memeorandum: Ukraine lawmakers back bill allowing some convicts to enlist in army (Reuters)

1:05 PM 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 …

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: New York Daily News, The Nation, 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 …

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

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

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, Law & Crime, Raw Story, Associated Press and New York Times

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

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

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

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

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 …

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.

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.

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

NBC News:

U.S. pauses Israel arms shipment over Rafah assault fears as Biden pushes for a cease-fire deal — An Israeli official told NBC News there is deep frustration in the country's government over the decision, which comes as the Biden admin presses for a cease-fire deal that would head off …

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.

Discussion: Global News

Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:

RFK Jr. Says Doctors Found a Dead Worm in His Brain: Report — YIKES — He said in a deposition that clinicians believed the parasite “got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died.” — FAUX PAS — Macron had seemed to support the actor amid allegations of sexual assault.

Luke Mullins / Politico:

FreedomWorks Is Closing — And Blaming Trump — The libertarian organization couldn't survive the populist shift in the Republican Party. — FreedomWorks, the once-swaggering conservative organization that helped turn tea party protesters into a national political force, is shutting down …

Discussion: Raw Story

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.

Discussion: Reuters

Reuters:

Ukraine lawmakers back bill allowing some convicts to enlist in army — Ukraine's parliament passed a bill on Wednesday that would allow some convicts to enlist in the army in return for a chance at parole, part of a push to generate fresh manpower for Kyiv's outnumbered and exhausted troops.

Discussion: Politico

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

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

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: Boing Boing, New Republic and Fox News

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

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 …