--- title: Morning Must Reads: May 8 description: In the News: Pro-Russia separatists defy Putin; Rep. Trey Gowdy on Benghazi; Climate report won't make Americans care; and what's prettier in print canonical: https://time.com/92166/morning-must-reads-may-8/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-08T12:14:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:43:30.374Z article:section: Politics og:title: Morning Must Reads: May 8 og:description: In the News: Pro-Russia separatists defy Putin; Rep. Trey Gowdy on Benghazi; Climate report won't make Americans care; and what's prettier in print og:url: https://time.com/92166/morning-must-reads-may-8/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Morning Must Reads: May 8 twitter:description: In the News: Pro-Russia separatists defy Putin; Rep. Trey Gowdy on Benghazi; Climate report won't make Americans care; and what's prettier in print twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Morning Must Reads: May 8 > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=264bc763-a128-401e-91c8-44b2a7343bfb&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 8, 2014 12:14 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 8, 2014 12:14 PM UTC * Inside Putin’s East European spy campaign \[[TIME](http://time.com/90752/inside-putins-east-european-spy-campaign/)\] * “The main pro-Russian separatist groups in eastern Ukraine decided on Thursday to go ahead with a referendum on secession set for Sunday,defying an appeal from Russian President Vladimir Putin a day earlier to postpone the vote to facilitate dialogue with the government in Kiev.” \[[WSJ](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304655304579549261835484146?mod=WSJ%5Fhp%5FLEFTTopStories&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304655304579549261835484146.html%3Fmod%3DWSJ%5Fhp%5FLEFTTopStories)\] * Rep. Trey Gowdy: Benghazi needs deeper scrutiny \[[USA Today](http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/05/07/benghazi-house-select-committee-rep-trey-gowdy-editorials-debates/8831225/)\] * Keystone, Inc: “Funded by multibillion-dollar oil companies, labor unions and ultrarich environmentalists, the fight has filtered into every crack and crevice of the nation’s capital — all for a project some advocates on both sides privately concede wouldn’t be an environmental or economic game-changer.” \[[Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/keystone-xl-pipeline-transcanada-barack-obama-106473.html#ixzz317mRlh2C)\] * Climate change is already here, but that won’t make Americans care \[[TIME](http://time.com/91625/climate-change-is-here-but-that-wont-make-americans-care/)\] * Florida finds itself in the eye of the storm on climate change \[[NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/08/us/florida-finds-itself-in-the-eye-of-the-storm-on-climate-change.html?hp&%5Fr=0)\] * Janet Yellen: Economy improving, but housing a concern \[[Christian Science Monitor](http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0507/Janet-Yellen-Economy-improving-but-housing-a-concern)\] * The troubled search for Nigeria’s stolen girls \[[New Yorker](http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2014/05/the-troubled-search-for-nigerias-stolen-girls.html)\] * Black mobility belies U.S. civil rights hopes as milestone nears \[[Bloomberg](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-08/black-mobility-belies-u-s-civil-rights-hope-as-milestone-nears.html)\] * This former cocaine kingpin is lobbying Congress to let him keep his cheetahs (and liger ) \[[Mother Jones](http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/05/mario-tabraue-cocaine-kingpin-lobbying-congress-big-cats)\] * Your broadband company may be holding your internet access hostage \[[TIME](http://time.com/90703/your-broadband-company-may-be-holding-your-internet-access-hostage/)\] Prettier in print: * [Vladimir Putin’s War](http://time.com/92067/vladimir-putins-war/) by Michael Crowley and Simon Shuster * [Hell and High Water](http://time.com/92068/hell-and-high-water/) by Michael Grunwald * [Jon Favreau’s Meals on Wheels](http://time.com/92086/jon-favreaus-meals-on-wheels/) by Isaac Guzman * Kareem Abdul-Jabar: [How to tell if you’re a racist like Donald Sterling ](http://time.com/87024/kareem-abdul-jabbar-why-donald-sterling-does-not-think-he-is-racist/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/92166/morning-must-reads-may-8/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/92166/morning-must-reads-may-8/"},"headline":"Morning Must Reads: May 8","datePublished":"2014-05-08T12:14:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:43:30.374Z","description":"In the News: Pro-Russia separatists defy Putin; Rep. 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