memeorandum: NOFD investigating car fire at Planned Parenthood construction site (Chris Grillot/New Orleans Times-Picayune)

9:30 AM ET, August 4, 2015

Top Items:

Donald Trump Dominates Republican Field in Pre-Debate Bloomberg Poll — Billionaire Donald Trump is lapping the Republican field, a new Bloomberg Politics national poll shows, as two prominent governors, Chris Christie of New Jersey and John Kasich of Ohio, rank in the top 10 ahead of the first presidential debate.

Discussion: CBS News, New York Times, Politico, Political Wire, OnPolitics, Oliver Willis and FiveThirtyEight

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:

Here Are the Polls Fox News Will Use to Select the Candidates for the First GOP Debate — Fox's team of election analysts is currently crunching numbers to set the field. — Shares … Tomorrow around 5 p.m., Fox News executives are scheduled to gather in Roger Ailes's second-floor conference room …

Discussion: New York Times, Politico, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Raw Story, Mock Paper Scissors, Mediaite, The Last Refuge and The Daily Caller

Steven Shepard / Politico:

New polls suggest Rick Perry out of debate — It appears increasingly unlikely that Rick Perry will get a chance to atone for his disastrous 2012 debate performance — or attack his 2016 nemesis, Donald Trump — when Republicans spar for the first time Thursday in Cleveland.

Discussion: Fox News, New York Times and Talking Points Memo

Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: New high for Trump, new low for Clinton

Discussion: Mediaite, The Week, The Right Scoop and Political Wire

Eli Stokols / Politico:
New Hampshire Voters First Forum: 5 takeaways

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today and Hot Air

Janet Hook / Wall Street Journal:
Unhappy Voters Shake Up Presidential Race

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, CNBC and Taylor Marsh

Chris Grillot / New Orleans Times-Picayune:

NOFD investigating car fire at Planned Parenthood construction site — The New Orleans Fire Department is investigating an Aug. 1 car fire at the South Claiborne Planned Parenthood construction site. (DINAH ROGERS) — The New Orleans Fire Department is investigating a car fire Saturday …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Oliver Willis

Brian Beutler / The New Republic:

The Campaign Against Planned Parenthood Is Causing a Headache for Republicans — For two weeks now, an anti-abortion advocacy group has been disclosing footage of Planned Parenthood officials breezily discussing the medical and bureaucratic processes by which they provide aborted fetal tissue to biomedical researchers.

Discussion: Bloomberg View, Daily Kos, Slate, Hullabaloo and Forbes

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
Republican effort to strip Planned Parenthood funding stalls in Senate

Discussion: CNN, Jezebel, RH Reality Check and Washington Free Beacon

Eliza Collins / Politico:
Hillary Clinton comes out in support of Planned Parenthood

Discussion: ABC News, Weekly Standard, The Hill, The Daily Signal and Patterico's Pontifications

Niall Stanage / The Hill:

Biden challenge to Clinton would face high hurdles — Vice President Biden would have to clear high hurdles to defeat Hillary Clinton if he launched a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. — The biggest one? Carving out a niche — and a reason for his candidacy …

Discussion: Political Wire

John Dickerson / Slate:

Raw Emotion — Joe Biden's “end of summer” decision is near. — A discussion about whether Vice President Joe Biden should run for president gets deep pretty fast. Any talk about ambition, a life's purpose, and the end of a career must take into account of all the woe Biden has had to face in his life.

Discussion: Liberal Values, Mediaite and Allen B. West

John Cassidy / New Yorker:
Why Biden Would Be a Serious Contender

Discussion: The Week, Hot Air, Fox News and The Atlantic

New York Times:

President Obama's Tough, Achievable Climate Plan — President Obama's Clean Power Plan, announced on Monday, is unquestionably the most important step the administration has taken in the fight against climate change. — It imposes the first nationwide limits on carbon dioxide pollution from power plants …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Hill, Daily Kos and Washington Post

Coral Davenport / New York Times:
5 Questions About Obama's Climate Change Plan

Discussion: New York Times, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Washington Post, The Hill and Slantpoint

Michael Grunwald / Politico:
Why Obama's epic climate plan isn't such a big deal

Discussion: The New Republic, The Daily Signal, The Week, The Breakthrough …, Slate, Vox, The Atlantic, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Associated Press and Washington Post

Neetzan Zimmerman / The Hill:

Harvard Lampoon tricks Trump with fake endorsement — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appears to be the latest victim in the longstanding rivalry between storied humor publication The Harvard Lampoon and its more staid alter ego, The Harvard Crimson.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite and Raw Story

Mariel A. Klein / Harvard News:
'Poonsters Prank the Crimson—and Dupe Donald Trump

Discussion: The Week

Philip Eliott / TIME:

Charles Koch Mocks Common Measure of Prosperity — Calls “monstrous” the notion that GDP values bombs as much as medicine — Conservative billionaire Charles Koch is predicting average American incomes of $100,000 annually in roughly a decade if government is scaled back and regulations are scrapped.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Hot Air and Instapundit

Matea Gold / Washington Post:

Charles Koch's focus on ‘injustices’ is fueled by an unlikely partnership — DANA POINT, Calif. — Last month, billionaire industrialist and conservative donor Charles Koch was meeting in his Wichita office with Michael Lomax, president of the United Negro College Fund …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Jezebel

Los Angeles Times:

2 immigrants in U.S. illegally are named to Huntington Park commissions — Julian Zatarain always assumed the doors of City Hall were closed to him because he is here illegally, arriving from Sinaloa in 2007 when he was 13. — The 21-year-old college student found other outlets for service …

Discussion: ImmigrationProf Blog

Debbie Meron / CBS Los Angeles:
Huntington Park Councilman To Appoint 2 Undocumented Immigrants As Commissioners

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and The Right Scoop

KC Downey / WMUR:

2 killed in tent collapse at Lancaster fairgrounds, initial reports say — Approximately 15 people injured in accident — Initial reports said two people were killed when a circus tent collapsed at the Lancaster fairgrounds as severe weather moved through the area Monday evening.

Discussion: Associated Press and WREG-TV

Seung Min Kim / Politico:

Sen. Chuck Schumer enlists famous cousin Amy to pitch guns bill — Sen. Chuck Schumer teamed up with another Schumer — actress and comedian Amy — on Monday to push for stricter gun-control laws. — The two Schumers held a news conference in New York to unveil a new proposal drafted …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, Raw Story and Guardian

Amy Schumer / USA Today:
Amy Schumer, Sen. Schumer tackle gun violence

Discussion: Addicting Info, Jezebel, American Spectator, Gothamist, The Week, Entertain This! and Mashable

TMZ.com:

Gwen Stefani Files For Divorce from Gavin Rossdale — FILES FOR DIVORCE — From Gavin Rossdale — EXCLUSIVE — Gwen Stefani has filed for divorce from her husband Gavin Rossdale, TMZ has learned. — Gwen cites irreconcilable differences in her divorce petition, which seeks to end their 13-year-marriage.

Discussion: Access Hollywood, The Daily Caller, CBS DC, The Week, Guardian, The Huffington Post and Jezebel

Sam Biddle / Gawker:

Call Donald Trump's Cell Phone and Ask Him About His Important Ideas — Last month, American reality show entertainer turned American political system entertainer Donald Trump publicized presidential rival Sen. Lindsey Graham's cell number, urging his supporters to “try it.”

Discussion: The Week, Addicting Info, The Federalist, Slantpoint, CANNONFIRE, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, New York Times and The Daily Caller

Thomas Beaumont / Associated Press:
Hackers Hit Trump Website To Post Tribute To Jon Stewart

Discussion: Mediaite

ACLU:

S.R. v. Kenton County Sheriff's Office — UNPUBLISHED — The children, an 8-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl, were so small that the school resource officer, Kenton County Deputy Sheriff Kevin Sumner in Covington, Kentucky, locked the handcuffs around the children's biceps and forced …

Discussion: Addicting Info, NBC News, Mediaite and Oliver Willis

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

The Declining Marginal Value of Crazy — Several days ago, perennial presidential candidate Mike Huckabee charged that President Obama was ready to lead Israeli Jews “to the ovens.” A few days later, he said he might use not only the FBI but even the US military to prevent abortions.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and The Mahablog