memeorandum: 4.8 magnitude quake rattles New York City area (Filip Timotija/The Hill)

12:55 PM ET, April 5, 2024

Top Items:

Israel to Add Gaza Aid Routes as Biden Hinges Support on Civilian Protection — The president denounced the killing of seven humanitarian workers in a tense call with Israel's prime minister. Within hours, Israel agreed to increase aid deliveries. — President Biden threatened on Thursday …

Politico:

A blinking red light for Israel in American politics — The shift has come amid rising internal frustrations inside the administration about the war. — In notably blunt terms Thursday, top U.S. officials made a series of warnings to the Israeli government that they were nearly out of patience with its conduct of the war in Gaza.

Discussion: U.S. Department of Defense, Semafor and Axios

Patrick Wintour / The Guardian:
UN body calls for Israel to be held accountable for possible war crimes

Discussion: Al Jazeera, Slate, Reuters, Twitchy and New York Daily News

Katherine Doyle / NBC News:

‘The nuclear button’: Special counsel could seek removal of judge in Trump classified docs case, attorneys warn — Special counsel Jack Smith and Judge Aileen Cannon traded terse words in filings this week. — WASHINGTON — Special counsel Jack Smith could soon seek to have the judge presiding …

Discussion: MeidasTouch, Raw Story, New York Magazine, Plain Dealer, New York Times, PoliticusUSA, Forbes, Slate and Washington Post

Politico:
Tensions flare between special counsel Jack Smith and Judge Aileen Cannon

Discussion: Law & Crime, Washington Post, The Bulwark, Salon, Raw Story, New York Times, The Daily Beast, New Republic, The Dispatch, MeidasTouch, Breitbart, BizPac Review, The Hill and Newsbusters

Eric Tucker / Associated Press:
Judge rejects Trump request to dismiss classified documents prosecution

Discussion: Washington Post, Palm Beach Post, Axios, Raw Story, New York Post, Al Jazeera, UPI, CNN, Breitbart, Associated Press, CNBC, The Guardian, Sun-Sentinel, Daily Caller News Foundation, NBC News, Fox News, New York Daily News, Mediaite and HuffPost

Amanda Marcotte / Salon:

“Screws up female brains”: MAGA leaders are conditioning Republicans to back birth control bans — Charlie Kirk says the pill causes “angry, bitter young ladies” who vote for Democrats to get “free stuff” — Charlie Kirk, the head of the MAGA propaganda behemoth Turning Point USA …

Discussion: KDFX-TV

Olivia Beavers / Politico:

The Freedom Caucus chair now wants the speaker's help. Yes, you read that right. — Rep. Bob Good is the second straight chair of the conservative bloc to face political peril. This time it's coming from within his own party. — The House Freedom Caucus has long hammered Republican speakers …

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Axios, Raw Story, The Bulwark, The Epoch Times and RedState

Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:

Ukraine Claims One of Its Biggest Attacks Inside Russia Just Destroyed Six Bombers — OBLITERATED — Drone attack struck an airfield where warplanes were parked up ready for action. — Ukraine is claiming to have destroyed at least six warplanes at an airfield in Russia in a major drone attack Friday.

Discussion: Associated Press, Defense One, Interfax-Ukraine, KDFX-TV, Metro.co.uk, The Guardian, The Bulwark and Reuters

Filip Timotija / The Hill:

4.8 magnitude quake rattles New York City area — A 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook the New York City area Friday morning, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). — The epicenter was near Lebanon, N.J., with a depth just shy of 3 miles, according to the USGS.

Discussion: New York Times, CBS News, PIX11, Washington Examiner, The Daily Beast, Breitbart, The City, RTÉ, UPI, Fortune, The Root, Staten Island Advance, Metro.co.uk, Deadline, Gothamist, The Daily Caller, Variety, The Verge and WIVB-TV

Vaughn Hillyard / NBC News:

RFK Jr. has repeatedly dismissed severity of the Jan. 6 attack: 'What's the worst thing that could happen?' — The independent presidential candidate's campaign distanced itself from its own fundraising email Thursday that called the Jan. 6 rioters “activists.”

Discussion: New York Times, Mock Paper Scissors, Associated Press, New Jersey Online, MeidasTouch, Democrats and Political Wire

Washington Post:
RFK Jr. campaign describes Jan. 6 defendants as ‘activists,’ then disavows email

Discussion: The Guardian, Fox News, The Daily Beast, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CBS News, KDFX-TV, Washington Times, Associated Press and NBC News

Kelly Garrity / Politico:
RFK Jr. disavows fundraising email boosting ‘J6 activists’

Discussion: HuffPost and WFLA-TV

Steve Benen / MSNBC:

Hot streak for U.S. job growth continues in early months of 2024 — The unemployment rate has now been below 4% for 26 consecutive months — a streak unseen in the United States since the 1960s. — Expectations heading into this morning showed projections of about 200,000 new jobs having been added in the United States in March.

Discussion: MeidasTouch, Deadline, Associated Press, Al Jazeera and KDFX-TV

Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Job growth zoomed in March as payrolls jumped by 303,000 and unemployment dropped to 3.8%

Discussion: Washington Post, Axios, USA Today, The Guardian, RedState, Breitbart, New York Post and Forbes

Michelle L. Price / Associated Press:

Former Trump officials are among the most vocal opponents of returning him to the White House — Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper has called him a “threat to democracy.” Former national security adviser John Bolton has declared him “unfit to be president.”

Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:

Florida ensures Trump has to talk about abortion — It's the last thing Republicans want to do. — ∙ Paid — 📈 Subscribe to Public Notice 📈 — At a Donald Trump event this week in Michigan, a reporter asked the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to comment on Florida's new six-week abortion ban.

Discussion: New Republic, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, CNN, New York Times, The Hill and Blue Virginia

Nicholas F. Jacobs / Politico:

What Liberals Get Wrong About ‘White Rural Rage’ — Almost Everything — Liberals who dump on rural America are getting the research wrong. I know, because some of it is mine. — If you've been watching television or tracking trending topics over the last few weeks, you've probably seen or read something about “white rural rage.”

Discussion: The Liberal Patriot and The Atlantic

Jake Lahut / The Daily Beast:

Republicans Shrug Off the ‘Massive Problem’ Awaiting Trump — DON'T SWEAT IT — Republicans acknowledge that Donald Trump is facing some big problems and is about to have a couple really bad months, but they're contending he's in a great position. … Republicans Grapple With Trump's Structural Disadvantage

Discussion: Raw Story

Mother Jones:

RFK Jr. Fundraisers Tied to J6ers, QAnoners, Christian Nationalists, and Far-Right Extremists — Steve and Tracy Slepcevic have been hanging out with radical Trumpers. — On March 23, Steve and Tracy Slepcevic hosted a fundraiser for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the San Diego area.

Troy Matthews / MeidasTouch:

5th Circuit Imposes Nationwide Ban on Protections for Defrauded Students — The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has become the MAGA judicial favorite — In yet another sweeping ruling from the right-wing 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, best known as the judicial pipeline that killed Roe v. Wade …

The White House:

Statement from President Joe Biden on the March Jobs Report — Today's report marks a milestone in America's comeback. Three years ago, I inherited an economy on the brink. With today's report of 303,000 new jobs in March, we have passed the milestone of 15 million jobs created since I took office.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, PoliticusUSA and UPI

Brian Beutler / Off Message:

Unmask Donald Trump — If President Biden knows Trump and his henchmen are sabotaging U.S. foreign policy for partisan gain, he should let the American public know before the election. — President Biden may have reached his wits end, however belatedly, with Benjamin Netanyahu.

Discussion: The Hill, New Republic and Associated Press

Nick Arama / RedState:

Kamala Harris Makes Bizarre Claim About NCAA Tournament Brackets, Gets Busted by Her Own Words — Kamala Harris may not be occupying the top spot in government, but she does tend to imitate Joe Biden in one area — a tendency to say ridiculous and/or untrue things.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, New York Post, Mediaite, Twitchy and Louder With Crowder

Melanie Zanona / CNN:

Boebert continues stoking controversy amid intense battle to keep her job — Three months after Rep. Lauren Boebert apologized for disruptive conduct at a Denver theater, the Colorado Republican attended a glitzy Republican gala headlined by former President Donald Trump in Manhattan, where her behavior once again raised eyebrows.

Discussion: Mediaite and Raw Story

CBS News:

Israeli military fires 2 officers as probe blames World Central Kitchen deaths on “mistaken identification” — The Israeli military announced Friday that it dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others for their roles in drone strikes in Gaza that killed seven aid workers on a food-delivery mission …

Cory Doctorow / Pluralistic:

Pluralistic: Too big to care (04 Apr 2024) — Too big to care: Enshittification is a choice. — Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. — This day in history: 2009, 2014, 2019, 2023 — Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. — Recent appearances: Where I've been.

Discussion: Futurism and New York Post

Frank Figliuzzi / MSNBC:

The disturbing irony behind a disgraceful new endorsement of Trump — The Police Officers Association of Michigan claims backing Trump will restore “honor” to the profession. Tell that to the U.S. Capitol Police. — On Tuesday, the 12,000-member Police Officers Association of Michigan …

Nikki McCann Ramirez / Rolling Stone:

Ted Cruz Is Getting Nervous He's Going to Lose His Senate Seat — The Texas senator's questionable podcast deal with iHeartMedia is raising eyebrows amid his increasingly desperate fundraising efforts — THE WALLS ARE closing in around Ted Cruz, and the Republican senator is lashing out.