The VICE Morning Bulletin
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The VICE Morning Bulletin

The VICE Morning Bulletin

Trump asked Comey to drop Flynn investigation, poll finds almost half of US voters want president impeached, feds subpoena Paul Manafort, and more.

Everything you need to know about the world this morning, curated by VICE.

US News

Memo Reveals Trump Asked Comey to Drop Flynn Investigation
President Trump asked FBI director James Comey to stop investigating former national security adviser Michael Flynn, a plea Comey documented in a memo after meeting Trump in February. "I hope you can let this go," Comey recalled Trump telling him. House Oversight Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz has since said he's ready to subpoena for Comey's memo, backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, who said it was "appropriate" to request it. Other Republican lawmakers called for Comey to testify before Congress.—VICE/VICE News

Feds Subpoena Paul Manafort
Federal investigators are still on the trail of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and have formally asked for documents related to his $3.5 million mortgage on a home in the Hamptons. Real estate experts called the absence of Manafort's name on said docs—having used a shell company to take out the loan for the home—"highly unusual." A spokesperson for Manafort said he was cooperating with authorities.—NBC News

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Chelsea Manning Is Free
Whistleblower Chelsea Manning remains on active duty after being released from military prison early Wednesday. The former intelligence analyst will be placed on unpaid leave, but she remains entitled to medical treatment, likely including gender-affirming surgery. Meanwhile, a crowdfund campaign has raised roughly $150,000 to help Manning with living costs.—VICE News

New Orleans Removes Another Confederacy Statue
New Orleans got rid of a Civil War statue of the Confederate general P.G.T. Beauregard Tuesday night, the third of four monuments to the Confederacy set to come down. Some protesters gathered to wave Confederate flags, but there were no clashes with police or assembled supporters of the city's initiative.—Reuters

International News

Six Killed in Attack on Television Station in Afghanistan
At least six people were killed after gunmen with suicide vests attacked the RTA state television building in the Afghan city of Jalalabad. Three of the attackers are dead, including two who quickly detonated their vests and another who waged a prolonged gun battle, according to police officials. Three others, including one policeman, were also killed, while at least 16 more were wounded. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.—Al Jazeera

Turkey Rejects Alliance with Kurdish Fighters in Syria
Speaking alongside President Trump at a press conference at the White House, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dismissed the idea of a partnership with Kurdish forces in Syria as "absolutely unacceptable." America recently began to arm the Syrian the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units anyway. —The Guardian

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South Korean President Says War a 'High Possibility'
South Korea's new president, Moon Jae-In, said there was a "high possibility" of military conflict between his country and North Korea. The assessment follows an announcement by South Korea's unification ministry that the country wants to try to restore a line of communication with the North.—The Independent

Roughly 100 More Killed in Spiraling Central African Republic Conflict
As many as 100 people may have been killed last week in fighting between militias in the Central African Republic, according to the UN. Up to 8,500 people are believed to have been displaced during three days of violence in the southern town of Alindao, as the conflict between Muslim and Christian militias escalates.—Reuters

Everything Else

Michael Moore Claims His New Doc Will Defeat Trump
Michael Moore has announced he is making a documentary about Donald Trump called Fahrenheit 11/9 "to get us out of this mess." The filmmaker said: "Facts, reality, brains cannot defeat him… That all ends with this movie."—Variety

Almost Half of US Voters Want Trump Impeached
A new poll found 48 percent of American voters thought President Trump should be impeached, and only 41 percent disagreed. The survey by Public Policy Polling was conducted May 12–14, after Trump fired FBI director James Comey but before the memo about Trump asking him to let Michael Flynn off the hook went public.—VICE

Jimmy Kimmel to Host the Oscars
Jimmy Kimmel will return as host of the Oscars when the 90th Academy Awards take place in March 2018. Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said Kimmel was "one of our finest hosts in Oscar history."—Los Angeles Times

The xx and Gorillaz Headlining Miami Festival
The xx will join the Gorillaz as headliners of this year's III Points festival in Miami. Richie Hawtin, Nicolas Jaar, Skepta, and Brian Eno's new project the Ship will also perform at the three-day dance event in October.—Billboard

Minecraft Patching Game to Discourage Children from Poisoning Pets
The developers behind Minecraft will update the game to no longer allow users to tame parrots with cookies, following concern children might feed cookies to real-life pets. Creative designer Jens Bergensten said he wanted to have only a "positive" effect on children's behavior.—Motherboard