memeorandum: Alabama's abortion ban will make abortion a key issue in 2020. Which party does that help? (Eugene Scott/Washington Post)

9:10 PM ET, May 15, 2019

Top Items:

Sarah Pulliam Bailey / Washington Post:

Televangelist Pat Robertson: Alabama's abortion ban is ‘extreme’ and has ‘gone too far’ — Longtime televangelist Pat Robertson decried Alabama's new abortion ban as “extreme,” saying on his show on Wednesday that the state legislature has “gone too far.” — Alabama's law …

Discussion: YouTube, USA Today, CNBC, Splinter and Fox News

Associated Press:

The Latest: Alabama's governor signs abortion ban into law — MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Latest on a proposed on Alabama's abortion bill (all times local): — Alabama's governor has signed the most stringent abortion ban in the nation. — Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed the measure Wednesday.

Discussion: Washington Post, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Political Wire, CNN and Mercury News

Eugene Scott / Washington Post:

Alabama's abortion ban will make abortion a key issue in 2020. Which party does that help? — On Tuesday, the Alabama legislature voted to ban nearly all abortions, including for victims of rape and incest. It's the strictest abortion regulation in the country, one that clearly runs afoul of Roe v. Wade.

Discussion: Breitbart, ABC News, Bangor Daily News and Fox News

Kate Riga / Talking Points Memo:

Pat Robertson Calls Alabama Abortion Ban ‘An Extreme Law’ — The Alabama abortion ban sent to the governor's desk Tuesday is even too severe for televangelist Pat Robertson, who called it an “extreme law.” — “I think Alabama has gone too far, they've passed a law that would give …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Associated Press, Raw Story and Washington Press

David French / National Review:

Alabama and Georgia Are Throwing Down the Gauntlet against Roe. Good. — For two generations the Roe decision has distorted American politics. Now the states are fighting back. — We are witnessing the beginnings of an anti-abortion legislative revolution in Red America.

Discussion: New York Times, Dame Magazine, CNN, Florida Politics and Students For Life

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Alabama Aims Squarely at Roe, but the Supreme Court May Prefer Glancing Blows

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and VICE

Emma Green / The Atlantic:
The New Abortion Bills Are a Dare

Discussion: Florida Politics

Washington Post:

White House will not sign on to Christchurch call to stamp out online extremism amid free speech concerns — The White House will not sign an international call to combat online extremism brokered between French and New Zealand officials and top social media companies, amid U.S. concerns …

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook PM: What George W. Bush's economist said about Trump behind closed doors — BEHIND THE SCENES ... LARRY LINDSEY, President George W. Bush's National Economic Council director, spoke Tuesday separately to both the elected House GOP leadership and top committee Republicans …

Discussion: CNN, South China Morning Post, Raw Story, Mediaite, Boing Boing and Axios, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Trump, frustrated by advisers, is not convinced the time is right to attack Iran — The Trump administration has been on high alert in response to what military and intelligence officials have deemed specific and credible threats from Iran against U.S. personnel in the Middle East.

Discussion: Politico, New York Post and Mediaite

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

John Bolton, Far Worse Than You Realize — Looking at the escalating (US-created) crisis with Iran, one thing I realize is that a lot of people do not quite know who John Bolton is. They assume - rightly - that anyone in the Trump orbit must be either a moral weakling, a crazy person or someone with one foot out the door.

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
As Trump blunders into disaster, Adam Schiff sounds the alarm

Discussion: New York Times, The National Interest, Foreign Policy and Raw Story

Trita Parsi / NBC News:
Trump's potential war with Iran is all John Bolton's doing. But it might also be his undoing.

Discussion: New York Post, Vanity Fair, CNN, The Atlantic, Slate and HillReporter.com

Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:

No ‘do-over’ on Mueller probe, White House lawyer tells House panel, saying demands for records, staff testimony will be refused — The letter rejects the committee's standing to investigate President Trump for possible obstruction of justice. — Carol D. Leonnig, Josh Dawsey - · - 1 hour ago -

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, Political Wire, Mother Jones and The New Civil Rights Movement

Washington Post:
House Democrats fall in line with Pelosi's no-impeachment strategy despite Trump's defiance

Discussion: Political Wire

Mike Allen / Axios:
Exclusive: Michael Wolff finishes “Fire and Fury” sequel, “Siege”

Discussion: Fox News, One America News Network, CNN, New York Post, Washington Times, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Raw Story and Political Wire

CNN:
‘Claiming that the President is a king’: White House-Dem oversight feud escalates

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Law & Crime and Daily Kos

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to announce presidential bid — Bill de Blasio is not exactly popular back home, but he has a record of progressive accomplishments that allies think will resonate with Democratic voters. — WASHINGTON — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will declare …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Gothamist, New York Daily News, FiveThirtyEight, Vanity Fair, Axios, CNBC, Political Wire, Splinter and Mediaite

Laurie Kellmann / Associated Press:

Barr asks Pelosi at event: ‘Did you bring your handcuffs?’ — WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General William Barr tried out a little contempt humor on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with interesting results. — The setting was the National Peace Officers Memorial Day service Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol.

Juliegrace Brufke / The Hill:
Barr jokes with Pelosi: ‘Did you bring your handcuffs?’

Discussion: IJR and Political Wire

Heather Caygle / Politico:
House Democrats won't hold contempt floor vote anytime soon

Discussion: The Week and Splinter

Yashar's Newsletter:

Scoop: Kamala Harris/Fox News — Scoop: Sen. Kamala Harris Will Not Appear On Fox News For A Town Hall — Presidential candidate and California Sen. Kamala Harris will not appear on Fox News for a moderated town hall, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Discussion: USA Today, Axios, Raw Story, twitchy.com, Daily Wire, Washington Free Beacon, Breitbart, PJ Media Home, The Daily Beast, IJR, POLITICUSUSA, Slate, Mother Jones and The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »

Meagan Day / Jacobin:
Elizabeth Warren Should Have Gone on Fox News

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Townhall, The Wrap and Lawyers, Guns & Money, more at Mediagazer »

Kyung Lah / CNN:
Kamala Harris says she'll ban imports of all AR-15 style assault weapons if Congress doesn't act

Discussion: Sacramento Bee, The Root, Daily Caller News Foundation and Fox News

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Trump Immigration Plan Emphasizes Immigrants' Skills Over Family Ties — WASHINGTON — President Trump will unveil on Thursday a plan to overhaul parts of the nation's immigration system that would impose new security measures at the border and significantly increase the educational …

Discussion: The Week

Washington Post:
Trump prepares to unveil broad immigration plan but shows no signs of tempering hard-line rhetoric

Discussion: Breitbart, Political Wire, The Daily Caller, Daily Caller News Foundation, Splinter and Vanity Fair

Eliana Johnson / Politico:
Trump to unveil immigration plan aimed at changing narrative

Discussion: ABC News and TheBlaze

Washington Post:

Trump's prized Doral resort is in steep decline, according to company documents, showing his business problems are mounting — Late last year, in a Miami conference room, a consultant for President Trump's company said business at his prized 643-room Doral resort was in sharp decline.

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Raw Story, Florida Politics, CNN, The Root, KTLA, Rolling Stone, Shareblue Media, Fortune, twitchy.com, Daily Kos, HillReporter.com, Axios and Balloon Juice

Sam Dorman / Fox News:

Kamala Harris turns the tables on Joe Biden, says he'd be ‘a great running mate’ — Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., responded on Wednesday to a question about interest in her serving as fellow 2020 contender Joe Biden's runningmate, saying the former vice president would be a good fit for a repeat …

Discussion: Politico, Breitbart, Raw Story and CNN

Katie Galioto / Politico:
Trump boasts that his looks and brain are better than Biden's

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Root, Breitbart, Washington Press, Talking Points Memo and IJR

Peter Hamby / Vanity Fair:

“You Have to Have a Plan to Deal with Them”: How the Media Fell Out of Love with Beto O'Rourke — Parsing the the factors (privilege, intersectionality, more press scrutiny, strategic miscalculation, multiple opponents, Vanity Fair) that contributed to O'Rourke's early-season swoon.

Discussion: Politico, Axios, Fox News, The Daily Caller, Townhall and Washington Times

John M. Donnelly / Roll Call:

Administration wants to reimburse Taliban's travel expenses — The Trump administration asked Congress earlier this year for funds to reimburse Afghanistan's Taliban for expenses the insurgent group incurs attending peace talks, according to a spokesman for the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

Discussion: Axios and The Week

Washington Post:

Trump signs order to protect U.S. networks from foreign espionage, a move that appears to target China — Amid a deepening trade war with China, President Trump on Wednesday declared a “national emergency” to protect U.S. communications networks in a move that gives the federal government broad powers …

Discussion: The White House, Townhall, Reuters, Political Wire and New York Post, more at Techmeme »

Randall Kennedy / New York Times:

Harvard Betrays a Law Professor — and Itself — Misguided students believe that defending Harvey Weinstein makes Ronald Sullivan unfit to be their dean. Apparently the university agrees. — Professor Kennedy teaches law at Harvard. — I have been a professor at Harvard University for 34 years.

Discussion: Althouse, USA Today, Instapundit and PJ Media Home

Elaina Plott / The Atlantic:

Ignoring Trump's Orders, Hoping He'll Forget — On March 29, during a weekend jaunt to Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump announced a major policy decision that surprised top-ranking officials in several government agencies. The United States was cutting off aid to Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, the president said.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Shareblue Media, The Week, Splinter, Raw Story, Politico, Talking Points Memo and Axios

Courtney Kube / NBC News:

U.S. military to build 6 tent cities near border for migrants — The tents will likely not be on military bases, and ICE, not the military, will be responsible for migrant detention and custodial support. — WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is going to provide and build tents to house 7,500 migrants at six locations near the border.

ProPublica:

Intuit CEO in Internal Video: Hiding Free TurboTax Was In “Best Interest of Taxpayers” — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom based in New York. Sign up for ProPublica's Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published.

Greg Hinz / Chicago Business:

Key Democrat to help Lipinski—despite primary threat — U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, a fellow Illinoisan and head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is slated to star at a fundraiser for the Southwest Side congressman. — By On Politics — As Southwest Side congressman Dan …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Josh Kraushaar / National Journal:

Why Arizona Is Emerging as Top 2020 Battleground — If Democrats avoid the progressive temptation, they'll have a chance to turn the GOP-friendly state blue in next year's elections. — If there's one development that threatens to disrupt the best laid plans of Republicans …

Discussion: National Review and Fox News

Issie Lapowsky / Wired:

The Trump Admin Is Scrubbing Obamacare From Government Sites — PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS never been coy about his desire to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. While that pledge has faced setbacks in Congress, his administration has managed to gut Obamacare by other means, like cutting financial support.

Discussion: HuffPost, Raw Story and Sunlight Foundation

Politico:

Obama admaker signs on with Buttigieg — Larry Grisolano and his firm, AKPD, are joining the South Bend mayor's 2020 campaign. — Pete Buttigieg just added major heft to his presidential campaign, picking up the advertising firm that aided a young Barack Obama's 2008 rise to the national stage.

Murray Waas / NYR Daily:

Jeff Sessions's Grave Conflict of Interest — Last year, in March 2018, then Attorney General Jeff Sessions enlisted his subordinates to lie on his behalf that he did not know he was under federal investigation when he fired then Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe—an investigation initiated …

Discussion: Law & Crime and NB Blog

Scott Bixby / The Daily Beast:

Trump Administration to LGBT Couples: Your ‘Out of Wedlock’ Kids Aren't Citizens — Children of U.S. citizens are falling victim to a policy that de-recognizes their parents' marriage—and strips them of their birthright citizenship. — Scott Bixby — No parent can ever be fully prepared for the arrival of a new baby.

Discussion: BuzzFeed News and Raw Story

Reuters:

China's Huawei, 70 affiliates placed on U.S. trade blacklist — WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department said on Wednesday it is adding Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and 70 affiliates to its so-called “Entity List” - a move that bans the telecom giant from buying parts …