memeorandum: UK's Labour pledges ‘ironclad’ commitment to Ukraine during Kyiv visit (Anastasiia Malenko/Reuters)

6:15 PM ET, May 13, 2024

Top Items:

Trump Leads in 5 Key States, as Young and Nonwhite Voters Express Discontent With Biden — A new set of Times/Siena polls, including one with The Philadelphia Inquirer, reveal an erosion of support for the president among young and nonwhite voters upset about the economy and Gaza.

New York Times:

Cross-Tabs: May 2024 Times/Siena Poll of the Presidential Battlegrounds — Donald Trump leads Joe Biden in five of six states polled by The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College from April 28 to May 9, 2024. — View toplines for the full set of polls and cross-tabs for: all registered voters |

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Rolling Stone, Fox News, Axios, The Guardian, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Mediaite, New Jersey Online and IJR

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

No, Your Pet Issue Is Not Making Biden Lose … The American political landscape in 2024 seems like a very simple story that people continue to overcomplicate. There was a large, global surge in prices in 2021 and 2022 as the economy restarted following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Discussion: HuffPost, The Hill and Mediaite

Michael Tomasky / New Republic:

How on Earth is Donald Trump Getting Credit for Joe Biden's Economy? — Joe Biden's trip to Wisconsin last week would, in normal political times, have been a grand slam. He went to the very spot in Racine County where, in 2018, Donald Trump showed up literally holding a golden shovel …

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo

New York Times:
Democrats Hold Leads in 4 Crucial Races That Could Decide Senate Control

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Times, The Dispatch, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Hill and Outside the Beltway

New York Times:

Live Updates: In His First Day of Testimony, Cohen Testifies Trump Authorized Hush-Money Payment — During nearly six hours on the stand Monday, Michael D. Cohen testified that Donald J. Trump urged him to buy the silence of Stormy Daniels late in the 2016 campaign and approved the plan to repay him.

Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:

Melania Came Up With Trump's ‘Locker Room Talk’ Excuse, Michael Cohen Says — BY HIS SIDE — The former Trump fixer dropped the surprising revelation as an aside while testifying Monday in his former boss' hush-money trial. — Among the weirdest revelations at Donald Trump's ongoing criminal trial …

Discussion: NBC News, Fox News, Salon, HuffPost, MSNBC, Politico, The Guardian, abc7NY, Slate and Kennebec Journal …

Russell Berman / The Atlantic:

Attack a Democrat Charged With Corruption? Republicans Wouldn't Dare. — Earlier this month, federal prosecutors bestowed on Republicans what seemed like an election-year gift: charging a senior House Democrat in a competitive district with accepting $600,000 in bribes and acting as a foreign agent.

Discussion: Raw Story, Mediaite and Daily Kos

Washington Post:
State Republican parties are going rogue

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Brad Plumer / New York Times:

New Rules to Overhaul Electric Grids Could Boost Wind and Solar Power — The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the biggest changes in more than a decade to the way U.S. power lines are planned and funded. — Federal regulators on Monday approved sweeping changes …

Discussion: Federal Energy Regulatory …, Washington Examiner and Courthouse News Service

Steve Benen / MSNBC:

The biggest flaw in Justice Clarence Thomas' newest complaints — Justice Clarence Thomas wants the public to believe the serious accusations he's faced are “lies.” He's going to have to be far more specific. — As a matter of jurisprudence, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has reason to be pleased.

Discussion: Raw Story and Washington Times

Chris Geidner / Law Dork: Justice Thomas has used this “hideous place” to amass the power he now exploits

Heather Digby Parton / Salon:

Republicans ready for a Trump loss — This time, Trump has the GOP bought in earlier on his Big Lie — What happens if he loses? — The mainstream press has finally turned its focus to what a second Donald Trump administration will look like should he win the White House in 2024.

Discussion: Raw Story, HuffPost and Above the Law

NPR:

They're called perennials: You plant them once and they come back after each winter if they're given the right environment to survive. Think things like trees, shrubs and woody plants. — And for predicting winter plant survival, knowing an area's hardiness zone is a big help to gardeners …

Alex Thompson / Axios:

Psaki's new book falsely recounts Biden's watch check in troop ceremony — Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki claims in her new book that President Biden never looked at his watch during the ceremony for soldiers killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 …

Discussion: HotAir, Townhall, Shana Chappell, RedState, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Examiner, New York Post, PJ Media, The Daily Beast, Fox News, Instapundit, IJR, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and The Hill

Raleigh News & Observer:

UNC-Chapel Hill trustees move to divert DEI funds to police and public safety — The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees voted to divert millions of dollars spent on diversity, equity and inclusion programs into public safety instead, ahead of an expected policy change statewide to restrict DEI.

Discussion: WUNC, Washington Examiner, Washington Free Beacon, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, Twitchy, RedState, The Daily Caller, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Ordinary Times

Ari Blaff / National Post:

United Nations halves estimate of women and children killed in Gaza — Without any announcement, the United Nations (UN) significantly lowers its previously stated casualty list in the Gaza Strip — The United Nations has significantly adjusted Palestinian casualty figures for the ongoing war …

Discussion: Twitchy, USA Today, HotAir, Breitbart, RedState, Why Evolution Is True, Council on Foreign Relations and Power Line

Julianne McShane / Mother Jones:

Trump Wants to Deport Pro-Palestine Protesters—and GOP Lawmakers Are Filing Bills to Make It Happen — Republicans continue their push to punish dissent. — At a rally in Wildwood, New Jersey on Saturday, former President Donald Trump made many questionable comments.

Politico:

Israel's ‘total victory’ in Gaza is unlikely, top US official says — It's the bluntest articulation yet from a Biden administration official that Israel can't succeed at its goal of wiping out Hamas. — The Biden administration doesn't believe Israel's current strategy against the Hamas militant group …

Discussion: Reuters and Semafor

Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:

Sen. Menendez bribery trial starts with judge scolding lawyers on ‘gamesmanship’ … A judge on Monday admonished attorneys for playing legal games shortly after they convened for the start of the federal bribery trial of Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. — “There's been too much gamesmanship here …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, NPR, CBS News, USA Today, WGRZ-TV, Vox, Courthouse News Service, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, New York Times, ABC News, Bloomberg, The National Pulse, Associated Press and The Guardian

Politico:
Bob Menendez corruption trial, round 2: Prosecutors have ‘compelling’ narrative

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Reuters, USA Today, NBC News, Associated Press, New Jersey Monitor, UPI, Roll Call, CBS News, New York Times and New Jersey Online

CBS News:

Harris drops “F-bomb” while encouraging Asian Americans to break down barriers — Vice President Kamala Harris let a profanity slip Monday as she emphasized the importance of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders breaking through the barriers they face.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Associated Press, New York Post, Fox News, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, Deadline, Washington Examiner, IJR and Mediaite

Denise Chow / NBC News:

Canadian wildfires trigger air quality alerts across 4 U.S. states — Winds have carried plumes of smoke over Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. — Hazy conditions blanketed parts of four U.S. states Monday, as smoke from wildfires in western Canada triggered air quality alerts and warnings.

Discussion: Global News, South Dakota Searchlight, Los Angeles Times, WNYW-TV, WGRZ-TV, Lawyers, Guns & Money, WWLP-TV, New York Times, KCLO-TV, KSLNewsRadio and CBS News

Anastasiia Malenko / Reuters:

UK's Labour pledges ‘ironclad’ commitment to Ukraine during Kyiv visit — Britain's opposition Labour Party affirmed its “ironclad” commitment to Ukraine during a visit to Kyiv on Monday by the party's foreign and defence chiefs. — David Lammy and John Healey met Ukraine's defence minister …

Discussion: Bloomberg