memeorandum: If judicial nominees don't support ‘Brown v. Board,’ they don't support the rule of law (Sherrilyn Ifill/Washington Post)

10:10 AM ET, May 13, 2019

Top Items:

Trump's trade approach under attack as China readies retaliation; markets poised for big sell-off — Beijing plans steep tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods in response to White House action … President Trump's efforts to calm investors while he launches a full-scale trade war …

Discussion: Political Wire

Bloomberg:

China Announces Tariff Retaliation to Take Effect on June 1 — China announced that it will impose additional tariffs on some American goods in retaliation for the latest increase of U.S. duties on $200 billion of Chinese imports. — The tariffs will take effect on June 1 …

Discussion: shanghaiist and The Guardian

Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:
China to retaliate on $60B in U.S. goods, defying Trump's warning

Discussion: Bloomberg, Townhall and Breitbart

Christopher Rugaber / Associated Press:
Kudlow's admission about who pays tariffs contradicts Trump

Discussion: HillReporter.com

New York Times:
Trump's Trade War Escalation Will Exact Economic Pain, Adviser Says

Discussion: CNN, CNBC, The Week, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Quartz and Bloomberg

Washington Post:
Trump's go-it-alone approach on trade, immigration poses economic risks

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Mercury News

Allan Smith / Associated Press:
Trump aide Kudlow acknowledges U.S. consumers pay for tariffs, not China

Discussion: Splinter, CNBC, Sputnik International and Vox

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

What Joe Biden Is Teaching Democrats About Democrats — Over the past five years, the Democratic Party has seemed to race leftward so fast that its recent standard-bearers are considered no longer qualified to lead it. Bill Clinton? An embarrassment not welcome on the campaign trail. Barack Obama?

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:
Why Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden really need each other

Discussion: Vox

The Guardian: The Guardian view on a Green New Deal: we need it now

Mike Allen / Axios:

Democrats' fear: 2020 race killing chances to win Senate — Democrats have more than beating President Trump to fret in 2020: They face an uphill battle to win the Senate, and the possibility of losing House seats, too. — Reality check: The Senate looks tough to win back for Democrats …

Eleanor Clift / The Daily Beast: Democrats Don't Want to Run for the Senate—and It Will Screw Them

Alan Fram / Associated Press:
House GOP focusing on women, minorities for 2020 challengers

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Jonathan Bernstein / Bloomberg:

What's the Real Reason Trump Is Stonewalling Congress? — Maybe he wants to avoid more bad publicity. Or maybe it's something worse. — If President Donald Trump thinks he's been totally exonerated, as he says, why is he stonewalling Congress? Why wouldn't he want special counsel Robert Mueller …

Discussion: Raw Story and The Moderate Voice

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:

An Imperial Presidency? — President Trump's free rein from political norms puts the United States at risk. — We watch daily as the constitutional and conventional fabric of this country is clawed at and unraveled by Donald Trump, while those with any power to prevent or punish his actions …

Discussion: The Stanford Daily and Raw Story

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:

House Republicans criticize Rep. Tlaib over remarks on Holocaust, Israel — House Republican leaders took aim at Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) on Sunday for a podcast interview in which she discussed her support for a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Discussion: Politico, twitchy.com, Yeshiva World News, Breitbart, RedState and Haaretz

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
Rashida Tlaib says thinking of the Holocaust provides her a ‘calming feeling,’ …

Discussion: CNN, Townhall, RedState, IJR, Splinter, Mediaite, Human Events, twitchy.com, The Daily Caller, Fox News, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Breitbart, New York Post, TheBlaze and The Gateway Pundit

Stephen Collinson / CNN:

Many Democrats fear Trump is laying an impeachment trap — (CNN)It seems a crazy idea that any president would actually want to be impeached. — But Donald Trump has so subverted Washington logic with his wild, norm-crushing presidency that there is now a serious conversation …

Discussion: Front Page Magazine

Shane Goldmacher / New York Times:

Iowa's Likely Outcome for 2020 Contenders: A Field of Broken Dreams — The nation's first presidential caucus is always important, but with more than 20 Democrats running this time, the need for a strong showing is far more urgent. — IOWA CITY — It may be nearly nine months until …

Discussion: Des Moines Register

Alexi McCammond / Axios:
Iowa Trump voters want Elizabeth Warren's ideas, focus group shows

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Popular Information:

EXCLUSIVE: How money flows from Amazon to 8chan — Follow the money from the world's most valuable company to a racist troll haven — You may or may not know about the 8chan website—but you are familiar with its work. The rudimentary message board is a wellspring of racism, violence …

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

Inside Jared Kushner's two missions impossible — As President Donald Trump launches his re-election bid, his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, is waging dual campaigns of his own, preparing to sell ambitious fixes to two of the most stubborn problems of the past 50 years.

Discussion: Raw Story

Campbell Robertson / New York Times:

How a Newspaper War in New Orleans Ended: With a Baked Alaska and Layoffs — NEW ORLEANS — The announcement came via the baked alaska. — On May 2, senior staff members at The Advocate newspaper gathered in a room at Antoine's, one of the white-linen dining palaces in the French Quarter of New Orleans …

Liz Sly / Washington Post:

Two Saudi oil tankers attacked in the Persian Gulf amid rising Iran tensions — BEIRUT — Two Saudi oil tankers have been attacked and damaged in coastal waters near the Persian Gulf, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said Monday, further heightening tensions with Iran.

Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:

Pentagon will pull money from ballistic missile and surveillance plane programs to fund border wall — The Pentagon will shift $1.5 billion for President Trump's border wall from programs that include the military's next nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile and a plane that provides surveillance …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Defense One, The Week and Slate

Gregory Meyer / Financial Times:

Trump tariffs on China intensify pain for US soyabean farmers — In late February, with American and Chinese diplomats enmeshed in trade talks a week before a since-extended deadline, a top US agriculture official explained what he hoped would result from a deal.

Jackson Diehl / Washington Post:

The real reason Venezuela's Maduro survives: Dirty money — When asked to explain why their efforts to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro have fallen short, Trump administration officials typically cite the sinister influence of Cuba and Russia, which they say has stiffened the regime's resistance.

New York Sun:

Prime Minister Nigel Farage? — Could Britain end up with Prime Minister Nigel Farage? On the one hand, we wouldn't put any more money on it than, say, the New York Times was prepared, on election eve in 2016, to put on Donald Trump. On the other hand, feature what's happening …

Discussion: Hot Air and Politico

Jessica Elgot / The Guardian:
Keir Starmer: Brexit deal unlikely to pass without confirmatory poll

Discussion: Politico, Financial Times and Bloomberg

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Kavanaugh and Gorsuch, Justices With Much in Common, Take Different Paths — WASHINGTON — President Trump's two Supreme Court appointees went to the same Jesuit high school in the Washington suburbs — at the same time. After attending Ivy League colleges and law schools …