memeorandum: House Republicans are in chaos again, fighting over a key surveillance tool (NBC News)

1:30 PM ET, April 10, 2024

Top Items:

Arizona Republicans denounce revived 1864 abortion ban in sudden reversal — As the party struggles to talk about abortion, response marks fastest and strongest rebuke of bans since the fall of Roe — Hours after Arizona's supreme court declared on Tuesday that a 160-year-old abortion ban …

Washington Post:

‘Catastrophic,’ ‘a shock’: Arizona's abortion ruling threatens to upend 2024 races — State Supreme Court rules a near-total ban from 1864 can go into effect in a battleground state that could play an outsize role in the presidential election and help determine which party controls the U.S. Senate next year

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story, New York Times, Sabato's Crystal Ball, Digby's Hullabaloo, KTAR.com, Washington Examiner, The Democracy Labs, Cronkite News, NBC News, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, The Virginian-Pilot, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast and Axios

Brenna Gauchat / Arizona Republic:

Arizona lawmaker leads prayer circle on state seal at Capitol building, sparking backlash — Arizona Sen. Anthony Kern invited a prayer group to the Senate floor on Monday. — Seen in a video filmed by an anonymous attendee, Kern led the group, who spoke in tongues, through a prayer as they knelt over the state seal.

Discussion: HuffPost, Copper Courier and USA Today

Matt Gertz / Media Matters for America:

Fox News buries court decision implementing a near-total abortion ban in Arizona — None of the network's evening “opinion” shows mentioned it at all — RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM HARRISON RAY & TYLER MONROE — Fox News' evening “opinion” hosts completely ignored Tuesday's ruling …

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, American Greatness, USA Today, New York Times, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, Forbes and The Hill, more at Mediagazer »

Rebecca Shabad / NBC News:

Trump says Arizona abortion ruling went too far — The former president predicted that Arizona's governor and others “are going to bring it back into reason.” — Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Arizona's Supreme Court went too far in ruling the state's 160-year-old near-total abortion ban can be enforced.

Discussion: Politico and The Guardian

Politico:
Trump's abortion stance could put Florida Republicans in a bind

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Resolute Square and Talking Points Memo

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
The Arizona Supreme Court just upended Trump's gambit on abortion

Discussion: Axios, Washington Examiner, MeidasTouch, New York Post, Raw Story, Arizona Republic, New York Times, NPR, CNN, NBC News and The Hill

Eliza Collins / Wall Street Journal:
Why Arizona Will Be Ground Zero for the 2024 Abortion Fight

Discussion: Fox News

Chris Geidner / Law Dork:
A Civil War-era abortion ban will soon control lives in Arizona — for now

Discussion: ABC News, Axios, Florida Politics, New York Times, Metro.co.uk, Associated Press, CBS News, Arizona Mirror, Law & Crime, Raw Story, The Japan Times and Washington Examiner

New York Times:
Arizona Supreme Court Upholds Near-Total Abortion Ban Enacted in 1864

Andrew Solender / Axios:
Republicans rush to distance from “disaster” Arizona abortion ruling

Heather Digby Parton / Salon:

Donald Trump's first criminal trial is nearly here — and he's already starting to melt down — Trump is very worried about his election interference case for good reason — There's been some talk lately about Donald Trump's light campaign schedule compared to President Joe Biden …

Michael R. Sisak / Associated Press:

Former Trump executive Allen Weisselberg sentenced to 5 months in jail for lying in civil fraud case — Allen Weisselberg, a retired executive in Donald Trump's real estate empire, was sentenced on Wednesday to five months in jail for lying under oath during his testimony in the civil fraud lawsuit brought …

New York Times:

Trump's Ex-Finance Chief Is Sentenced to 5 Months in Rikers for Perjury — Allen H. Weisselberg admitted that he had lied about helping Donald J. Trump inflate his net worth to win favorable loan terms. — Allen H. Weisselberg, Donald J. Trump's longtime financial lieutenant …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Raw Story and Fox 8 Cleveland WJW

NBC News:

Ex-Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg to be sentenced for perjury in Trump civil fraud trial — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is recommending a five-month jail sentence for Weisselberg after he pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury in former President Donald Trump's civil fraud trial.

Discussion: The Hill, CBS News, UPI, Rolling Stone, The Daily Caller, Law & Crime, New York Post, Mediaite and Raw Story

Axios:

RFK Jr. sounds like Trump as he courts MAGA voters … - Kennedy is now drawing fire from Trump and other conservatives who once hailed Kennedy's campaign. … - “This is a humanitarian crisis because of the understanding across the globe that we now have an open border here,” …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Bulwark and New Jersey Online

New York Times:
Trump Allies Have a Plan to Hurt Biden's Chances: Elevate Outsider Candidates

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Robert Reich, Raw Story and Salon

Eugene Daniels / Politico:

Klain on Biden: He is focused too much on bridges — The former chief of staff praised the president's accomplishments. But he also wondered whether he had the right focus. — Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain openly questioned President Joe Biden's political strategy Tuesday night …

Discussion: Axios, Business Insider, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Fox News, Breitbart and The Daily Caller

Brittany Gibson / Politico:

Cornel West chooses Black Lives Matter activist Melina Abdullah as his vice president — The independent candidate needs a VP pick to gain access to the ballot in a number of states. — Cornel West tapped university professor and prominent Black Lives Matter activist Melina Abdullah …

Erin Doherty / Axios:
Cornel West announces Melina Abdullah as VP pick

Discussion: The Hill, ABC News and Daily Caller News Foundation

Axios:

Scoop: Biden plans order to limit southern border crossings by end of month … But Biden, briefed on polls of rising voter anger, wants a dramatic step. … - Biden would use authority in Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which gives the president broad leeway …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, BizPac Review, RedState, Bloomberg and HuffPost

KABE-LP:
Biden on Univision: the president talks about immigration, Mexico, Israel and the risks to democracy

Discussion: Breitbart, New York Times, UPI, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Bloomberg, Newsbusters, Deadline, Informed Comment, Forbes, Power Line, NBC News and CBS News

Davidrlurie / Public Notice:

Trump's deeply misogynist lie about moms killing babies — It reveals a fear of women's empowerment he shares with the Christian right. … On Monday, Donald Trump released a video announcing his much heralded abortion “policy.” The statement was typically garbled, deliberately vague, and chock full of absurd assertions.

Discussion: New Republic and New York Daily News

Politico:

Siding with special counsel, Cannon agrees to keep witness identities secret — Despite sharp words for prosecutors, the Trump-appointed judge in the classified documents case said they presented evidence to justify the sealing. — The judge handling the classified documents case …

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, Raw Story, New York Times and Reuters

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:
After months, Judge Cannon agrees to shield Trump witness names

Discussion: Fox News, CNN, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner and Raw Story

Politico:

Tied California House race heading to a recount — A spokesperson for one of the tied candidates blasted the recount request as “a page right out of Trump's political playbook.” — SACRAMENTO, California — Officials in Santa Clara County are gearing up for a recount in the wild race …

Discussion: Record Searchlight and Daily Caller News Foundation

Mike Cason / al.com:

Joe Biden campaign responds to Wes Allen; says president will be on ballot in all 50 states — President Joe Biden's campaign has responded to Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen's letter that notified the Democratic Party that its national convention will be too late to get its presidential nominee …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, HotAir, Washington Times, Alabama Reflector, Plain Dealer, Associated Press, BizPac Review and New York Post

Mike Cason / al.com:
Alabama secretary of state says Democratic convention too late to get Biden on ballot this fall

Discussion: Business Insider, USA Today, New Republic, CNN, The Gateway Pundit and Fox News

Joby Warrick / Washington Post:

Nuclear deal in tatters, Iran edges close to weapons capability — Six years after the Trump administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear accord, Tehran is rapidly accumulating enriched uranium, some of it very close to weapons grade. Experts fear that a bomb could be a short dash away.

Discussion: The Sun

NBC News:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis privately tells donors he plans to fundraise for Trump — DeSantis made his comments in remarks to allies at a private donor retreat last weekend. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told donors and supporters at a private retreat last weekend that he plans to help raise money …

Discussion: New York Times

NBC News:

House Republicans are in chaos again, fighting over a key surveillance tool — The House GOP is working to reauthorize FISA Section 702, a spying power that the White House says is key to national security. But some conservatives and Donald Trump oppose it.

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, Washington Examiner, CNN, Breitbart, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Washington Times, ABC22 & FOX44, Washington Post, Axios and Roll Call

Judy Kurtz / The Hill:

Paul Simon tapped to perform and menu released for Japanese state dinner — Guests at the state dinner for Japan at the White House will dine on house-cured salmon and pistachio cake with matcha ganache, and are set to get some A-list entertainment with a performance by Paul Simon.

Discussion: KTAR.com, New York Times, Reuters, Associated Press and Washington Examiner

Amrita Khalid / The Verge:

Consumers will finally see FCC-mandated ‘nutrition labels’ for most broadband plans … Starting on Wednesday, all but the smallest ISPs will be required to publish broadband “nutrition labels” on all of their plans, the regulator announced. The FCC's intention behind the labels …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Quartz, UPI, Fox News, Cardinal News, CBS News, The Hill, CR Advocacy and Roll Call, more at Techmeme »

Hyung-Jin Kim / Associated Press:

Exit polls suggest a big win by South Korea's liberal opposition parties in parliamentary election — (AP Video/Yong Jun Chang and Yong-ho Kim) — South Koreans prepare to vote for new 300-member parliament, AP explains — South Korea's liberal opposition parties were expected to win …

Discussion: The Diplomat, Voice of America, UPI, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, New York Times, The Guardian, Reuters and The Japan Times

Jeanna Smialek / New York Times:

Live Updates: Inflation Runs Hotter Than Expected — Consumer prices rose 3.5 percent in March from a year earlier, a larger-than-predicted jump. The underlying details could worry the Federal Reserve. — Inflation was quicker than expected in March, unwelcome news for the Fed.