memeorandum: Back-to-Basics Campaign Seems to Suit Lindsey Graham Just Fine (Ashley Parker/New York Times)

8:25 PM ET, July 8, 2015

Top Items:

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Donald Trump, clickbait — Reporters insist he has no shot, but news outlets, led by CNN, can't get enough of him. — Back in the spring, when Donald Trump first started making noise about a presidential bid, CNN President Jeff Zucker sent a message to his producers: Don't cover him.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, FishbowlDC and Hullabaloo

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Trump leads GOP field in North Carolina — PPP's newest North Carolina poll finds that Donald Trump's momentum just keeps on building. He's the top choice of Republican primary voters in the state, getting 16% to 12% for Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, 11% for Mike Huckabee …

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller and Mashable

NBC News:

Donald Trump: ‘I Will Win the Latino Vote’ — Donald Trump said Wednesday that he believes he will win the Latino vote, slamming Hillary Clinton for promoting what he called an immigration policy that would “let everybody come in... killers, criminals, drug dealers.” — “I have a great relationship with the Mexican people.

Discussion: Walid Shoebat, The Week, Guardian, OnPolitics, Talking Points Memo and Mashable

Emily Heil / Washington Post:

Jose Andres backs out of restaurant in Donald Trump's hotel — Jose Andres, the D.C.-based super-chef with a growing national brand, is backing out of a deal to open the flagship restaurant in Donald Trump's forthcoming Washington hotel - the latest on a growing list of high-profile partners …

Discussion: US News, Talking Points Memo, Washington Free Beacon, ThinkProgress and Democracy in America

Daniel Strauss / Politico:

Donald Trump declines to rule out third-party bid — Donald Trump is almost completely shutting the door on the possibility of switching to a third-party presidential bid in the 2016 presidential cycle — almost. — “I've had many, many people ask me about running as an independent,” …

Discussion: Naked Politics, Bloomberg Business and Washington Monthly

Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:

Ladies and Gentlemen, It's Time to Panic — Have you noticed anything odd going on this morning? Oh yes. Let us be the first to tell you that the time to panic is upon us. — ITEM: The New York City subway system suffered an atrocious commute today, with some trains being inexplicably stranded …

Discussion: FOX News Radio, The Gateway Pundit, CNNMoney, Fusion, Gothamist and The PJ Tatler

CNNMoney:

New York Stock Exchange suspends trading — The New York Stock Exchange suspended trading at 11:32 a.m ET Wednesday. It's been down for over an hour. — In a brief announcement, the exchange said it was experiencing a “internal technical issue.” The NYSE said later in a tweet that it's “not the result of a cyber breach.”

Discussion: Business Insider, Bloomberg Business, Reuters, Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, Talking Points Memo, KTLA, VICE, CBS New York, Bloomberg View, The Atlantic, Courthouse News Service, The Daily Banter and Hot Air

Hadas Gold / Politico:
Wall Street Journal website down amid NYSE, United tech problems

Discussion: Washington Post, CNNMoney, CNBC, Los Angeles Times, ThinkProgress, CANNONFIRE, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Boing Boing

Nathaniel Popper / New York Times:
New York Stock Exchange Resumes Trading

Discussion: USA Today, Slate, Associated Press and The Week

Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:
NYSE floor trading halted; no sign of cyberattack

Discussion: Politico, Business Insider, Guardian, NBC News, The Gateway Pundit, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Caller, Chicago, VICE, Poynter. and WJLA-TV

Tierney Sneed / Talking Points Memo:

Chaos In Maine: Gov. LePage Botches Veto Of 19 Bills He Opposed — The office of Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) and the clerk in the Maine House are in disagreement over the fate of 19 bills that the governor apparently did not veto in time to prevent them from becoming law.

Discussion: David Farmer

Kevin Miller / The Portland Press Herald:
LePage, lawmakers clash over fate of 19 bills still on governor's desk

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Bangor Daily News

Mario Moretto / Bangor Daily News:
LePage attempts to ‘pocket veto’ remaining bills

Discussion: State & Capitol, Hot Air, David Farmer, Raw Story and Daily Kos

Matt Hamilton / Los Angeles Times:

Tom Selleck ‘drought shamed,’ accused of using hydrant water — Actor Tom Selleck had truckloads of water from a public hydrant delivered to his sprawling Hidden Valley ranch, according to court documents filed against the veteran actor by a Ventura County water district.

Discussion: Mashable, Guardian, Raw Story, Mediaite, The Week and The Daily Caller

Byron Tau / Wall Street Journal:

A Fact-Check of Hillary Clinton's CNN Interview on Her Personal Email — In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended her use of a personal email server and her larger record on transparency while running the department between 2009 and 2013.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hit & Run and Viking Pundit

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:
Hillary Plays the Victim in CNN Interview

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Politico, Slate, New York Times, Liberal Values, Poynter., Taylor Marsh, Patterico's Pontifications, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, The Hill and CNN

Judicial Watch:

Judicial Watch: New Documents Reveal DOJ, IRS, and FBI Plan to Seek Criminal Charges of Obama Opponents — (Washington, DC) - Judicial Watch today released new Department of Justice (DOJ) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) documents that include an official “DOJ Recap” report detailing …

Discussion: RedState, BizPac Review, Patterico's Pontifications, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Washington Free Beacon and The PJ Tatler

Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com: New Documents Show Extensive Collaboration Between IRS, DOJ to Criminally Prosecute Conservative Groups

Andrew Kirell / Mediaite:

Trump Steamrolls NBC Reporter, Takes Shots at Krauthammer and Jonah Goldberg — For those who didn't watch Donald Trump's lengthy interview with NBC's Katy Tur this afternoon, here's a one-sentence summation: The Republican candidate constantly chided and condescended to his interviewer …

Discussion: Business Insider

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

Homelessness and empty stores becoming the new normal in NYC — “Eileen,” a familiar panhandling presence on Broadway in the 90s, is one of a growing number of homeless people amid shuttered businesses, raising the sense of neighborhood unease. — If you've been out and about in Manhattan …

Ian Shapira / Washington Post:

Federal judge orders cancellation of Redskins' trademark registrations — The Washington Redskins lost their biggest legal and public relations battle yet in the war over its mascot after a federal judge in Northern Virginia on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of the NFL team's federal …

Discussion: SBNation.com, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, ProFootballTalk, Common Dreams, Sporting News Feed RSS, NPR, The Week and Boing Boing

Emily Badger / Washington Post:

Obama administration to unveil major new rules targeting segregation across U.S. — Cabrini-Green public housing project, which has been mostly demolished and redeveloped, is seen against the Chicago Skyline in May 1996. (AP Photo/Beth A. Keiser) — CHICAGO — When the Fair Housing Act …

Discussion: Reuters, National Review, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, New York Times, ThinkProgress, The Atlantic, The Daily Caller, US News, Liberaland, The Week and Booman Tribune

Daniel Engber / Slate:

Hot and Bothered — Air conditioning isn't bad for you or even (relatively) for the planet. — “Why is America so over air-conditioned?” asks the New York Times in last weekend's Sunday Review. The article's premise will be familiar to certain members of the paper's demographic …

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Dave Weigel returns to The Washington Post — Less than a year after joining Bloomberg Politics, Dave Weigel is making a surprise return to The Washington Post. — Weigel will cover national politics with a focus on grass-roots movements, traveling the country on the campaign trail …

Discussion: FishbowlDC

Washpostpr / Washington Post:
Dave Weigel joins The Post's Politics team

Discussion: Slantpoint, Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality, Mediaite, Washington Monthly and FishbowlDC, more at Mediagazer »

Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:

Keith Olbermann, ESPN to Part Ways Once Again — The departure follows a point of contention over delivering “commentary” on his ESPN2 program. — Keith Olbermann is exiting ESPN once again. — The television personality, who rejoined the sports network in August 2013, won't be renewing his deal to anchor his ESPN2 program.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, ProFootballTalk, Sporting News Feed RSS and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

ABC News:

To Help US Veterans Charity, George W. Bush Charged $100,000 — Former President George W. Bush charged $100,000 to speak at a charity fundraiser for U.S. military veterans severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, and former First Lady Laura Bush collected $50,000 to appear a year earlier …

Discussion: Daily Mail and Politico

Baltimore Sun:

FOP releases findings from ‘after action review’ of Baltimore police riot response — The rioting following the death of Freddie Gray was “preventable,” with the police response hindered by leadership that was concerned with image over safety, the city police union charged in a report released Wednesday.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Week and The Last Refuge

Emily E. Smith / Oregonian:

Priest pretended to notify police after teen found camera in church bathroom, records say — In the 24 days he waited to report that a boy had found a hidden camera in a men's bathroom at his Sherwood church, Father Ysrael Bien pacified parishioners with a tall tale about a nonexistent police investigation, according to court records.

Discussion: Friendly Atheist and Raw Story

Flynn Murphy / Telegraph:

New Zealand makes internet ‘trolling’ illegal — Supporters believe it will help mitigate the harm caused by cyber-bulling but critics say it is a threat to free speech — Internet trolls face up to two years' jail in New Zealand under a controversial new law which bans “harmful digital communications”.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Washington Times

Candace Smith / ABC News:

Jeb Bush: People Need to Work Longer Hours — Today, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, who as of-late has gone relatively gaffe-free, uttered a phrase that may not go over too well with the constituency he seeks to reach. During an interview that was live-streamed on the app Periscope …

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Katherine Timpf / National Review:

Students Told to Take Photos With a ‘Consent Contract’ Before They Have Sex — Apparently, just asking isn't enough. — A “yes means yes” advocacy group, the Affirmative Consent Project, is instructing college students to take a picture with a contract before they have sex with each …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Examiner and protein wisdom

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

A Political Lifer, Scott Walker Has Long Been His Own Strategist — WASHINGTON — When Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin met privately here at the Capitol Hill Club recently with a group of congressional Republicans, he did not just seek their support for his presidential candidacy.