memeorandum: Wash U students' Bin Laden costume sparks outrage (Brendan Marks/KMOV-TV)

12:10 PM ET, November 8, 2013

Top Items:

Chuck Todd / U.S. News:

Exclusive: Obama personally apologizes for Americans losing health coverage — In an exclusive interview with NBC's Chuck Todd, President Obama said that he is “sorry” that some Americans are losing their current health insurance plans. “We've got to work hard to make sure that they know we hear …

Ron Fournier / NationalJournal.com:

I'm Sorry, Too, Mr. President — Obama apologizes for breaking promise on health care reform. — I'm sorry, too, Mr. President. — I'm sorry you couldn't finesse a single Republican vote for health insurance reform in 2010. — I'm sorry Republicans decided to re-litigate the law rather …

Discussion: Associated Press, Right Turn, The Gateway Pundit, Politico and Conservatives4Palin

The Daily Beast:

Exclusive: Obama's Secret Iran Détente — Long before a nuclear deal was in reach, the U.S. was quietly lifting some of the financial pressure on Iran, a Daily Beast investigation reveals. How the sanctions were softened. — The Obama administration began softening sanctions …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Weasel Zippers, Taylor Marsh, The Gateway Pundit and Patterico's Pontifications

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

Noonan: 'I'm Gonna Be the Republican Nominee' — Mitch McConnell on the shutdown's failure, ObamaCare's future, and his own primary challenge. — Washington — It is a month since the government shutdown and a day after the election. The minority leader of the U.S. Senate …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air and First Read

Andrew Kohut / Wall Street Journal:

The GOP Is in Better Shape Than You Think — Independents favor the GOP on handling the economy by a whopping 46%-30% margin. — Tucked away in recent polls—which have documented the extraordinary anger directed at the Republican Party during the shutdown crisis—are measures of clear disappointment with the Democratic Party.

New York Times:

CBS Correspondent Apologizes for Report on Benghazi Attack — The correspondent for the disputed “60 Minutes” segment about the attack on the United States Special Mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year apologized on the air Friday morning, saying it was a “mistake” to put …

Discussion: AMERICAblog News, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, The Raw Story and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Accounts Differ to F.B.I. and CBS on Benghazi — Dylan Davies, a security officer hired to help protect the United States Special Mission in Benghazi, Libya, told the F.B.I. he did not go there the night terrorists attacked it on Sept. 11, 2012, an account that contradicts a version of events …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Crooks and Liars, ThinkProgress, Foreign Policy, Politico, Poynter, Taylor Marsh, The Raw Story, AMERICAblog News, Liberaland, Business Insider, Capital New York, Little Green Footballs and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

David Simpson / CNN:

‘We were wrong’: CBS's Lara Logan apologizes for Benghazi report — (CNN) — CBS correspondent Lara Logan apologized Friday and said the network was “wrong” for a “60 Minutes” report that raised questions about the Obama administration's response to last year's attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.

Discussion: Voices and The Raw Story

Washington Post:

Iran is offered temporary relief from some sanctions if it freezes uranium enrichment — A deal that would give Iran limited relief from economic sanctions in exchange for a temporary freeze of some of its nuclear activities was near completion late Thursday, and Secretary of State John F. Kerry …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Jerusalem Post, Power Line and National Review

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:
West and Iran Seen as Nearing a Nuclear Deal

Discussion: Roger L. Simon and Prairie Weather

Jordan Weissmann / The Atlantic Online:

Yep, Being a Young, American Adult Is a Financial Nightmare — Here are the graphs to prove it. — Poverty is an astonishingly common experience here in the world's richest country. As I wrote this morning, almost 40 percent of American adults experience it for at least a year by age 60.

Discussion: The Dish

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Most Uninsured Americans Ignoring Health Exchange Sites — Three in 10 are familiar with the exchanges — PRINCETON, NJ — In the midst of widespread news coverage of problems with the federal health exchange website, relatively few uninsured Americans (18%) — the primary target population …

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Caller, Post Politics, Talking Points Memo, First Read and Right Wing News

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

Former MSNBC Host's Health Plan Cancelled, New Plan Costs 3.5 Times More — “Thnx Mr. President.” That's all former MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan had to say to President Barack Obama on Thursday when he announced that the health insurance plan he purchased on the individual market after leaving the news network was being cancelled.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Weasel Zippers and Instapundit

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Mutilated Economy — Five years and eleven months have now passed since the U.S. economy entered recession. Officially, that recession ended in the middle of 2009, but nobody would argue that we've had anything like a full recovery. Official unemployment remains high …

Discussion: Campaign for America's Future

Robert Costa / National Review:

Top Cuccinelli Aide Blames Shutdown for Defeat — Chris LaCivita, Ken Cuccinelli's chief political strategist during the recently ended gubernatorial campaign, says the federal-government shutdown crippled the Virginia Republican's campaign more than any other factor.

Discussion: Power Line, Right Turn, The Hill, Hot Air and Mediaite

Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:
Ken Cuccinelli urged to run for Senate

Discussion: MASON CONSERVATIVE and No More Mister Nice Blog

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

Netanyahu: ‘This Is a Bad Deal—a Very, Very Bad Deal’ — A very unusual statement from the Israel prime minister on the eve of a possible nuclear detail between the U.S. and Iran: — “I met Secretary Kerry right before he leaves to Geneva,” said Netanyhau. “I reminded him that he said that no deal is better than a bad deal.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and Conservatives4Palin

New York Times:

Rules to Require Equal Coverage for Mental Ills — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday will complete a generation-long effort to require insurers to cover care for mental health and addiction just like physical illnesses when it issues long-awaited regulations defining parity in benefits and treatment.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Post Politics

New York Times:

Hollywood Donors Set to Cast Hillary Clinton in Top Role — LOS ANGELES — In the prelude to the 2008 Democratic presidential primary season, the split between the Hollywood mogul David Geffen and Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton represented an early and embarrassing sign of trouble for Mrs. Clinton.

Discussion: ABC News

Noah Bierman / The Boston Globe:

Scott Brown gets a plea to run in N.H. — WASHINGTON — The signs are mounting. Scott Brown travels almost weekly to New Hampshire. Last month he formed a political action committee there to raise funds; this week he attacked the state's Democratic senator on his favorite target: national health care.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Post Politics

Jenn Taylor / Twitchy:

Freak-out in full swing over ‘rich, white’ racists mocking Obamacare at the CMAs — Once again, Twitter was prescient. — After Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood mocked Obamacare on the CMA Awards, whiners immediately twisted their knickers over the stars who “slandered” Obamacare.

Discussion: Mediaite, Weasel Zippers and Washington Free Beacon

Sasha Bogursky / Fox News:
CMA Awards 2013: Country singers rip ObamaCare website, ‘Duck Dynasty’ stars surprise with ‘Blurred Lines’ cover

Discussion: Firedoglake, Scared Monkeys and Politico

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Bill O'Reilly: Chris Christie won't do my show — Fox News host Bill O'Reilly complained Friday that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie refuses to appear on his show. — “He won't submit to an interview with me,” O'Reilly said on “CBS This Morning.” “Christie will not. He just won't do it.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Agoldberg / The Smoking Gun:

Fraternity Pledge Loses Testicle In Hazing Ritual — Ohio cops probe battering in basement of “Gobbler House” — Ohio cops are investigating a college fraternity hazing incident that left a 19-year-old pledge short one testicle, records show. — Three Wilmington College students seeking induction …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Raw Story, Liberaland and Balloon Juice

Brendan Marks / KMOV-TV:

Wash U students' Bin Laden costume sparks outrage — (KMOV) - Some members of the Washington University Muslim community are voicing outrage after a group of students posted a picture to Facebook showing them dressed as soldiers for Halloween alongside a costume of Osama Bin Laden.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and Blazing Cat Fur

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Joe Biden Called A Second Wrong Number Searching For Boston Mayor-Elect Marty Walsh — WASHINGTON — If your phone number has a 617 area code, check your messages — there's a chance you got a call from Joe Biden Tuesday night. — That's because the vice president was having all sorts …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo