memeorandum: Exclusive: Biden administration secures release of Afghan-American Naval reservist who was held by Taliban (Jake Tapper/CNN)

6:35 PM ET, April 1, 2022

Top Items:

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Scoop: Jen Psaki planning to leave White House this spring for MSNBC gig — White House press secretary Jen Psaki is in exclusive talks with MSNBC to join the network after she leaves the White House around May, according to a source close to the matter.

Politico:

Why Biden's jobs boom isn't translating — Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. — The U.S. unemployment rate hit 3.6 percent today, as 431,000 jobs were added during the month of March.

New York Times:
Jen Psaki Is Said to Be in Talks to Join MSNBC

Discussion: HotAir, USA Today, Deadline, Insider, Washington Times and The Gateway Pundit

David Folkenflik / NPR:
Jen Psaki leaving the White House for MSNBC this spring

Discussion: The Daily Caller, UrduPoint News, New York Post, Washington Examiner and The Wrap

Wall Street Journal:
White House Press Secretary Psaki in Talks to Join MSNBC

Discussion: Politico and Power Line

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Manchin: Biden's repeal of Title 42 order ‘a frightening decision’ — Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Friday slammed President Biden's decision to rescind Title 42, a Trump-era health order used to rapidly deport people who cross the border without authorization as “a frightening decision” …

Discussion: Real News Revolt, Iowa Capital Dispatch, National Review, Washington Post, BuzzFeed News, Bloomberg, EL PAÍS in English, America's Voice, Ace of Spades HQ and Todd Starnes

Adam Shaw / Fox News:
Manchin calls Biden lifting Title 42 border policy ‘frightening decision’

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, RedState, Washington Times, The Hill, The Daily Caller, National Review, Breitbart and Roll Call

Department of Homeland Security:
Statement by Secretary Mayorkas on CDC's Title 42 Order Termination

Discussion: Associated Press, CBS News, The Daily Caller, Al Jazeera, Townhall, Los Angeles Times and BorderReport

Conn Carroll / Washington Examiner:
Democrats can't run from Biden's border crisis

Discussion: Fox News, spectatorworld.com and Townhall

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
CDC Orders — To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and help our country cope during the pandemic …

Discussion: USA Today

CDC:
CDC Newsroom — CDC Public Health Determination and Termination of Title 42 Order

Discussion: CNBC, Common Dreams, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, New York Times, Fox News, The Last Refuge, UPI, New York Post and The Guardian

Laurel Wamsley / NPR:
The U.S. is ending its pandemic border rules. It could mean a surge in migration

Discussion: NBC News, Reason, Washington Examiner, Sacramento Bee, The Daily Caller, Crux Now and CNN

New York Times:

Amazon Workers on Staten Island Vote to Unionize in Stunning Win for Labor — Despite heavy lobbying by the company, workers at the facility voted by a wide margin for a union. It was seen as a rebuke of the company's treatment of its employees. — Workers at Amazon's massive warehouse …

Discussion: The Public's Radio, THE CITY, TheBlaze, HuffPost, Common Dreams, UPI, ABC7, Payday Report, Bangor Daily News, Jezebel, Rolling Stone, Joe.My.God., Political Wire, NPR and Kevin Drum

Annie Palmer / CNBC:

Amazon workers on Staten Island vote for company's first unionized warehouse in U.S. — Amazon workers at a Staten Island warehouse voted Friday to join a union, the first time that's happened at one of the company's U.S. facilities. — The outcome represents a landmark win for organized labor …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Register, UPI, TheStreet, Washington Post, Raw Story, The Nation, Occupy Democrats, Common Dreams, TechCrunch and NPR, more at Techmeme »

Harold Meyerson / American Prospect:
A Generational Worker Revolt Hits Its Stride

Discussion: Mother Jones

Kim Lyons / The Verge:
Amazon workers vote to unionize Staten Island warehouse

Discussion: THE CITY, About Amazon, Washington Examiner, National Review, Wired, CNBC, Raw Story and The Hill

CNN:

GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker has been overstating his academic achievements for years — (CNN)For years, Herschel Walker has told the same inspiring story: that he graduated in the top 1% of his class at the University of Georgia. He's told the story, according to a review …

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Joe.My.God., Raw Story and Mediaite

Natalie Allison / Politico:
‘The baggage is too heavy’: GOP foes tee up last-ditch effort to sink Herschel Walker

Discussion: NPR, Rolling Stone, Washington Post, Letters from an American, Joe.My.God., Raw Story and CNN

Associated Press:

Jan. 6 panel puts Garland in ‘precarious’ spot, ups pressure — WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol are increasingly going public with critical statements, court filings and more to deliver a blunt message to Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice.

Discussion: Occupy Democrats and Slate

Tierney Sneed / CNN:
Garland says the only pressure DOJ feels on January 6 probes is to ‘do the right thing’

Discussion: Raw Story

The Daily Beast:

Inside Ginni Thomas' ‘Insane’ Hiring Memos for Trump — Ginni Thomas' suggested hires included known bigots and at least one suspected foreign spy, sources say. — Years before she became one of then-President Donald Trump's most prominent coup supporters, Ginni Thomas was already notorious …

Discussion: Insider, National Memo, Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God. and Raw Story

William Vaillancourt / Rolling Stone:
Ginni Thomas Pushed Trump to Hire Someone the White House Suspected Was a Foreign Spy

Discussion: Washington Post, Blue Virginia and Insider

Michael Ames / New Yorker:

A New Video Shows a Missing American Hostage Pleading for Help in Taliban Custody — Senator Tammy Duckworth called for the Biden Administration to free an Afghan drug trafficker in exchange for the release of the American engineer Mark Frerichs, who was kidnapped in Afghanistan.

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, CNN and TheBlaze

Jake Tapper / CNN:
Exclusive: Biden administration secures release of Afghan-American Naval reservist who was held by Taliban

Discussion: HotAir, Washington Examiner, The Hill and Al-Monitor

New York Times:

Ukrainian helicopters strike an oil depot in Russia, an official there says. — A bus convoy left Mariupol, but a Red Cross team could not reach city, bombarded by Russian forces, to aid a larger evacuation. Ukrainian helicopters carried out the first airstrike on Russian territory since the war began.

Discussion: BBC, Politico, New York Post, Washington Post, Associated Press, UPI, The Western Journal, The Guardian, Bloomberg and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

BBC:

Ukraine war: Gruesome evidence points to war crimes on road outside Kyiv — Footage of Russian troops shooting a man with his hands up on a highway outside Kyiv at the beginning of March was shared around the world. Now the Russians have been pushed out of the area and the BBC's Jeremy Bowen …

Discussion: Associated Press, Oil Change International, Just An Earth-Bound Misfit, I and The Intercept

David Lat / Vicky Ward Investigates:

Minute-by-Minute: Inside The Out-Of-Control Protest at Yale Law School — On March 10, 2022, a protest at Yale Law School—just ranked (again) this week as the #1 law school in the U.S.—got horrendously out of hand. — The background: Yale's Federalist Society had invited two lawyers …

Discussion: Reason

Mike Allen / Axios:

Peter Baker, Susan Glasser to publish sweeping history of Trump presidency — Peter Baker and Susan Glasser will be out Sept. 20 with a sweeping history of the Trump presidency, “The Divider,” billed as “an ambitious first cut at this historical moment.” — The backdrop: Baker …

Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:
Trump ripped off his White House photographer because he rips off everyone who gets close to him

Discussion: YouTube, IJR, The Guardian and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Financial Times:

Roman Abramovich's $1bn five-yacht fleet revealed — Latest vessel's discovery highlights veil of secrecy over sanctions-hit oligarch's assets — Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich owns or is linked to a collection of five yachts estimated to be worth almost $1bn, including several vessels …

Discussion: New York Post

BBC:

Gerard Depardieu: Kremlin responds to actor's Putin criticism — The Kremlin has hit back after French actor Gerard Depardieu accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “crazy, unacceptable excesses” in Ukraine. — Depardieu said the Russian people were not responsible for their president's behaviour.

Discussion: Reuters, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Washington Examiner and Politico

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

The Last Defense of DeSantis's Anti-Vaccine Campaign Goes Poof … This week, Chris Persaud of the Palm Beach Post reported out a devastating revelation about the impact of Ron DeSantis's war on vaccines. The story has received barely any attention in the national press …

Rachel M. Cohen / The Intercept:

At a Pivotal Moment, Democrats Failed to Modernize Elections … Throughout 2020, as then-President Donald Trump issued baseless claims of voter fraud, local election officials called on the federal government to spend more to ensure a secure election season.

Discussion: Raw Story and NPR

Department of Transportation:

USDOT Announces New Vehicle Fuel Economy Standards for Model Year 2024-2026 — Standards to require fleet average of 49 mpg by 2026, save consumers money, and advance U.S. energy independence — WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration …

Discussion: CBS News, UPI, Wall Street Journal and Washington Examiner