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Biden says "order must prevail" on college campuses, but National Guard should not intervene

(CBS News) President Biden on Thursday said "order must prevail" on college campuses, as some of the pro-Palestinian protests have turned violent, insisting it's his responsibility to protect the "rule of law" as much as freedom of expression. But Mr. Biden told reporters Thursday that "no," the National Guard should not intervene on college campuses. He also said the protests do not change his position and policies toward the Hamas-Israel war.

"Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations — none of this is a peaceful protest," the president said from the White House's Roosevelt Room. "Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not a peaceful protest. It's against the law. Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others so students can finish the semester and their college education." The president said "dissent is essential to democracy," but that dissent must not turn into chaos and violence.

Louisiana Lawmakers Move to Criminalize Possession of Abortion Pills

(Rolling Stone) Louisiana lawmakers are trying to quietly criminalize possession of the most commonly used abortion pills. In a move that took the state’s abortion advocates and OB-GYNs by surprise, last-minute amendments that would place mifepristone and misoprostol on the state’s list of controlled substances were added to a bill focused on making “coerced criminal abortion by means of fraud” a crime. Abortion is almost completely illegal in Louisiana. Mifepristone and misoprostol both have other uses.

Democrats target statehouses to bolster abortion efforts in 2024

(USA Today) Voters in a slew of states could see abortion protections explicitly on the ballot this year, in the form of proposed constitutional amendments. To be effective, though, Democrats say they’ll also need to secure statehouse victories in 2024. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, an organization focused on electing Democrats at the state level, said in a memo Thursday that these referendums “can be an immediate or initial fix, but the long term building of power in state legislatures is the most effective way” to secure abortion access for Americans across the country.

US military pier to begin operations off Gaza as soon as this weekend

(Politico) The U.S. military-built pier off the coast of Gaza will be up and running as early as this weekend, and aid is expected to begin flowing into the enclave soon afterward, according to a U.S. official and a European official. Officials are expected to make a decision on allowing the project to begin operations by Friday, meaning aid could begin flowing to Palestinians as early as Saturday or Sunday, the U.S. official said.

Israel allows trucks from newly reopened Erez crossing into Gaza after U.S. pressure

(Reuters) Israel reopened the sole crossing on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, allowing aid trucks to pass through the Erez checkpoint following U.S. demands to do more to address the growing humanitarian crisis. Reopening the Erez crossing has been one of the main pleas of international aid agencies for months, to alleviate hunger which is believed to be most severe among the hundreds of thousands of civilians in the enclave's northern sector.

Thursday TOONs

Democrats' Secret Weapon? Thousands of Candidates You've Probably Never Heard Of

(Newsweek) Run for Something is an organization dedicated to recruiting and supporting candidates running for down-ballot offices. We launched on Jan. 20, 2017—Donald Trump's Inauguration Day—and have since helped elect more than 1,000 candidates to local office. They've fought back against book bans and extreme abortion laws, and fought for affordable housing, public safety, and environmental justice—all while building the Democratic bench.

Trump faces prospect of additional sanctions in hush money trial as key witness resumes testimony

(ABC News) Donald Trump faces the prospect of additional sanctions in his hush money trial as he returns to court Thursday for another contempt hearing followed by testimony from a lawyer who represented two women who have said they had sexual encounters with the former president. Prosecutors are seeking $1,000 fines for each of four comments by Trump that they say violated a judge's gag order barring him from attacking witnesses, jurors and others closely connected to the case. Such a penalty would be on top of a $9,000 fine that Judge Juan M. Merchan imposed on Tuesday related to nine separate gag order violations that he found.

Trump admits he told Secret Service to take him to Capitol on Jan 6 in rambling campaign rally

(The Independent) Former president Donald Trump has now admitted to ordering Secret Service agents to drive him to the US Capitol on January 6 — but still relayed a very different version of events to the testimony given by his former aide. On Wednesday, Mr Trump used a day off from his criminal trial in Manhattan to hold a rally in Wisconsin where he regaled his version of what happened that day, admitting that he did demand to be taken to the Capitol that day.

RFK Jr. is all over conservative media. Trump's camp is concerned.

(Politico) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s increasingly frequent appearances on conservative media platforms are beginning to raise alarms at Mar-a-Lago. It’s another sign of the rising threat that Kennedy, the independent presidential candidate, poses to Trump. In recent months, Kennedy has become a regular on Fox News and Newsmax, and he is now a staple on the conservative podcast circuit — being interviewed by the likes of Ben Shapiro, Glenn Beck and Megyn Kelly. While railing against President Joe Biden, Kennedy is actively courting an audience with the young listeners of bro podcasters and conservative-coded YouTubers that skew anti-“woke.”