Scoop: Esper says Trump wanted to shoot protesters  —  Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper charges in a memoir out May 10 that former President Trump said when demonstrators were filling the streets around the White House following the death of George Floyd: “Can't you just shoot them?

Bidenworld wants to make the midterms more about Trump and hopes Elon Musk helps  —  President Joe Biden and fellow Democrats have struggled to overcome historical headwinds and worrisome economic trends in the lead-up to the midterms.  —  So aides are scheming up something else …

A note to our readers  —  To our readers:  —  A review by NBC News has found 11 articles written by a reporter over the last year that did not meet our standards for original material.  The articles contained passages from other news organizations that were used without attribution.

Everybody Used to Be In On the Same Joke at the White House Correspondents' Dinner  —  I was at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night — pushing rubbery food around my plate while President Biden admonished that “American democracy is not a reality show.”

Vance leads, Dolan surging in last-minute Ohio GOP Senate poll  —  COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — As the remaining undecided voters pick their candidates, three Republican U.S. Senate candidates have emerged as the final frontrunners in a major pollster's last poll before Ohio's primary election Tuesday.

Former Marine who kicked officer on Jan. 6 sentenced to more than 2 years in prison  —  WASHINGTON — A military veteran from Georgia who attacked police officers at the Capitol as part of a pro-Trump mob attempting to overturn the 2020 election results was sentenced to more than two years in federal prison Monday.

Supreme Court rules for group in dispute with Boston over flying Christian Flag  —  The court ruled the city of Boston violated the group's First Amendment rights.  —  A unanimous Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the city of Boston violated the First Amendment when it denied a civic group …

Tucker Carlson Is a White Nationalist, and Conservatives Are Okay With It … Ten years ago, National Review fired longtime contributor John Derbyshire over a column urging white and Asian American parents to warn their children that Black people posed a danger to them.

MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Says ‘Hard For Israel’ to Remain Neutral After Russia Claimed Hitler Had Jewish Heritage  —  NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell weighed in on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's outlandish claims that Adolf Hitler had Jewish ancestry …

Georgia official texted Mark Meadows as Trump badgered secretary of state to ‘find’ votes  —  (CNN)As Donald Trump badgered Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on an hour-long call to “find” the votes necessary to flip the battleground state to Trump's column after the 2020 election …

Mexico: Rail link worth billions won't go through Texas after Abbott used trade as ‘political tool’  —  Instead, the proposed rail line would be routed along the far edge of West Texas up through Santa Teresa, N.M., about 20 miles west of downtown El Paso.  —  SANTA TERESA, N.M. …

First look: Jared Kushner to publish White House memoir in August  —  Jared Kushner will be out Aug. 8 with “Breaking History: A White House Memoir,” with the publisher promising never-before-reported tales from the 2016 campaign, the Russia investigation, impeachment and COVID.

EXCLUSIVE: Russian oligarch with close ties to Putin met with Hunter Biden in Moscow over potential investment deal before meeting TWICE more in New York and DC - and is now sanctioned by the UK (but NOT the US)  — Emails obtained by DailyMail.com reveal Hunter Biden had courted Vladimir Yevtushenkov …

Herschel Walker, other candidates test skipping debates  —  ATLANTA (AP) — Herschel Walker is expected to skip a second debate against his Republican rivals for a crucial U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday after missing the first one.  —  Ted Budd has skipped four Republican primary debates …

The next frontier for the antiabortion movement: A nationwide ban  —  Advocates and some GOP lawmakers have started mobilizing around potential federal legislation to outlaw abortion after six weeks of pregnancy  —  Leading antiabortion groups and their allies in Congress have been meeting behind …

U.S. says Russia's progress in Donbas has been “minimal at best”  —  The Pentagon assesses that Russia's progress in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region has been “minimal at best,” with Russian forces continuing to suffer from “poor” command and control, low morale and recurring logistical problems …

Kyrsten Sinema nearly walked out on Biden last year during a heated exchange over his economic agenda, book says  — Sen. Kyrsten Sinema almost walked out on Biden last year in a tense exchange over Build Back Better.  — The Arizona Democrat was angry with Biden for disclosing her spending demands in a White House meeting.

This Is How America's Culture War Death Spirals  —  Sign up for Derek's newsletter here.  —  The drama in Florida between Governor Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Company has taken so many unusual turns in so little time that providing a truly straightforward account of what's transpired is not easy.