memeorandum: Washington Post petitions U.N. to help free journalist held in Iran (Joby Warrick/Washington Post)

2:50 PM ET, July 22, 2015

Top Items:

‘No one remembers him’: Donald Trump's classmates from UPenn business school have ‘no memory of him whatsoever,’ doubt his claims of being top in class — Donald Trump styles himself a natural-born genius with the academic credentials and business savvy to save the nation.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Phantom Public and Business Insider

Donald Trump / The Onion:

Admit It: You People Want To See How Far This Goes, Don't You? — The latest polls are out, and just as I predicted, I'm leading the Republican presidential race by a wide margin. You might be wondering how that could be. After all, it's hardly been a month since I entered the field …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, RedState and CBS News

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:

Rupert Murdoch Wants to Stop Donald Trump, But First He's Got to Rein In Roger Ailes — Has Fox News spun out of the media mogul's control? — Shares … The mounting problem Donald Trump poses to Republicans is also a mounting problem for the country's most powerful conservative media mogul: Rupert Murdoch.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Yahoo Politics, Mediaite and No More Mister Nice Blog, more at Mediagazer »

Alex Griswold / Mediaite:
Marco Rubio to Trump: We Already Have a President with No Class

Discussion: Hot Air, Morning Consult, Political Wire, The Week and National Review

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
Donald Trump to tour U.S.-Mexico border

Discussion: ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Wall Street Journal and OnPolitics

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Will GOP debate be the Trump show?

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Washington Post

Niall Stanage / The Hill:
Trump's success annoys GOP

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Los Angeles Times, New York Times and Fox News

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
Trump to visit Texas border

Discussion: The Texas Tribune, The Gateway Pundit and The Right Scoop

Ben Norton:

Dashcam Video of Violent Arrest of Sandra Bland Was Edited — The dashcam video released to the public of the violent arrest of Sandra Bland was edited. — Bland was a 28-year-old Black Lives Matter civil rights activist and vocal critic of police brutality who died in police custody …

Richie Duchon / NBC News:

Sandra Bland Death: Texas to Look Into Alleged Edits of Dashcam Video — Texas Department of Public Safety authorities said late Tuesday they were looking into alleged edits to a 52-minute dashcam video of the traffic stop and arrest of Sandra Bland, who subsequently died in her jail cell three days after her arrest.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Los Angeles Times, No More Mister Nice Blog, NPR, Washington Post, Shakesville, The Week, KXAN-TV, WFLA-TV, Slate, Raw Story and CNN

David Montgomery / New York Times:
Officer Threatened Sandra Bland With Taser, Police Video Shows

Discussion: The Atlantic, ThinkProgress, The Texas Tribune, Daily Kos, Washington Post, Raw Story, Mother Jones, Hit & Run, Hullabaloo, Salon, American Prospect, abc7chicago.com, Common Dreams, Bangor Daily News and Mediaite

New York Times:

The Campaign of Deception Against Planned Parenthood — A hidden-camera video released last week purported to show that Planned Parenthood illegally sells tissue from aborted fetuses. It shows nothing of the sort. But it is the latest in a series of unrelenting attacks on Planned Parenthood …

Kirsten Powers / USA Today:

Crush Planned Parenthood — Caught in stomach-turning video, all it can apologize for is the tone. — Planned Parenthood head Cecile Richards apologized last week for the uncompassionate tone her senior director of medical research, Deborah Nucatola, used to explain the process …

Discussion: BostonGlobe.com, Religion News Service, The Federalist, NewsBusters and Balloon Juice

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
With Planned Parenthood Videos, Activist Ignites Abortion Issue

Discussion: The Federalist, Washington Free Beacon, Twitchy and New York Magazine

FactCheck.org:
Unspinning the Planned Parenthood Video

Discussion: Raw Story, Right Wing Watch, LifeNews.com, ThinkProgress, The Federalist and Politico

Fred Fleitz / National Review:

IAEA Tells Congressmen of Two Secret Side Deals to Iran Agreement That Won't Be Shared with Congress — Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) and Congressmen Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.) issued a press release today on a startling discovery they made during a July 17 meeting with International Atomic …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Rush Limbaugh, Hot Air, Wall Street Journal, Washington Free Beacon, Israel Matzav, Twitchy, Bloomberg View, The Gateway Pundit and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:

Provision in Iran Accord Is Challenged by Some Nuclear Experts — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration's claim that the Iran nuclear accord provides for airtight verification procedures is coming under challenge from nuclear experts with long experience in monitoring Tehran's program.

Discussion: JustOneMinute and Hot Air

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Cruz threatens to tie Iran deal to highway bill

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Daily Kos and Associated Press

Pompeo, Mike:
Pompeo, Cotton Urge Disclosure of Complete Iran Nuclear Deal

Discussion: FOX News Radio, Liberty Unyielding and National Review

New York Times:

Marines Said to Divert Gunman in Chattanooga Killings — WASHINGTON — Some of the Marines who were shot to death last week in Chattanooga, Tenn., effectively sacrificed themselves to save the lives of others, diverting the gunman away from a larger group of potential victims …

Discussion: Mediaite, Business Insider, American Spectator and The Right Scoop

David Larter / Navy Times:
Sources: Navy officer, Marine fought to take out Chattanooga gunman

Discussion: Washington Post, BizPac Review, Associated Press, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Free Beacon and New York Times

Art Swift / Gallup:

Pope Francis' Favorable Rating Drops in U.S. — Story Highlights — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pope Francis' favorability rating in the U.S. has returned to where it was when he was elected pope. It is now at 59%, down from 76% in early 2014. The pontiff's rating is similar to the 58% …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Religion News Service, Political Wire, Washington Post and Politico

Bloomberg Business:

These Are the Top 20 Cities Americans Are Ditching — Soaring costs of living meant residents left New York City and its suburbs in droves — New York City, Los Angeles, Honolulu: They're all places you would think would be popular destinations for Americans.

Discussion: WCTX-TV and Crain's Cleveland Business

Nick Gass / Politico:

Trump: I gave out Lindsey Graham's phone number ‘for fun’ — Donald Trump has no regrets about giving out Lindsey Graham's cellphone number on Tuesday. — In fact, Trump said Wednesday, he “did it for fun.” — Story Continued Below — Asked on “Fox and Friends” …

Discussion: Engadget, Althouse, The Huffington Post and Hullabaloo

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:
Lindsey Graham's phone is still ringing. Now Kelly Ayotte's kids are answering.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Week, Mediaite and Washington Times

Tyler Cowen / Marginal REVOLUTION:

What makes the Very Serious People so very serious? — I mean that question quite um...seriously. — Paul Krugman, who I believe originated the concept, recently defined it as follows: “...someone distinguished by his faith in received orthodoxy no matter the evidence.”

Henry Farrell / Washington Monthly:
A Brief Theory of Very Serious People

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Lucas Tomlinson / Fox News:

Army chief Odierno, in exit interview, says US could have ‘prevented’ ISIS rise — EXCLUSIVE: The Army's top officer told Fox News Tuesday it's “frustrating” to watch the gains he helped achieve in Iraq disintegrate at the hands of the Islamic State, saying in an exit interview that the chaos now unfolding …