN:
Warner: Door open to holding Flynn in contempt after invoking Fifth Amendment

Discussion: Heat Street, Mediaite, The Guardian, IJR and CBS Philly

Ryan Hutchins / Politico:
Christie on Comey: He's not a ‘nut job’

Discussion: Washington Post, Politicus USA, ThinkProgress, American Prospect, Vox, NBC News and Cracked

The Daily Beast:

Fox News Staffers ‘Embarrassed’ by Hannity's Conspiracy Theory Crusade … Fox News staffers are growing increasingly dismayed as network star Sean Hannity and others continue to promote the unfounded conspiracy theory that Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staffer was murdered last year for talking to WikiLeaks.

Discussion: Mediaite, Media Matters for America, Hot Air, The Guardian and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed:

How One Pro-Trump Site Keeps A Debunked Conspiracy Theory Alive — The top story on pro-Trump media last week was a conspiracy about a murdered Democratic National Committee staffer and his alleged connection to WikiLeaks. — A typical Gateway Pundit headline.

Max Boot / Foreign Policy:
The Seth Rich ‘Scandal’ Shows That Fox News Is Morally Bankrupt

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today, The Resurgent, Mediaite and Media Matters for America

Rick Hasen / electionlawblog.org:

Breaking and Analysis: Supreme Court on 5-3 Vote Affirms NC Racial Gerrymandering Case, with Thomas in Majority and Roberts in Dissent — The Supreme Court has issued this 5-3 opinion in Cooper v. Harris. Justice Kagan wrote the opinion for the Court, with Justice Thomas making the fifth vote for affirmance.

Discussion: Dallas Morning News, Vox, Bloomberg, neo-neocon, The Daily Caller, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, Little Green Footballs and Mother Jones

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Justices Reject 2 Gerrymandered North Carolina Districts, Citing Racial Bias

Discussion: The Nation, The Atlantic, Washington Post, electionlawblog.org, Outside the Beltway, vice and Fusion

Amy Howe / SCOTUSblog: Opinion analysis: Court strikes down N.C. districts in racial gerrymandering challenge

Angela Hart / Sacramento Bee:

The price tag on universal health care is in, and it's bigger than California's budget — It would cost $400 billion per year to remake California's health insurance marketplace and create a publicly funded universal heath care system, according to a state financial analysis released Monday.

Discussion: Power Line, Instapundit and twitchy.com

Dylan Scott / Vox:
California's single-payer plan costs $400 billion — twice the state's entire budget

Discussion: MattBruenig

Melanie Mason / Los Angeles Times:
Single-payer healthcare could cost $400 billion to implement in California

Discussion: Hot Air

Tampa Bay Times:

Suspect tells police he killed Tampa Palms roommates for disrespecting his Muslim faith — TAMPA — A man accused of shooting his roommates in a New Tampa apartment told police he shared neo-Nazi beliefs with the two men until he converted to Islam then killed them because they disrespected his faith.

Discussion: The Resurgent, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire, Heat Street and The Gateway Pundit

Ben Mathis-Lilley / Slate:

The President Just Told a Room of Israelis That He “Just Got Back From the Middle East” — Another great moment for America courtesy of President Donald Trump, who is in Jerusalem meeting with Israeli leaders—who, I guess, he does not consider Middle Eastern because they are not Arabs:

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Haaretz:
Trump tells Netanyahu he ‘never mentioned’ Israel in intel leak to Russians

Discussion: The Independent, New York Times, Slate, The Guardian, IJR, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Gizmodo and Politicus USA

Katherine Faulders / ABC News:
Trump: ‘I never mentioned’ Israel to Russian officials in Oval Office meeting

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Free Beacon, Common Dreams, Hot Air and TheBlaze

Washington Post:

Trump close to choosing outside counsel for Russia investigation — President Trump is moving rapidly toward assembling outside counsel to help him navigate the investigations into his campaign and Russian interference in last year's election, and in recent days he and his advisers …

Discussion: Political Wire, Axios, Talking Points Memo and CNBC

Anushay Hossain / CNN:

The ugly truth behind Saudi Arabia's love for Melania Trump — Anushay Hossain is a writer and media personality based in Washington. For more, visit AnushaysPoint.com. The views expressed are her own. — (CNN)Donald Trump's first major trip overseas may be fraught with diplomatic land mines …

Discussion: Raw Story, AOL, Fox News Insider, Breitbart, Daily Mail and TheBlaze

Joe Otterson / Variety:

MSNBC Reaches No. 1 for First Time in Weekly Primetime Ratings, Fox News Drops to Third — For the first time in its history, MSNBC ranked number one in both total viewers and the key adults 25-54 demographic during primetime for a full week among the big three cable news networks, according to Nielsen data.

Discussion: Axios, more at Mediagazer »

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:
For 1st Time in 17 Years, Fox News Was 3rd in Prime Time Demo

Discussion: Mashable

Monica Lewinsky / New York Times:

Roger Ailes's Dream Was My Nightmare — This is not another obituary for Roger Ailes, who died last week a year after being ousted at Fox News. It is, I hope, instead an obituary for the culture he purveyed — a culture that affected me profoundly and personally.

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

Sarah Knapton / Telegraph:

Europe was the birthplace of mankind, not Africa, scientists find — The history of human evolution has been rewritten after scientists discovered that Europe was the birthplace of mankind, not Africa. — Currently, most experts believe that our human lineage split from apes around seven million years ago …

Discussion: Washington Post

Dennis Romboy / Deseret News:

Frustrated Utah Republicans, Democrats form new centrist political party — SALT LAKE CITY — Some disaffected Republicans and Democrats who say extreme views are co-opting their parties have decided to carve out a middle ground in Utah politics. — Taking a centrist approach …

Discussion: Political Wire

Angela Hart / Sacramento Bee:

California Democrats flip off Donald Trump — The anti-Trump fervor at California's Democratic Party convention this weekend can be summarized in choice words from outgoing chair of the California Democratic Party, John Burton: “F*%! Donald Trump.” — The always foul-mouthed Burton …

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, Mediaite, Breitbart, Conservative News Today and The Daily Caller