memeorandum: Kentucky Senate candidates trade barbs at rowdy Fancy Farms picnic (Jonathan Easley/Ballot Box)

9:00 PM ET, August 4, 2013

Top Items:

Martha Raddatz / ABC News:

Senior U.S. Official: Intercepted Al Qaeda Communications Indicate Planned Attack ‘Big,’ ‘Strategically Significant’ — ABC News' Martha Raddatz and Jonathan Karl report: — On the day that almost two dozen U.S. embassies and consulates across North Africa and the Middle East are closed following …

Discussion: CBC News, Christian Science Monitor, Examiner, Scared Monkeys, The Moderate Voice, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, msnbc.com and Weekly Standard

Fox News:

Capitol Hill intelligence committee leaders: Terror threat ‘specific’ and ‘serious,’ included dates — Capitol Hill lawmakers, including top-ranking members of intelligence committees, on Sunday described the terror threat that closed 22 U.S. embassies and consulates across the Muslim region …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Jihad Watch, The Gateway Pundit and CNN

Brendan Sasso / The Hill:

Chambliss: NSA spying uncovered threat — Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, revealed on Sunday that the National Security Agency's controversial surveillance programs uncovered information about current terrorist threats to the United States.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Barbara Starr / CNN:

Intercepted al Qaeda message led to shuttering embassies, consulates — (CNN) — An intercepted message among senior al Qaeda operatives in the last several days raised alarm bells that led to the closing of embassies and consulates Sunday across the Middle East and North Africa, CNN has learned.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, BBC and Washington Monthly

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Graham: Al Qaeda ‘on steroids’ since Benghazi attack

Discussion: Hot Air, Politico and Mediaite

Ashley Killough / CNN:
Graham praises Obama administration; trip to Egypt still on

Discussion: Politico

Ashley Killough / CNN:
Debate over NSA programs gets renewed attention amid terror threat

Discussion: Politico

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
So, What Is the Benghazi Cover-Up All About?

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Other McCain, American Thinker and Business Insider

Glenn Greenwald / Guardian:

Members of Congress denied access to basic information about NSA — Documents provided by two House members demonstrate how they are blocked from exercising any oversight over domestic surveillance — • Morgan Griffith's requests for NSA information — • Alan Grayson's requests for NSA information

Discussion: Mediaite, Crooks and Liars, Hullabaloo, The Hill, The Raw Story, The Hill and Boing Boing

Michael Gartland / New York Post:

Pay-up time for Brawley: '87 rape-hoaxer finally shells out for slander — Just $431,000 to go — Twenty-five years after accusing an innocent man of rape, Tawana Brawley is finally paying for her lies. — Last week, 10 checks totaling $3,764.61 were delivered to ex-prosecutor Steven Pagones …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Scared Monkeys, The Hinterland Gazette, The PJ Tatler and The Gateway Pundit

Howard Fineman / The Huffington Post:

At Fancy Farm, Kentucky Tea Party Guy Has a Good Debut — FANCY FARM, Ky. — Let's cut to the chase. The news from Fancy Farm, the big Kentucky political picnic, is that Matt Bevin — the Tea Party-ish primary challenger to five-term incumbent Sen. Mitch McConnell - does not, at first glance …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Scott Wong / Politico:

Schumer calls Putin a ‘school-yard bully’ — Russian President Vladimir Putin is nothing more than a “school-yard bully,” and President Barack Obama should cancel their meeting in Moscow next month, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D.N.Y.) said Sunday. — Last week, Putin granted National Security …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Schumer: Obama should stand up to ‘schoolyard bully,’ cancel Putin meeting

Discussion: Hot Air

Jen Psaki / US Department of State:

Statement on Update of Embassy and Consulate Closure — Press Statement — Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson — Washington, DC — Given that a number of our embassies and consulates were going to be closed in accordance with local custom and practice for the bulk of the week …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Hill, The Hinterland Gazette and Mediaite

Associated Press:

4-year-old Bobby Tufts re-elected mayor of small Minnesota town — DORSET, Minn. - Robert “Bobby” Tufts hasn't made it to preschool yet, but he's already been elected twice as mayor of a tiny tourist town in northern Minnesota. — Mayor Tufts' name was picked Sunday during annual Taste …

New York Times:

Other Agencies Clamor for Data N.S.A. Compiles — WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency's dominant role as the nation's spy warehouse has spurred frequent tensions and turf fights with other federal intelligence agencies that want to use its surveillance tools for their own investigations, officials say.

Discussion: Quartz, Via Meadia, No More Mister Nice Blog and Eschaton

Ariel Edwards-Levy / The Huffington Post:

Rick Santorum ‘Open’ To 2016 Presidential Run — Former Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum is open to running again in 2016, he said Sunday. — “I'm open to looking into the presidential race in 2016,” Santorum said on “Meet The Press.” “But we've got a little ways.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Des Moines Register

Michael Froomkin / Discourse.net:

Democracy in Action (Missouri Edition) — ProPublica's The Payday Playbook: How High Cost Lenders Fight to Stay Legal is a little different from what they teach in high school civics classes. … Someone raised $2.8 million to fight the initiative. We don't get know exactly who:

ProPublica: The Payday Playbook: How High Cost Lenders Fight to Stay Legal