memeorandum: TCU student punished for criticizing Islam, Baltimore riots (Todd Starnes/Fox News)

2:50 PM 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: The Moderate Voice, FishbowlDC, Daily Kos, Politico, Guardian, Shakesville, Oliver Willis, OnPolitics and FiveThirtyEight

Carrie Dann / NBC News:

How the Public Views Planned Parenthood and the NRA — Planned Parenthood and the National Rifle Association may both be the targets of protests and heated rhetoric, but they are still viewed more favorably than the candidates running for president on both sides of the aisle.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Dame Magazine, Politico, Shakesville and The Huffington Post

Peter Nicholas / Wall Street Journal:

Hillary Clinton Loses Ground With White Women — WSJ/NBC Poll — Many Democrats have long hoped that Hillary Clinton might expand Barack Obama's electoral coalition by drawing in more white women voters. — A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll suggests she may have a tough time pulling it off.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Mail, Hot Air and Washington Free Beacon

John DiStaso / WMUR:

WMUR poll: Donald Trump surges to top of GOP primary field in NH — Outspoken business exec leads Jeb Bush, 24 percent to 12 percent — For the first time in the 2016 Republican presidential primary campaign, there is a clear Granite State frontrunner. Business executive Donald Trump's …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Fox News, CNNMoney and Real Clear Politics

David Daleiden / The Center for Medical Progress:

“Intact Fetal Cadavers” At 20-Weeks “Just a Matter of Line Items” at Planned Parenthood TX Mega-Center: Abortion Docs Can “Make it Happen” — #PPSellsBabyParts “INTACT FETAL CADAVERS” AT 20-WEEKS “JUST A MATTER OF LINE ITEMS” AT PLANNED PARENTHOOD TX MEGA-CENTER: ABORTION DOCS CAN “MAKE IT HAPPEN”

Discussion: Fox News, RedState, The Daily Caller, Fox News Insider, WREG-TV, The PJ Tatler, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Washington Free Beacon

The Hill:

Senate GOP thwarted in effort to defund Planned Parenthood — A measure to defund Planned Parenthood failed in the Senate on Monday in a 53-46 vote, likely punting the issue into the fall debate over preventing a government shutdown. — Republicans fell short of the 60 votes needed …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, Washington Post, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Weekly Standard and Associated Press

NBC News:
First Read: A Lousy Poll for Almost Every 2016 Candidate

Discussion: Political Wire, Hullabaloo and Booman Tribune

Mark Murray / NBC News:
Hillary Clinton's Popularity Drops Sharply in NBC/WSJ Poll

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Free Beacon, NBC News, Slantpoint, Daily Kos and No More Mister Nice Blog

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

Discussion: New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Politico, CNBC, Taylor Marsh, Guardian and Political Wire

Peter Sullivan / The Hill:
Trump: Shut down government over Planned Parenthood

Discussion: Politico, Horizons and LifeNews.com

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

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today, Hot Air and Outside the Beltway

Governor Bobby Jindal:
GOVERNOR JINDAL ANNOUNCES THE TERMINATION OF MEDICAID CONTRACT WITH PLANNED PARENTHOOD

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Free Beacon, Mother Jones, RH Reality Check, Slantpoint, Mediaite and Addicting Info

New York Times:
Uneven Performances in Trump-less Republican Forum

Discussion: Jezebel, Mediaite and UnionLeader.com

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg Business:
Donald Trump: Shut Down the Government to Defund Planned Parenthood

Discussion: Daily Kos

Neetzan Zimmerman / The Hill: Poll: Clinton's favorability takes a major hit

CBS News:
CBS News poll: Donald Trump leads GOP field in 2016 presidential race

Discussion: The Right Scoop

Brett LoGiurato / Yahoo Politics:
TRUMP: I think we have to shut down the government to defund Planned Parenthood

Discussion: Business Insider

Michael Falcone / ABC News:
The Note: Donald Trump on Top

Discussion: National Journal, The Daily Caller and Politico

Daniela Galarza / Eater:

Whole Foods' $6 Asparagus Water Is Just Water With Three Stalks of Asparagus in It [Updated] — Is Whole Foods trolling its own employees? — Twitter user Layla Dhere (@dhere) expressed confusion in a recent tweet featuring the above image of a row of bottles of what is labeled “Asparagus Water” on a shelf.

Discussion: Mashable and Althouse

Emma Green / The Atlantic:

The Freakishness of Christianity — Evangelical Christianity has long had a stranglehold on how Americans imagine public faith. Vague invocations of “religion”—whether it's “religion vs. science” or “religious freedom”—usually really mean “conservative, Protestant, evangelical Christianity …

Discussion: National Journal and The Hugh Hewitt Show

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Crisis in Santorum campaign — The moves leave the winner of the 2012 Iowa Caucuses without a campaign manager and raise questions about whether he can last until Iowa votes on Feb. 1 next year. — Several top staffers have left Rick Santorum's campaign to create a new super PAC …

Discussion: Political Insider blog, Political Wire and Mock Paper Scissors

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: KTLA and ImmigrationProf Blog

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress, hpca.gov, abc7.com, BizPac Review, Allen West Republic, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Los Angeles Times, 89.3 KPCC and The Right Scoop

Todd Starnes / Fox News:

TCU student punished for criticizing Islam, Baltimore riots — All it took was 140 characters for Texas Christian University to suspend a conservative student who posted a series of social networking posts that insulted the Islamic State, the Baltimore rioters and Mexicans.

Discussion: Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog and Daily Mail

Bill Turque / Washington Post:

Montgomery boxes Confederate statue to protect it from vandalism — Montgomery County has erected a wooden box around a Confederate monument recently spray-painted with the words “Black Lives Matter,” in hopes of shielding the statue from further vandalism as officials seek to move it out of downtown Rockville.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Dave Altimari / Hartford Courant:

Sandy Hook Families Settle Lawsuits Against Lanza Estate For $1.5M — The families of 16 victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting will receive about $94,000 each to settle two lawsuits against the estate of the shooter's mother, Nancy Lanza. — Documents filed Monday in Probate Court show …

Discussion: 89.3 KPCC

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:

Scott Walker just got punked at a New Hampshire pizza shop — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Maybe it should have been a tip-off that the two 20-somethings were so overly excited to meet Scott Walker. Like dramatically excited. The young woman was literally bouncing with excitement.

Discussion: Salon, New York Times, The Week, Addicting Info and Prairie Weather

Isabel Taft / Politico:

Chris Christie: 'I've used birth control, and not just the rhythm method' — The Christie camp has been using the hashtag #TellingItLikeItIs to promote the New Jersey governor's campaign on Twitter. And that's exactly what he was doing at a town hall meeting in Manchester …

Discussion: CBS DC

ABC News:

Hear Trump's Message on His Leaked Cellphone — Donald Trump has turned the tables on Gawker. After the online site released one of Donald Trump's cellphone numbers, the GOP presidential candidate changed his voicemail this morning. — “Hi, this is Donald Trump and I'm running …

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo and The Verge

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Obama Administration Urges States to Cut Health Insurers' Requests for Big Rate Increases — WASHINGTON — Hoping to avoid another political uproar over the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration is trying to persuade states to cut back big rate increases requested by many health insurance companies for 2016.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Instapundit and Newsalert

Associated Press:

Committee approves bill to take Alabama out of marriage biz — MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A state Senate committee has approved a bill to take Alabama probate judges out of the wedding license business following the U.S Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Raw Story, Towleroad and Joe. My. God.