memeorandum: Liquid water exists on Mars, boosting hopes for life there, NASA says (Michael Pearson/CNN)

5:45 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: Bloomberg Business, The Hill, The Moderate Voice, CNN, Washington Post, The Week, Taylor Marsh, Balloon Juice and Shakesville

Jake Sherman / Politico:

Paul Ryan endorses Tom Price over Steve Scalise for House majority leader — House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan is throwing his weight behind Rep. Tom Price for majority leader, a significant boost for the Georgia Republican, and a blow to Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Kos and The Daily Caller

John Bresnahan / Politico:
Hensarling backs Price for majority leader

Discussion: RedState and Political Insider blog

Jake Sherman / Politico:
McCarthy formally announces he's running for speaker

Discussion: The Week

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

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg Business, CNN and Daily Kos

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: New York Magazine, Townhall.com, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, American Spectator, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, AMERICAblog News, CBS New York, Poynter., The PJ Tatler, Forbes, Patterico's Pontifications, Daily Mail, Jezebel and Shadowproof

Nick Gass / Politico:

Trump: My tax plan is ‘going to cost me a fortune’ — NEW YORK — Billionaire businessman Donald Trump took to the lobby of his famed Trump Tower on Monday morning and pledged to slap himself with a huge tax hike." It's going to cost me a fortune, which is actually true …

Discussion: Slate, ABC News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Post, The Week, Hullabaloo and The Hill

Wall Street Journal:
Trump Plan Cuts Taxes for Millions

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

Ryan Ellis / Americans for Tax Reform:
Send to Kindle Follow @ryanlellis — GOP Presidential …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New York Times, Washington Post, Political Insider blog and Independent Journal Review

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

Ben Domenech / The Federalist:
John Boehner Quit Because He Was Going To Be Fired

Discussion: Washington Times and Hot Air

Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
Under pressure: McConnell pushed to resign as Senate Majority Leader

Discussion: Independent Journal Review, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Daily Mail and CNN

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

Discussion: Democratic Strategist and Prairie Weather

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

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

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: Liberaland, Hit & Run, Guardian, The Verge, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Independent Journal Review and No More Mister Nice Blog

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

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Ted Cruz's big moment

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Washington Post

Kelsey Sutton / Politico:

Megyn Kelly doesn't want to talk about Donald Trump — Fox News anchor and show host Megyn Kelly, who has been lambasted by presidential frontrunner Donald Trump since the first Republican national debate, said she was done talking about her feud with the candidate during a one-on-one discussion …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Yahoo

Tal Kopan / CNN:

Marco Rubio: Count me out of Donald Trump ‘freak show’ — Washington (CNN)Sen. Marco Rubio says he wants no part of Donald Trump's “freak show,” as the Republican presidential hopeful continues to throw jabs at the front-runner. — The two candidates have battled through sound bites for the past week …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Shakesville, Independent Journal Review and The Daily Caller

Sara Jerde / Talking Points Memo:
Rubio: I Don't Want To Be A Part Of Trump's ‘Freak Show’ (AUDIO)

Discussion: Mock Paper Scissors

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

Discussion: Independent Journal Review, Business Insider, The Daily Caller and Washington Times

Hillary Clinton / Facebook:

Question for Hillary? Leave it below-\-\she'll be back soon to start a live Facebook Q&A on everything from health care to college affordability. — ***Thanks for joining me, Facebook. Let's do this! -H

Discussion: Jezebel, Washington Post, Business Insider, Mediaite, Mashable and The Daily Caller

Judy Kurtz / The Hill:

Hillary comes out against pumpkin spice — Hillary Clinton may have just lost the pumpkin spice latte lovers' vote. — The Democratic presidential candidate revealed in a Facebook Q&A on Monday that she used to be a fan of Starbucks' popular autumn-timed drink. That is, she says, until she eyed the nutrition facts.

Discussion: American Spectator

Kenneth Chang / New York Times:

NASA Says Signs of Water Flowing on Mars, Possible Niches for Life — 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: Outside the Beltway, US News, CNN, Refinery29, EcoWatch, VICE and The Week

Michael Pearson / CNN:
Liquid water exists on Mars, boosting hopes for life there, NASA says

Discussion: AMERICAblog News, Washington Post, Hollywood Life and Independent Journal Review

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

Discussion: Hot Air, The Verge, NPR, ABC, Shakesville, Mashable, Al Jazeera English and The Daily Banter

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, The American Conservative, BizPac Review, The PJ Tatler, Mediaite and The Week

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

Discussion: NBC News, Guardian, Associated Press, ThinkProgress, addictinginfo.org, Louder With Crowder and Washington Monthly

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, The Daily Caller, ImmigrationProf Blog, Independent Journal Review, Vocativ, NBC News, Business Insider, Associated Press, The Week, New York Times and FOX News Radio

Tessa Wong / BBC:

China angered by Hillary Clinton tweet on women's rights — From calling her a “big mouth” to making Monica Lewinsky jokes, China has reacted furiously at US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's recent comments about China's record on women's rights. — Mrs Clinton said in a tweet …

globaltimes.cn:
Is Hillary copying Trump to chase votes?

Discussion: Mediaite and Guardian

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.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

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: fox13now.com, FOX2now.com and Daily Mail

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.