memeorandum: Can't decipher Trump-speak? Meet Margaret, the computer bot (Noah Bierman/Los Angeles Times)

3:30 PM ET, May 7, 2020

Top Items:

AP Exclusive: Admin shelves CDC guide to reopening country — GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A set of detailed documents created by the nation's top disease investigators meant to give step-by-step advice to local leaders deciding when and how to reopen public places such as mass transit …

CNN:

One of Trump's personal valets has tested positive for coronavirus — (CNN)A member of the US Navy who serves as one of President Donald Trump's personal valets has tested positive for coronavirus, CNN has learned Thursday, raising concerns about the President's possible exposure to the virus.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Axios, Breitbart, HuffPost, Raw Story, WBRZ, Just The News, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Forbes, CNBC, Political Flare, IJR, WGN-TV, The Daily Caller, The Sun, Deadline, The Week, The Root, The Hill and New York Post

Associated Press:

Face masks make a political statement in era of coronavirus — WASHINGTON (AP) — The decision to wear a mask in public is becoming a political statement — a moment to pick sides in a brewing culture war over containing the coronavirus. — While not yet as loaded as a “Make America Great Again” …

Discussion: Washington Post, Political Flare, Raw Story, The Week, Fox News and KTLA

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

The sharp hypocrisy of the White House position on testing — There's a straightforward way in which businesses and other institutions can relax social distancing measures without spurring a surge in new coronavirus infections: frequent and repeated assessments of employee health, including tests for those showing signs of infection.

Discussion: ABC News, NPR, The Hill, Mediaite and Raw Story

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
Republicans now want us to embrace mass death

Discussion: The Sun and POLITICUSUSA

Associated Press:
Trump tells allies his wearing a mask would ‘send the wrong message’, make him look ridiculous

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and The American Independent

Justin Caruso / The Daily Caller: Former CDC Official: Trump Should Quarantine For 14 Days, Could Have Coronavirus

Libby Cathey / ABC News:
Government coronavirus response updates: Trump assistant tests positive for coronavirus, White House says

Discussion: NBC News, Fox News, IJR, Mediaite, The Daily Beast, One America News Network and WBRZ

NBC News:
White House considers measures to boost economy without Congress

Discussion: Washington Post

New York Times:
Coronavirus Live Updates: C.D.C. Reopening Guidelines Rejected as White House Seeks Revisions

Discussion: CNN, The Counter, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Blue Virginia

New York Times:
Coronavirus Task Force Gets Its ‘Mission Accomplished’ Moment

Discussion: Big League Politics, McSweeney's, Al Jazeera, WBRZ and Just The News

New York Times:
Most States That Are Reopening Fail to Meet White House Guidelines

Discussion: National Review and Forbes

Associated Press:

AP Exclusive: Justice Dept dropping Flynn's criminal case — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Thursday said it is dropping the criminal case against President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, abandoning a prosecution that became a rallying cry for Trump …

Discussion: Axios, Redstate, National Review, Townhall, CNBC, Raw Story, Law & Crime, The Gateway Pundit, The Week, The Guardian, Daily Kos and Instapundit

New York Times:

Justice Dept. Drops Case Against Michael Flynn — The extraordinary move came after the former national security adviser had fought the case in court for months, a reversal after pleading guilty twice and cooperating with investigators. — WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is dropping …

Politico:

DOJ drops criminal case against Michael Flynn — The Justice Department has abandoned its prosecution of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, throwing in the towel on one of the most prominent cases brought by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Discussion: Fox News, Talking Points Memo, Power Line, The Hill and Sean Hannity

Nancy Rommelmann / Reason:

She Said Anthony Fauci Sexually Assaulted Her. Now She Says Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman Paid Her to Lie. — I'd just finished Saturday morning's second cup of coffee when an email popped through, subject line: “Exposing Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman.” — “Hi Nancy, I hope you are having a nice weekend.

Discussion: Mediaite

Washington Post:

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to stop release of Mueller material — The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to temporarily block a ruling that requires the Justice Department to give Congress certain secret grand jury material from the investigation conducted by former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

Discussion: Axios

Politico:

Supreme Court overturns ‘Bridgegate’ convictions as Christie slams ‘political crusade’ — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday tossed the federal government's case in the infamous “Bridgegate” scandal, clearing the convictions of two allies of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Post, The Hill, NBC News and Axios

Nicole Cobler / Austin American-Statesman:
Texas Supreme Court orders jailed salon owner released

Discussion: Forbes

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:
Trump vows complete end of Obamacare law despite pandemic

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Progress Pond, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The American Independent and NBC News

NBC New York: Supreme Court Tosses Out ‘Bridgegate’ Convictions

Laura McGann / Vox:

The agonizing story of Tara Reade — Tara Reade, a former staff assistant in Joe Biden's Senate office, on April 11. Max Whittaker/New York Times/Redux — I started reporting on Tara Reade's story a year ago. Here's what I found, and where I'm stuck.

Discussion: The Bulwark, The Daily Caller and Washington Post

Alana Wise / NPR:

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Says Biden Sexual Assault Allegation ‘Not Clear-Cut’ — Toggle more options — Editor's note: This story contains graphic descriptions of an alleged sexual assault. — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., says an accusation of sexual assault against former Vice President Joe Biden …

Discussion: Breitbart, IJR, VICE and The Hill

Joe Concha / The Hill:
Tara Reade sits down with Megyn Kelly for on-camera interview

Discussion: Breitbart, The Week, The Daily Caller, Deadline and Sean Hannity

New York Times:

Travel From New York City Seeded Wave of U.S. Outbreaks — The coronavirus outbreak in New York City became the primary source of infections across much of the country by early March, researchers have found. — Munich — Paris — London — Rome — Barcelona, Spain — Rafina, Greece

Discussion: Townhall, National Review, Twitchy, Louder With Crowder and Instapundit

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:

The Killing of Ahmaud Arbery — Another black man falsely assumed to be a criminal is dead. — The video is short and shocking. — It's taken from the perspective of a vehicle following a young black man running at a jogger's pace. The jogger is 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.

Discussion: Hotair, Washington Post, Daily Kos, The Bread Line, The Week, ABC News, Vox and Law & Crime

David French / The Dispatch:
A Vigilante Killing in Georgia

Discussion: The Guardian, VICE, Tangle, Common Dreams and The Sun

Christian Living / Russell Moore:
The Killing of Ahmaud Arbery and the Justice of God

Discussion: Raw Story

Ed Mazza / HuffPost:

James Carville Warns Trump: Your ‘Grifter’ Campaign Aides Are Lying To You — Trump aides are “giving him fake polls” so they can continue to make money off the failing campaign, the Democratic political consultant says. — Democratic political consultant James Carville said President Donald Trump …

Discussion: Palmer Report and Balloon Juice

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Trump campaign to unload on Biden with negative ad onslaught

Discussion: The Hill and New York Post

Conrad Swanson / Denver Post:

Colorado GOP Chair Ken Buck pressured local official to submit incorrect election results — Fellow Republican says congressman tried to bully him into committing a crime — Colorado Republican Party Chair Ken Buck, a U.S. representative from Windsor, pressured a local party official …

Discussion: The American Independent, Fox News, The Week and Mediaite

Reade Pickert / Bloomberg:

U.S. Jobless Claims Top 3 Million, With Little Relief in Sight — Figures bring total under pandemic to more than 33 million — April jobs report Friday set to show unprecedented losses — The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits topped 3 million for a seventh straight week …

Discussion: Redstate

Rebecca Rainey / Politico:
Weekly unemployment claims rise by 3.2M as states move to reopen

Discussion: Reuters and The Capitolist

Jeff Cox / CNBC:
US weekly jobless claims total 3.169 million, bringing seven-week tally to 33.5 million

Discussion: CNN, IJR and The Week

Noah Bierman / Los Angeles Times:

Can't decipher Trump-speak? Meet Margaret, the computer bot — Bill Frischling's moment of inspiration came three years ago, when Margaret, his artificial intelligence bot, tried to transcribe a 127-word section of a speech by President Trump. — The passage, ostensibly commemorating a World War II battle, careened wildly.

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

McConnell under mounting GOP pressure to boost state aid — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is facing growing calls within his own conference to increase financial assistance to state and local governments, something the GOP leader shut down during recent coronavirus relief talks with Democrats.

USA Today:
Kristol, Coons: Republicans should reject Trump's divisive approach to pandemic

Discussion: Washington Post and In These Times

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. to Remove Patriot Missile Batteries from Saudi Arabia — Removing missiles, other measures mark end of recent military buildup to counter Iran, officials say — WASHINGTON—The U.S. is removing Patriot antimissile systems from Saudi Arabia and is considering reductions to other military capabilities …

Katherine Shaver / Washington Post:

Smartphone data shows out-of-state visitors flocked to Georgia as restaurants and other businesses reopened — One week after Georgia allowed dine-in restaurants, hair salons and other businesses to reopen, an additional 62,440 visitors arrived there daily, most from surrounding states …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Jeffrey Collins / Associated Press:

Woman killed by alligator in SC was doing homeowner's nails — COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The woman attacked and killed by an alligator in a gated community along the South Carolina coast was visiting the homeowner to do her nails and was trying to touch the animal when it grabbed her, authorities said.

Washington Post:

SBA slashes disaster-loan limit from $2 million to $150,000, shuts out nearly all new applicants — Shortage of money and crush of applications leads the Small Business Administration to close its portal to most businesses and limit the size of loans. — An emergency disaster lending program …

Politico:

Azar faulted workers' ‘home and social’ conditions for meatpacking outbreaks — The country's top health official downplayed concerns over the public health conditions inside meatpacking plants, suggesting on a call with lawmakers that workers were more likely to catch coronavirus based …

Discussion: The American Independent, The Hill, Daily Kos, Wired, Raw Story and The Sun

New York Times:

News Outlets Want More Advertisers to Act Like Burger King — The Home of the Whopper, Verizon and Amazon are among the relative few that haven't been afraid to run ads near coverage of the coronavirus. — Most companies regularly take steps to make sure their ads don't run near headlines that could upset potential customers.

Matt Olberding / Lincoln Journal Star:

Health district to stop reporting meatpacking cases — At least one Nebraska health department says it will no longer report specific COVID-19 case numbers linked to meatpacking plants after Gov. Pete Ricketts said the state will not release information related to specific businesses and only do so by industry.