#(except this time james stopped him from butchering the officers)

[melljam]

oh gitae for sure belongs in a horror movie…

[thorne93]

Inside the Criminal Mind (Part 32)

Prompt: You’re married to Dr. Spencer Reid of the BAU, and are a distinguished doctor yourself on the team. You’re sent down to Miami, Florida for teaching and as a side request from the FBI, to investigate a string of missing persons. When you think you’ve figured out who the unsub is, your life becomes more complicated than you ever could’ve imagined.

Word Count: 2255

Warnings: (throughout the fic –>) death, blood, gore, killings, language, disturbing mental notions, mentions of rapes/murder/etc (You know, Dexter and Criminal Minds related business)

Notes: Thank you so much to @arrow-guy​​​​​​, @carryonmyswansong​​​​​​, and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​​​​​ - without each of you, I couldn’t have finished, written, or properly navigated this story. Each of you helped me fish out details that were incredibly important to me. Beta’d by @carryonmyswansong​​​​​​ and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​​​​​… Aesthetic by @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​​​​​

This is a crossover of Criminal Minds x Dexter. First time writing Dexter.

Also, the timeline is after Season 1 of Dexter, but during season 14-ish of Criminal minds into Season 15. Enjoy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you and Spencer got inside, you wanted to know how he felt. He hadn’t said one word about any of this so far to you and you were bursting not knowing. 

“So after tonight… what do you make of all this?” you tentatively questioned as you stood in the middle of the room. 

“I think it was worse in my head. I do think you and Dexter work very clinically.”

“Yeah, I know tonight was probably the worst example as far as how we do things, given we didn’t give mercy, but I promise that’s the only time and this was personal.” 

Spencer bobbed his head, giving you that fake smile he often gave people that irritated him. “I have to say, I am impressed. You know how to set up a kill room, get his trophies ready to capture… You work very well by yourself and together.” 

A huge breath of air left you in relief. “Oh, I’m so glad to hear you say that--”

“But just because I can appreciate how you do it, it doesn't mean I’m okay with what you do. You’re still killing, Y/N.” 

You took a step back, shocked. “So we’re no better off than the day I told you,” you quietly surmised. “I don’t understand it,” you said, shaking your head. “You told me just days after you found out what I was doing that you didn’t think I was the next Dahmer.”

“Right,” he quickly agreed. “I don’t think you’re off the deep end, that doesn’t mean I think you’re right in your actions.”

Shaking your head and clenching your firsts, you said, “I wish you’d just pick a side and stay there. Hate me and Dexter, or love me and support us, but I can’t stay on this whiplash ride much longer.” 

“Well I’m sorry it’s hard for me to come to terms with this. Yes, back home I was okay with it because it was done and over. You had moved on, you weren’t near him any more, you were done killing. It was behind us. But now it’s in our face and we’re dealing with it every day. So excuse me for being a little bit on edge. It’s hard for me to just accept all of this while we are fighting for our lives.” 

He spun and went out, slamming the door on his way out. 

You sunk down onto the bed, putting your head in your hands. 

-----------------------------------

The following day, your team brought in new forensic analysts. They basically took over Dexter’s lab and he eventually got the okay from them to leave. He started to head out and you assumed he was going to take care of Jiminez’s body. He told you this morning he fell asleep outside Rita’s house, trying to make sure Lila didn’t come back. 

But unfortunately for everyone else, Lila didn’t go to Rita’s, she came to the precinct. 

Lila persuaded nearly all the men on homicide to take her out for a drink, and then thinly threatened that she would expose some of Dexter’s secrets if he didn’t come along. 

You grabbed his arm as he started to follow. “Hey, we have bigger fish, Dex. Let her go. Who’s going to even believe her over you?”

“I can’t chance it. Harry’s code is to use caution, and don’t get caught.”

“Fine. But what are we going to do?”

“I could always give you my keys to the boat and you could handle it,” he suggested as he watched Lila get into the elevator. 

“I can’t drive that thing. Besides, I think we're finally finishing the profile to deliver it. I can’t leave.”

“Then it has to wait,” he said. He gave you a small smile and then left. You glared after Lila before getting on with your work. 

------------------------------------

“James Doakes,” Rossi suddenly said as he let a file fall onto the table, waking you from near slumber. You were leaning over on Spence who was having trouble staying awake himself. Luke picked up the file. 

“What about him?” you asked before yawning. 

“He’s our guy,” he explained. “Garcia dug into his past. He has the most officer related shootings. He has special forces training. He was the lead investigator on four of the unsub’s victims. His father was abusive and a butcher. Y/N, when you were down here before did you ever suspect him?” 

You shrugged slightly. “I mean, he’s an off character, and he seemed to hate Dexter but nothing concrete. I was barely beginning when I had to return to DC.” 

“He fits the profile. Now, with him hating Morgan as much as he does, he might be his next target. We need to assign him protective detail.” 

Your gut dropped. Protective detail meant prying eyes. That was something you couldn’t afford. Shit. 

“Let’s go get him,” Luke said with gumption before hopping up. 

Warrants in hand, everyone scrambled to Doakes’s apartment. He wasn’t there, and the car was gone. After checking in with Garcia, she found out he booked a ticket out of the country. His car was found in the airport parking lot and dug through. They found something that made your heart stop. 

The slides. Dexter’s slides. 

“Wow,” Luke breathed out. “These are some squeaky clean trophies.” 

“Mhm,” you numbly agreed, your legs getting weaker by the second.

Thankfully though, the search on his car was over soon, and everyone began to head back to the station. 

“We need to go get Morgan, make sure he’s not already in danger. Then I’d like him to run lead forensics on this. He’ll want to see that Doakes is brought to justice,” Rossi said from the driver seat, with you and Spence in the back. 

“I’d like to get him, if I could,” you offered quickly. If the team wasn’t careful, and they just brought him in, he might think he was getting pinned for it. He might self-incriminate. Your mind spun out of control with the different possibilities but you couldn’t text him. Not right now. You couldn't let that show up on the phone records, nor could you let Luke or Rossi see. If every time Dexter was involved in something, you ran to him, it was just going to look worse and worse. 

“I’ve got a more important job for you. Luke can pick him up. You need to help Spencer come up with a list of places Doakes might’ve gone. That’s priority.”

Luke turned around and smiled at you. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he’s safe,” he promised, seeing the concern on your face.

But your concern wasn’t for Dexter’s bodily safety. It was for the fact that if he didn’t know what was going on, he could accidentally confess.

Your leg bounced rapidly as you stared out of the window. Spencer reached over and touched your leg ever so softly, but you couldn’t stop the tornado of nerves inside you. 

Once they dropped you at the station with Spencer and Rossi, Luke left to get Dexter and Captain Matthews showed up. You could barely look at your work, you were so sick to your stomach. You tried to remain calm in the fact that Dexter wasn’t supid. He wouldn’t say anything unless prompted. He knew his father’s code. He knew how to not get caught.

You were a ball of nerves as you and Spencer tried to call Garica to narrow down where Doakes would be, but you weren’t much help. 

You, Rossi, and Spencer also debriefed everyone else on who the number one suspect was. Batista, Masuka, LaGuerta, and everyone else were shocked. 

Finally, they had word that Dex was being brought in. You stiffened as you positioned yourself on Rossi’s right, and Spencer to your right. Rossi and Matthews stood behind a table in the conference room, with the slide box out on the table, mocking you. 

The curtains were drawn, making for a private room, so you couldn’t see Dexter coming in, but God you wanted to. 

Moments later, Luke and the small group of other agents walked inside with Dexter sandwiched in the middle of the group. Part of you felt relief to see him, part of you still remained completely rigid. Your face gave nothing away as you two stared at each other for a second before he redirected his attention to Rossi and Mathews. 

They asked him to look at the slides and explain it to them what it meant. He didn’t say anything except the word “trophies.” The entire time they spoke, you were on pins and needles, sweating bullets. 

Had he already incriminated himself? Was he about to? 

Finally, Rossi told him that Doakes was the suspect. His eyes flitted to you for a second before looking back at Rossi. They explained why he fit the profile and Dexter stated he wasn’t surprised, and that he never concealed his doubts, that’s why he assumed Doakes didn’t like him. Matthews explained that they think Doakes might try to attack him again, so Rossi followed it up with a protective detail. Dexter tried to get them to reconsider but they didn’t budge. Then, Matthews told him that he was being put in charge of forensics. They asked him to analyze the slides thoroughly. He took the slides and evidence bag and made his way back to one of his labs. It took everything in you to not follow him. 

You continued to help mobilize the manhunt for a few minutes before you finally broke away to check on him. No one would think it was suspicious to check on your friend after this kind of news. 

Spencer watched you walk back to the lab, anger building in him. 

Just as you were entering, Debra was exiting the room. 

“You and your feds better keep my brother fucking safe, got it?” she ordered before glancing back to Dexter and then leaving.

“Jeez, she’s fired up,” you noted, walking in. 

“She’s worried, but good news is the heat is off of me, off us,” he clarified, nodding his head to signal he understood.

“Where’s the bad news?” you asked, missing the point. 

“He’s innocent. When your team finds him, whose story are they going to believe? It’s my word against his.”

“Hey, we found those slides in his car. He’s the one that skipped the country. He’s the one that went bat shit on you. None of this is looking good. He’s not attached to anyone. He fits the profile, more than anyone.” 

“Were you ever going to let me know, either? I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I noticed the slides were missing.” 

“I didn’t get a chance. If I sent a text to you, it could send up red flags,” you informed, getting closer to him, your voice lowering. 

“You couldn’t have gone to the bathroom?”

“Even then, you and I both know that there would be a phone record of me texting you the minute they’re bringing you in. We already have several suspicious acts going on. Me contacting you every time there’s a break in the case is gonna start to look fucking fishy.” 

“Or you wanted me to self-incriminate. Take the heat off you,” he accused evenly, his gaze narrowing on you. 

You backed up a step, your eyes widening in shock. “Are you serious? I wanted to contact you. I fucking offered to pick you up to give you a heads up, they declined. I didn’t have much choice.” 

“No, you never do, huh?” 

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you forget the part that I’ve helped you stay ahead of this investigation every step of the way.”  

“I could’ve gotten by on my own.” 

“Fine! Then do so from now fucking on. I’m sick of this bullshit. I get blamed for helping you and I get blamed when I can’t help you. You and Spencer can just have at each other because I’m tired of being caught in the middle, and for you two to take your shit out on me. Piss off.” 

Dexter stared after you. He wanted to ask you to wait, or to let him apologize, but he thought it was best to let you cool off. He set to work on the slides, working all night until he got home. 

He finally called you, hopefully you were calmed down by now. 

“Hello?” you answered groggily into the phone. 

“Sorry for being an asshole,” he said quickly. “I know better than to think you’d be turning me in. You’ve bent over backwards for me. It’s just the stress of this all. We’ve found Doakes’s stuff, but not him. I just know that when we do find him, my story has to be stronger than his.” 

After a moment, you finally replied. “It’s fine, Dex. I get it. We’ll deal with that when it comes to it though. Alright? Now get some sleep. I know you were at the lab all night.” 

“Actually, I’m about to head to get Jiminez.”

“Oh, well I wish we could come but we’re still trying to find Doakes. Tell you what, we can try to meet you there as soon as we can to help.” 

“Thanks. I’ll let you know if I leave before you get there.” 

“Sounds good. Good luck.”  

With that, he snuck out of his window, evaded his protective detail and took his boat all the way to the cabin to dispose of Jiminez, but that’s where Doakes found him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[aswithasunbeam]

 March 1807

A fork clattered onto the floor as Hamilton’s morning coffee splattered across the clean, white tablecloth. His newspaper had a smear of syrup streaked across an advertisement on the back page from where he’d slammed it onto his plate, his eyes wide as he read the latest news of Burr’s supposed plot to make himself an emperor. “Burr’s been arrested!”

“Alexander,” Eliza sighed. She adjusted the inkwell he’d upset on the table, moving it further away from the ledger she’d been scratching in all morning. “Was that really necessary?”

“Here, Papa,” James said, reaching down to retrieve the fork from the floor.

“Look at this!” He scanned the front page again, taking in more of the details around the arrest. “Burr was discovered in the Mississippi territory. Nicholas Perkins took a detachment of men to Major Hinson’s home, after giving instructions to two mysterious men. One of the men ‘had on a white hat with a brim rather broad than otherwise, a long beard, a checkered Hankerchief around his neck, and  a great coat belted around him to which as hanging a tin cup on one side and butchers knife on the other.’ This reads like a scene from a damn novel.”1

“Alexander,” Eliza’s voice turned sharp as she glanced pointedly at William, who was watching him with rapt attention.

His eyes continued to scan over the accounts of the arrest and Burr’s subsequent escape. “They have him in disguise, fleeing from Federal forces. They’re already laying the groundwork for a treason charge. This is outrageous.”

“Is it?” Eliza asked coolly.

“Ugh, and this: ‘Burr was a great rascal when he attempted to kill Hamilton.’ Ha! As if they cared. But now the Federalists believe that as Burr seeks ‘to divide the Union, destroy the Constitution, turn Congress out of doors, assassinate Jefferson, and establish a monarchy – he is a pretty clever fellow again!’”2

“Did Mr. Burr plan to assassinate President Jefferson as part of his plot?” James asked, craning his neck to look at the paper for himself. “I hadn’t heard that.”

“Nobody��s heard it. Jefferson’s lost his mind. He’s descended into paranoid delusions. There’s no way he can actually believe any of this, can he?”

“Why shouldn’t he?” Eliza removed her spectacles and set down her quill. “Burr’s proven himself plenty dangerous when provoked. And he hasn’t distinguished himself as a paragon of loyalty or virtue recently, either, has he?”

“That was different. Burr didn’t hide in the bushes to attack me from the side of the road like an assassin. He called me out as a gentleman. It was my own folly that I answered him.” He looked at James as he spoke, hoping to instill with words the example he’d so spectacularly failed to set with his actions.

“I don’t know anything, except I watched you almost die because that fiend had his feelings hurt over a newspaper article. Perhaps Jefferson isn’t so far off the mark on this.”

“It’s the beginning of our very own reign of terror, Eliza. Don’t you see? No better than a witch hunt.”

“You’re so certain Burr’s not a witch?” she asked, seizing the metaphor.

“That’s the sort of thinking that leads to mass hysteria.”

“He’s ambitious. Viciously so. He’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants. I, for one, don’t think the charges against him are so outrageous.”

“Only because you’re still angry with him.”

“Yes.” She looked hard at him, unrepentant of her position.

“That’s a reason to let him hang for a crime that lives almost entirely in Jefferson’s imagination?”

“You don’t know that. You’ve been as quick to judgment as everyone else. You’re so set against Jefferson, that you’re willing to believe the best in a man who tried to kill you not so long ago. Burr’s committed crimes enough to justify me believing the worst.”

He stared at her for a long moment, unused to disagreeing with her so vehemently about politics. It’s not that she blindly took his side on things typically, but even where their opinions diverged, she wasn’t usually so concerned that she’d spend much time arguing with him over it. Not unless he asked her to, of course, so that he might better craft his own arguments.

She was hard set against Burr, though, uninterested in any view that set him as a pawn in Jefferson’s bid to take power for himself. Which made the idea formulating in his head even more problematic.

So much was happening in the wider world, while he stayed ensconced in New York, taking on paltry insurance cases and coming home to his family each evening. He’d needed that while he recovered: the predicable schedule, the short hours, the cocoon of his loving home. But he was starting to chafe at the restriction now. Burr was being chased across the continent like a desperado while he sat safe in his country retreat.

“The trial will be in Richmond over the summer,” he observed.  

Her mouth drew into a tight line.

“That’s not such a great distance away, really. Especially considering I’ll be going to Philadelphia for work already—”

“No.” She doesn’t raise her voice, but her nostrils have flared, anger boiling behind her dark eyes. The refusal left no room for argument.

He fought not to bristle at the abrupt interruption. “We could take the little ones with us. And time away would give me a chance to focus more on my new project. You know how hard it is for me to research and write with visitors and business on the doorstep at all hours.”

“No, Alexander.”

“Betsey—”

She shook her head, pushed back from the table, and snapped her ledger book shut.

**

She avoided him for much of the rest of the day.

It wasn’t hard for her, exactly. She’d already been spending most of her time at the New York Orphan Asylum, after having been named Second Directress of the new organization. Her nose was constantly in her ledger book, tracking donations, paying bills, keeping the whole charity afloat as they housed, fed, and educated the most vulnerable and unfortunate children in the city.

It was well past dark when he finally heard the front door open. He was sitting in the parlor with little Eliza and Phil, an assortment of books laid out on the table before him as he scribbled notes down. His planned essay series on governments throughout history had been too long delayed by his injury, but with Gouverneur Morris and James Kent’s assistance, it was finally underway.

“Like this,” his younger daughter was explaining, holding her palms face out to her little brother. “Patty cake, patty cake, baker’s man, bake me a cake—no Phil, you clap my hands there. Watch again.”

Hamilton smiled at the children, though his shoulders were tense as he heard Eliza approaching. She paused in the entryway, watching their two youngest at play for a long moment before entering. Then he felt her gaze land on him. She regarded him silently, sighed, then came around to stand behind his chair. Her arms slid around him, her nose nuzzling his neck affectionately.

“Hello, my love,” she whispered. All traces of anger had gone.

“Hello,” he said, wary, but welcoming. “Are you done saving the world for the day?”

“Saving the world is a bit of a strong description for a day of balancing a budget and singing nursery rhymes.”

“I disagree.”

She laughed, soft and low, her breath a warm puff against his skin. “Of course you do.”

Relaxing back into her arms, he reached back to brush his hand over her cheek. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” Her lips ghosted over his ear lobe. “Have you eaten?”

“Yes.”

“The children?”

“We all managed to feed and water ourselves in your absence. Much as I depend on you, I’m not as useless as that.” He made sure to keep the tone of his voice light. The work she had undertaken was as wonderful as it was important, but he knew it bothered her that it took her away from her own family for long stretches of the day.

“I know, sweetheart,” she assured him. “But it’s my prerogative to worry over you.”

Phil clapped as he finished the rhyme with his sister, their hands having moved perfectly in unison for the first time. “Again!”

“Faster, this time,” little Eliza said.

He and Eliza both laughed as they watched their two youngest flail their hands about, creating a flurry of little fingers. Phil, in his excitement, missed his sister’s hands completely and nearly sent her toppling backwards on the last clap. “Phil,” she whined.

“Again,” the little boy demanded.

“Maybe we should do it slower again.”

Eliza sighed behind him. “Are you ready to talk about our disagreement this morning?”

“If you are.” He hadn’t been the one to lose his temper and stalk out, after all.

She grasped at the back of his chair and wheeled him from the parlor to his office, clicking the door closed behind them. When she had him settled in front of the desk, facing the interior of the room, she sat down in the armchair before him, and waited. Apparently, this talk wasn’t going to begin with an apology, or an admission that she’d seen the error of her ways.

“I haven’t changed my mind,” he said.

Her jaw clenched.

“I want to go. I need to go. I’m tired of reading about momentous events in the papers, Betsey. If I’m not going to act, I might as well have died on the field that morning with Burr.”

“Don’t say that,” she snapped, pained.

“It’s true.”

“It’s not. You have me, our family, your law practice, your health, mostly. Why can’t that be enough? Why do you have to go meddle in business that has nothing to do with you?”

“It has everything to do with me. I live in this country. I spilled my blood to see it free. I’ll be damned if I let Jefferson drive us into a dictatorship, like the Napoleon of North America. For all he says about Burr, he’s the one in the prime position to seize power. I can see now why he felt so warmly towards the French Revolution.”

“Alexander.” No heat remained in the interjection, only a weary note of caution.

“This is important to me. Very important. This trial will go down in the history books one way or another, and I need to be a part of it. I can make a difference. I can ensure things turn out right. But I can’t do it without you. I need you with me. Please?”

She tilted her head slightly, then sighed again. “For you. And only for you.”

“I don’t understand why you can’t forgive Burr, when you forgave me so freely.”

“I’m not in love with Burr,” she answered immediately.

He laughed, then sobered, unsure how felt about that being the sole ground for his own pardon. “So, if you weren’t in love with me, you would still be nursing a grudge?”

“If I weren’t in love with you,” she echoed, seeming to turn the words over on her tongue. Her eyes closed for a long moment. “You know, I can’t begin to imagine such a world.”

He smiled at that. They were so tangled up with each other, their lives so tightly entwined, he hadn’t the first notion of what life would be like without Eliza’s love. “I hope I never live to see it.”

She rose, leaned in, and pressed a tender kiss to his forehead. “You never will.”

“So, you’ll come with me to Richmond?”

“Yes,” she agreed at last. “I’ll come with you. But I make no promise of cordiality towards Burr.”

“Just so long as you’re with me,” he said.

[ofstarfleetsmarvels]

Blog Info - Canon

This blog has a very divergent canon across all the timelines my muses come from that is based in Star Trek (reboot continuity). Their canon events happened, but they diverge following various incidents. With exception of Saavik, all kids grow up to become superheroes known as Starfleet’s Marvels.

Star Trek

Let’s start simple. Saavik is 4 when her Romulan father is killed by angry Vulcans, and her Vulcan mother was already dead from illness by then. All it leaves is a small orphan on a planetoid in the neutral zone. She’s on her own for five years, fending for herself off the land. She learns to survive quickly, learns that when faced with a problem, you need to attack it before it attacks you.

So when she’s nine, a landing party of Vulcans tells her to get a sharp stick and fight back. Fortunately, most of them leave… but there’s one woman.

She has Vulcan ears, but her eyes are… kind. Not emotionless, as mother’s, as her father’s murderers, but… gentle. And she notices Saavik, when the others do not. She doesn’t get close. Her name, she tells Saavik, is Rebecca– and she is not Vulcan. She is human, with some Changeling genetics that allow her to change her ears.

She tells Saavik she is with Vulcans because they are her crew, that she has made her ears this way because her adoptive father is a Vulcan, and she offers to take Saavik far from this planet. Saavik is wary of her, when another Vulcan arrives and sees her.

Saavik feels it would be better if it looked like the woman is her prisoner, so she grabs her and holds up her stick menacingly. He moves on, seemingly laughing, but Rebecca reassures her and finishes her thought.

Saavik doesn’t have to stay with Vulcans if she does not wish to. But she could leave this planet, and have a real bed… warm food… clean water… a family, perhaps. So she leaves with Rebecca… but quickly becomes attached to the woman, calling her “mother” before two days’ time on the ship.

When she is a teenager, Saavik is kidnapped for ransom, and her mother trades places with her. By the time her father and the rest of the Polyhymnia crew have saved her mother, she has no memory of anything or anyone. Saavik lies to Starfleet recruiters, claiming that she has her grandfather’s permission to enlist (as she is 16 and could fast track) in order to join Starfleet and fight in the war for her mother. So… she’s grounded a year later, when her mother’s memories are back and she’s angry, but proud, and so she’s allowed to remain, a science officer on the USS Orville.

Shazam

It should be noted that this canon takes place in a timeline where Marvel and DC superheroes exist together. You’ll also notice some Heroes crossover, don’t worry about it.

Following the end of the movie, the kids go about their daily lives– hiding their identities from their foster parents, doing superhero things as needed, mainly living out normal lives.

Or, at least, they were until a man named Sylar figured out their secret identities. After their powers, he murdered their foster parents, leaving them once again without family… except each other.

Given their secret and their bond, the kids ran off together, continuing to fight crime and do their best to create a normal situation, on the run trying to keep away from Sylar. Unfortunately, a super villain battle causes him to catch up with them… well, anyways, it would be unfortunate if not for the woman who had suddenly appeared on the street during the battle, stunning the Sandman and stepping between them and Sylar when he’d arrived.

This was Rebecca. She was a young woman who looked at them as superheroes and saw the children they really were, and they as children got to see the adult she really was. They would tell their story– how Sylar had killed their parents, how they were on their own and didn’t know what to do or where to go, and she would offer to bring them back with her, to her universe and year– 2291. They would accept, becoming among only 8 superpowered humans in their timeline at the time of their arrival.

Brightburn

Brightburn, Kansas was gone. All that was left was one little boy, survived by some fluke, some miracle, but nobody knew that just yet. Brandon had left a trail of destruction in his wake, and was wrestling with his emotions.

Because inside of him was more than just an instinctive call to take the world. Inside of him was a 12-year-old who was terrified that he’d killed the only family he’d known even considering what they’d wanted to do to him. Even his mother…

A noise had jarred him and he’d whipped around to find a confused young woman, in a uniform from those really old space shows that sometimes came on TV when he was growing up, who cocks her head at him, telling him she’s lost, and her name is Rebecca.

He notices the weapon at her side, and fires his laser eyes at her, missing intentionally, just enough to scare her and make her disarm, which she does unquestioningly… unafraid. Why wasn’t she scared of him?

She helps him, as he wrestles with his feelings. Rebecca doesn’t hate him for what happened to Brightburn, even though he tells her. She tells him what her mother did to her, how she was abandoned, scorned, mocked… and tells him a story she knows, about two wolves at odds within every person, and how which wolf wins is the one that wins.

He doesn’t know which one he wants to win. But he takes her hand when the golden lights swirl around her, and goes back to her ship with her. Maybe it’ll be better there for him. Away from the call of his ship, away from the horrible things he’s done.

The Boys

One day, following Vought’s unveiling of a transporting technology that meant any of the Seven could be on the scene of a crime in seconds (instead of just certain people), Starlight curiously approaches the thing… and a glitch causes it to transport her off to a destination unknown.

The location would be a starship known as the USS Polyhymnia. When Annie panics and prepares to attack the strange people on the ship, she’s abruptly knocked unconscious by a twelve year old with glowing red eyes before being carried to the brig for the ship’s safety… and one of its science officers is called in to see her.

Rebecca meets Annie, a 17-year-old who just got out of hell even though she’s uncertain how she feels about it. Annie is cagey about the world she came from, but admits to being a superhero, lighting her eyes up with the yellow-ish glow when the woman briefly shapeshifts to a dark blue form with black hair and yellow eyes. Rebecca offers to give the teenager a place in her family and… admittedly scared of the risk of going back… Annie accepts.

One day, unexpectedly, another arrival appears from her old universe. He calls himself Homelander and when he learns he can never return to where he came from, sets his sights on one thing and one thing only: the same level of adoration in this universe as he had in his own. The immediate way he sees of doing that? None other than Starlight’s new mommy, poster child of Starfleet, face of the Federation, Rebecca.

Now, Rebecca is married and completely devoted, but a silly little thing like that won’t stop him. He forces Annie to help him lure out Rebecca away from others, capturing her and taking her into Romulan space to hide her and erase her memories again. Which would have been more successful if he’d known this timeline had just come to peaceful relations with Romulus and six Starfleet ships would be quick to get on the hunt for him.

They’re going off almost nothing until Rebecca, amnesiac again, wakes up… and her gut tells her the man saying he’s her husband, and that he loves her, is lying, and remembering voices when he calls her Rebecca– people, talking to her. Parents. Siblings. A man who calls her ashaya and his voice is so gentle and comforting and familiar…

She tricks the man who has her hostage into letting her call her brother. James answers and is greeted by her calling him by a nickname. A nickname she uses as a code word for being in danger, while she taps her nails against the console. V'Len on the Polyhymnia translates the tapping as morse code– her coordinates, and the ships locate her with ease after that.

Homelander kills two security officers from the USS Mayflower, but he doesn’t get a hand on the others– Rebecca’s siblings and husband, and James lands the killing blow against him, snapping his neck before going to help restore his older sister’s memories.

This is when Annie finally realizes how much Rebecca loves her, as she’s released from custody on Rebecca’s own order. This is when she starts to feel accepted in her new family… even…

One day, while having ice cream with some of her younger siblings, Brandon asks her what her world was like. And she’s careful. Her brother is only going on thirteen, there’s no need for her to go into detail, but Mary picks up on what she’s not saying…

As does Rebecca, who had been walking into the mess hall with T'Ri. As quickly as she’d heard what Annie had been through, she’s gone, going to the transporter room with such a murderous glint in her eyes none of her crew question her, transporting her to Annie’s universe per her request.

Rebecca sits in Homelander’s chair with the back turned to the room when the others arrive, informing her of their feelings without knowing who was really in the room yet. When she turns around, she reveals the truth– Homelander is dead, Annie is safe… and they’re going to die that day by her hand.

Queen Maeve is spared. But the others… it’s brutal. Especially The Deep. Annie never learns the story, just sees her mother come back covered in blood… with Hughie in tow.

The vigilante gang had arrived at Vought with the intent to finally kill the supes, but were astonished to find one young woman in a Star Trek uniform wiping blood off her hands and three corpses. She would tell them of Homelander’s own demise and Starlight’s safety, punching Butcher himself in the face upon realizing who he was and what he’d done to her daughter. It was Hughie who pleaded with Rebecca to take him back… and so she had, after dismantling Vought’s transporter and he’d called his own father to say goodbye.

The Runaways

Everything is set for Rebecca to retire at long last.

Well. Until a transporter malfunction strands her back in her old timeline. While she tries in vain to get in contact with her ship, she runs into a group of children… and a dinosaur. Questioning what she’s looking at, Rebecca keeps them from running off and convinces them to open up to her.

Fortunately, this is when her PADD that runs her timeline assessing program kicks back to life. These children allegedly vanish sometimes around now, believed kidnapped and killed by the Church of Gibbon.

Rebecca convinces them to leave with her instead, and decides to test out a new piece of technology invented by a group of (accidental) universe hoppers that allows her to make a transporter door to her own universe, bringing all of them back with her… but only adopting four, allowing the other two to be adopted by some on her crew to not harm the relationships present within their group. (Find Dex, Sophie, Keefe, Fitz, Linh, Tam, Marella, Biana, and Stina on my main indie, starbcrn-kids)

The Darkest Minds

This is where it gets really messy. Ruby would be the first exception Rebecca would make to altering a timeline’s plotted course, convincing Cate to give her Ruby after breaking her out of Thurmond instead of letting Ruby suffer as she had any further past that point.

This, however, would take place after rescuing young Jude from an explosion, bringing both back to the Polyhymnia with conflicting and confused memories that she would explain to them both after settling her emotions regarding their universe. She hated herself for not being able to save them all.

So Brandon would be the first to suggest the alternative. Maybe their mom can’t save everyone… but they can. He gathers his superpowered siblings and Saavik, and convinces them to return to the universe Ruby and Jude came from, sometime after Jude’s alleged death, and start a revolution. Free the camps, save the kids, and overthrow the president.

Ruby is uncertain but insists on going along. Now adults, Billy convinces the captain of his ship (the Enterprise), also known as his aunt Demora, to perform the universal shift to attempt the revolution. When Demora is captured by President Gray, the team of Rebecca’s children beams down to the California coast and begins the revolution, eventually rescuing Demora and returning home with a number of extras– including kids who Ruby thinks, in another life, may have been her best friends somehow. (Find Liam, Chubs, and Vida on my main indie, starbcrn-kids)

Following this mission, Demora follows her older sister’s footsteps and retires, and while her own first officer is assigned a ship, Starfleet asks Billy to take the mantle as captain of the Enterprise considering his role in the rescue mission, which he nervously accepts.

Truth be told I normally hate using passwords, but in this case I’m going to require one. Please either like this post or send in “cheeseburger” to let me know you’ve read the blog canon.

[ramajmedia]

10 Things In Fantasy Movies You Didn’t Know Were CGI

Even though most of us will have a hard time believing it or recalling it, there was a time when CGI really wasn't a thing. It's not like that stopped directors and producers from making high-quality films. However, when it comes down to fantasy movies, it sure does help to have some besides puppets, strings, and your imagination.

Related: 10 Things In Historical Period Movies You Didn't Know Were CGI

When used poorly, CGI can completely destroy a movie. It doesn't really matter how big of a budget you have, if you go overboard with the special effects, you can wave those stellar critics goodbye. But when used properly, CGI can come in handy to make some scenes even better than they already are. And how do you know if it was well used? Well, most of the time, if audiences don't notice it! Let's take a look at ten instances from fantasy movies where the use of CGI was seamless.

10 Shazam! - The Shopping Bags

Shazam! hit the screens pretty recently. With a mix of good and bad reviews, one thing is for certain - this movie speaks to all fourteen-year-olds out there who wish they had superpowers. It's a fairly entertaining movie and a fresh take on superheroes in a day and age where Marvel and DC are everywhere.

Overall, it didn't go too far with CGI besides the bare essentials. However, there was a particularly seamless instance when Shazam is fighting Dr.Sivana at the mall, and some shoppers appear in the scene. These were actual crew members shot accidentally, and shopping bags were added to make it seem intentional.

9 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - The Wolves' Tales

Obviously, the Chronicles of Narnia movies were swimming in CGI. It's pretty much impossible to find any of the creatures in this imaginary world roaming around the streets of our cities. These were pretty obvious scenes where digital effects were used, along with several scenic shots.

But when it came down to the wolves that destroyed the Beavers' homes in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, although pretty much all of the animals were actual wolves, their tales were digitally inserted using CGI. This happened because the animals kept wagging their tales, making them look more like sweet puppies than vicious beasts.

8 E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial - The Walkie Talkies

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is one of those heart-warming classics that will live in our memories forever. The genius of director Steven Spielberg didn't keep him from introducing us to an extraterrestrial on a flying bike all the way back in 1982 when CGI was something still rough around the edges.

Related: Disney's 10 Most Creative Uses Of CGI, Ranked

But besides the most obvious things, there is a curious thing that was altered from the original recording using digital techniques. During the police standoff, the officers were originally pointing guns at the kids. But because this was considered quite a horrible practice, walkie-talkies were inserted instead - and incredibly seamlessly too!

7 Charlie And The Chocolate Factory - The Oompa Loompas

While the original motion picture of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory was the one that gifted us a meme that will probably last forever, Tim Burton's more wonky and colorful version also has its merits. Aside from the stellar performance, Johnny Depp gave us as Charlie, the movie also gave us the weird little creatures called Oompa Loompas.

Curiously enough, every single one of the Oompa Loompas was played by the same actor, and CGI was used to replicate him. Even though special effects were used, each Oompa Loompa consists of a different performance by Deep Roy. A great example of acting and CGI working together!

6 Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone - The Great Hall Candles

Look, as much as we wish magic wands and flying cars were actually a thing, they simply aren't. At least not for now, or at least not in a universe we're familiar with. Describing all the things that were CGI in the Harry Potter movie franchise could fill a couple of textbooks, so we'll focus on the more subtle details.

Related: 10 Things In Sci-Fi Movies You Didn't Know Were CGI

In the first installment of the series, after experimentation went wrong, it was decided that the floating candles had to be done using CGI. This happened because the initial attempt of having actual candles hanging by wires almost resulted in a true disaster. The second best thing would probably be a spell, though, but we're okay with special effects!

5 Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince - The Pensive Liquid

Not much was ever truly jolly when it comes to the Harry Potter movies. We did get some laughs, mostly thanks to the awesome characters of Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom, but something dark was always looming around. And the sixth installment of the series was when things started taking an even more dramatic turn to the worst.

The scenes where Dumbledore yanks his thoughts out of his head with a wand are somewhat uncomfortable, and we couldn't help but wonder what kind of mushy liquid was used to represent the liquid in the pensive. As it turns out, the whole thing was digitally inserted using CGI. Everybody chill, it wasn't snot after all.

4 Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 - Godric's Hollow

Many iconic sets and views were used throughout the entire Harry Potter series, and many of them were actual places. Even though some pretty obvious alterations had to be made for the sake of magic, many landscapes retained their original characteristics without needing to be altered.

The place all fans know as Godric's Hollow is, in reality, the historic village of Lavenham, Suffolk. All the scenes that happen there didn't use any CGI, except for one - when Hermione and Harry are walking, the whole thing was created digitally. And very masterfully, we might add, since it was barely noticeable.

3 Bridge To Terabithia - Jess And Maybelle

Bridge To Terabithia explored the creative minds of children in the most poetic and beautiful way possible. Also, it awarded us with a pre-teen Josh Hutcherson, which is always a cute sight to behold. While the world created by the two main characters, Jess and Maybelle, is truly a sight to behold, it's safe to say that most of it couldn't be accomplished without special effects.

But the movie did feature an extremely smooth CGI move. When we see the huge panorama shot of this wonderful world that is Terabithia, we also see the two friends. However, none of the actors were actually present, and they were inserted using CGI instead, mostly for practicality purposes.

2 Cinderella - The Glass Slipper

Live-action Disney movies tend to be a hit or miss. As much as we all love the chance of seeing our childhood heroes being portrayed on-screen once more by actual actors, CGI can completely butcher characters (yes, we're looking at the Beast from Beauty And The Beast because, honestly, what was that?).

Related: 5 Disney Characters We Hope Never To See In CGI (And 5 That Can Make It Work)

Cinderella was actually a very good example of a Disney movie turned real. The special effects weren't overboard, and everything was pretty believable -  as far as fairy godmothers can be. Hats off to the special effects team for making the glass slipper fitting into Cinderella's foot completely CGI since, ironically enough, the original it didn't fit on Lily James' foot.

1 Pan's Labyrinth - The Faun's Non-Legs

When it comes to beautiful fantasy movies that also have the power to scar you for life, nothing can hold a candle to Spanish classic Pan's Labyrinth. It's eery, it's magical, and at times, outright fear-inducing. The movie gets a place on its list due to a very interesting use of CGI.

Instead of adding something, this time around we're talking about removing. See, the Faun's legs were actually a concoction from director Guillermo Del Toro that allowed the actor to control them, which is why the movements seem so seamless and natural. In post-production, CGI was used to remove the actor's legs and voilá - we got ourselves a Faun!

NEXT: 10 Most Underrated Sci-Fi/Fantasy Films Of The Last 20 Years

source https://screenrant.com/fantasy-movies-cgi/

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Here ya go, a little shot of FAKE NEWS, Read between the lines, please! Trump keeps blaming Obama. Fresh polls show voters don’t buy it.

Barack Hussein Obama and the drive by news media @ HoaxAndChange.com

FAKE NEWS uncovered at HoakAndChange.com

Mullet Wrapper @ Hoax And Change

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Trump keeps blaming Obama. Fresh polls show voters don’t buy it.

Barack Obama and Donald Trump arrive for the inauguration ceremony in January. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP/Pool)

BY JAMES HOHMANN with Breanne Deppisch

THE BIG IDEA: For Donald Trump, the buck stops … with Barack Obama.

As the western world processed stomach-churning images of dead children, apparently murdered by chemical weapons, the president couldn’t help but take a potshot at his predecessor. “These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution,” Trump said in a statement yesterday afternoon. “President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a ‘red line’ against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing. The United States stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this intolerable attack.”

As he ripped Obama, Trump mentioned neither Russia nor Iran. Both counties are actively propping up Assad’s regime.

The president also offered no path forward, except to say that the savagery, which observers on the ground say killed at least 58, “cannot be ignored.” Asked how the U.S. will respond, Sean Spicer replied: “We’ll talk about that soon.”

This White House is stuck in permanent campaign mode. Several officials involved in internal administration discussions told the AP that the National Security Council had been preparing a different statement, until the president’s closest advisers took over the process.

This has been a pattern during Trump’s first 75 days in office. When it suits him, the president takes credit for his predecessor’s successes. More often, he points the finger. Trump’s unsubstantiated allegation that Obama “wiretapped” his office is the most memorable illustration, but there are many others. After the botched raid in Yemen that killed a Navy SEAL, for instance, the White House claimed the operation had been authorized by the Obama team.

Suspected chemical attack kills scores of men, women and children in Syria

— Obama has repeatedly acknowledged that Syria was the biggest failure of his presidency, and he knows it will haunt his legacy. He notoriously said in August 2012 that Assad using chemical weapons would cross a “red line” that would change his “calculus” about whether to intervene. When the Butcher of Damascus did it anyway, using sarin to kill hundreds of innocents, Obama lacked the will to act unilaterally. So he punted to an even less courageous Congress. American credibility suffered. Assad’s barbaric war crimes continued.

— The timing of Trump’s dig was curious, however. Just last week, Rex Tillerson and Nikki Haley said publicly that removing Assad is no longer a U.S. priority – breaking with western allies.

— Even more incongruously, Trump vociferously opposed the very action he now attacks Obama for not taking. The billionaire posted an endless stream of tweets like these over several weeks in 2013, which make yesterday’s statement look quite hypocritical:

— Trump has claimed repeatedly since taking office that he “inherited a mess.” As he put it during his 77-minute press conference in February, “I inherited a mess. It’s a mess. At home and abroad, a mess. … The Middle East is a disaster. (Also) North Korea. We’re going to take care of it all. I just want to let you know I inherited a mess.”

— After the GOP’s Obamacare replacement package fell apart in the House, Trump announced that he will let the health care system fall apart. He thinks this will force Democrats to come to the negotiating table. The president reasons that Obama will surely get blamed for any problems with something called Obamacare.

— A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows why Trump’s strategy is flawed. The nonpartisan group conducts a respected monthly poll of public attitudes about health care. When asked which of two statements came closer to their view, 6 in 10 Americans endorsed the statement: “Trump and Republicans in Congress are now in control of the government and they are responsible for any problems with it moving forward.” Just over 3 in 10 chose the alternative statement: “President Obama and Democrats in Congress passed the law and they are responsible for any problems with it moving forward.”

For context, the poll found that over 6 in 10 Americans say it’s a “good thing” the House GOP bill went down. But that group is split evenly between those who do not want to repeal the law and those who want to repeal and replace the law but had concerns about the specific legislation.

The country is also split close to down the middle about next steps: 45 percent want to keep working on a plan to repeal and replace the 2010 law, and 49 percent think Trump and congressional Republicans should stop working on health care and move on to other priorities.

Trump waves to his supporters last month as his motorcade passes through Bingham Island on the way to Mar-a-lago in Palm Beach, Fla. (Michael Ares/Palm Beach Post via AP)

— On the economy, the American people have a more nuanced view than the president. A Quinnipiac University poll published yesterday is full of bad news for Trump. His approval rating is 35 percent. He’s even underwater right now with whites and men. More than six in 10 registered voters nationally don’t think he’s honest, level-headed or shares their values. On the issues, the poll finds that 58 percent disapprove of how he’s handling foreign policy and a 48 percent plurality doesn’t think he’s handling the economy well. The survey found that 52 percent think the economy is in excellent or good shape, while 45 percent say it’s not so good or poor. Overall, 66 percent say Obama is more responsible than Trump for the current state of the economy.

When Obama left office in January, our Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 61 percent of Americans approved of his economic stewardship. That number was higher than at any point in his eight-year presidency, up from 50 percent in Jan. 2016 and 43 percent in Jan. 2014. So there is ample evidence that Americans were crediting him for the nation’s improving economy before Trump took office.

Quinnipiac asked a series of questions in another poll last month on whether Obama or Trump should be credited with certain economic statistics. By more than 2 to 1 voters said Obama deserves more credit than Trump for the fact the unemployment rate has stayed under 5 percent. But a smaller 48 percent plurality credited Obama for the 200,000 jobs added in February, while 41 percent said Trump deserves credit. And 55 percent said Trump, not Obama, deserves more credit for the stock market’s positive performance recently.

— To be sure, Republicans often accused Obama of unfairly blaming George W. Bush late into his presidency. Because of the nature of the 2008 financial crisis, though, more voters always blamed Bush than Obama for the country’s economic ills – including during the 2016 election, according to Gallup surveys conducted from 2009 through 2016. In its poll last summer, Gallup found that 64 percent of Americans thought Bush deserved a “great deal” or a “moderate amount” of blame for “current economic problems.” Half, 50 percent, said Obama did.

A man carries the body of a dead child following a suspected gas attack in Syria. (Reuters/Ammar Abdullah)

THE BIGGER PICTURE:

— Foreign policy has dominated the opening chapters of the Trump administration to a degree the president clearly did not anticipate. If he’s got 99 problems, Syria is now certainly one.

— Trump is learning that the panaceas he promised so often as a candidate do not actually exist. “No one — not even President Obama, as far as I could tell — was satisfied with the Obama administration’s approach to the conflict in Syria,” Andrew Exum, who was an Obama appointee at the Pentagon, writes for The Atlantic. “But if you assembled all of the Obama administration’s critics in one room, they would not agree on an obvious alternative. The problem is wicked enough to confound easy solutions, and each policy alternative had strategic and moral deficiencies.”

— Russia is now trying to blame rebels for the attack, instead of Assad. From Louisa Loveluck: “A Russian military spokesman on Wednesday said that Syrian warplanes had been targeting rebel workshops used to produce crude chemical weapons on the eastern outskirts of Khan Sheikhoun when the deaths began. ‘The territory of this storage facility housed workshops to produce projectiles filled with toxic agents,’ Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, the spokesman for Russia’s Ministry of Defence, said in a recorded statement. His comments marked a rare admission that air strikes had taken place in the area. Moscow typically denies involvement in such mass casualty attacks, and has previously falsified video footage in an attempt to exonerate its war planes. … Russia also blamed the 2013 sarin attack on rebels attempting to provoke international intervention.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) responded:

The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting today to discuss the attack, and international donors are gathered in Brussels to drum up billions in aid for Syria’s eventual reconstruction. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the chemical attack a “moment of truth” and expressed hope it will galvanize action. “The horrific events of yesterday demonstrate that, unfortunately, war crimes are going on in Syria and that international humanitarian law (continues to be) violated frequently,” he said.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said “Assad believes he can commit war crimes with impunity,” and he challenged Trump to do something. The question now confronting Washington, he said, “is whether we will take any action to disabuse him of this murderous notion.”

— How it’s playing:

— Three smart stories about Trump’s broader foreign policy popped overnight:

1. “Trump embraces the Sunni autocrats,” by The New Yorker’s Robin Wright: “The first tangible steps in Trump’s Middle East policy are taking shape … [with goals] to foster a bloc among often fractious Sunni leaders to counter the influence of Shiite Iran, take a larger role politically and physically in fighting extremism, and help navigate peace between Israel and the Palestinians. … Trump’s strategy could, however, rejuvenate the old authoritarian order of sclerotic autocrats and impervious monarchies in the Middle East. These days, a common lament among Sunnis themselves is that they lack a vision, an ideology, or a leader to guide them. … Bitter rivalries for regional influence run deep … A broader danger is that the Trump strategy—designed at the National Security Council, with almost no input from the State Department—could backfire.”

Tom Malinowski, who was Obama’s Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Human Rights until January, expressed concern: “We have traditionally acted in the Middle East in defense of interests and principles. We’ve never explicitly aligned ourselves with a bloc defined in religious terms. It’s another thing to create the impression that we are aligning with Sunnis against Shiites—that we are effectively taking sides in a civilizational battle.”

2. “For Trump, a Focus on U.S. Interests and a Disdain for Moralizing,” by the New York Times’s Peter Baker: “Mr. Trump has dispensed with what he considers pointless moralizing and preachy naïveté. … ‘We would look like, to some degree, rather silly not acknowledging the political realities that exist in Syria,’ said spokesman Sean Spicer. … He has taken foreign policy to its most realpolitik moment in generations, playing down issues of human rights or democracy that animated his predecessors, including Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Obama. … His foreign policy seems defined more by a transactional nationalism, rooted in the sense that the United States is getting ripped off. Rather than spreading American values, Trump’s policy aims to guard American interests.”

“It struck me that it was very Chinese in orientation,” said Ian Bremmer, the founder and president of the Eurasia Group, a consultancy in Washington. “You take out all of the issues of American exceptionalism and values, you take out all the restraints and responsibilities of American alliances and architecture that are based on those values, and it creates a very different sense of foreign policy.”

3. Trump’s retrenchment on free trade, climate change and security alliances has created a leadership vacuum that is already working to Beijing’s advantage. David Nakamura previews tomorrow’s summit: “Since Trump’s unexpected victory in November, Chinese President Xi Jinping has moved to position his fast-developing nation as a defender of globalization, and he has accelerated Beijing’s challenge to U.S. primacy in Asia. This budding shift of power dynamics has alarmed U.S. allies and partners in the region and raised the stakes as Trump prepares to welcome Xi for a two-day summit starting Thursday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in South Florida. The two are expected to discuss a wide range of issues, including North Korea’s mounting nuclear threat and a lopsided trade imbalance in China’s favor, in what aides called a meeting aimed at establishing a working relationship. … More broadly, however, the Trump administration has not developed or publicly enunciated a coherent policy to deal with China’s growing economic and military clout. And Trump, who called China a currency manipulator during his campaign, has delivered mixed messages on how far he is willing to go to confront Beijing.”

CONTENT FROM MORGAN STANLEY

Capital creates better connections Morgan Stanley helped All Aboard Florida raise capital to finance the development of Brightline, an express rail in the Sunshine State—which is projected to potentially add up to hundreds of millions in federal, state and local government tax revenue over the next several years. 1 By Morgan Stanley

Welcome to the Daily 202, PowerPost’s morning newsletter.Pollster Scott Clement contributed. Sign up to receive the newsletter.

— The Daily 202 is one of five finalists to win The Webby Award for Best Email Newsletter. We’re the only political or Washington-based contender to make the final round. You can vote here.

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:

Activists protest for transgender rights outside Greenwich Village’s famous Stonewall Inn. (Kena Betan Cur/AFP/Getty Images)

— The 7th Circuit ruled last night that workers may not be fired for their sexual orientation, becoming the highest court in the country to find that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects gays from workplace discrimination. The Chicago-based appellate court found that instructor Kimberly Hively was improperly passed over for a full-time job at Ivy Tech Community College in South Bend, Ind., because she was a lesbian. “While the Civil Rights Act does not explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, it bars sex discrimination; the court concluded that the college engaged in sex discrimination by stereotyping Hively based on her gender,” Sandhya Somashekhar explains.

This sets up a landmark Supreme Court case because the 11th Circuit ruled the opposite just last month. The three Atlanta-based judges interpreted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act much more narrowly and found that sexual orientation is not a protected class under that law. That means that the high court will probably be forced to decide which appellate court is correct. Based on his rulings, there is no doubt that Neil Gorsuch would agree more with the Atlanta judges than the Chicago ones.

Why this is a big dang deal: In 28 states, there are no statewide laws that explicitly protect people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. And Trump is certainly not going to provide it. So it’s up to the courts.

School board candidate Ed Yung unloads yard signs from the trunk of his car on Monday. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune via AP)

— In a closely watched school board race at the center of the transgender rights debate, in the Chicago suburbs, a slate of conservative candidates who pledged to require students to use bathrooms and locker rooms aligned with their biological sex appear headed for defeat. From Moriah Balingit and Sandhya Somashekhar: “Elections are typically low-key for the Township High School District 211 Board of Education, but this year, the district drew national attention, highlighting the explosive debate over how schools should balance the needs of transgender students with the privacy of their peers. Under pressure from the U.S. Education Department, the board in December 2015 voted to allow a transgender girl to use the girls’ locker room, spurring protests and a lawsuit. Three challengers … hoped to win enough seats to reverse the practice of allowing transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms aligned with their gender identity. Two board members who voted to allow the transgender girl into the locker room … were comfortably ahead of the challengers with votes in one precinct not yet counted.” The district includes five high schools and nearly 11,900 students in the Palatine-Schaumburg area.

California State Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez canvasses in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles this weekend. He is the frontrunner to replace Xavier Becerra in the House. (Dania Maxwell for the Washington Post)

— All the Berniecrats lost last night in California. In the special election jungle primary to replace Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), who resigned to become the state’s attorney general, the assemblyman who was most closely tied to the Democratic establishment and a Korean American who used to be on the L.A. planning commission beat out the Bernie Sanders-aligned contenders. Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, who has Becerra’s endorsement, and Robert Lee Ahn, both Democrats, will now square off in a June 6 runoff.

A scattered field: “In one of the few districts in California that favored Sanders over Hillary Clinton in last year’s primary, three candidates ran as self-styled ‘Berniecrats,’ hoping to continue the Vermont senator’s ‘revolution’ … But all three were trailing … by thousands of votes,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “Sanders and Our Revolution, the political group he helped start, declined to endorse a candidate, leaving the trio to fight for votes on the left. An eleventh-hour controversy over allegations of sexism leveled at (Arturo Carmona) by former Sanders campaign staffers further split the field.”

Mobilizing the ethnic vote: “The 41-year-old Ahn, who would be the only Korean American in Congress if elected, spent major resources registering new voters in the Korean American community and turning them out at the polls,” the LA Times notes. “Korean Americans cast more than 4,000 early ballots by mail, according to an analysis by the data firm Political Data.”

North Korea launches missile ahead of U.S.-China talks

— THE WORLD IS ON FIRE: North Korea fired another ballistic missile Wednesday morning, in what appeared to be a test of a land-based version of a rocket that can be fired from a submarine. Anna Fifield reports: “The launch comes days after Pyongyang said it planned to mark two key anniversaries this month as ‘big’ political events and days before [Trump] meets with China’s Xi Jinping — with North Korea at the top of the agenda.” The missile appeared to fly a relatively short distance of 40 miles, prompting an emergency meeting from the South��s national security council. U.S. Pacific Command said the missile ‘did not pose a threat to North America.’ Satellite images taken over the past 10 days have shown a prolonged and heightened level of activity at Pyongyang’s underground testing site, sparking speculation about whether a sixth nuclear test was planned.”

New sheriff shutting down Arpaio’s tent city

GET SMART FAST:

The lawman who toppled “Sheriff Joe” Arpaio last November has stopped making inmates wear pink underwear and now he’s shuttering the notorious tent city in Phoenix. “This facility is not a crime deterrent, it is not cost efficient, and it is not tough on criminals,” Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said in Phoenix. “Starting today, that circus ends and these tents come down.” Arpaio cultivated a reputation as “America’s toughest sheriff,” starting in 1993, by making inmates stay outside in the scorching summer sun, sleeping in surplus Korean War military tents. (Kate Mettler)

At least 18 big-name advertisers have now pulled their commercials from “The O’Reilly Factor,” a boycott that follows a New York Times story that five women received $13 million in settlements after accusing the show’s host of harassment or inappropriate conduct. Among the companies that confirmed they were suspending or removing ads: the automakers Hyundai, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Mitsubishi Motors; financial firms T. Rowe Price and Allstate Insurance; drugmakers Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline; the online marketing company Constant Contact and men’s apparel seller Untuckit. (Paul Farhi)

Baltimore’s police commissioner pledged to move forward on reform efforts that the city agreed to in a consent decree with the Obama Justice Department after Jeff Sessions signaled he won’t enforce it. (Lynh Bui and Peter Hermann)

The president of the Richmond branch of the Federal Reserve, Jeffrey Lacker, abruptly resigned after acknowledging that he leaked confidential information to a financial analyst in 2012. (Ana Swanson)

U.S. companies are poised to report their strongest quarterly earnings in years, with analysts predicting the highest period of growth since 2011. (Wall Street Journal)

The philanthropy established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar is giving $100 million to support investigate journalism, fight misinformation and counteract hate speech. Early recipients will include the D.C.-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the anti-Defamation League, and the Latin American Alliance for Civic Technology. (Margaret Sullivan)

A newly-hired high school principal in Pittsburgh resigned after a group of student journalists noticed discrepancies in her education credentials, prompting a weeks-long investigation that resulted in an article questioning the legitimacy of her degrees and work as an education consultant. (Samantha Schmidt)

The NCAA said it has “reluctantly” ended its boycott of North Carolina after lawmakers repealed the state’s “bathroom bill.” But the replacement law has drawn criticism for stopping short of a full repeal, and NCAA officials warned that, “if we find that our expectations of a discrimination-free environment are not met, we will not hesitate to take necessary action at any time.” (Cindy Boren)

A former Oklahoma football player has been accused of prostituting an ex-Sooners cheerleader. Both were nabbed in a sting at an OKC hotel. (Des Bieler)

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is leaving the NFL and will replace Phil Simms as the main color analyst on CBS. (Cindy Boren and Marissa Payne)

Rory McIlroy would think twice about golfing again with Trump if he gets invited. At a pre-Masters press conference, the legend said he does not agree with the president on most policies, that they didn’t talk politics during their round together and that he mainly agreed to hang out with POTUS because he wanted to see the Secret Service in action. “Would I do it again? After the sort of backlash I received, I’d think twice about it,” he said. (Golf Magazine)

Divers are scouring Italy’s Lake Nemi for the 2,000 year-old remains of one of Emperor Caligula’s “pleasure ships” – the third in a line of massive and ornate barges rumored to be the site of wild orgies and excessive indulgence. Caligula spent untold sums of money on similar projects during his time as emperor and had a number of bizarre personal habits – ranging from rolling around in literal piles of money to drinking precious pearls dissolved in vinegar. (Amy B Wang)

Grassley: Gorsuch ‘will be on the Supreme Court sometime Friday night’

GOING NUCLEAR:

— The Senate continued to careen toward a nuclear explosion, as Mitch McConnell filed for cloture. Sean Sullivan and Ed O’Keefe report: “There was no sign of compromise as the chamber formally opened debate on Judge Neil Gorsuch, who [the majority leader] predicted will be confirmed on Friday before senators leave town for the two-week Easter recess. In a speech on the Senate floor, McConnell faulted Democrats for ‘hurtling toward the abyss’ and ‘trying to take the Senate with them.’” Still, only four Democrats have defected.

Sen. Merkley starts Gorsuch filibuster

— Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) held the Senate floor all night. He started speaking just before 7 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday evening. Over the next 12 hours, he portrayed Gorsuch as an extreme nominee, took aim at Trump and slammed Republicans for not moving ahead with Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland. “To proceed to fill this stolen seat will damage the court for decades to come,” he said this morning.

— Of course, it must be said that these speeches make no practical difference at changing the outcome. From Amber Phillips: “Procedurally there’s nothing he nor his colleagues can do to stop Gorsuch from getting a vote on Thursday to advance his nomination — and, ultimately, not much they can do stop him from getting on the court. To understand why, we first have to understand the most accepted definition of a traditional filibuster. The Senate has no limits on how long a senator can talk. And once a senator gets talking, they usually cannot be interrupted or cede the floor without their consent. So, if this were a traditional filibuster, it means as long as Merkley (and other senators who join him) talk, they can hold up the Senate procedure. Except there is one thing that can force a talking senator to yield the floor. And it’s the one thing [McConnell] set in place Tuesday: A vote to end debate on Gorsuch.”

Neil Gorsuch is sworn in at his confirmation hearing last month. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

CHARGES OF PLAGIARISM:

— Neil Gorsuch copied structure and language from several authors without citing source material in his 2006 book and other academic articles, Politico’s John Bresnahan and Burgess Everett report. Someone provided them evidence that several passages from the 10th chapter of the judge’s book are lifted nearly verbatim from a 1984 article in the Indiana Law Journal.

Some independent experts on academic integrity told Politico there was impropriety: “‘Each of the individual incidents constitutes a violation of academic ethics. I’ve never seen a college plagiarism code that this would not be in violation of,’ said Rebecca Moore Howard, a Syracuse University professor who has written extensively on the issue. Elizabeth Berenguer, an associate professor of law at Campbell Law School, said that under legal or academic standards Gorsuch’s similarities to the Indiana Law Journal would be investigated ‘as a potential violation of our plagiarism policy. It’s similar enough to the original work.’”

The White House sent the reporters statements from more than a half-dozen scholars who have worked with the judge to say that this is not a big deal. Spokesman Steven Cheung called the revelations a “baseless, last-second smear” by those “desperate to justify the unprecedented filibuster of a well-qualified” nominee. It referred the authors to scholars who say the “standards for citing work in dissertations on legal philosophy is different than for other types of academia or journalism: While Gorsuch may have borrowed language or facts from others without attribution, they said, he did not misappropriate ideas or arguments.”

The author of the lifted material isn’t bothered: “Gorsuch, in his book, appears to duplicate sentences from an Indiana Law Journal article written by Abigail Lawlis Kuzma without attributing her,” Bres and Burgess write. “Instead, he uses the same sources that Kuzma used: A 1982 Indiana court ruling that was later sealed, a well-known pediatrics textbook, ‘Rudolph’s Pediatrics,’ and a 1983 article in the Bloomington Sunday Herald. … At one point, Gorsuch’s prose mimics Kuzma’s almost word for word in describing a child born with Down syndrome. … Kuzma, a one-time aide to former Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), did not respond to an inquiry from Politico, but released a statement through Gorsuch’s team. Kuzma said she does ‘not see an issue here, even though the language is similar.’ ‘These passages are factual, not analytical in nature,’ Kuzma, now a deputy attorney general in Indiana, said. ‘It would have been awkward and difficult for Judge Gorsuch to have used different language.’”

— A fun thought exercise: How would Ted Cruz react if this same information emerged about Merrick Garland ahead of his confirmation vote?

— Reality check: This will move no votes.

Carter Page, then an adviser to the Trump campaign, speaks in Moscow last summer. (Pavel Golovkin/AP)

THERE’S A BEAR IN THE WOODS:

— Former Trump adviser Carter Page made an appearance in a federal espionage case because he communicated several years ago with a Russian spy under surveillance by the FBI. Tom Hamburger and Alice Crites report: “In a statement released Tuesday, Page confirmed his role in the 2015 Justice Department spy case, adding another twist to the still-unfolding story of Trump’s peculiar and expanding ties to people connected to Russia. Page said he assisted U.S. prosecutors in their case against Evgeny Buryakov, an undercover Kremlin agent then posing as a bank executive in New York. Buryakov was convicted of espionage and released from federal prison last week … [and] agreed to be immediately deported to Russia…

“According to the 2015 complaint … Page met with a Russian agent, Victor Podobnyy, in January 2013 at an energy conference in New York. It says that from January to June of that year, Page as Male 1 ‘provided documents to [Podobnyy] about the energy business.’ At the time, the Russians were seeking information on U.S. sanctions and on energy development. Although Page communicated with the Russian agents in 2013, he said the information he provided was innocuous. In his statement, Page compared the revelation of his role to ;the politically-motivated unmasking standards seen in the Obama Administration which have recently been exposed.’ He said the information was released as ‘retribution for my public positions of dissent’ against Obama administration policy toward Russia.”

Michael Flynn sits in the Oval Office as Trump talks on the phone with Vladimir Putin. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

— Trump’s own transition team did not think Michael Flynn should be national security adviser, Dan Balz scoops in a deep dive on Trump’s messy transition: Two days after the election, leaders of Trump’s transition team presented his inner circle with more than 100 names of candidates for key Cabinet and other senior positions in the new administration. Missing from the list for the post of national security adviser was Flynn. “Flynn was a loyalist who had a close relationship with Trump,” Balz writes. “It was obvious to the transition team that Trump would give him a prominent appointment. But among some of those tasked with bringing forward prospective candidates, there was a belief that Flynn was ill-suited for the critically important job of coordinating national security policy in the new White House. (He was penciled in as a possible director of national intelligence, for which transition officials believed he was better suited.) Trump, however, had his own list of candidates, and Flynn was at the top.”

“It went off the rails almost immediately after the election,” said one knowledgeable person who spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer a candid assessment of the transition process.

Indeed, the Trump team has still not scaled up: The Partnership for Public Service, in collaboration with The Post, has been tracking 553 key administration positions that require Senate confirmation. To date, just 21 nominees have been confirmed, with 20 more formally nominated and an additional 25 awaiting nomination.

Dana Rohrabacher visits Moscow in 2013. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)

— Putin’s biggest GOP ally inside the House met with Trump at the White House last night. Politico’s Josh Dawsey, Isaac Arnsdorf and Tara Palmeri report: “Rep. Dana Rohrabacher woke up before dawn Saturday for a Fox News hit in which he gave a spirited defense of [Trump]. Minutes after the California Republican walked off the set, Trump was on the line, inviting him to come by the White House. The congressman’s spokesman said Rohrabacher at first believed the call was a prank because it came from the White House switchboard, early on April 1. But it was the president, an avid TV watcher who often posts tweets or sets up meetings based on what he sees on-screen. Neither Rohrabacher’s office nor the White House would comment … But the president’s decision to host a lawmaker known for defending [Putin] raised eyebrows in Washington at a time when Trump is fending off questions about his administration’s ties to Moscow.”

What to know about the back-and-forth over ‘unmasking’

UNMASKING:

— Susan Rice flatly denied that the Obama administration ever used the “unmasking” process for any improper or political purpose, saying in an MSNBC interview that it’s “not unusual” to request the identities of people caught on intelligence surveillance. “There were occasions when I would receive a report in which a U.S. person was referred to … and sometimes in that context in order to understand the importance of that report, and assess its significance, it was necessary to find out or request the information as to who that U.S. official was,” the former national security adviser told Andrea Mitchell. Rice also denied revealing the identity of Michael Flynn, who resigned after his communications with Russian officials were reported. “I leaked nothing to nobody and never have and never will,” Rice said, stressing the point that unmasking does not mean making the information public. The reports are still highly classified and viewable by a very select group of people with top secret clearance. “The notion that, which some people are trying to suggest, that asking for the identity of an American person is the same as leaking it, is completely false. There’s no equivalence between so-called unmasking and leaking.”

— Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) did not rule out interviewing Rice about the unmasking. “If the reports are right, she will be of interest to us,” he told Karoun Demirjian. Other Republican lawmakers also urged more investigation: “When it comes to Susan Rice, you need to verify, not trust,” Lindsey Graham in a Fox News interview. John McCain also said that the Rice situation “obviously … needs to be investigated,” though he warned against drawing premature conclusions. The Arizona senator also said the names of other officials would pop up before the end of the investigation: “I promise you there will be many more,” he said. Tom Cotton called Rice “the Typhoid Mary of the Obama administration.”

— Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called the attention focused on Rice a diversionary tactic. From Karen DeYoung’s story with Karoun: He has also called on the Intelligence Committee’s chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R), a Trump transition official and fellow Californian, to recuse himself from the investigation. The White House, Schiff said, has a “strong desire . . . that we lose our focus, that we not pursue the investigation of Russia, particularly as it might impact the Trump campaign.” At the same time, Schiff told CNN, Rice has long been a target of what he called the “Breitbart crowd . . . the hard right” since the September 2012 attacks on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi.

Mike Pence departs the Capitol after a meeting of House Republicans yesterday. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

THE OBAMACARE REPEAL EFFORT IS BACK ON LIFE SUPPORT:

— Republican lawmakers led by Mike Pence are pushing to revive the health care replacement effort, meeting late into the night with party members eager to build new GOP consensus on a proposal. Mike DeBonis and Paul Kane report: “Pence spent much of Tuesday on Capitol Hill meeting with key groups of lawmakers, as well as with [Paul Ryan], a day after visiting separately with conservative hard-liners and moderates to gauge the potential for a revamped version of legislation that collapsed last month. The crux of the new proposal would be to allow states to seek exemptions from certain mandates established under the Affordable Care Act — including a requirement that insurers cover 10 ‘essential health benefits’ as well as a prohibition on charging those with preexisting medical conditions more than the healthy.”

While the largely behind-the-scenes effort generated optimistic talk, no clear path has emerged toward House passage of the Republican bill: Last night, key players said they were still waiting to see new proposals in writing, and some lawmakers said they were wary of rushing the process: “There is a value sometimes to the vetting process,” said House Freedom Caucus leader Mark Sanford. “That having been said, we’ll see what comes our way.”

— “Trump administration officials and arch conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus have gotten off to a rocky start, driven at least in part by their mutual tendency to hear what they want to hear from the other side,” Paul Kane explains in a smart analysis. “The latest negotiation is centered on allowing individual states to apply for waivers from mandates such as ‘essential health benefits’ … This is a modified version of a key issue from the standoff two weeks ago, when the conservatives pushed for and won inclusion of a provision to eliminate the essential benefit coverage. This effort is trying to thread the needle between conservatives who want to see lower premiums in the insurance markets, which they think would result once coverage mandates are lifted, and mainstream Republicans who balk at the idea of denying coverage for critical areas such as pregnancies. Everyone says they’re open to finding common ground between the conservative and moderate [House GOP flanks]. … The question is whether all sides are hearing one another’s concerns or, as they did in previous talks, are interpreting the discussions as evidence of a shift in their direction.”

A veteran’s wife learns whether she’ll be deported

IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN:

— A Department of Homeland Security spokesman said yesterday that immigration agents may arrest crime victims and witnesses at courthouses, heightening growing tensions between the Trump administration and some state court officials, who say the threat could silence immigrants from reporting or providing evidence of crime. Devlin Barrett reports: “Just because they’re a victim in a certain case does not mean there’s not something in their background that could cause them to be a removable alien,’’ DHS flack David Lapan told reporters, making clear the courthouse arrests are not limited to people who would otherwise be apprehended in a jail or prison. “Just because they’re a witness doesn’t mean they might not pose a security threat for other reasons.’’ His remarks come after California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye sent a letter to Trump officials decrying the practice, saying courthouses “serve as a vital forum for ensuring access to justice and protecting public safety.” Courthouses “should not be used as bait in the necessary enforcement of our country’s immigration laws,” she added.

— Temporary reprieve: “‘A wonderful day’: A veteran’s undocumented wife won’t be deported by ICE,” by Theresa Vargas: “For months, Veronica Castro had dreaded Tuesday, when she was scheduled to check in with immigration officials. The undocumented immigrant didn’t know whether she would be detained and deported to Mexico or allowed to return home with her husband, a disabled veteran, and their four children, all U.S. citizens who live in Lothian, Md. [But on Thursday], their fears were allayed in less than 30 minutes. Immigration officials gave Castro another year before she would have to check in again. ’Im happy,’ she said in Spanish, [greeting a cheering crowd gathered outside]. In the months leading up to Tuesday’s appointment, she and Pineda appealed to politicians and clergy members for help. They feared that despite Pineda’s service and their children’s medical needs, Castro would be swept up in Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. In Arizona, a mother of two U.S.-born children, checked in on Feb. 8, as she had done for eight years. The next day she was deported to Mexico. ‘My husband wouldn’t be able to take care of my children without my help,’ Castro said. ‘If I’m deported, my family will be destroyed.'”

— The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors declared itself a “welcoming and accepting place” for immigrants last night, carefully steering clear of the word “sanctuary,” which Trump and Sessions have warned could lead to the withholding of federal funds. Despite pleas from activists, the board also declined to declare itself opposed to a Muslim registry. It’s the latest example of a jurisdiction trying to strike a delicate balance between “reassuring immigrants fearful of stepped-up deportation efforts and avoiding sanctions from a White House that has said an immigration crackdown is critical to maintaining public safety,” Antonio Olivo explains.

— A new bipartisan bill would prevent Americans’ electronic devices from being searched at the border without a warrant. The bill was introduced yesterday by Ron Wyden (D) and Rand Paul (R) in the Senate, while Reps. Jared Polis (D) and Blake Farenthold (R) sponsored it in the House. (CNN)

— Jared Kushner met confidentially with Muslim leaders before the inauguration for a “candid” discussion about what kind of relationship the new president might forge in office with American Muslims, striking a friendly tone as he solicited ideas for how to improve the administration’s relationship with Muslims and asked them to recommend people to serve in the Trump administration. (Buzzfeed)

Trump unveils enormous chart to highlight federal regulations

TRUMP’S WISHLIST:

— Trump signed another bill rolling back Obama-era worker safety rules that aimed at tracking and reducing workplace injuries, illnesses, and deaths. The vote comes less than a month after Obama repealed The Fair and Safe Workplace Act, requiring businesses competing for large federal contracts to disclose and correct serious safety and other labor law violations. (Kimberly Kindy)

— Just hours after two Trump administration officials said the president’s team was exploring a carbon tax and a value-added tax (VAT) to raise revenue, the White House disavowed both options and said they are no longer under consideration. Damian Paletta and Max Ehrenfreund report: “The rapid reversal illustrates a Trump administration still in the initial stages of a plan to rework the tax code, particularly as it looks to build support while also sticking close to conservative ideas.” White House officials also signaled they will be much more involved in proposing and negotiating elements of the plan then they were during plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

— Trump reiterated his pledge to spur $1 trillion in new infrastructure spending — or perhaps more — as he hosted a friendly audience of New York-area CEOs at the White House. “We have to build roads. We have to build highways,” the president said. “We’re talking about a very major infrastructure bill of a trillion dollars, perhaps even more.” The president’s still-evolving infrastructure initiative has been overshadowed in recent weeks, but his advisers insist he remains committed to getting it done, John Wagner reports:

Chief economic adviser Gary Cohn said officials are working with “the broadest interpretation of infrastructure” and made clear that he expects many projects to be financed through public-private partnerships — or just private investments, in some cases.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said one challenge is that most federal infrastructure spending funnels to states and localities – thus complicating plans for a major spending infusion.

Ivanka Trump said workforce development and vocational education will be part of the effort.

— Trump received a cool reception at the annual legislative conference of the building trade unions yesterday after he launched into an oft-repeated tirade his election victory. Abby Phillip reports: “The electoral college is very, very tough,” Trump told them, noting that he had won Wisconsin and Michigan, two states he “didn’t even need.” “They say almost impossible for a Republican to win.” The crowd began shifting in discomfort. “I had the support, of I would say, of almost everybody in this room,” Trump said. “I had tremendous support of the workers.” “Nope,” a few voices called out. Others followed with “boos” and chuckles. Meanwhile, a group of conference attendees stood bearing signs with the “#RESIST” printed on them, earning a quick escort from the room.

— “Trump Team Takes Steps to Keep Chinese Away From Westinghouse,” from Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs, Saleha Mohsin, and Jennifer A. Dlouhy: “The Trump administration is so alarmed that Chinese investors may try to purchase Westinghouse Electric Co.’s nuclear business that U.S. officials are trying to find an American or allied buyer for the company instead … Cabinet members including Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have discussed preventing Westinghouse’s purchase by a Chinese-linked company … The administration is preparing for Westinghouse to come up during [Trump’s] first meeting with [Xi]. …  For years, Chinese entities have been interested in the nuclear reactor builder, and the company has been a repeated target of Chinese espionage. Westinghouse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 29 and its parent company Toshiba Corp. is seeking a buyer for its money-losing reactor business. Trump administration officials and members of Congress are concerned the bankruptcy filing could allow a bid from an investment group with hidden Chinese backing.”

SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ:

Jeff Merkley pulled an all-nighter:

House members are using the debate over Gorsuch as a campaign issue:

Strange bedfellows — Republicans found themselves retweeting Cher:

GOP consultant Ana Navarro weighs in on the Bill O’Reilly scandal:

O’Reilly and Don Lemon got into the act:

Is this part of Trump’s pledge not to tip his hand to the enemy?

From a former Obama national security aide:

White House adviser Sebastian Gorka posted this:

@WMATA:

This picture of Devin Nunes from his 1991 yearbook went viral:

GOOD READS FROM ELSEWHERE:

— Ivanka Trump’s chic neighbor Dianne Bruce became an overnight internet sensation after a picture of her watching protesters while sipping wine and donning a fur coat went viral. In an interview with Cosmo, she says she’s “a little confused” why the internet loves her. Rebecca Nelson: “This wonderful car came in and there were two dancers on top,” Bruce said of the event. “The most athletic, wonderful dancers I’ve ever seen. We were enjoying that thoroughly. And another neighbor came out with a bottle of wine, some glasses, so we all sat there and enjoyed watching the party.”

How did you find out that you went viral? “The next day, a friend of mine called and said, ‘Oh, you’re not gonna believe it, but you’re in the Daily Mail!’ It’s so weird, because I don’t even quite understand what the word ‘go viral’ means. Because I don’t do tweet. I don’t do Facebook. I don’t do any of that. I don’t really understand it all. It’s just one very simple picture.”

Has too much been made of it? “Yeah … I really would like somebody to explain it to me, in a way. When someone says ‘go viral’ — does everybody now hate me and they’re gonna blow up my house?”

No! ‘Go viral,” as in, like, it’s made its way across the internet. Like, a lot of people have seen it. I think you’re safe!: “[Laughs.] I’m not particularly crazy about the Trump administration. But they are people, and I in my own way can protest things. I mean, I went to the first march in my life when I went to the Women’s March in Washington. And [I] was most impressed with all that. So I thought, well, protest is good, as long as it doesn’t get ugly. And this definitely was not ugly. It was basically a party.”

— The New Yorker, “Death of a Dystopian,” by Alec Wilkinson: “Alt-right conspiracy theorists think that the government killed the aspiring Libertarian filmmaker David Crowley. The truth is far stranger.”

HOT ON THE LEFT:

“Legislator Calls Out Her ‘White Male’ Colleagues For Skipping Speeches By Women Of Color,” from HuffPost: “On Monday, Minnesota state Rep. Ilhan Omar (D) spoke out against a public safety bill, arguing that its increase in penalties for protesters who block major roads would weaken civil rights and could have blocked historic demonstrations throughout history. Melissa Hortman (D), the minority leader in the state House, was disappointed that more of her colleagues weren’t in the chamber to hear this speech and others that had been delivered by women opposed to the bill. So she moved to make them come back. ‘I hate to break up the 100 percent white male card game in the retiring room, but I think this is an important debate,’ she said. That comment deeply offended some of the white men in the chamber. [Still], Hortman refused to apologize[:] “I have no intention of apologizing,” she said, adding that she is so tired of watching her colleagues give amazing speeches, and then “looking around, to see, where are my colleagues?” “And I went in the retiring room, and I saw where a bunch of my colleagues were,” she added. “And I’m really tired of watching women of color, in particular, being ignored. So, I’m not sorry.”

HOT ON THE RIGHT:

“Swedish soccer hooligans wear Muslim niqabs to get around newly imposed mask ban,” from Marissa Payne: “Swedish government officials thought they had the perfect solution to curtail violent behavior by masked soccer fans — ban their face coverings. The new law, passed in January and enacted in March, was supposed to prevent extremist fans from ‘disguising all or part of their face so as to make it more difficult to be identified,’ according to the bill’s language … To make sure the bill didn’t infringe on anyone’s religious rights, however, the law offers an exemption for ‘people who cover their face for religious reasons.’: Well, it appears soccer is now a religion in Sweden. On Sunday, during the Stockholm club AIK’s season opener against BK Häcken, several dozen of AIK’s most boisterous fans — known as ‘ultras’ — traded their masks for niqabs, the traditionally Muslim face covering that obscures the entire face except the eyes. To really rub it in, AIK’s extremists also unfurled two gigantic banners with a message for Interior Secretary Anders Ygeman, who spearheaded the legislation.” “Freedom for ultras is the ultimate goal,” the banner read. “Thanks, Ygeman, for the loophole.”

  DAYBOOK:

At the White House: Donald and Melania will welcome King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan to the White House. In the afternoon, Trump will meet with Abdullah before being joined by Pence for an expanded bilateral meeting. Later, the two will hold a press conference and working luncheon.

Pence will participate in a media interview with Fox News’ Martha MacCallum before joining Trump to participate in his meetings with Jordan’s king. Later, Pence will host a reception for Gold Star wives.

Ivanka Trump: ‘Where I disagree with my father, he knows it’

QUOTE OF THE DAY: 

Ivanka Trump criticized an “SNL” skit that portrayed her selling a perfume called “Complicit.” A narrator called it “the fragrance for the woman who could stop all this, but won’t.” On CBS News, the first daughter said: “If being complicit is wanting to be a force for good and to make a positive impact, then I’m complicit. … I don’t know what it means to be complicit.”

  NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:

— Another beautiful day of spring weather ahead, the Capital Weather Gang forecasts: “Mostly sunny skies through the morning and midday turn increasingly cloudy by midafternoon. But the rain holds off, and highs reach the delightful upper 60s to low 70s. Winds are light and variable in direction.”

— The Capitals beat the Maple Leaves 4-1.

— The Wizards beat the Hornets 118-111.

— Bernie Sanders endorsed Tom Perriello in the Democratic primary for Virginia governor, throwing his weight behind the former congressman competing against Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, who is backed by the Richmond establishment and Gov. Terry McAuliffe. (Fenit Nirappil)

— Ed Gillespie announced that he wants to see abortion “banned,” suggesting a shift from his previously-stated stance of opposition except in cases of rape, incest, and when the mother’s life is at risk. Spokesmen for the Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate insisted after the forum that his position had not changed and that he still backs those three exceptions. (Laura Vozzella)

— A Maryland lawmaker who was raped repeatedly in childhood by his adoptive father made it his mission to ensure child victims have more time to sue abusers – giving painful testimony before his colleagues as he vowed to sponsor the bill until it passed. On its third try Tuesday, it did. “I never wanted to share my personal business … but I did it because I thought it would help people,” Del. C.T. Wilson said. “I wanted the victims of sexual abuse to know they are not alone and that we care about them.” (Ovetta Wiggins and Josh Hicks)

— A sign of the times: The Montgomery County Council voted unanimously to place security checkpoints at two entrances to its Rockville office building. “With no discussion, the council voted 9 to 0 to spend $300,000 for contract security guards, walk-through metal scanners and other equipment. The annual cost is estimated to be $664,000,” Bill Turque reports.

VIDEOS OF THE DAY:

Jimmy Kimmel talks about how the rides at Universal Studios have gotten political:

Universal Studios’ Rides Get Political, Florida News Roulette – Monologue

Seth Meyers talks about The Americans:

The Americans

Stephen Colbert says Sean Spicer is shrinking:

Sean Spicer Is Shrinking In Size

And he points to Scooby Doo’s explanation of the Susan Rice “unmasking” charges:

Susan Rice’s ‘Unmasking’ Allegations Explained By Scooby Doo

Watch drone footage capture Mt. Edna’s lava flow:

Watch: Drone footage shows view of Mt. Etna lava flow

See Sean Spicer take the next question at his press briefing pretty quickly:

Sean Spicer’s habit of moving on to the next question quickly

See what all the fuss is about in Kendall Jenner’s new Pepsi ad:

Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi ad caused controversy

Wow: an Ethiopian maid is falling from a 7th story window, and her boss filmed it.

Maid filmed dangling from window highlights widespread abuse in the Gulf

Ahead of Passover, there’s a Matzoh Mobile making the rounds:

Introducing the Matzoh Mobile

Here ya go, a little shot of FAKE NEWS, Read between the lines please! Trump keeps blaming Obama. Fresh polls show voters don’t buy it. Here ya go, a little shot of FAKE NEWS, Read between the lines, please! Trump keeps blaming Obama.