News On Tap For Thursday, April 9, 2026

Actions & Consequences

Today’s “News On Tap” adds some stability to a very unstable news cycle. We’ve got an update from the tenuous ceasefire in the Middle East, how the efforts for peace are shaping up, & the ongoing costs of war. There’s also got updates on the failing Republican economy, the Immigration Wars, and Repubs’ ongoing war on good government. Plus, the Trump regime’s corruption continues, while Democrats are finally trying to push for accountability. And there’s news in the Trump/Epstein files too. We also have Politics & Elections news, along with Media & Entertainment news. And we’ve got another member of our “legal bar,” Barb McQuade back in the bar tonight! Read up, get informed, and we’ll see you here tonight.

First Round - A Tenuous Cease Fire

Updates From The Middle East

• Overnight: Israel Strikes Central Beirut After Saying Iran Truce Doesn’t Apply There, Killing More Than 180

• Middle East Ceasefire Threatens To Unravel As Israel Assaults Lebanon And Iran Blocks Oil Tankers

• U.S. VP Vance Blames ‘Legitimate Misunderstanding’ For Dispute Over Whether Lebanon Was Included In Ceasefire

Pushing For Peace

• What Is In Iran’s 10-Point Peace Proposal, And How Does It Compare To U.S. Demands? [Gift Link]

• Nancy Youssef: Trump’s Iran Deal Gives Him Nothing He Wanted [Gift Link]

• Britain To Call For Toll-Free Strait Of Hormuz, Says Lebanon Must Be Part Of Iran Ceasefire

• Netanyahu Announces Direct Talks With Lebanon To Start Immediately, Will Discuss Peace & Disarming Hezbollah

• Trump Vents At NATO But Avoids Rupture With Group After Meeting With NATO Sec. Gen Rutte

• NATO’s Rutte Tells Diplomats & Allies Trump Wants Hormuz Commitments Within Days

The Ongoing Costs Of War

• Oil Prices Plunged After Initial Ceasefire Announcement, Have Ticked Up Slightly - Don’t Expect Cheaper Gas Prices Anytime Soon

• Smells Like Corruption: Newly Created Polymarket Accounts Bet Big On U.S.-Iran Ceasefire In Hours Before Trump’s Ceasefire Announcement

• Losing Support: Once ‘Ultra MAGA’ Trump Supporters Are Now Fuming About Iran - On Trump’s Own Social Media Platform

Second Round - Republicans Can't Govern

Trumponomics Is Failing

• New Commerce Dept. Report Shows U.S. Economy Grew A Sluggish 0.5% At End Of 2025, A Downgrade Of Previous Estimates

• Key Fed Measurement Now Confirms Inflation Held Sticky At 3% As U.S. Headed Into War With Iran

• Trump Promised To Cut Electric Costs In Half. Bills In Energy-Rich West Virginia Are Now Bigger Than Mortgage Payments.

Immigration Wars

• New Report Confirms Immigration Arrests Of People Without Criminal Convictions Have Increased Eightfold Under Trump

• After ICE Report Confirms More Than Four Dozen Violations Of Agency’s Standards At Texas Concentration Camp, Democratic House Member Is Demanding Accountability

• Federal Judge Indefinitely Postpones Termination Of Temporary Protected Status For Ethiopians In U.S.

War On Good Government

• RFK Jr-Aligned Acting Direcor Of CDC Delays Legitimate Report Showing Covid Vaccine Benefits [Gift Link]

• Trump Team Secures Foreign Steel For Still Paused Ballroom Project [Gift Link]

• National Trust Preservationist Group Confirms No ‘National Security Emergency’ Exists For Resuming Work On Trump’s Ballroom

• Adam Serwer: Pete Hegseth Is Trying To Re-Segregate The Military

Third Round - Turmoil In Accountability Land

Corruption Of Justice

• Trump DOJ Announces Arrest Of Former Army Civilian Employee Charged With Leaking Classified Info To Journalist

• Newly Leaked Draft Report Shows Trump DOJ Illegitimately Investigating Biden-Era Prosecutions Of Anti-Abortion Protesters

• Trump DOJ Attempting To Free Convicted Informant Alexander Smirnov, Who Lied To FBI About Biden

• Trump Appointee Ed Martin Claims Executive Privilege In Bid To Evade Misconduct Charges

• Federal Appeals Court Denies Anthropic Attempt To Block Pentagon Blacklisting

Actions Deserving Accountability

• House Republicans Block House Democrats’ Effort To Force War Powers Resolution; Senate Dems Will Try Again Next Week

• Democratic House Rep. John Larson Files Articles Of Impeachment Against Trump Over Threats To End “A Whole Civilization”

• Clear Corruption: Trump Admin. Is Keeping Kristi Noem’s $70M Jet For Melania And Other Senior Staff To Use

• Report Claims Pentagon Undersecretary Close To Hegseth Threatened Pope Leo With An “Avignon Papacy” After He Criticized Trump

The Trump/Epstein Files

• **BREAKING** Melania Trump Delivers Statement At White House Denying Ties To Epstein And Knowledge Of His Crimes

• Ousted AG Bondi Declines Epstein Deposition, But Strongly Bipartisan Group Of Oversight Committee Members Say Subpoena Still Holds

• Republican Oversight Chair Comer Hit With Bipartisan Demands To Enforce Bondi Deposition

Fourth Round - More News To Drink About

Politics & Elections

• Trump Takes Victory Lap Over ‘Deranged’ Marjorie Taylor Greene After Trump-Endorsed Republican Wins Special Election In Her District

• Two Week Ceasefire Does Little To Quell Republicans Worry That Iran Might Have Already Cost Them Congress

• Prof. Richard Hasan: Three Ways The Supreme Court Could Still Upend The Midterm Elections

Miscellaneous But Important

• Former Long Island Architect Rex Heuermann Pleads Guilty To Murder Charges And Admits He Killed 8 Women In Gilgo Beach Case

• March Breaks Temperature Records As Forecasters Predict Strong El Nino: ‘Climate Change Is Kicking Our Butts.’

• Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger Signs Right To Contraception Act

• Artemis II Mission Update: On Last Full Day In Space Crew Of Orion Capsule Prepares For Return To Earth On Friday

Fifth Round - Media, Entertainment, & More

Media Matters

• MSNOW Announces Partnership With The Marshall Project, States Newsroom, & The Pulitzer Center For More Original Reporting

• Disney Now Plans Layoffs Of As Many As 1,000 Employees

Entertainment & More

• Hoda Kotb Reuniting With Savannah Guthrie On ‘Today’ While Craig Melvin Takes Vacation

• ‘Heated Rivalry,’ ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!,’ ‘The Pitt’ Among Nominees For 2026 Peabody Awards

• P!Nk To Host 2026 Tony Awards In June

• Everything To Know About Coachella 2026 — Including How To Watch From Home

• Scheffler, McIlroy, DeChambeau Lead Star-Studded Field At Masters

• Semi-Retired Golf Legend Mark Calcavecchia Kicked Out Of 90th Masters In Augusta For Phone Use

Tonight’s Special Guest

Barb McQuade, legal expert and friend of the bar, is a law professor at the University of Michigan, former U.S. attorney, MSNOW legal analyst, contributor to The Contrarian, co-host of the “Sisters In Law” podcast, New York Times bestselling author, AND she’s got a new book! Coming June 2nd, Barb’s new book, “The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government” is exactly the information all of us need to help us fight this corrupt Trump regime. We’ll talk with her about her new book, and also ask her some key legal questions about the current mobster in the White House & his cabal of criminals. Grab a drink & join us tonight!

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