memeorandum: ‘Beyond seriously:’ Donald Trump (again) teases another presidential run in 2024 (David Jackson/USA Today)

9:15 AM ET, April 20, 2021

Top Items:

Former Vice President Walter Mondale dies at 93 — Walter Mondale, who transformed the role of U.S. vice president while serving under Jimmy Carter and was the Democratic nominee for president in 1984, died Monday at 93, according to a family spokesperson. — The big picture: President Biden …

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit, The Week, Insider, Mediaite, National Review, The Wrap, The Daily Caller, HuffPost, New York Post and Political Wire

Bart Barnes / Washington Post:

Walter F. Mondale, Carter's vice president who lost White House bid, dies at 93 — Walter F. Mondale, the former Democratic senator and vice president whose unusually candid and forward-looking bid for the pinnacle of American politics was blocked by President Ronald Reagan's landslide reelection victory …

Discussion: Axios, Washington Examiner, Outside the Beltway, The Sun and The Week

Steven R. Weisman / New York Times:

Walter Mondale, Ex-Vice President and Champion of Liberal Politics, Dies at 93 — Under Jimmy Carter, he was the first V.P. to serve as a genuine partner of a president. His own run for the top position ended in a crushing defeat. — Walter F. Mondale, the former vice president and champion …

Discussion: The Week, CBS News, HuffPost, Associated Press, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Hill and CBS San Francisco

Doug Glass / Associated Press:

Walter Mondale, Carter's vice president, dies at 93 — Former Vice President Walter Mondale, a liberal icon who lost the most lopsided presidential election after bluntly telling voters to expect a tax increase if he won, has died — MINNEAPOLIS — Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale …

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, Insider, Power Line, Variety, Roll Call, Bloomberg, The Guardian, Twin Cities, Deadline, CNN and NPR

The White House:
Statement from President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on the Passing of Walter Mondale

Discussion: The Daily Caller, UPI and Insider

Patrick Condon / Star Tribune:
Walter Mondale, who rose from small-town Minnesota to vice presidency, dies at 93

Discussion: Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, RedState, CNN, Twitchy, The American Independent and Bark Bark Woof Woof

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
Walter Mondale reinvented the vice presidency. Both Biden and Harris should thank him for it.

Discussion: The Sun, Current, Insider and The Week

David Siders / Politico:

'It's almost like insanity': GOP base continues to lash out over Trump's defeat — MARIETTA, Ga. — Nowhere has the post-Trump era been more painful for the Republican Party than in Georgia, where Trump loyalists' war on Republican elected officials is still raging, at great cost.

Discussion: The Hill, The Atlantic, Raw Story and Talking Points Memo

David Jackson / USA Today:

‘Beyond seriously:’ Donald Trump (again) teases another presidential run in 2024 — WASHINGTON - Donald Trump continued Monday to tease another presidential campaign in 2024, saying he is studying the idea but declining to make a commitment one way or another.

Discussion: Fox News, The Nation, The Daily Caller, The Sun, Washington Examiner and Washington Times

Jamal Simmons / The Hill:

It's not ‘woketivism,’ it's good business — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) should put away his worry beads about big business. Corporate leaders haven't gone soft on liberalism. Instead, Republicans have gone “wobbly” on democracy and that's not good for business.

Gabby Orr / CNN: Donald Trump Jr. takes on new role as top adviser inside the Trump family

Yael Halon / Fox News:
Trump tells ‘Hannity’ he's ‘very seriously’ considering 2024 run, misses ‘helping people’ the most

Discussion: The Hill, Insider, Crooks and Liars, PinkNews and Washington Examiner

Axios:

Scoop: U.S. ambassador refuses Kremlin push to leave Russia — The United States ambassador to Russia is refusing to leave the country after the Kremlin “advised” him to return home following new Biden administration sanctions, two sources briefed on the situation tell Axios.

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio …, The Sun, Raw Story, Political Wire and The White House

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

U.S. ambassador to Russia will return home briefly: State Department — The State Department said Monday that the U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, will now be returning to the United States this week before returning to Moscow “in the coming weeks.”

Discussion: CNN and The Guardian

Luke McGee / CNN:
Two Russian agents have been linked to a high-profile poisoning and a deadly explosion, but there's little Europe can do

Discussion: The Economist

U.S. Mission Russia / U.S. Embassy & Consulates …:
Ambassador Sullivan is returning to the United States for consultations this week …

Discussion: NPR

Wall Street Journal:

Satellite Images Show Russia's Expanding Ukraine Buildup — Combat aircraft, other military equipment seen in Crimea and along the Ukraine border as estimates of Kremlin forces grow — Russia has moved warplanes to Crimea and bases near Ukraine to an extent greater than has previously been disclosed …

Axios:

Scoop: Leaked Ukraine memo reveals scope of Russia's aggression — Russia has been holding last-minute military exercises near commercial shipping lanes in the Black Sea that threaten to strangle Ukraine's economy, according to an internal document from Ukraine's ministry of defense reviewed by Axios.

Discussion: United States Department …, Reuters, Al Jazeera, TASS and UPI

Jamie McIntyre / Washington Examiner:
With tens of thousands of Russian troops massing at Ukraine border, buildup becomes more ominous

Discussion: Politico, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE and Lawfare

Peter Hermann / Washington Post:

Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who engaged rioters, suffered two strokes and died of natural causes, officials say — Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick suffered two strokes and died of natural causes a day after he confronted rioters at the Jan. 6 insurrection, the District's chief medical examiner has ruled.

Glenn Greenwald:
The Media Lied Repeatedly About Officer Brian Sicknick's Death. And They Just Got Caught.

Discussion: RedState, BizPac Review and Associated Press

Mica Soellner / Washington Examiner:

Maxine Waters requested police protection for Minnesota trip: Report — Documents show Rep. Maxine Waters asked for police protection during her trip to Hennepin County, Minnesota, where she told demonstrators to get “confrontational” if ex-officer Derek Chauvin is acquitted over the death of George Floyd.

Discussion: ABC News, New York Post, The Daily Caller and BizPac Review

Matthew Boyle / Breitbart:
Exclusive - Kevin McCarthy Moves to Formally Censure Maxine Waters for Having ‘Broke the Law,’ ‘Incited Violence’

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, RedState, Washington Examiner, TheGrio, The Jeffrey Lord, National Review, Politico, HotAir and Mediaite

Gerren Keith Gaynor / TheGrio:
Maxine Waters slams GOP attacks over ‘confrontational’ comment: ‘I am nonviolent’

Washington Post:

Howard University's removal of classics is a spiritual catastrophe — Cornel West is a professor of the practice of public philosophy at Harvard University and serves on the board of academic advisers of the Classic Learning Test. Jeremy Tate is the founder and chief executive officer of the Classic Learning Test.

CNN:

George Floyd's brother bonds with Emmett Till's cousin over brutal, public deaths decades apart  — Minneapolis (CNN)When Deborah Watts met Philonise Floyd, they already knew each other's pain without saying a word.  — The cousin of Emmett Till and the brother of George Floyd …

Discussion: Washington Post and TheGrio

Marie Fazio / New York Times:
Minnesota students walk out of schools in solidarity with the racial justice movement.

Discussion: Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Hill, TheGrio and Insider

David Fickling / Bloomberg:

The Pandemic Will Be More Deadly This Year — Consider the surging case count in India. A false sense of complacency is discouraging any course correction, and numbers could get worse still. — Covid-19 is going to kill more people in 2021 than it did last year.

Discussion: Al Jazeera

Project Veritas:

BREAKING: JAMES O'KEEFE SUES TWITTER in New York Supreme Court for ‘FALSE AND DEFAMATORY’ Statements Following Ban From Platform ... Intends to Prove Twitter Acted With ‘RECKLESS DISREGARD’ For the Truth — James O'Keefe made good on his promise to fight back and “go on offense” …

Discussion: RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Townhall, Mediaite, Fox News and Washington Examiner, more at Mediagazer »

Joanna Slater / Washington Post:

India's devastating outbreak is driving the global coronavirus surge — Those on the country's front lines say the wave is worse than anything they have seen before. — NEW DELHI — More than a year after the pandemic began, infections worldwide have surpassed their previous peak.

Chris Jewers / Daily Mail:

China launches app for citizens to report anyone who has ‘mistaken opinions’ or ‘denies the excellence of socialist culture’ — The app and hotline has been released ahead of party's 100th anniversary in July — It will allow citizens to report others for ‘mistaken opinions’ shared online

Discussion: Summit News

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:

Elizabeth Warren invites billionaire critic Leon Cooperman to testify at Senate hearing on taxes — Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants one of her biggest critics to face lawmakers in a hearing next week. — Warren, a progressive Democrat from Massachusetts, is inviting billionaire investor Leon Cooperman …

Discussion: Political Wire

Politico:

Liberals warn Biden against lengthy talks with GOP — Joe Biden's entreaties to Republicans on his infrastructure bill are picking up steam. But progressives are warning the president not to get too attached to his GOP friends. — “I personally don't think the Republicans are serious …

Discussion: Axios, Washington Examiner, PRESS RUN, spectator.us, Roll Call, Just Above Sunset, The Week and POLITICUSUSA

Nick Corasaniti / New York Times:

Georgia Faith Leaders to Urge Boycott of Home Depot Over Voting Law — Black religious leaders representing more than 1,000 churches in the state are planning a “warning shot” for other Republican-led states that are trying to limit voting access. — A major coalition of Black faith leaders in Georgia …

Discussion: National Review

Peter Jamison / Washington Post:

An ‘insane’ covid lockdown two miles from the Capitol, with no end in sight — For a year, 1,500 people held at D.C. jail have been confined to cells 23 hours a day in what experts call a grave human rights abuse — More than a year ago, about 1,500 men and women at the D.C. jail were locked …

Discussion: Politico

Margaret Talev / Axios:

Axios-Ipsos poll: Americans say J&J pause was the right call — Most Americans support the pause in distribution of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, and so far there's no evidence that it's leading to broader vaccine hesitancy, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

Stacy Perman / Los Angeles Times:

Former HFPA president faces a backlash over email calling Black Lives Matter a ‘hate movement’ — An email sent Sunday by a former Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. president criticizing Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors and likening BLM to a hate group touched off a firestorm among many of the organization's members.

Discussion: Insider, Variety and The Wrap

NBC News:

There are hundreds of posts about plans to attack the Capitol. Why hasn't this evidence been used in court? … WASHINGTON — FBI officials have repeatedly said they gathered no credible intelligence in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection suggesting that pro-Trump extremists intended to storm the U.S. Capitol.

Matthew Chapman / Raw Story:

‘Fox is not news’: New CNN morning anchor debuts with blistering takedown of right-wing network — On her debut on CNN's morning segment, anchor Brianna Keilar tore into Fox News for its use of partisan chyrons to push far-right narratives against President Joe Biden.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Jennifer Hansler / CNN:

State Department to list 80% of countries as ‘Do Not Travel’ as it updates advisory system to align with CDC — Washington (CNN)The State Department announced Monday that it would begin to update its travel advisories to more closely align with those from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention …

Discussion: HuffPost, Forbes, NPR and The Week