memeorandum: Top GOP official seeks McConnell ouster as Senate leader (Ralph Z. Hallow/Washington Times)

2:05 PM ET, September 28, 2015

Top Items:

Nick Gass / Politico:

Poll: 69 percent oppose shutdown over Planned Parenthood — Nearly seven in 10 Americans — 69 percent — oppose shutting down the government over funding for Planned Parenthood, according to the results of a new national <a href="http://www.quinnipiac.edu/ images/polling/us/us09282015_um96cvr.pd f" …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Bloomberg Business, The Hill, CNN, Daily Kos, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, The Week, Balloon Juice and Shakesville

Bradford Richardson / The Hill:

Kasich: What have Boehner critics accomplished? — Ohio Gov. John Kasich is telling anti-establishment Republicans in the House to “look in the mirror” before attacking outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). — “The people who keep saying that they want things to happen, what have they accomplished?

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

CBS News:

Face the Nation Transcripts September 27: Boehner, Sanders & Kasich — (CBS News) — A transcript from the September 27 edition of Face the Nation. Guests included John Boehner, Bernie Sanders, John Kasich, Nancy Cordes, Susan Page, Ed O'Keefe, and Kim Strassel.

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos, CNSNews and The Gateway Pundit

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Ted Cruz's big moment — If Ted Cruz is ever going to break through in the Republican presidential primary, the time is now. Cruz has been the workmanlike conservative of the GOP field: a strong fundraiser but no Jeb Bush, well-liked by the activist right yet unable, so far …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Washington Post

Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
Top GOP official seeks McConnell ouster as Senate leader

Discussion: Washington Monthly, BREITBART.COM, BizPac Review and The Gateway Pundit

The Hill:
This week: Can Congress avoid a shutdown?

Discussion: Politico, CNN and Daily Kos

Michael Falcone / ABC News:
The Note: The Donald Is In The Details

Discussion: The FADER, abc7.com and The Hill

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Blackmail Caucus, a.k.a. the Republican Party

Discussion: Democratic Strategist and Prairie Weather

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Shutdown clash to return in force by December

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Bloomberg Business and Bloomberg.com news

Scott Pelley / CBS News:

Trump gets down to business on 60 Minutes — Scott Pelley interviews Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who lays out key policy details and reveals a major part of his tax proposal — The following script is from “Trump” which aired on September 27, 2015. Scott Pelley is the correspondent.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, American Spectator, Forbes, AMERICAblog News, CBS New York, Poynter., Daily Mail, Patterico's Pontifications and Jezebel, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:
Trump Plan Cuts Taxes for Millions

Discussion: ThinkProgress, RedState, CNN, The Gateway Pundit and The Huffington Post

Heather Haddon / Wall Street Journal:
Trump to Release Plan Calling for Higher Taxes on the Wealthy

Discussion: Yahoo, New York Post, Washington Post, The PJ Tatler, VICE and The Elder Statement

Nick Gass / Politico:
Trump: My tax plan is ‘going to cost me a fortune’

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Week and The Hill

Philip Pullella / Reuters:

Govt. workers have right to refuse gay marriage licenses: pope — Pope Francis said on Monday government officials have a “human right” to refuse to discharge a duty, such as issuing marriage licenses to homosexuals, if they feel it violates their conscience.

Discussion: International Business Times, BizPac Review, Mediaite and The Week

The Huffington Post:
PRIESTLY BETRAYAL — In the hour-long, freewheeling talk …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Guardian, addictinginfo.org and Louder With Crowder

Alastair Jamieson / NBC News:
Pope Appears to Back Kim Davis in Gay-Marriage Battle

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Associated Press and WREG-TV

Michael Isikoff / Yahoo:

Carly Fiorina defends Bush-era torture and spying, calls for more transparency — Positioning herself as a steely advocate of aggressive counterterrorism programs, Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina offered a vigorous defense of CIA waterboarding as a tactic that helped “keep our nation safe” in the aftermath of 9/11.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog and Independent Journal Review

Amy Chozick / New York Times:

Carly Fiorina Both Repels and Enthralls Liberal Feminists — When the novelist Jennifer Weiner watched the second Republican presidential debate with her two daughters on Sept. 16, she felt a sense of pride at seeing the lone woman on stage, Carly Fiorina, hold her own against Donald J. Trump.

Discussion: Mediaite, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Carly Fiorina, The Week, Althouse, Business Insider and Raw Story

Richard L. Hasen / Talking Points Memo:

Why The Most Urgent Civil Rights Cause Of Our Time Is The Supreme Court Itself — The future composition of the Supreme Court is the most important civil rights cause of our time. It is more important than racial justice, marriage equality, voting rights, money in politics, abortion rights, gun rights, or managing climate change.

Greg Stohr / Bloomberg Business: Bloomberg Poll: Americans Want Supreme Court to Turn Off Political Spending Spigot

Adam Liptak / New York Times: Chief Justice John Roberts Amasses Conservative Record, and the Right's Ire

Matt Helms / Detroit Free Press:

‘None of your business’ Facebook post goes viral — Ann Arbor woman's plea: Stop asking the young and childless about their plans for procreation. It's insensitive. — An Ann Arbor woman's Facebook post lamenting rude questions about 20- and 30-somethings' plans to have children went viral …

Discussion: Daily Mail

Allison Croghan / fox13now.com:
‘None of your business’ Facebook post goes viral

Discussion: FOX2now.com

Kenneth Chang / New York Times:

NASA Says Signs of Liquid Water Flowing on Mars — Despite its reputation as a forebodingly dusty, desolate and lifeless place, Mars seems to be a little bit wet even today. — Scientists reported on Monday definitive signs of liquid water on the surface of present-day Mars …

Discussion: CNN, Refinery29, EcoWatch, fox13now.com, VICE and The Week

Ian Sample / Guardian:
Nasa scientists find evidence of flowing water on Mars

Discussion: The Verge, Hollywood Life, Shakesville, ABC, NPR, Mashable, Al Jazeera English and The Daily Banter

Michael Pearson / CNN:
Wondering about NASA's Mars mystery? We may have found the answer

Discussion: USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, NEWS.com.au, Slate and CBS San Francisco

Mark Preston / CNN:

CNN debate criteria would allow Joe Biden to participate — (CNN)Vice President Joe Biden will be invited to participate in the first Democratic presidential primary debate if he declares his intention to seek his party's nomination as late as the day of the debate, eligibility criteria released Monday by CNN shows.

Discussion: Mediaite, Slantpoint, The Daily Caller, Washington Times, Independent Journal Review, The Week and Althouse

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:

Obama swipes at Putin, Cheney and Trump in U.N. address — UNITED NATIONS - President Barack Obama took repeated swipes at Vladimir Putin, Dick Cheney and even Donald Trump, without mentioning them by name, in an address to the United Nations on Monday, holding them up as examples …

Discussion: Bloomberg Business

Charlie Rose / CBS News:
All eyes on Putin — At a time of icy relations with the U.S. …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, BizPac Review, Reuters, Washington Post, CNN, addictinginfo.org, Politico, Slantpoint, Daily Mail, Raw Story and Business Insider

Sara Jerde / Talking Points Memo:

Rubio: I Don't Want To Be A Part Of Trump's ‘Freak Show’ (AUDIO) — Republican presidential candidate and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said Monday on National Public Radio that he didn't want to continue criticizing rival Donald Trump and be a part of the real estate mogul's “freak show.”

Discussion: Mock Paper Scissors

Arnie Seipel / NPR:
Sen. Marco Rubio: President Obama Has 'Strengthened Putin's Hand'

Discussion: Business Insider, The Daily Caller and Washington Times

Numbers / Pew Research Center's Hispanic Trends Project:

Modern Immigration Wave Brings 59 Million to U.S., Driving Population Growth and Change Through 2065 — Views of Immigration's Impact on U.S. Society Mixed — Fifty years after passage of the landmark law that rewrote U.S. immigration policy, nearly 59 million immigrants have arrived in the United States …

Discussion: Washington Post, Vocativ, NBC News, The Week, Associated Press, ImmigrationProf Blog, New York Times and FOX News Radio

Wall Street Journal:

Deal With Iraq to Fight Islamic State Extends Russia's Reach in Middle East — Kremlin rivals U.S. for influence in region — Iraq joined Russia, Iran and Syria in a new agreement to strengthen cooperation against extremist group Islamic State, extending the Kremlin's reach in the Middle East as it rivals Washington for influence.

Discussion: Questions and Observations and The Week

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:
Russia Surprises U.S. With Accord on Battling ISIS

Discussion: Jihad Watch, Washington Post, Slantpoint and Guardian

Mark Banham / International Business Times:

‘Murdered’ German woman Petra Pazsitka reappears after vanishing 31 years ago — A German woman who vanished 31 years ago and had been registered as dead after a man confessed to her murder, has been found alive and well and living in Düsseldorf. In 1984, Petra Pazsitka, then 24 …

Discussion: New York Post

Ken Cuccinelli / New York Post:

Yes, Hillary Clinton broke the law — Since there has been much evasion and obfuscation about Hillary Rodham Clinton's e-mail use, it seems appropriate to step back and simply review what we know in light of the law. It's also instructive to compare Clinton's situation to arguably …