memeorandum: FIRST PHOTOS: Meet The Muppets' Kermit the Frog's New Girlfriend Denise (Patrick Gomez/People.com)

4:15 AM ET, September 2, 2015

Top Items:

Mark Preston / CNN:

CNN amends GOP debate criteria — Washington (CNN)CNN is amending the criteria for its Republican presidential debate on September 16, possibly opening the door for Carly Fiorina to join the other top-tier candidates on the stage. — The cause: a lack of national public polling following …

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

How Carly Fiorina earned a spot on the big stage at the GOP debate — The organizers of the next Republican presidential debate have announced changes to debate criteria that mean former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina will join the rest of the top-tier candidates on the main stage at the Reagan Library on Sept. 16.

Discussion: Allen B. West and Hit & Run

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:

CNN changes debate criteria — CNN has decided to change its criteria for the Republican debate on Sept. 16 after facing criticism that its reliance on older polls could keep Carly Fiorina off the stage. — The network announced Tuesday that it will include any GOP candidate in the prime …

Connie Wilhelm / Medium:

Leaders ask CNN to include Carly in debate — We were just forwarded this letter from Indiana Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann. So grateful for their support. -Staff — Dear Jeff Zucker, — Carly Fiorina is a top tier candidate in this race. She won the last debate and has been in the top 10 in every poll released this month.

Discussion: Guardian

Katherine Faulders / ABC News:
Carly Fiorina Likely to Make Republican Debate Under New Rules

Discussion: Politico

Steven Nelson / US News:

Kentucky Clerk Fighting Gay Marriage Has Wed Four Times — A fellow gay marriage-resisting county clerk says 'that's forgivable.' — Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, right, is pictured at her office in Morehead, Ky., on Tuesday. — The Kentucky county clerk facing potentially stiff penalties …

Discussion: Addicting Info, Joe.My.God., The Stranger …, WEB OF EVIL, Friendly Atheist and Political Wire

Liberty Alert / Liberty Alerts:

Statement of Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis — Late yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court declined to extend the temporary stay of a federal court order involving Rowan County Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis. The federal court previously ordered Kim Davis to issue marriage licenses to the plaintiffs who filed suit against her.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, CBS San Francisco, Towleroad, Refinery29, Talking Points Memo, Right Wing Watch and Associated Press

Claire Galofaro / Associated Press:
Judge Orders Clerk, Her Entire Staff To Court After Refusing Licenses Yet Again (VIDEO)

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, TFN Insider, New York Times, Outside the Beltway, CNN, Towleroad and Balloon Juice

New York Times:
Kentucky Clerk Denies Same-Sex Marriage Licenses, Defying Court

Discussion: Detroit Free Press, Addicting Info, RH Reality Check, The Stranger …, Hit & Run, Courier-Journal, Mediaite, PoliticusUSA, Telegraph, NPR and ACS Blog

WGN-TV:

Officer dies, manhunt for 3 armed suspects in Fox Lake — Share Update: … FOX LAKE, Ill. — A manhunt is underway for three armed suspects after a Fox Lake police officer was fatally shot in the head Tuesday morning, sources tell WGN. — At a brief news conference Tuesday …

Discussion: Daily Mail, The Gateway Pundit, Talking Points Memo, FOX31 Denver, KFOR-TV and FOX2now.com

Ashley Fantz / CNN:

Illinois police officer shot and killed; one suspect in custody — Authorities involved in a manhunt after Tuesday's shooting death of a police officer in Lake County, Illinois, have one suspect in custody, Illinois State Police Sgt. Matt Boerwinkle said Tuesday afternoon.

Discussion: Fox News, NBC News, Associated Press, BizPac Review and Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune:
Fox Lake police officer shot and killed, manhunt underway in Lake County

Discussion: Northwest Herald, New York Times, Officer Down Memorial Page, Daily Herald, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, NPR, CBS Chicago, Talking Points Memo, Slantpoint, The Daily Caller, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and The Gateway Pundit

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Trump Supporters Think Obama is A Muslim Born in Another Country — PPP's newest national poll finds Donald Trump just continuing to grow his lead over the GOP field. He is at 29% to 15% for Ben Carson, 9% for Jeb Bush, 8% for Carly Fiorina, 7% for Marco Rubio, 6% each for Ted Cruz and John Kasich …

Discussion: Addicting Info, The Daily Banter, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Talking Points Memo, AMERICAblog News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Moderate Voice, Political Wire and The Hill

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic:
‘Hillary 2016’ Has Never Made Sense for Democrats

Discussion: Liberal Values

Kerry Eleveld / Daily Kos:
Vast majority of Trump supporters think Obama is a Muslim born in another country

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Talking Points Memo

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:

Jeb Bush knocks Donald Trump ‘in his own words,’ latest in web video feud — Jeb Bush fires back at Trump's Instagram jab — Washington (CNN)Jeb Bush took aim Tuesday at Donald Trump, his main antagonist in the GOP primary field, with a web video that highlights the liberal positions Trump …

Discussion: Washington Post, National Review, Daily Kos, Mediaite, OnPolitics and NBC News

Politico:
Jeb's unconvincing pushback against Trump

Discussion: Townhall.com, whorunsGov, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog and ABC News

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:
Sanders rejects comparison to Trump

Discussion: CBS News, Politico, American Spectator, ABC News and Mother Jones

David Weigel / Washington Post:

New James O'Keefe video: Clinton campaign allowed a foreigner to acquire official swag — Conservative undercover journalist James O'Keefe has released the second in an ongoing series of videos inside Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. The latest from Project Veritas Action accuses …

Discussion: Addicting Info, Balloon Juice, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The Mahablog and Raw Story

Patrick Gomez / People.com:

FIRST PHOTOS: Meet The Muppets' Kermit the Frog's New Girlfriend Denise — Well, that didn't take long. — It's been less than month since Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy announced they were splitting after four decades together, but it appears the plush amphibian has already moved on.

Discussion: Mediaite, Daily Mail, Hollywood Life, Guardian and Just Jared

Bradford Richardson / The Hill:

Trump compares himself to Reagan — Donald Trump thinks of himself as more like Ronald Reagan than Mitt Romney, he said in an interview with CNN's Don Lemon Tuesday. — In response to questions about the business mogul's previous status as a card-carrying Democrat, Trump said that he was in good company.

Bernie Quigley / The New York Observer:
Will Mitt Romney Jump In?

Discussion: Allen B. West and Althouse

Official Google Blog:

Google's look, evolved — So why are we doing this now? Once upon a time, Google was one destination that you reached from one device: a desktop PC. These days, people interact with Google products across many different platforms, apps and devices—sometimes all in a single day.

Discussion: Guardian, Business Insider, The San Diego Union …, VentureBeat, Gizmodo, Fusion, The Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, FOX31 Denver, NBC News, Advertising & Branding and Mashable

Sean Davis / The Federalist:

BREAKING: Hillary Intentionally Originated And Distributed Highly Classified Information — A review of recently released e-mails shows that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton repeatedly originated and distributed highly classified national security information.

Discussion: National Review, Power Line, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Business Insider, Allen West Republic, Hot Air, Doug Ross, The Daily Caller and CBS News

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

Chris Coons and Bob Casey back Iran deal, putting Obama one vote from major diplomatic victory — Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) have decided to support the Iran nuclear deal, putting President Obama on the brink of a major diplomatic breakthrough that will allow …

Discussion: Philly.com, Daily Kos, Guardian, The Moderate Voice and Tablet Magazine

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Obama one vote away from securing Iran deal

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Hill

Julie Jargon / Wall Street Journal:

McDonald's Set to Offer All-Day Breakfast — McDonald's is embarking on its biggest operational change in years as it tries to juice flagging sales, with plans to offer breakfast items all-day at its more than 14,300 U.S. restaurants starting Oct. 6.

Discussion: CNBC, Washington Post, Gizmodo, Eater, NOLA River, US News, Business Insider and Washington Free Beacon

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Feds move to consolidate lawsuits over Hillary Clinton emails — The Justice Department is preparing to ask a federal judge to consolidate an unwieldy flurry of pending lawsuits which demand copies of emails sent or received by Hillary Clinton or her top aides, sources told POLITICO Tuesday.<p …

Discussion: ABC News, Fox News and Power Line

Liz Kreutz / ABC News:
Why Hillary Clinton Emailed About Gefilte Fish

Discussion: Politico

Jungah Lee / Bloomberg Business:

Xiaomi Considers Introducing Laptop to Compete With Apple — Xiaomi Corp. is considering the introduction of its first laptop early next year, people with direct knowledge of the matter said, opening a new front in its battle against Apple Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd.

Discussion: The Verge and VentureBeat

Manu Raju / Politico:

Chaos in Colorado risks key Senate seat for GOP — DENVER — Republicans started this election cycle with a big target in Colorado: The seat occupied by Michael Bennet was seen as their one, probably only, chance to beat a sitting Democratic senator. Instead, it's been one setback after another for the GOP.

Discussion: New York Times