memeorandum: Oklahoma GOP Compares Food Stamp Recipients To Animals (Catherine Thompson/Talking Points Memo)

1:10 PM ET, July 15, 2015

Top Items:

Trump's popularity spikes among Republicans — Donald Trump's popularity has surged among Republicans after dominating several news cycles with his anti-illegal immigration rhetoric, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. — Nearly six in 10 — 57 percent …

Discussion: Gallup, Mashable, AMERICAblog News, The Week, Daily Kos, Mediaite, SaintPetersBlog, Booman Tribune and Althouse

Nick Gass / Politico:

Donald Trump: I don't know why I'm meeting Ted Cruz — Donald Trump is meeting with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in Manhattan on Wednesday, though he claimed in an interview on MSNBC that he does not know why. — “Ted Cruz called me. And I don't know why I'm meeting him, to be honest …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Nick Gass / Politico:

Poll: Hillary Clinton's lead shrinks among Democrats — Hillary Clinton is still leading the Democratic field for 2016, but her lead has shrunk in recent months, according to a new Monmouth University poll out Wednesday, as independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders continues to make steady gains despite trailing by a wide margin.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Gregory Holyk / ABC News:
Trump's Popularity Rises, Still 2-1 Negative, While Clinton Regains Positive Territory (POLL)

Discussion: Politico

USA Today:
Poll: Trump leads the GOP field but falters against Clinton

Discussion: Washington Post, Guardian, Outside the Beltway, America Rising, Hot Air, The Interrobang, Post On Politics, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Liberal Values, Hit & Run, CNN, Slantpoint and BuzzFeed

Robert Costa / Washington Post:
Ted Cruz and Donald Trump to meet Wednesday in New York

Discussion: OnPolitics and Trail Blazers Blog

Washington Post:

Undercover video shows Planned Parenthood official discussing fetal organs used for research — Editor's note: Contains graphic language. The Center for Medical Progress released a video that allegedly shows a Planned Parenthood executive talking about selling fetal organs. (The Center for Medical Progress)

Planned Parenthood:

Statement from Planned Parenthood on New Undercover Video — Statement from Eric Ferrero, Vice President of Communications, Planned Parenthood Federation of America: — “In health care, patients sometimes want to donate tissue to scientific research that can help lead to medical breakthroughs …

Amanda Marcotte / Slate:

Live Action Puts Out Another Titillating but Misleading Video About Planned Parenthood — The conservative media is a-flutter thinking they have a “gotcha” against Planned Parenthood: a video supposedly exposing the organization for “selling” fetal body parts, which is against the law.

Discussion: Right Wing Watch, Mediaite and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Tyler Miller / The Daily Beast:
Planned Parented Doesn't Sell Fetuses: The Real Story Behind That Shady Video

Discussion: LifeNews.com, The Hill, ThinkProgress, BREITBART.COM, FOX2now.com, The Federalist, BarbWire.com, CatholicHerald.co.uk, The Gateway Pundit, The American Conservative and Hot Air

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Planned Parenthood's PR Firm: Harvesting Organs of Aborted Babies a ‘Humanitarian Undertaking’

Discussion: Hot Air and The Federalist

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:

The next GOP president won't walk away from the Iran deal. Here's why. — Now that we have a nuclear deal with Iran, Republicans are jostling each other to determine who can make the most angry and apocalyptic statements about it. — Scott Walker said it “will be remembered as one of America's worst diplomatic failures.”

Discussion: Al Jazeera English, PoliticusUSA, Hot Air, Balloon Juice, Common Dreams and Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality

Nick Gass / Politico:

Republican senators warn Iran in open letter — Republican senators want to give Iranian leaders — and the president — a refresher on the constitutional balance of power. — In a highly unusual move, a group of 47 Republicans in the upper chamber has written to Iran's top leaders …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Mark Steyn / Steyn Online:
Far Worse Than Munich

Discussion: Power Line, Fox News Insider and Israel Matzav

Politico:

Revenge of Citizens United — Republicans could barely contain their glee when the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision cleared the way for unlimited spending in political campaigns. — But now — headed into a crowded presidential primary that promises to be longer …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Daily Caller

Julie Bykowicz / Associated Press:
Presidential election already fueled by $377 million

Discussion: ABC News

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

C-SPAN to preempt first GOP debate — C-SPAN is partnering with a handful of regional newspapers in early-voting states for a nationally televised forum with the Republican presidential candidates just days before Fox News Channel's first scheduled debate. — The network has invited all 17 …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, FishbowlDC, Political Insider blog and The Week

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

How Democrats will pretend to fight the nuclear deal — Fifty-nine days and counting: That's where we are now when it comes to the Iran nuclear deal announced almost gleefully by President Obama on Tuesday morning. — Congress has 59 days to vote against it.

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
GOP crafts Iran deal attack plan

Discussion: Hot Air and New York Times

New York Times:
Who Got What They Wanted in the Iran Nuclear Deal

Discussion: Business Insider, Poynter., The Huffington Post, Sic Semper Tyrannis, rubber hose, America Rising, The Last Tradition, Taylor Marsh, Slantpoint and Portside

Mark Leibovich / New York Times:

Re-Re-Re-Reintroducing Hillary Clinton … A few minutes before my meeting with Hillary Clinton on the Fourth of July, during my drive to the Mount Washington hotel in Bretton Woods, N.H., where she was staying, I passed a moose near the side of the road.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Hot Air and The Week

Los Angeles Times:

This is the video Gardena police didn't want you to see — In the two years since Gardena police officers fatally shot an unarmed man, city officials fought to keep graphic video of the killing under wraps. — The grainy videos, captured by cameras mounted in two patrol cars …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Week and Hit & Run

Los Angeles Times:
Videos of Gardena police shooting of unarmed men are made public

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Gawker and Guardian

Martin Matishak / The Hill:

Dems: Benghazi panel has ‘abandoned’ its work to focus on Hillary — Democrats serving on the House Select Committee on Benghazi say the panel's GOP chairman has “abandoned” plans for hearings to shift the focus of the investigation to Hillary Clinton. — “At the beginning of this year …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Bill Turque / Washington Post:

Maryland Del. Ariana Kelly charged with indecent exposure, trespassing — A 39-year-old state lawmaker from Bethesda was arrested in late June and charged with indecent exposure and trespassing after a dispute at the home of her ex-husband, according to court records.

Discussion: Bethesda Magazine, Political Wire, Talking Points Memo and Washington Free Beacon

Oklahoma Republican Party / Facebook:

Last night, there was a post on our OKGOP Facebook page, and it was misinterpreted by many. I offer my apologies for those who were offended - that was not my intention. — This post was supposed to be an analogy that compared two situations illustrating the cycle of government dependency in America, not humans as animals.

Discussion: Addicting Info, Salon, Washington Post, Politico, Raw Story, Balloon Juice, Shakesville and ThinkProgress

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
Oklahoma GOP Compares Food Stamp Recipients To Animals

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Raw Story

Peter Sullivan / The Hill:

McConnell: No timeline for ObamaCare repeal — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said he does not have a timeline for using reconciliation to repeal ObamaCare, but indicated that Republicans would look to roll back as much of the law as they can.

Discussion: Politico, Trail Blazers Blog, Addicting Info and The PJ Tatler

Doug Powers / MichelleMalkin.com:

Appease in Our Time: Nuke deal reached with Iran; Kerry apologizes for the sanctions — The administration that has been wrong on just about everything is patting themselves on the back for reaching a nuke agreement with Iran after successfully killing off the definition of the word “deadline”:

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, ThinkProgress, New York Times and Washington Free Beacon

Max Boot / Commentary Magazine:
The Dawn of Iranian Empire

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Times, The New Republic, Israpundit, Belmont Club, The Last Tradition and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Emily Smith / Page Six:

George Lopez in talks to replace Trump on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ — George Lopez is in talks with NBC to take over as the face of “The Celebrity Apprentice,” after the network severed ties with Donald Trump over his comments about Mexicans. — Representatives for the Mexican-American comedian …

Discussion: CNNMoney, Mediaite and The Daily Caller