memeorandum: Pope's Visit To D.C. Inspires Hundreds To Rally For Climate Justice (Natasha Geiling/ThinkProgress)

4:05 PM ET, September 24, 2015

Top Items:

Gregory Korte / USA Today:

In meeting with nuns, Pope Francis makes quiet protest of Obamacare — WASHINGTON — Pope Francis made an unscheduled stop to visit the Little Sisters of the Poor Wednesday, a move that Vatican officials said was intended to send a message of support in the nuns' battle against Obamacare.

Discussion: Forbes, Bloomberg View, NPR, Talking Points Memo, LifeNews.com, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, BizPac Review, CNN and Washington Free Beacon

Jonathan Allen / Vox:

Pope Francis addresses Congress: Read the full remarks — Pope Francis became the first pontiff to deliver an address to a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday. Here is the text of his remarks, as prepared for delivery: — Mr. Vice-President, — Mr. Speaker, — Honorable Members of Congress, Dear Friends,

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Washington Monthly, Hit & Run, Daily Kos, The Gateway Pundit, CNN, SBNation.com and The Week

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:

Pope Francis exhorts Congress to act on refugees, immigration — Pope Francis on Thursday exhorted the United States to summon a “spirit of cooperation” to help the poor, save the climate and address the “unjust structures” that he said are afflicting the globe.

Discussion: Politico, The PJ Tatler, Bloomberg Business and The Gateway Pundit

Stan Collender / Forbes:

4 New Questions That Will Determine A Government Shutdown — Two weeks I ago I said there were five questions that would determine if there would be a federal government shutdown. — Given all that has...and hasn't...happened since that post, there are now four new questions …

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Monthly and Political Wire

David Weigel / Washington Post:

The pope name-dropped a radical Catholic activist, and Bernie Sanders couldn't be happier — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was the lone Democratic presidential hopeful — and the only Jewish contender — in the House chamber for Pope Francis's speech. When he left, he was beaming …

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, BuzzFeed, Talking Points Memo, The Mahablog, The Week and Salon

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Dems on GOP coup: Republicans need to fix their own problems

Discussion: Daily Kos

Ali Weinberg / ABC News:
Pope Francis Lines That Got the Most Applause in Historic Speech

Discussion: Red Alert Politics

TIME:
Transcript: Read the Speech Pope Francis Gave to Congress

Discussion: Slantpoint, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and The Federalist

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Cruz takes exception to pope on death penalty

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Al Jazeera English

Meghan Keneally / ABC News:
Read Pope Francis' Historic Speech to Congress

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

New York Times:
Pope Francis Challenges Congress to Heal World's ‘Open Wounds’

Discussion: Guardian, Associated Press, Prairie Weather, 89.3 KPCC, UPROXX, Fox News, The Week, Slantpoint and Washington Free Beacon

Nahal Toosi / Politico: Pope to Congress: ‘Do unto others ...’

Washington Post: Transcript: Pope Francis's speech to Congress

Nahal Toosi / Politico:
Boehner braced for pope's message

Discussion: ABC News, Bloomberg.com news, Bloomberg Business, The Hill and Daily Kos

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Marco Rubio: Trump Is A “Touchy And Insecure” Guy Who's Not Informed On The Issues — “He had a really bad debate performance last week.” — Sean Rayford / Getty Images — Marco Rubio struck back at Donald Trump on Thursday, labeling Trump as a “touchy and insecure guy” who's not informed on the issues.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNN, OnPolitics, Hot Air, Washington Times and Business Insider

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Trump momentum shows signs of stalling — The summer of Trump is over, and rival campaigns are latching onto glimmers of hope that autumn will be the season of the billionaire businessman's decline.After faltering in last week's debate, Donald Trump showed signs that the campaign grind has taken its toll.

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos, Mock Paper Scissors, The Week and Washington Monthly

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

A Day of Empty Seats and Donald Trump in Full Attack — NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — Donald J. Trump was never exactly a happy warrior, but with some of his Republican rivals gaining on him, he is showing clear signs of discontent. — Appearing here on Wednesday afternoon at what was billed …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Washington Post, Twitchy, Mediaite, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:
Marco Rubio strikes back at Donald Trump

Discussion: New York Times

John McCormick / Bloomberg Business:
Most Agree With Trump on America's Lost Greatness, Bloomberg Poll Finds

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, Allen B. West, Daily Mail, Independent Journal Review, Scared Monkeys, Hot Air, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, The Other McCain, Political Wire, The Gateway Pundit and The Hill

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:
Donald Trump wants the FCC to fine a critical Fox News pundit

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Townhall.com, OnPolitics, The Gateway Pundit, EW.com, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, New York Times, addictinginfo.org, RedState, BREITBART.COM and The Week

WGN Web Desk / WGN-TV:

Mother says she found special needs son wearing trash bag in classroom — Share Update: … CHICAGO — The mother of a CPS special needs child wants answers after she found her son wearing a trash bag when she visited his kindergarten classroom. — 5-year-old Lloyd lives with epilepsy and is non-verbal.

Discussion: WQAD-TV and FOX31 Denver

New York Times:

Hajj Stampede Near Mecca Leaves Over 700 Dead — BEIRUT, Lebanon — At least 717 people were killed and 863 injured in a stampede near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday morning. — The deaths — at an intersection in Mina, about six miles east of the city — occurred around 9 a.m …

Discussion: Boing Boing, BBC, WCBD News 2, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon and Althouse

CNN:
Stampede kills more than 450 at Hajj pilgrimage near Mecca

Discussion: WTVR-TV, Hit & Run, FOX6Now.com, Guardian and Refinery29

Annie Karni / Politico:

Hillary Clinton sits for interview with Lena Dunham — In an effort to reach out to millennial women voters, Hillary Clinton will appear in an interview opposite Girls star Lena Dunham, set to post online Tuesday, POLITICO has learned. The already-taped segment …

Discussion: Washington Times, Fox News Insider, Mediaite, LifeNews.com, Independent Journal Review, Althouse, OnPolitics, Shakesville, Guardian, Talking Points Memo, alicublog, The Week, Deadline and Bloomberg Business

Gary Emerling / Associated Press:

Pope Francis Just Echoed Obama's ‘Offensive’ Prayer Breakfast Remarks — The pontiff said all religions are susceptible to extremism and violence, just like Obama said in February. — While delivering the first address from a pontiff to a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, addictinginfo.org, Jihad Watch and US News

Molly Ball / The Atlantic:
Why Pope Francis Sounds Like a Democrat

Discussion: Washington Post, Rolling Stone and Salon

Dirk Standen / Vanity Fair:

Exclusive: Kanye West Talks Yeezy Season 2, Presidential Run, and Sweatshirts — Outside the Mercer hotel at 4:30 P.M. on Wednesday, September 16, the scene was chaos, with squads of paparazzi and camera-phone-wielding fans tumbling into the cobbled SoHo streets.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, UPROXX, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Business Insider, The FADER, Refinery29, USA Today and all

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Vitter Badly Damaged; Highly Vulnerable in Runoff Election — A new national Public Policy Polling survey of Louisiana voters finds that David Vitter has seen a large decline in his popularity over the last year, and that while he's still favored to make the runoff for Governor he is in a bad position …

Discussion: The Advocate, Political Wire and Booman Tribune