The Edge: Bernie Leans In
Today in One Paragraph
The Democratic National Committee asked Bernie Sanders to appoint five members to the group that will draft the party’s 2016 platform at the national convention. Edward Nero, the first officer charged in the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, was acquitted on all charges. President Obama lifted the American arms embargo on Vietnam and emphasized a new friendship between the two countries. And the U.S. Supreme Court upended the death sentence of a Georgia man because prosecutors deliberately excluded African Americans from serving on the jury.
Top News
Sanders Gets His Say. The Vermont senator will fill one-third of the seats on the Democratic Party’s 2016 platform committee, the DNC said. The group is responsible for drafting the party’s platform and is normally appointed by the DNC chair, but the group changed the selection process to better include Sanders’s supporters. The senator’s five picks include the pro-Palestinian activist James Zogby and Cornel West, a racial-justice advocate. (Anne Gearan, The Washington Post)
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Baltimore Officer Acquitted. A judge found Officer Edward Nero not guilty on all four charges related to his role in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray. Prosecutors said Nero assaulted Gray by detaining him without justification, but Judge Barry Williams said there were “no credible facts” showing that Nero was directly involved in Gray’s arrest. (Justin Fenton and Kevin Rector, The Baltimore Sun)
New Friendship With Vietnam. President Obama said he is lifting the American arms embargo on the country during a news conference in Hanoi. “Just a generation ago, we were adversaries, and now we are friends,” Obama said, also touting new business deals between the U.S. and Vietnam. The announcement comes two days into the president’s weeklong trip to Asia. (David Jackson and Thomas Maresca, USA Today)
Upending a Verdict. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction and death sentence of a black man in Georgia, saying prosecutors violated the Constitution in excluding African Americans from the jury deciding his case. Timothy Tyrone Foster was sentenced to death for killing a white woman by an all-white jury nearly 30 years ago, but his lawyer says “there is no doubt” that Monday’s decision will lead to a new trial. (Mark Sherman, Associated Press)
Tomorrow in One Paragraph. Hillary Clinton will fundraise in California and appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Bernie Sanders will hold a rally in San Bernardino, California, and Donald Trump will campaign in New Mexico.
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Top Read
He’s the candidate for people who think the conventional wisdom of the American establishment is hopelessly out of touch with the real world. He’s the little boy saying that the emperor, or in this case, the aspiring empress, has no clothes. What energizes the Trump phenomenon is the very power of rejection: people who think the train is about to head off a cliff want to pull the emergency cord that stops the train even if they don’t know what happens next. Walter Russell Mead of The American Interest on the movement propelling Donald Trump.
Top Lines
Activism and ‘Allyship.’ At Oberlin college and other liberal-arts schools across the United States, a new wave of student activism is redefining modern liberalism. (Nathan Heller, The New Yorker)
The Future of American Politics. The fragmentation of the Republican party in 2016 is a sign that party realignment has already happened in the United States—and a new policy realignment is about to begin. (Michael Lind, Politico)
Romney’s Destiny. Running as a third-party candidate against Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump could be Mitt Romney’s lasting legacy—and the #NeverTrump movement’s last chance. (Jamie Weinstein, The Daily Caller)
Top View
Dinner in Hanoi. President Obama joined the food guru and television host Anthony Bourdain for dinner at a local restaurant in Vietnam’s capital on Monday. These photos show the two men sitting on plastic stools, eating their $6 meal. (David Nakamura, The Washington Post)
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-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey)
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