Ellen Page Confronts Ted Cruz on Gay Rights at Iowa State Fair  —  While Sen. Ted Cruz was grilling pork chops at the Iowa State Fair today, actress Ellen Page, wearing a hat and sunglasses, snuck her way up to the grill and asked the GOP presidential candidate about “the persecution of gays in the workplace and LGBT rights.”

Ornstein's Warning  —  Us old folks remember a time when AEI's Norman Ornstein was the very voice of The Conventional Wisdom.  So his new column at The Atlantic ought to come as a particularly significant warning about this election cycle and the particular level of conservative freakout we are dealing with:

Exclusive: Dozens of Clinton emails were classified from the start, U.S. rules suggest  —  For months, the U.S. State Department has stood behind its former boss Hillary Clinton as she has repeatedly said she did not send or receive classified information on her unsecured, private email account, a practice the government forbids.

Scott Walker talks birthright citizenship  —  Walker: ‘no position’ on birthright citizenship  —  Gov. Scott Walker ducks on Trump's call for ending birthright citizenship  —  MANCHESTER, N.H.—Days after seeming to echo Donald Trump's call for ending birthright citizenship …

U.S Marines ‘take down’ armed Moroccan gunman onboard a French train  — A suspected Moroccan terrorist opened fire with a Kalashnikov on board a high speed train in northern France  — Eyewitnesses said two U.S. Marines on the train disarmed the 26-year-old gunman and pinned him to the ground

Pennsylvania becomes fifth state to find no Planned Parenthood wrongdoing  —  Pennsylvania has found no wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood in the state after a review, according to a letter from the state health department.  —  That decision makes it the fifth state to announce that they have found …

Man killed by St. Louis police died from gunshot in the back  —  ST. LOUIS  • An autopsy on Mansur Ball-Bey, whose death from police gunfire this week stirred protests, showed that he died from a single wound in the back, police officials said.  —  Chief Sam Dotson said the wound's …

Trump Goes Off At ABC Reporter Over Questions On Term ‘Anchor Babies’  —  Donald Trump lashed out at ABC reporter Tom Llamas on Thursday after the network aired segments critical of the presidential candidate's use of the term “anchor babies” to describe the children of undocumented immigrants.

Carly Fiorina did a 4-minute riff on climate change.  Everything she said was wrong.  —  Katie Couric recently interviewed Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, and the subject of climate change came up.  They discussed it for over four minutes, likely marking the longest …

Dr. Dre Apologizes to the 'Women I've Hurt'  —  For Dr. Dre, the self-proclaimed “first billionaire in hip-hop,” the movie “Straight Outta Compton” and its quasi-soundtrack, “Compton,” his first album in 16 years, were meant to be a victory lap.  That biopic, about his hip-hop group, N.W.A. …

Louisiana GOPer: I Used Ashley Madison For ‘Opposition Research’  —  The executive director for the Louisiana Republican Party said his email is a part of the Ashley Madison database because he used the cheating website for “opposition research” that “ended up being a waste of money and time,” according to a New Orleans newspaper.

Bakers Who Were Fined $135,000 for Gay Wedding Cake Refusal Deliver a Major Surprise — and a Powerful Message — to 10 Gay Rights Groups  —  Aaron and Melissa Klein, the owners of Sweetcakes by Melissa, were ordered by Oregon state officials last month to pay $135,000 in damages after they declined …

Debt Is Good  —  Rand Paul said something funny the other day.  No, really — although of course it wasn't intentional.  On his Twitter account he decried the irresponsibility of American fiscal policy, declaring, “The last time the United States was debt free was 1835.”