memeorandum: Florida Gov. DeSantis suspends all remaining Covid restrictions: ‘We are no longer in a state of emergency’ (Amanda Macias/CNBC)

12:55 AM ET, May 4, 2021

Top Items:

CNN:

Cheney: What Trump did ‘is a line that cannot be crossed’ — Liz Cheney hits back at Trump: 2020 election was not stolen — Washington (CNN)Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, said on Monday her party cannot accept the “poison” of the idea that the 2020 election was stolen and should not …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Raw Story, The Hill, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, HotAir, USA Today, Breitbart, HuffPost, Mediaite and Insider

Alayna Treene / Axios:

Scoop: GOP wants to replace Cheney with another woman — House Republicans are moving closer to ousting Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from leadership, and are already considering replacements — including Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) and Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), congressional aides tell Axios.

Discussion: Fox News, New York Post, The Moderate Voice, New York Times, NBC News, pjmedia.com and Vanity Fair

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:

Elected Republicans are lying with open eyes. Their excuses are disgraceful. — “Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!” — “Henry IV,” Part 1, Act 5 — For the activist base of the Republican Party, affirming that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential contest has become …

Discussion: Piecebusiness, Townhall, CNN and Daily Kos

The Hill:

Allies of GOP leader vow to oust Liz Cheney — Share to Facebook Share to Twitter — Top allies of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are vowing to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), one of the harshest critics of former President Trump in either party, from her leadership post by the end of the month.

Discussion: Breitbart, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, Slate, Newsbusters and TheBlaze

Glenn Greenwald:

Corporate News Outlets Again “Confirm” the Same False Story, While Many Refuse to Correct it — Journalists with major outlets know they spread a false, retracted story about the FBI and Giuliani but refuse to remove it, because their real job is spreading disinformation.

Discussion: Twitchy

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

How three major news organizations all got a story about Rudy Giuliani wrong — Incorrect information from government sources apparently led three separate news organizations to publish the same erroneous claim about Rudolph W. Giuliani last week that all three later corrected.

Discussion: New York Post, Twitchy, NewsHounds blog, The Western Journal and Talking Points Memo

Eric Boehlert / PRESS RUN:
The Washington Post owes Biden an apology

Discussion: CNN

Danny Hakim / New York Times:

NRA Leadership and Bankruptcy Assailed by U.S. Trustee — In a rare move, the trustee, part of the Justice Department, called for the dismissal of the N.R.A.'s bankruptcy filing or the appointment of an outside monitor. — The National Rifle Association's hopes of end-running a legal challenge …

Discussion: Raw Story

Tom Hamburger / Washington Post:
U.S. trustee opposes NRA bankruptcy petition in blow to gun rights group

Discussion: CNN, Al Jazeera and Political Wire

Colin Kalmbacher / Law & Crime:

‘I Listened to Too Much Propaganda’: Trump Voter Gets Probation After Casting Ballot on Dead Mom's Behalf and Registering Another Dead Woman as a Republican in Pa. — A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to five years probation after he admitted to illegally casting his dead mother's ballot …

CNN:
Pennsylvania man sentenced to 5-year probation after voting in name of dead mother

Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire

Robert Mendick / Telegraph:

MI6 spy Christopher Steele ‘produced second dossier on Donald Trump for FBI’ — The dossier is believed to be raw intelligence that makes claims of Russian meddling and sex tapes — The former MI6 spy Christopher Steele produced a second dossier for the FBI on Donald Trump while he was in the White House, sources told The Telegraph.

Discussion: Raw Story

BuzzFeed News:

Flynn, Bannon, Manafort, Ivanka: Private Emails From Inside The Mueller Investigation — Five days before Donald Trump was sworn in as president in January 2017, his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, sent an email to the person Trump had chosen as deputy national security adviser.

Amanda Macias / CNBC:

Florida Gov. DeSantis suspends all remaining Covid restrictions: ‘We are no longer in a state of emergency’ — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order on Monday that immediately suspends the state's remaining Covid-19 public health restrictions.

Discussion: Townhall, Raw Story, The Hill, NBC Chicago, NBC 6 South Florida, Forbes, Florida Politics, UPI and Twitchy

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis: Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Landmark Legislation to Ban Vaccine Passports and Stem Government Overreach

Mary Ellen Klas / Miami Herald:
DeSantis declares COVID ‘state of emergency’ over, overrides local restrictions

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Axios, RedState, The Daily Caller, Florida Politics and FOX 46 Charlotte

New York Times:

The F.D.A. is set to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for those 12-15 years old by early next week. — The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to authorize use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in adolescents 12 to 15 years old by early next week, according to federal officials familiar …

Discussion: HuffPost, CBS News, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, Washington Examiner, Deadline, Florida Politics, National Review, WATE-TV, New York Post, The Week, Townhall and Forbes

Associated Press:
FDA expected to OK Pfizer vaccine for teens within week

Discussion: Washington Post, WCMH-TV, The Colorado Sun, ABC7 and Toledo Blade

Apoorva Mandavilli / New York Times:

Reaching ‘Herd Immunity’ Is Unlikely in the U.S., Experts Now Believe — Widely circulating coronavirus variants and persistent hesitancy about vaccines will keep the goal out of reach. The virus is here to stay, but vaccinating the most vulnerable may be enough to restore normalcy.

Jessica Gresko / Associated Press:

Over Thomas dissent, high court rejects West Point case — The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a woman who says she was raped as a West Point cadet — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a woman who says she was raped as a West Point cadet …

Discussion: Washington Post, UPI and SCOTUSblog

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Justice Clarence Thomas, Long Silent, Has Turned Talkative

Discussion: NBC News, Raw Story and Althouse

Michael Stratford / Politico:

Biden admin taps Rich Cordray, former CFPB chief, to oversee federal student loans — The Biden administration has tapped Richard Cordray, the former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to serve as the top official overseeing the federal government's $1.6 trillion portfolio …

Discussion: Insider, HuffPost, Wall Street Journal and Toledo Blade

CNN:
Biden administration taps Richard Cordray as student loan chief

Discussion: New York Times

Rachel Nuwer / New York Times:

MDMA Reaches Next Step Toward Approval for Treatment — A new study shows that MDMA, known as Ecstasy or Molly, can bring relief when paired with talk therapy to those with severe post-traumatic stress disorder. — In an important step toward medical approval, MDMA, the illegal drug popularly known …

Jordan Heller / New Republic:

He's a Big City Mayor. His Grandsons Are Suspected Gang Members. — The first 911 call came in at 4:36 p.m. on August 28, 2019. — “Emergency, we have a man shot in the middle of Clark Avenue,” a woman said. “He's in the middle of the street. Dying ... a man came up behind him in a black hoodie and shot him in the back!”

Discussion: New York Post

CNN:

Biden raises refugee cap to 62,500 after blowback — The Biden administration will raise the refugee ceiling to 62,500 people this fiscal year, the White House confirmed, after receiving swift criticism last month when President Joe Biden kept the lower Trump-era cap in place.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, Raw Story, Fox News, HotAir, UPI, Political Wire and Townhall

Politico:
Biden White House reverses on its refugee cap reversal

Chrissy Clark / The Daily Wire:

California Professor Placed On Leave After Viral Video Shows Her Berating Student For Pro-Police Views — A California professor was placed on leave after a video of her berating a student during a Zoom class went viral. — According to the New York Post, an adjunct professor at Cypress College …

Discussion: Townhall

Dan Diamond / Washington Post:

The coronavirus vaccine skeptics who changed their minds — The White House and public health experts study the Americans who went from ‘no’ to ‘yes’ on shots — Kim Simmons, a 61-year-old small-business owner in Illinois, vividly remembers the moment she went from vaccine skeptic to vaccine-ready …

Discussion: Mediaite

Tracey Tully / New York Times:

Debate Erupts at N.J. Law School After White Student Quotes Racial Slur — A Rutgers Law student repeated an epithet from a legal case, and now Black students at the New Jersey school are calling for a policy on slurs — and apologies. — The controversy over the use of a racial slur …

Discussion: It Bears Mentioning, Reason and New York Post

Ja'han Jones / HuffPost:

Nikole Hannah-Jones Responds To Republican Efforts To Censor 1619 Project — The Pulitzer-winning journalist said efforts to censor the project, which examines American racism since 1619, are about “trying to prohibit the teaching of ideas they don't like.”

Discussion: Commentary Magazine

Jonathan V. Last / The Triad:

The COVID Culture War Will Never End — Pandemics end; culture wars are forever. — 3 hr ago — 1. The COVID Culture War — Donald Trump responded to the pandemic by turning COVID into a culture war. He demonized mitigation efforts, peddled a constant stream of misinformation …

Discussion: HotAir and New York Times

Politico:

'It's an act of war': Trump's acting Pentagon chief urges Biden to tackle directed-energy attacks — The suspected directed-energy attacks on U.S. government personnel worldwide are “an act of war,” said former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, who launched an initiative to investigate …

Luke Broadwater / New York Times:

Schumer Readies Plan B to Push Immigration Changes Unilaterally — Should bipartisan talks stall, the Senate majority leader is exploring trying to use budget reconciliation to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants. — WASHINGTON — Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York …

Discussion: Politico and Political Wire

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The mask slips, revealing the truth about the GOP voter suppression game — Republicans are responding to their 2020 losses by doing everything they can to restrict the size of the electorate wherever possible, in ways they think will advantage them. To disguise this ugly game …

Discussion: HotAir, CBS News, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, The Week and Jezebel

Joseph Choi / The Hill:

Sharpton responds to Tim Scott: ‘The practice of America was built on racism’ — Share to Facebook Share to Twitter — Al Sharpton on Monday argued that “the practice of America was built on racism,” while addressing GOP Sen. Tim Scott's (S.C.) claim last week that “America is not a racist country.”

Discussion: The American Spectator, IJR, Breitbart, New York Times and Townhall

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:

ESPN's Kevin Merida named L.A. Times executive editor — The Los Angeles Times has named veteran journalist Kevin Merida as its top editor and tasked him with transforming the storied 139-year-old newspaper into a digital powerhouse that thrives for decades to come.

Discussion: New York Times, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, The Wrap, TheGrio, Deadline and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Laura A. Bischoff / USA Today:

Ohio state senator sees nothing wrong with driving while video conferencing — Laura A. BischoffThe Columbus Dispatch — On the same day a distracted driving bill was introduced, state Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, participated in a government video meeting while driving. — “I wasn't distracted.

Adie Vanessa Offiong / CNN:

They've been beaten, trolled, threatened with sexual violence but refuse to be silenced — This story is part of As Equals, CNN's ongoing series on gender inequality. Read more from As Equals here and read our FAQs for information about how the series is funded and more.

NBC News:

CVS, Walgreens have wasted more Covid vaccine doses than most states combined — Two national pharmacy chains that the federal government entrusted to inoculate people against Covid-19 account for the lion's share of wasted vaccine doses, according to government data obtained by Kaiser Health News.

Discussion: Chicago Sun-Times, The Guardian, The Week, NBC Chicago, TheGrio and Raw Story

Jordan Davidson / The Federalist:

CIA Head Writes Memo Celebrating Chauvin Guilty Verdict, Pledges To Address ‘Trauma Of Racism’ — Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns sent an internal memo to agency staff praising the jury in former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's trial and sharing his willingness …

Discussion: New York Post, The Gateway Pundit and CNN

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Inside the all-hands meeting that led to a third of Basecamp employees quitting … I. — At 8AM PT on Friday, a bleary-eyed Basecamp CEO Jason Fried gathered his remote workforce together on Zoom to apologize. Four days earlier, he had thrown the company into turmoil by announcing that …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Breitbart, more at Techmeme »