Top Items:
Shane Savitsky / Axios:
Trump: I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong-un — President Trump confirmed in a tweet this morning that his planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is still on. The president expressed hope that Kim, who just visited Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, “will do what is right for his people and for humanity.”
Discussion:
Politico, Roll Call, CBS New York, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon, Sputnik International, Raw Story, IJR and Washington Times
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Daniel Lippman / Politico:
Playbook scoop: Republicans to push balanced-budget amendment — BRING 'EM TO THE BALLOT BOX! — THE PRESIDENT at 5:52 a.m.: “THE SECOND AMENDMENT WILL NEVER BE REPEALED! As much as Democrats would like to see this happen, and despite the words yesterday of former Supreme Court Justice Stevens, NO WAY.
Discussion:
Political Wire
Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
For John Bolton, Russia is part of a new ‘axis of evil’ … The Trump administration seems to be hardening on Russia, but not fast enough for its incoming national security adviser. John Bolton wants President Trump to go on the offensive against Moscow — and not just when it comes …
Discussion:
CNN, Associated Press and Bangor Daily News
New York Times:
Kim Jong-un Met Xi Jinping in Secret Beijing Visit, China Says
Kim Jong-un Met Xi Jinping in Secret Beijing Visit, China Says
Discussion:
CNN, Common Dreams, New York Magazine, Boing Boing, Vox, Politico, Union of Concerned Scientists, The New Arab, Gizmodo, Financial Times, TheBlaze, Associated Press, Infowars, Reuters and VICE News
New York Times:
Trump Secures Trade Deal With South Korea Ahead of Nuclear Talks
Trump Secures Trade Deal With South Korea Ahead of Nuclear Talks
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Week, Breitbart and Axios
xinhuanet.com:
Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un hold talks in Beijing
Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un hold talks in Beijing
Discussion:
CNN, Financial Times, The Week, Washington Post, The Guardian, NPR, Bustle, NBC News and Axios
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Trump's war cabinet is now complete
BBC:
Kim Jong-un was in Beijing, China and NK confirm
Kim Jong-un was in Beijing, China and NK confirm
Discussion:
New York Times, Just Security and Mediaite
Doug Palmer / Politico:
Trump gets South Korean concessions in first trade deal
Trump gets South Korean concessions in first trade deal
Discussion:
National Review, New York Times and One America News Network
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
The sliming of Parkland students shows the spreading stain of media polarization … Six months ago, the conservative radio host and blogger Erick Erickson wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times, inspiringly titled “How to Find Common Ground.” — “We owe it to one another to disagree agreeably …
Discussion:
@politifact, The Week, Townhall.com, Media Matters for America, Mediaite, alicublog, New York Times and RedState, more at Mediagazer »
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Isabelle Robinson / New York Times:
I Was Kind to Nikolas Cruz. He Still Killed My Friends. — My first interaction with Nikolas Cruz happened when I was in seventh grade. I was eating lunch with my friends, most likely discussing One Direction or Ed Sheeran, when a sudden pain consumed my lower back.
Mike Mullen / City Pages:
Rep. Mary Franson compares ‘March for Our Lives’ kids to Hitler Youth
Rep. Mary Franson compares ‘March for Our Lives’ kids to Hitler Youth
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, Bustle, The Hill, ThinkProgress, AOL, VICE News and Raw Story
Katelyn Polantz / CNN:
New Gates tie alleged in special counsel filing on van der Zwaan sentencing — (CNN)The special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election revealed Tuesday night that prosecutors say they have connected former Trump deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates to a person …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, ThinkProgress and The Week
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Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed:
Robert Mueller's Office Wants A Judge To Consider Jail Time For A Lawyer Who Pleaded Guilty To Lying — Alex van der Zwaan, who pleaded guilty to lying to special counsel prosecutors and the FBI, is asking for no jail time. — Reporting From Washington, DC
Discussion:
Raw Story and Political Wire
Andy Court / CBS News:
Stormy Daniels' lawyer seeks to depose President Trump, Michael Cohen — Stormy Daniels' attorney asked a federal judge this morning for permission to depose President Donald J. Trump about his knowledge of an agreement to pay the porn star $130,000 a week and a half before the 2016 election.
Discussion:
Politico, Political Wire, IJR, AOL and Globe and Mail
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Richard L. Hasen / Slate:
Scalia's Legacy Is Stronger Than Ever — Over the next few months, the Supreme Court seems poised to deliver a crushing blow to public sector unions, allow more purges that remove eligible voters from the rolls, limit anti-discrimination laws protecting the LBGT community in the name …
Discussion:
NBC News
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Khorri Atkinson / Axios:
This time, SCOTUS gerrymandering case focuses on Democrats
This time, SCOTUS gerrymandering case focuses on Democrats
Discussion:
Politico and New York Times
Facebook:
It's Time to Make Our Privacy Tools Easier to Find — Last week showed how much more work we need to do to enforce our policies and help people understand how Facebook works and the choices they have over their data. We've heard loud and clear that privacy settings and other important tools …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Verge, The Guardian, WNEP-TV, Investor's Business Daily, CBS Dallas, The Daily Caller, CNNMoney and Bustle, more at Techmeme »
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Sarah Frier / Bloomberg:
Facebook Delays Home-Speaker Unveil Amid Data Crisis
Facebook Delays Home-Speaker Unveil Amid Data Crisis
Discussion:
CNNMoney, CNBC, Daily Mail, Talking Points Memo, Gizmodo and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump hates Amazon, not Facebook — Capitol Hill wants Facebook's blood, but President Trump isn't interested. Instead, the tech behemoth Trump wants to go after is Amazon, according to five sources who've discussed it with him. “He's obsessed with Amazon,” a source said. “Obsessed.”
Discussion:
Raw Story, CNBC and The Week, more at Techmeme »
New Book Releases, Bestsellers …:
The Restless Wave — Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations — A candid new political memoir from Senator John McCain—his most personal book in years—covering everything from 2008 up to the present. — In a time when Washington, DC and the country is more polarized …
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Amanda Terkel / HuffPost:
Minnesota Woman Blamed For Al Franken's Fall Had Nothing To Do With It — Lindsey Port accused another man of harassment. But fellow Democrats say she “softened the ground” for Franken's resignation. — Lindsey Port, 35, doesn't really know Al Franken.
Discussion:
Shot in the Dark
New York Times:
Peter Thiel Employee Helped Cambridge Analytica Before It Harvested Data — As a start-up called Cambridge Analytica sought to harvest the Facebook data of tens of millions of Americans in summer 2014, the company received help from at least one employee at Palantir Technologies …
Discussion:
Daily Mail and FiveThirtyEight, more at Techmeme »
USA Today:
Don't mess with the Census — By including a question on citizenship, the Trump administration is driving down compliance and driving up costs: Our view — The Trump administration has decided to ask people, on the 2020 Census form, whether they are U.S. citizens. — Of course it has.
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Betsy Klein / CNN:
Former Disney star joins White House press team — Washington (CNN)The White House press office is getting a bit more Sunshine these days — former Disney Channel star Caroline Sunshine, that is. She's joining the team as a press assistant. — Sunshine, 22, is known for her role alongside Zendaya …
Zachary Mider / Bloomberg:
Robert Mercer's Secret Adventure as a New Mexico Cop — Why was the fabulously wealthy Trump donor wearing a badge and a gun in a tiny desert town? To obtain something that's impossible to buy. — Robert Mercer probably would have flown into Roswell. From there—1,800 miles from home …
Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
Don't Blow Up The Iran Deal. Trump's Strategy Is Working. — The U.S. can play hardball on renegotiating the agreement without alienating European allies. — It looks like the Iran nuclear deal will not survive past May 12. That is the next occasion President Donald Trump will have to certify Iranian compliance with the bargain.
New York Times:
A Cyberattack Hobbles Atlanta, and Security Experts Shudder — ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta's 8,000 employees got the word on Tuesday that they had been waiting for: It was O.K. to turn their computers on. — But as the city government's desktops, hard drives and printers flickered …
Karen Freifeld / Reuters:
Exclusive: Spurned by top lawyers, Trump's defense elevates Washington outsider — (Reuters) - A little-known former prosecutor with a doctorate in medieval history will play a central role on U.S. President Donald Trump's legal team, as many top-tier lawyers shy away from representing …
Ben Beaumont-Thomas / The Guardian:
R Kelly accused of grooming 14-year-old girl as ‘sex pet’ — In a BBC3 documentary, former girlfriend Kitti Jones alleges the R&B star groomed an underage girl as well as her and other young women; Kelly has refused to comment … The R&B singer R Kelly has been accused of sexually abusing a girl since she was 14 years old.
Washington Post:
‘He knows he is done’: Veterans Affairs chief lies low amid rumors he'll be ousted … Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin has lived in presidential purgatory for weeks. — The president has told a number of advisers that he wants to oust Shulkin, once a favorite in his Cabinet.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Task & Purpose and New York Magazine
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
House subpoena rattles Justice Department; Sessions ‘angry’ at slow response; FBI ‘called on the carpet’ — The FBI is promising swift action on a House subpoena covering three politically charged investigations after word that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has grown angry with the bureau's slow-walking …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
The Atlantic:
The Very Male Trump Administration — Earlier this month, a woman broke a glass ceiling: President Donald Trump announced that he would name Gina Haspel, a career intelligence officer, the first female director of the Central Intelligence Agency. — Yet Haspel is something of a rarity …