memeorandum: CNN EXCLUSIVE ‘Something has to be done’: After decades of near-silence from the CDC, the agency's director is speaking up about gun violence (CNN)

4:00 PM ET, August 27, 2021

Top Items:

James Gordon Meek / ABC News:

US special operations vets carry out daring mission to save Afghan allies — At least 13 service members were killed in an attack in Kabul Thursday. — With the Taliban growing more violent and adding checkpoints near Kabul's airport, an all-volunteer group of American veterans …

The Dispatch:

A Defeat of Choice — It did not have to be this way. — The attacks Thursday at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, killed 13 U.S. troops, making it the deadliest single day of the war for Americans in more than a decade. More than 90 Afghans trying to escape …

Kurt Schlichter / Townhall:
Resign — Rip those stars off your pathetic nostalgia costumes and resign. Quit.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The New Neo, National Review and The Federalist

William Saletan / Slate:
The GOP's Phony Complaints About Afghanistan

Discussion: Associated Press, HotAir, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, New York Post, The American Independent, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, ME and HuffPost

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: ‘The worst day of your presidency’

Discussion: CNN, HotAir and Washington Post

Isaac Saul / Tangle:
Get out and stay out. — It has never been clearer. … First time reading? Sign up here.

Discussion: Fox News, Townhall, HotAir, National Review, Foreign Policy, Common Dreams and Denver Post

Fox News:
House Republicans introducing articles of impeachment for Secretary of State Blinken

Discussion: The Daily Caller, RedState, TheBlaze, Washington Times and Townhall

Sébastien Roblin / NBC News:
The Afghanistan airport explosion happened under Biden but traces back to Trump

Discussion: Townhall, MinnPost, enVolve, Washington Post, Breitbart, HotAir, The Daily Signal and Trish Regan's Intel

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook PM: The continuing threat in Kabul

Discussion: New York Times, Political Wire and Washington Examiner

Associated Press:
New urgency to airlift after Kabul blasts kill more than 100

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner, The Federalist, Power Line, RedState, HotAir, New York Post, NPR, Defense One, Forbes, ABC7, Raw Story, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, CNBC, Breitbart and Insider

Josephine Harvey / Yahoo News:

Texas Anti-Mask ‘Freedom Rally’ Organizer Fighting For His Life With COVID-19 — A Texas man who helped organize protests against pandemic restrictions is fighting for his life after being hospitalized for nearly a month with COVID-19, the — San Angelo Standard-Times reported.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Balloon Juice and Raw Story

The Daily Beast:

Dad of Marine Slain in Kabul Vents Anger at Military, Biden — Kareem Nikoui was one of at least 13 U.S. service members killed in a suicide bombing outside Kabul airport on Thursday. — Thursday was “an excruciating day” for California carpenter Steve Nikoui.

Discussion: The Columbus Dispatch, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, Telegraph, ABC7, The Daily Caller, BizPac Review and WNWO-TV

Justin Reyes / KGNS:

Laredoan amongst 13 U.S Service members killed in Kabul attack — LAREDO, TX. (KGNS) - A Laredo Marine is one of the 13 U.S Service members killed in the attack at the Kabul Airport in Afghanistan. — According to the New York Times, the reported death toll has risen to at least 170 people with as many as 200 wounded.

Discussion: Washington Examiner and The Daily Caller

Gabrielle Fonrouge / New York Post:

First US service member who died in Kabul identified as Navy medic Max Soviak — One of the US service members killed in the suicide bombing outside the Kabul airport has been identified, reports said Friday. — Max Soviak, a Navy medic believed to be in his early 20s …

Discussion: CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

Arian Campo-Flores / Wall Street Journal:

Florida Schools' Covid-19 Mask Mandates Upheld by Judge — Judge says Gov. Ron DeSantis overstepped his authority and allows school districts to require students to wear masks — A Florida judge said school districts could impose mask mandates and that Gov. Ron DeSantis had overstepped his authority when he banned such rules.

Discussion: FOX 13 Tampa Bay, The Daily Caller and Florida Phoenix

Alison Durkee / Forbes:
Florida School Mask Mandate Ban Struck Down In Court

Discussion: Washington Post, Common Dreams and Talking Points Memo

Jacob Ogles / Florida Politics:
Lincoln Project lambastes Ron DeSantis for school COVID-19 surge

Discussion: Raw Story

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Justice Breyer on Retirement and the Role of Politics at the Supreme Court — In an interview prompted by his new book, the 83-year-old leader of the court's liberal wing said he is working on a decision about when to step down. — WASHINGTON — Justice Stephen G. Breyer says he is struggling …

Sister Toldjah / RedState:

Jen Psaki Says Probably the Worst Thing She Could After Biden's Afghanistan Presser — As we reported yesterday, President Joe Biden gave a self-serving speech Thursday afternoon on what was a very dark day for America and her allies in Afghanistan after suicide bombings left, at last count …

Discussion: The Federalist and The White House

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

The utter ridiculousness of calls for Joe Biden to resign — (CNN)Thursday was a very bad day for Joe Biden as president. — The deaths of 13 American soldiers after twin blasts at the Kabul airport served as a devastating blow for an already fraught attempt by Biden to pull all American troops …

Discussion: Townhall, The Western Journal, NaturalNews.com, Human Events, Twitchy, Raw Story and The New Civil Rights Movement

María Paúl / Washington Post:

A school district opted out of a free meals program, saying students could ‘become spoiled’ — With two girls in elementary school and a mother who is a teacher, the Dringenburg household in a Milwaukee suburb had been joyous and excited about back-to-school season — until this year …

Discussion: Jezebel

Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Police report: Herschel Walker's ex-girlfriend claimed he threatened her life — A Texas woman who claimed to have a long romantic relationship with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker told police in 2012 that he threatened to “blow her head off” and then kill himself when she tried to end the relationship.

Doug Richards / WXIA-TV: Complaint: Herschel Walker violated campaign law

Edward-Isaac Dovere / The Atlantic:

What California's Recall Election Says About America — We did not meet at the French Laundry. — Gavin Newsom, the California governor who faces a recall election on September 14, hasn't been back to the extravagantly expensive Napa Valley restaurant since he dined there with lobbyists …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Times, The American Independent, The Stream, The Federalist, Los Angeles Times and Politico

Kaylee Fagan / San Francisco Chronicle:
Trump-inspired conspiracies about voter fraud have infiltrated the California recall. And they may cost supporters votes

Discussion: Raw Story

Josh Kovensky / Talking Points Memo:

EXCLUSIVE: Newly Unsealed Transcript Reveals Crux Of Mueller's Collusion Case — Internal Trump campaign polling data from the 2016 election was sent to a person close to Russia's leader, according to recently unsealed statements by a prosecutor from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office.

Joel Burgess / The Asheville Citizen Times:

GOP senator to Asheville business group: COVID-19 unvaccinated the problem, not immigrants — ASHEVILLE - Sen. Thom Tillis told a conservative local business group that anti-pandemic measures should focus on getting North Carolinians vaccinated, not on migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Meredith Wadman / Science:

Having SARS-CoV-2 once confers much greater immunity than a vaccine—but no infection parties, please — The natural immune protection that develops after a SARS-CoV-2 infection offers considerably more of a shield against the Delta variant of the pandemic coronavirus than two doses …

Discussion: Florida Politics, Daily Kos, TheBlaze, Spectator and The Last Refuge

Ben Winck / Insider:

Inflation is cooling off just as economists, the Fed, and Biden expected — The PCE inflation measure rose 0.4% in July, signaling a slowdown in price growth from the prior month. — The print matched the median economist estimate. It was the slowest price growth since February.

Discussion: U.S. Bureau …, NPR and Washington Post

Dana Goldstein / New York Times:

In Britain, Young Children Don't Wear Masks in School — During the Delta surge, British schools emphasized other safety measures: quarantining and regular testing for the virus. — From late spring into early summer, Britain's elementary and secondary schools were open during an alarming wave of Delta infections.

Casper Star-Tribune:

Wyoming Marine among those killed in Afghanistan airport bombing — A Marine from Wyoming was among the troops killed Thursday in a suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan. — Rylee McCollum had been sent to Afghanistan on his first deployment when the American evacuation began, his sister said …

Alex Paterson / Media Matters for America:

Spotify's Joe Rogan and guest Meghan Murphy spread anti-trans vitriol and lie about COVID-19 vaccines — Rogan lied that COVID-19 vaccines are “gene therapy” and falsely suggested people who have already contracted the virus should not get vaccines … Spotify's Joe Rogan …

Ronna McDaniel / The Hill:

H.R. 4: For Democrats, it's all about power — President Biden and big-government Democrats are obsessed with power. They want to control whether your kids wear a mask, how much of your money you can keep, and what you say on social media platforms. Now, Biden's never-ending quest for power …

Discussion: Real Clear Politics

The Columbus Dispatch:

J.D. Vance: Ohio State's vaccine mandate is outrageous ‘invasion of medical privacy’ — We're all members of The Ohio State University community—either as alumni, students, or parents—and we're outraged that Ohio State will impose a vaccine mandate on its students.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Michael Powell / New York Times:

New York's Private Schools Tackle White Privilege. It Has Not Been Easy. — In this world — where tuition runs as high as $58,000 — the topic has become flammable. Parents, faculty, students and alumni have all entered the fray. — Several years back Grace Church School …

CNN:

CNN EXCLUSIVE ‘Something has to be done’: After decades of near-silence from the CDC, the agency's director is speaking up about gun violence — Watch CNN Films' “The Price of Freedom” on CNN TV without commercial interruption starting at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 29.

Discussion: Louder With Crowder, TheBlaze, Insider, DCReport.org, National Review and Twitchy

Mark Antonio Wright / National Review:

Why Exactly Did We Abandon Bagram Air Base? — The Economist's Shashank Joshi tweeted an important observation that deserves to be highlighted. President Biden was either confused or — worse — actively misleading the American people when he said at Thursday's press conference …

Discussion: HotAir and The Daily Caller

Dara Lind / ProPublica:

These Afghans Won the Visa Lottery Two Years Ago — Now They're Stuck in Kabul and Out of Luck — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — Fakhruddin Akbari is allowing his full name …