WELL, GOOD: Trump to Nominate 10 Federal Judges.

Among those expected to be nominated for vacancies on an appeals court are Joan Larsen and David Stras, state supreme court judges in Michigan and Minnesota, respectively. Both Larsen and Stras were also on the list of 21 potential nominees to fill the Supreme Court seat occupied by the late Antonin Scalia, which Trump released during his campaign. The list was compiled with the help of two conservative groups, the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation. One of the judges on the list was Neil Gorsuch, who Trump successfully nominated to the Supreme Court. Another on the list is Amul Thapar, whom Trump has already nominated to an appeals court vacancy on the Sixth Circuit.

Leonard Leo, the executive vice president of the Federalist Society who advised Trump on the Gorsuch selection, says the selection of Larsen and Stras for appeals court judgeships isn’t unexpected. “These are very impressive state judges who are natural prospects for federal judicial service at the Court of Appeals level. That was always a possibility,” Leo told me.

But will Trump prove bold enough to ask Congress to dismantle the Ninth?

BRUCE BAWER: What Happened in France?

THE PITY OF WAR: Top ISIS Commander in Afghanistan Was Killed in Raid Where Rangers Died.

The commander, Abdul Hasib, oversaw the group’s regional branch in South Asia, ISIS-K, named after the Khorasan province.

Hasib was allegedly behind a bloody attack in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, on March 8 in which gunmen disguised as doctors stormed a military hospital, killing at least 30 and wounding 50, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said.

In a statement, Pentagon officials said Hasib ordered ISIS fighters to behead local elders in front of their families and directed the kidnapping of girls and women who were forced to marry militants.

The statement also confirmed that Sgt. Joshua Rodgers, 22, and Sgt. Cameron Thomas, 23, were killed in the April 27 operation in a remote area in Nangarhar province, in eastern Afghanistan.

Thirty-five ISIS fighters and several other unidentified leaders were also killed in the joint American-Afghan raid, the statement said.

SALENA ZITO: Hillary’s perfectly crafted untruths.

Trump’s willingness to say what he thought during the 2016 campaign endeared him to his supporters. Unlike the press, Trump supporters understood that Trump shot from the hip and would make mistakes. To many of them, his walking-back of some of what he said then makes sense; is a sign of learning, not of duplicity.

Compare this to Clinton’s interview Monday with Christiane Amanpour: She conceded to mistakes during the campaign, offered to write a “confessional” seeking “absolution” — and then blamed it all on FBI Director James Comey.

Bruce Haynes, founding partner of the bipartisan Purple Strategies consulting firm, calls this typical political doublespeak: “She may as well have said, ‘Wasn’t on me, bro.’ She says she takes responsibility but, in the next breath, she blames James Comey, WikiLeaks, Vladimir Putin and who knows who else.”

“Clinton neglected to include things like calling voters ‘deplorable’ and ‘irredeemable’ and failing to adequately campaign in states like Michigan, where voters had the highest levels of economic anxiety and the biggest questions about what her policies would do to help,” Haynes said.

The reality is, she put her campaign at risk by using a private email server, while the campaign’s decision to try to manipulate the Democratic primaries in her favor (and its embarrassing internal emails that others exposed) also helped to put her in a bad light. Comey didn’t put the email server in her basement, Putin didn’t invent the phrase “basket of deplorables,” and Julian Assange didn’t write the embarrassing campaign emails, said Haynes.

It’s clear that Clinton just isn’t responsible or mature enough to be President.

UPDATE: Link was incorrect before — fixed now, sorry!

CHANGE: Texas governor signs bill banning sanctuary cities.

The bill, which Abbott could be seen signing on Facebook Live Sunday evening, establishes criminal and civil penalties for local government entities and law enforcement that don’t comply with immigration laws and detention requests, the governor’s office said.

The new measure would fine government entities up to $25,500 for each day the law is violated.
It would also result in a misdemeanor charge for sheriffs, police chiefs and constables who fail to comply with detention requests and in removal from office for elected and appointed officials, Abbott’s office said.

“As Governor, my top priority is public safety, and this bill furthers that objective by keeping dangerous criminals off our streets,” Abbott said in a press release. “It’s inexcusable to release individuals from jail that have been charged with heinous crimes like sexual assault against minors, domestic violence and robbery.”

The measure goes into effect on September 1, according to the governor’s office.

An interesting test case, if you will, in actually enforcing the law.

GOOD MORNING: Liz Sheld’s Morning Brief will help shake off those Monday blahs.

CAN THEY DO THAT? Amid foreign worker shortage, Bar Harbor businesses turn to local labor.

MORE LIKE THIS PLEASE: 8 Movies on How to Mess with Dictators.

These days Hollywood is much more concerned with warning us against dictators who never seem to dictate.

FASTER, PLEASE: FDA approves first new drug to treat ALS in 20 Years.

“This is the first new treatment approved by the FDA for ALS in many years, and we are pleased that people with ALS will now have an additional option,” he said.

It’s in fact the first new drug approved for ALs since 1995, when riluzole, sold under the brand name Rilutek, was approved.

Radicava is given in the form of an intravenous infusion, with two weeks of daily treatments followed by a two week break.

Tests on a very small group of 137 patients showed those who got the drug had slower declines compared to those who did not.

It comes at a price. Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America says the drug will cost more than $1,000 per infusion.

“If taken annually for 12 months or 13 cycles, according to the dosing and administration in the label, the cost before government discounts, will be $145,524,” the company said.

Cheaper, too, please.

IT’S COME TO THIS: ‘Feminist Baby’ Is a Board Book That’s Supposed to Teach Feminism to Babies. Seriously.

AIR SUPERIORITY: US dismisses Russia’s ban on military aircraft over Syria safe zones.

A State Department official on Friday said that the Russian proposal calling to bar U.S. military aircrafts from flying over designated safe zones cannot “limit” the U.S.’s mission against ISIS in the country in any way.

“The coalition will continue to strike ISIS targets in Syria,” the official told The Wall Street Journal. “The campaign to defeat ISIS will continue at the same relentless pace as it is proceeding now.”

A deal hammered out by Russia, Turkey and Iran to set up “de-escalation zones” in mostly opposition-held parts of Syria went into effect Saturday.

What it comes down to is, the U.S. has the ability to enforce its will over Syrian airspace, and Russia, Iran, and Turkey don’t.

MARY KATHARINE HAMM: You May Like Obamacare, But Don’t Forget About The People It’s Hurt.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: 4 Reasons ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ Is a Summer Bummer.

My 11- and six-year-olds will never believe that.

SIGNS POINT TO YES: Is Turkey Supporting ISIS?

CLEAR COMMS: Russia, US restore Syria ‘deconfliction’ channel.

This has been around since the Obama Administration, and helps avoid semi-friendly fire incidents between the major powers.

WELL OF COURSE IT DOES: Ivanka Dancing With Her Babies Upsets Liberals on Twitter.

OCTOBER MAY SURPRISE: Macron hack details ‘must not be spread’.

The French media and public have been warned not to spread details about a hacking attack on presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron.

Strict election rules are now in place and breaching them could bring criminal charges, the election commission said.

A trove of documents – said to mix genuine files with fake ones – was released online shortly before campaigning ended on Friday.

The centrist Mr Macron faces far-right candidate Marine Le Pen on Sunday.

Why is there a ban on spreading the data?

It is part of the restrictions that came into force at midnight local time on Friday.

No campaigning or media coverage of it that could sway the election is allowed until polls close at 20:00 local time (18:00 GMT) on Sunday. Some overseas French territories have already begun voting.

The election commission warned it could be a criminal offence to republish the leaked data.

Enforcing that restriction in the internet age is problematical at best.

SKYNET SMILES: The Military is Using Human Brain Waves to Teach Robots How to Shoot.

BUT OF COURSE: Scientists ‘More Confident Than Ever’ In Global Warming After Studying The Lack Of It For 15 Years.

DEALT OUT: Russian Syria No-fly Zone Deal Bans U.S.-led Coalition Aircraft.

KRAUTHAMMER: In Less Than Seven Years, We Will Be In A Single-Payer System.

The Republicans, as I explain at the link, fell into the Democrats’ trap eight years ago.

STEPHEN MOORE: All You Need Is Growth.

As sure as the cuckoo clock chimes at midnight, the left is bloviating that Donald Trump’s tax plan will blow a $5 trillion hole in the deficit. Many of the people complaining loudest were in the Obama administration and helped preside over a $9 trillion tidal wave of new debt. Now they are fiscally chaste. Sure.

They maintain that a tax cut has to be paid for by corresponding tax increases on someone else. But raising taxes on Paul to pay for a tax cut for Peter negates the positive effects of the tax reduction. This also incites powerful interest-group opposition to the tax bill and makes it less likely that it will happen — which is exactly why the left is insisting on revenue neutrality. They want to torpedo the tax cut.

Steve Forbes, Larry Kudlow, Arthur Laffer and I recently signed a statement urging President Trump to drop revenue neutrality because it is a trap. We called for a net tax cut, and implored him to make the cut immediately. Kudos to Trump for getting this right.

Repeat after me: Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: 4 Reasons Stephen Colbert Isn’t Going Anywhere.

NEAL POLLACK: Berkeley protests put the obedience back in civil disobedience.

It’s a funny and insightful piece, which will be seen as neither funny nor insightful by those most in need of its humor and insights.

CHEATING? Uber Faces Federal Criminal Probe Over ‘Greyball’ Software.

Uber has said it used the technology to evade government officials seeking to identify and block Uber drivers in cities where the company faced regulatory challenges. The program, which Uber called Greyball, showed officials dummy versions of the app with fake cars trawling the streets.

The company said in March it would stop the practice of targeting government officials following media reports and a New York Times story that exposed the practice.

The investigation, described as in its early stages, is focused on how Uber used the software, according to the person with knowledge of the matter. A federal grand jury recently sent Uber a subpoena requesting records related to the software, this person said.

Uber’s management style might best be described as “psychopathic” — not that there’s anything wrong with that.