memeorandum: As an Omicron subvariant spreads, the White House warns that Covid is not over. (Sheryl Gay Stolberg/New York Times)

12:01 PM ET, July 12, 2022

Top Items:

Michael C. Bender / New York Times:

Half of G.O.P. Voters Ready to Leave Trump Behind, Poll Finds — Far from consolidating his support, the former president appears weakened in his party, especially with younger and college-educated Republicans. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is the most popular alternative. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Eli Yokley / Morning Consult:

The Jan. 6 Panel's Hearings Are (Mostly) Falling on Voters' Deaf Ears — Neither Trump's standing within the GOP nor the party's views on his culpability for Jan. 6 have budged — Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson's vivid testimony last month to the select House committee investigating …

Discussion: HotAir and Breitbart

Ronald Brownstein / CNN:
This may be Democrats' only chance to blunt a red wave in November

Discussion: HotAir, Punchbowl News, ABC News, Breitbart, The Guardian, Politico, Opinion Today, Newsweek, New York Times and The Hill

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
Joe Biden Is Too Old to Be President Again

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Post, CBS News, The Federalist, CNN, Slate, Breitbart, Power Line, Los Angeles Times, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, Fox News, Althouse, Ringside at the Reckoning, Politico and National Review

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
Herschel Walker just proved (again) what a massive risk he is for Republicans

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Raw Story, HuffPost, No More Mister Nice Blog and Bloomberg

Washington Post: Biden's low poll numbers are exactly what we should expect

Wall Street Journal:
Donald Trump and the Midterms

Discussion: Washington Post and The Hill

Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
If Herschel Walker wins in Georgia, America will have lost its mind

Discussion: New York Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and NBC News

Anders Hagstrom / Fox News:
More Americans are opposed to Joe Biden running for president in 2024 than Trump, poll finds

Discussion: The Hill, National Review, Words & Deeds and Political Wire

NBC News:

Cipollone corroborated virtually everything from Hutchinson, Jan. 6 panel member says — WASHINGTON — Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone corroborated virtually all of the revelations from previous witnesses, including former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, in lengthy testimony …

Discussion: The Guardian, Raw Story, emptywheel, Washington Times, Rolling Stone, ABC News, New York Times and Washington Examiner

Jamie Gangel / CNN:
Exclusive: Former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne to meet with January 6 investigators

Discussion: Raw Story

NBC News:

U.S. says airstrike kills ISIS leader in Syria — Leader of ISIS in Syria killed in U.S. airstrike — A senior Islamic State group leader, Maher al-Agal, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in northwest Syria early on Tuesday, the United States military said.

Discussion: The Times of Israel, Al Jazeera and TASS

U.S. Central Command:

Strike conducted in Syria — TAMPA, Fla. - U.S. Central Command Forces conducted a UAS strike outside Jindayris, northwest Syria targeting two senior ISIS officials, July 12, 2022. Maher al-Agal, one of the top five ISIS leaders and the leader of ISIS in Syria, was killed in the strike.

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg, CNN, Forbes, Defense One, Fox News and The Daily Caller

Mike Brest / Washington Examiner:
US military kills ISIS leader in Syria drone strike

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, CBS News, ABC News and Reuters

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Jan. 6 panel zeroes in on Trump tweet — With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross — PHOTO OF THE DAY — DRIVING THE DAY — THE TWEET DRIVING TODAY'S BIGGEST STORY — Today at 1 p.m. Eastern, the House Jan. 6 committee “plans to make its most complex case yet,” …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Hill, CNN, PoliticusUSA, NBC News, UPI and Political Wire

Politico:
Jan. 6 panel zeroes in on Trump's ‘clarion call’ to extremists

Discussion: PBS NewsHour, Deadline, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, KXAN-TV, Morning Shots, Bloomberg, ABC News and USA Today

Luke Broadwater / New York Times:
Raskin Brings Expertise on Right-Wing Extremism to Jan. 6 Inquiry

Discussion: Axios, NBC News, The Nation, Associated Press, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, CBS News, Raw Story, Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, NBC News, The Hill, Insider and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Vladimir Isachenkov / Associated Press:

Putin set to visit Iran next week — MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week, the Kremlin said Tuesday, a day after the U.S. warned that Tehran could provide Moscow with drones for its action in Ukraine. — During a trip to Tehran next Tuesday …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Examiner, The Guardian, Financial Times, The Times of Israel, Al Jazeera and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

Wilhelmine Preussen / Politico:
Putin to meet Erdoğan in Iran

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Bloomberg and iletisim.gov.tr

Walter Russell Mead / Wall Street Journal:
Wokeness Is Putin's Weapon

Discussion: The Hill and Sylvain Saurel's Newsletter

Rob Garner / NASA:

NASA's Webb Delivers Deepest Infrared Image of Universe Yet — NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb's First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail.

Jonathan Amos / BBC:
James Webb telescope takes super sharp view of early cosmos

Discussion: Althouse, The Hill and WebbTelescope.org

Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:

Steve Bannon's Gambit May Have Just Put Him in New Legal Jeopardy — The former Trump strategist thought he had a winning move. It turned out to be a blunder. — What started as a Steve Bannon public relations stunt may have just ended as a spectacular self-own.

Discussion: The Guardian, Law & Crime, The Bulwark, Raw Story, HuffPost and NBC News

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

As an Omicron subvariant spreads, the White House warns that Covid is not over. — BA.5 is now dominant in the United States, and the White House, which has been watching it march across Europe and South Africa, outlined its strategy against it. — President Biden's coronavirus response …

Discussion: The White House, Bloomberg, UPI, STAT and Mercury News

Jerusalem Post:
Biden won't be shaking hands in Israel due to COVID surge

Discussion: Twitchy

Ed Yong / The Atlantic:
Is BA.5 the ‘Reinfection Wave’?

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Los Angeles Times, Fortune, CNN, Chicago Sun-Times and Alaska Public Media

Axios:

News engagement plummets as Americans tune out — Engagement with news content has plunged during the first half of this year compared to the first half of 2021 and in some cases has fallen below pre-pandemic levels. … Despite a slew of major stories, readers have retrenched further in 2022.

Discussion: The Hill

Sara Jean Green / The Seattle Times:

Man suspected of hate crime for allegedly threatening to kill U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal — A 48-year-old South Seattle man was arrested Saturday on suspicion of a hate crime for threatening to kill U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, according to King County prosecutors.

Discussion: Raw Story

Heather Haddon / Wall Street Journal:

Starbucks Closing Some Stores, Citing Safety Concerns in Certain Cafes — Coffee chain said it is permanently closing 16 cafes after workers reported drug use by members of the public and crime concerns — Starbucks Corp. said Monday that it is closing 16 U.S. stores after workers reported …

Discussion: New York Post, The Daily Wire and The Daily Caller

Ben Strauss / Washington Post:

The power and peril of being Adam Schefter, the ultimate NFL insider — Even after a string of controversies, Schefter's star is only rising at ESPN. No pictures, please. — Listen — Gift Article — Adam Schefter did not want to be photographed.

Discussion: ProFootballTalk

Felicity Lawrence / The Guardian:

Uber paid academics six-figure sums for research to feed to the media — High-profile professors in Europe and the US were engaged as part of lobbying campaign, leak shows — Uber paid high-profile academics in Europe and the US hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce reports …

Discussion: Politico

Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:

White House Privately Signaling It's Moving Forward With Anti-Abortion Court Pick — Despite outcry from Democrats and reproductive rights groups, Biden isn't backing off plans to nominate Chad Meredith, a source tells HuffPost. — President Joe Biden is not backing off plans to nominate …

Discussion: Jezebel and USA Today

Karen Townsend / HotAir:

Graham ordered to testify for special grand jury in Georgia — Last week Senator Lindsey Graham was compelled to testify in front of a special grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia (Atlanta). He vowed to fight doing so. The special grand jury is investigating possible criminal interference in Georgia's 2020 elections.

Discussion: VICE, Talking Points Memo, Just The News, WAGA-TV, National Review, Reuters and Washington Times

WSB-TV:
Sen. Lindsey Graham ordered to testify in front of special grand jury in Trump election probe

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Examiner, Letters from an American, Mediaite and Raw Story

Don Moynihan / Can We Still Govern?:

Debunking the false comparisons between European and American abortion policies — Why are conservatives talking approvingly about European abortion policies anyway? — With the Dobbs decision, a curious thing has happened. I'm not talking about SCOTUS stripping away a previously established …

Discussion: UPI

New York Times:

4,000 Beagles Are Being Rescued From a Virginia Facility. Now They Need New Homes. — The authorities have about two months to find homes for the dogs, after they were found at a facility that had violated dozens of federal regulations. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Politico:

‘Even if it hurts’: Biden's Middle East trip could bring short-term pain for long-term gain — President Joe Biden had different plans for engaging the Middle East. But the world has a way of intervening. — Biden had spent the last 18 months mainly ignoring the region …