memeorandum: New York Times editor Joe Kahn says defending democracy is a partisan act and he won't do it (Dan Froomkin/Press Watch)

11:05 AM ET, May 8, 2024

Top Items:

Susanne Craig / New York Times:

R.F.K. Jr. Says Doctors Found a Dead Worm in His Brain — The presidential candidate has faced previously undisclosed health issues, including a parasite that he said ate part of his brain. — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has emphasized his vitality and relative youth compared with the leading Democratic …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Examiner, New York Post, Rolling Stone, Boing Boing, Twitchy, New Jersey Online, Mediaite, Raw Story and Althouse

Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:

Stormy Daniels details Trump's sleazy contempt for women — It wasn't just “locker room talk.” … Adult actress and director Stormy Daniels testified yesterday about her sexual relationship with Donald Trump. Trump is on trial for paying off Daniels to prevent her from going public …

Discussion: Bloomberg, NBC News, Raw Story, Politico, Washington Examiner and USA Today

Washington Post:

Stormy Daniels testifies, Trump curses in an angry day in court — Judge expresses alarm at Trump's cursing amid disturbing testimony about sex. — NEW YORK — Stormy Daniels, the adult-film actress at the center of Donald Trump's hush money trial, testified Tuesday about a disturbing sexual encounter …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Raw Story, HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, WHDH-TV, Mediaite, Deadline, NBC News, WSPA-TV, USA Today, The Daily Caller, Page Six, Associated Press and RedState

Associated Press:
Trump faces jail threat over gag order as prosecutors zero in on transactions at heart of the case

Brooke Singman / Fox News:
NY v Trump: Judge denies motion for mistrial amid Stormy Daniels testimony

Discussion: Fox Business, PJ Media, Business Insider, CNN, Washington Post, Washington Times, RedState, New York Times, Daily Caller News Foundation, New Republic, Associated Press, The Guardian, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, The Daily Beast, The Post Millennial, Breitbart and AllSides Balanced

Washington Post:

Judge indefinitely delays Trump's classified documents trial in Florida — U.S. Judge Aileen M. Cannon said there are too many pre-trial issues to address to set a new trial date now — Donald Trump's Florida trial for allegedly mishandling classified documents and obstructing government efforts …

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling / New Republic:
Shameless Judge Cannon May Have Killed Trump's Classified Docs Case

Discussion: HotAir, Associated Press and Raw Story

Axios:
Trump's federal classified docs trial date postponed indefinitely

Discussion: Raw Story, SWAMY WORLD, FOX 7 Austin, WPR, Daily Caller News Foundation, CBS News, HuffPost and The Post Millennial

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Judge Cannon indefinitely postpones Trump's classified docs trial

Discussion: Geller Report, Raw Story, IJR, HuffPost, Mock Paper Scissors, UPI, CNN, Crooks and Liars, CBS News and Law & Crime

NBC News:

RFK Jr.'s new hire who downplayed Jan. 6 appears to have been at the Capitol during the attack — Photos and videos from outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, uncovered by online sleuths and NBC News appear to show Zach Henry, a right-wing influencer now working for Kennedy's campaign.

Damian Carrington / The Guardian:

World's top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target — Exclusive: Planet is headed for at least 2.5C of heating with disastrous results for humanity, poll of hundreds of scientists finds — Hundreds of the world's leading climate scientists expect global temperatures …

Julia Doubleday / The Gauntlet:

Does the public understand that “variant” means “vaccine resistant”? — Getting boosted is critical because the virus is changing. Other forms of mitigation are critical to slow the rate of change. — Last week, the WHO announced that it will recommend creation of a new booster for the JN.1 variant of COVID-19.

Erin Doherty / Axios:

Georgia appeals court will review decision that kept Fani Willis on Trump case — A Georgia appeals court agreed Wednesday to review a lower court ruling in former President Trump's 2020 state-level election case allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue overseeing it, per a filing.

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

RFK Jr's ‘history lesson’ on Russia's invasion of Ukraine flunks the fact test — A line-by-line dissection shows he's often echoing Russian talking points. — The Fact Checker — A reader asked us to fact-check a four-minute “history lesson” posted by presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on YouTube.

Politico:

Unexpected warning signs for Trump in busy Indiana primary — There were a half-dozen consequential GOP primaries on Tuesday, but Nikki Haley's performance in the already concluded presidential race could be a sign of trouble for Trump in more competitive states.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, The Daily Beast, Digby's Hullabaloo, WWLP-TV, New York Post, Indianapolis Star, Washington Examiner, USA Today, Fox News, SWAMY WORLD, HuffPost, NBC News, Fox 59, ABC News, The Nevada Independent and Associated Press

Ron Dicker / HuffPost:

Accountants Don't Want To Help Rudy Giuliani In Bankruptcy Case, His Lawyers Say — The former attorney for Donald Trump has hit a snag in his bankruptcy filing. — LOADING — Rudy Giuliani is struggling to find an accountant to assist in his bankruptcy case after the previous one left, his lawyers said.

Discussion: MeidasTouch, The Daily Beast, Law & Crime and Raw Story

Dan Froomkin / Press Watch:

New York Times editor Joe Kahn says defending democracy is a partisan act and he won't do it — He had an extraordinary opportunity, upon taking over from Dean Baquet, to right the ship: to recognize that the Times was not warning sufficiently of the threat to democracy presented by a second Trump presidency.

Discussion: New Republic and Fox News

Hans Nichols / Axios:

Biden hits Trump with major Microsoft announcement in Wisconsin … - He'll be taking a not-so-subtle shot at former President Trump in the same location where Trump touted a $10 billion Foxconn facility, which he called the “eighth wonder of the world” seven years ago.

Discussion: NBC News, Associated Press, The Verge, The White House, WPR, UPI, Washington Examiner, Reuters, Bloomberg, SWAMY WORLD and CBS News, more at Techmeme »

emptywheel:

How We Got to a Place Where Right Wingers Cheer Stealing Nuclear Documents — When Aileen Cannon issued her order delaying Trump's stolen documents trial indefinitely, I posted this on Xitter. — The post was factual. Trump nominated Judge Cannon on 21, 2020.

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, Raw Story and acecomments.mu.nu

Key Bridge Incident:

AUTHORITIES IDENTIFY SIXTH VICTIM RECOVERED IN THE COLLAPSE OF THE FRANCIS SCOTT KEY BRIDGE — BALTIMORE - Today, Unified Command salvage teams located the sixth victim and promptly notified the Maryland Department of State Police. — Maryland State Police investigators along with officers …

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Beast, New York Post, The Daily Caller, One America News Network, The Hill, Baltimore Sun, New York Daily News, WRIC-TV and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Josh Starkey / WBAL:
Sixth victim's body recovered at Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse site

Discussion: WBFF-TV, UPI, Washington Examiner, New York Times, WXIA-TV, FOX 7 Austin and ABC7

Nadia Scharf / The Indianapolis Star:

Rep. André Carson easily wins primary, but GOP's 7th District choice died in March — In Indiana's 7th Congressional District, incumbent André Carson easily won the Democratic nomination Tuesday. — Carson had 91% of the vote with all ballots counted.

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Reuters:

Exclusive: In Tesla Autopilot probe, US prosecutors focus on securities, wire fraud — U.S. prosecutors are examining whether Tesla (TSLA.O) committed securities or wire fraud by misleading investors and consumers about its electric vehicles' self-driving capabilities, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Discussion: The Verge, Gizmodo, Electrek, CleanTechnica, Ars Technica, Forbes, The Hill and Associated Press, more at Techmeme »

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

Congressman Collins feels the heat — Last Friday, Congressman Mike Collins (R-GA) endorsed the conduct of student counterprotesters at the University of Mississippi. Collins posted a video on X showing a counterprotester heckling a Black woman by imitating a monkey.

Discussion: NAACP, Mediaite and USA Today

Jamie Stengle / Associated Press:

Boy Scouts of America changing name to more inclusive Scouting America after years of woes — The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history. The Texas-based organization is announcing at its annual meeting in Florida on Tuesday that it will become Scouting America.