10 things you need to know today: May 6, 2019

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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1. Trump says Mueller shouldn't testify to Congress
2. Dozens die in Aeroflot jet fire
3. U.S. sends aircraft carrier as warning to Iran
4. Ceasefire follows 2 days of deadly violence in Israel, Gaza
5. Trump picks former Obama border chief to run ICE
6. Trump threatens more China tariffs ahead of negotiations
7. Brunei suspends death penalty after outcry over death by stoning
8. Study: 1 million species threatened with extinction
9. Michael Cohen to report to prison for 3-year sentence
10. Avengers: Endgame reaches $2 billion at box office in record time

published 6 May 2019

1. Trump says Mueller shouldn't testify to Congress

President Trump tweeted Sunday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller should not testify to Congress about his Russia investigation and his conclusions on whether President Trump obstructed justice. The tweets represented a shift from Trump's previous assertion that he would leave the matter to Attorney General William Barr. "Bob Mueller should not testify," Trump said. "No redos for the Dems!" He said in other tweets that Mueller's report found "no collusion" and "no obstruction" — although Mueller outlined numerous possible examples of obstruction — so there was nothing further for Congress to ask him. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) said the House Judiciary Committee is trying to get Mueller to testify on May 15, "but nothing has been agreed to yet."

A Russian Aeroflot passenger jet caught fire making a jarring emergency landing in Moscow on Sunday, killing 41 people on board the plane. Television footage showed the rear of the jet bursting into flames after the Sukhoi Superjet 100 bounced down a runway at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. Some passengers managed to escape on inflated emergency slides. Survivors said the jet was struck by lightning shortly after it took off with 78 people on board, and turned around to return to the airport. "The plane turned back and there was a hard landing. We were so scared, we almost lost consciousness," passenger Pyotr Egorov told the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily. "The plane jumped down the landing strip like a grasshopper and then caught fire on the ground."

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The U.S. is sending an aircraft carrier and a bomber task force to the Middle East to "send a clear and unmistakable message" to Iran not to attack U.S. interests in the region, National Security Adviser John Bolton said in a statement Sunday. "The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces," Bolton said. The move came after "a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings," Bolton said. He did not specify what the warnings were. A Defense Department official said "Iranian forces and proxies were making preparations to possibly attack U.S. forces in the region."

The death toll rose Sunday after clashes between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza intensified into the bloodiest fighting there since 2014. At least four Israelis were killed in southern Israel after Gaza militants fired hundreds of rockets into the area. Israel responded by hammering Gaza with airstrikes. At least 23 Palestinians have been killed. Israel's military said Palestinian militants had fired more than 600 rockets and other projectiles into southern Israel since Friday. More than 150 of the rockets were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered "massive strikes" targeting Gaza's ruling Hamas group and Islamic Jihad. Hamas leaders said late Sunday the two sides had agreed to a ceasefire.

President Trump announced Sunday that he would nominate one-time Obama administration Border Control chief Mark Morgan to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Morgan left his former job days into Trump's presidency, but recently has publicly backed Trump's border policies, including his proposed wall. Trump tweeted that he was pleased to tell "all of those that believe in a strong, fair and sound Immigration Policy that Mark Morgan will be joining the Trump Administration as the head of our hard working men and women of ICE." The former acting director of ICE, Ronald Vitiello, resigned a month ago after Trump said he wanted someone "tougher" in the post.

President Trump tweeted Sunday that he would raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods this week, marking a reversal of his previous vow to hold off on any new levies during negotiations to end the U.S.-China trade war. Trump also said he would target another $325 billion in Chinese imports "shortly." The warning came ahead of the latest round of talks between U.S. and Chinese officials, which is scheduled to take place in Washington this week. China said its envoys were still preparing to attend. In February, Trump said he was holding off on raising tariffs, citing trade talk progress. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures plunged by 1.9 percent as investors who had been expecting a deal braced for renewed tensions.

The Sultan of Brunei said in a televised address Sunday that his country would put a moratorium on the death penalty. The sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah, said the policy would apply to cases under a new penal code influenced by Islamic law. The change was interpreted as a retreat from controversial harsh punishments, including death by stoning for gay sex and adultery, that were imposed last month, and provoked global condemnation. "I am aware that there are all sorts of questions and misconceptions on the implementation" of the new laws, the sultan said. "We are conscious of the fact that these misconceptions may cause apprehension." Western governments had warned that enforcing the new laws would complicate trade deals with oil-rich Brunei.

More than a million species of plants and animals are in danger of extinction, according to a United Nations report released Monday. The study by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services concluded that the threat is due to humans, with species loss now occurring tens to hundreds of times faster than it has in the past. "Humanity unwittingly is attempting to throttle the living planet and humanity's own future," said George Mason University biologist Thomas Lovejoy, a biodiversity expert who was not part of the research team. A key reason for the decline is loss of habitat. The report found that more than half a million species on land "have insufficient habitat for long-term survival" and could disappear within decades without habitat restoration.

Michael Cohen has to report to the minimum-security Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York, by 2 p.m. on Monday to begin serving his three-year prison term for violating campaign finance laws and lying to Congress. Cohen, 53, has said he committed the crimes to protect President Trump, for whom Cohen used to work. Forbes has called Otisville one of "America's 10 Cushiest Prisons." Its amenities include tennis courts, horseshoes, and bocce ball. Cohen will be assigned a job, and sleep in a bunk-bed-lined hall. Fellow inmates in the white-collar prison will include Jersey Shore star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino and Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland.

Avengers: Endgame continued to dominate the box office in its second weekend, lifting its global haul to $2 billion in a record 11 days. Walt Disney Co. estimated that Endgame, one of just five films ever to make $2 billion, made $145.8 million in North America and $282.2 million in the rest of the world over its second weekend. It is now the second highest grossing film of all time behind Avatar, which brought in a total of $2.8 billion. It took Avatar more than four times longer than Endgame — 47 days — to reach the $2 billion mark. Several new movies battled for the weekend's No. 2 slot, with The Intruder making $11 million to edge out Long Shot at $10 million.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.