The Atlantic Politics & Policy Daily: Kobach Yellow

Today in 5 Lines

• President Trump confirmed that CIA Director Mike Pompeo met secretly with North Korea Leader Kim Jong Un earlier this month, and said “a good relationship was formed.”

• White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said his office will investigate Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s spending of $43,000 on a phone booth for his office.

• Three men from rural Kansas were found guilty in a plot to bomb a mosque and apartment complex housing Somali refugees.

• The Senate advanced the nomination of Representative Jim Bridenstine to be the new NASA administrator, after Arizona Senator Jeff Flake switched his vote to support the nomination.

• A federal judge ordered that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach be held in contempt of court for ignoring her orders in a proof-of-citizenship voter registration case.

Today on The Atlantic

• Why the Statue Had to Come Down: J. Marion Sims was known as the “father of gynecology.” But his medical advances were made through experimentation on enslaved women. (Adam Serwer)

• Why Aren’t Disadvantaged Students Going to Elite Colleges?: Well, for starters, they aren’t even applying. (Adam Harris)

• Snark and Sick Burns: In the past two years, one thing in American politics has become particularly clear: Donald Trump has made everyone a little more like him. (David A. Graham)

• How Barbara Bush Changed With Her Country: Timothy Naftali recalls an afternoon he spent with the former first lady in 2015 and how he came to appreciate “her willingness not only to learn about people she didn’t understand, but to recognize she might have been wrong about them.”

Snapshot

What We’re Reading

The Pro-Gun Parkland Student: The left has embraced Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg as teenage representatives of the gun-control cause. But gun-rights activists have their own student spokesperson. (Jane Coaston, Vox)

Stop Crying: Instead of prematurely accepting defeat in November, Republicans should start leading, writes Deroy Murdock. Here’s how. (National Review)

Remembering Barbara Bush: The former first lady died on Tuesday at age 92. She will be remembered, writes Margaret Carlson, as “a national force, worth every penny we didn’t pay her.” (Time)

How Tony Podesta Lost It All: The Democratic lobbyist was once a big-time Washington influencer. After the 2016 election and various financial problems, his world came crashing down. (Brody Mullins and Julie Bykowicz, The Wall Street Journal)

The Most Ambitious Crossover Event in History: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders mentioned “Bodak Yellow” rapper Cardi B in a tweet, citing her praise of Social Security: “Cardi B is right,” Sanders wrote. “If we are really going to make America great we need to strengthen Social Security so that seniors are able to retire with the dignity they deserve.” (Donald Judd, CNN)

Visualized

When Tax Cuts Failed: This short documentary investigates the legacy of “the nation’s most aggressive experiment in conservative economic policy.” (ITVS Independent Lens and The Atlantic)

-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey)