memeorandum: First Read: Donald Trump's Big Debate Gamble (NBC News)

1:35 PM ET, January 27, 2016

Top Items:

Les Zaitz / Oregonian:

Oregon standoff spokesman Robert ‘LaVoy’ Finicum killed, Bundys in custody after shooting near Burns — BURNS - Oregon standoff spokesman Robert “LaVoy” Finicum was killed and other leaders of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation were arrested Tuesday after the FBI …

Les Zaitz / Oregonian:

Robert ‘LaVoy’ Finicum shot and killed while charging police, driver says — BURNS - Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, the spokesman of the refuge occupation, was shot and killed after he charged police during a roadside stop north of Burns on Tuesday, according to a man on Facebook who claims …

Discussion: Raw Story and The Truth About Guns

KOIN-TV:

Bundy brothers among 8 arrested, 1 dead near Malheur — BURNS, Ore. (KOIN) — One person died and 8 were arrested — including militia leaders Ammon and Ryan Bundy — after the FBI and the Oregon State Police intercepted the group along Highway 395. — The militants were heading …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, RedState, Washington Post, Business Insider, Des Moines Register, WOOD-TV, Hullabaloo, Associated Press, WCDC-TV, Mashable, WKBN-TV and WIAT-TV

John Sepulvado / OPB:

Occupation To Standoff: FBI Surrounds Militants Still Inside Malheur Refuge — FBI officials have established checkpoints around the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge as a handful of armed militants remain inside. — OPB spoke with the new leaders inside the compound, which include militant Jason Patrick.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, KOIN-TV, WWLP-TV and Associated Press

Travis Gettys / Raw Story:
Eyewitnesses knock down conspiracy theories about LaVoy Finicum dying with his hands up

Discussion: Balloon Juice and The Jawa Report

KATU-TV:
Leader of Oregon occupation Ammon Bundy, three others arrested

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, OPB, susiemadrak.com, NBC News, The Gateway Pundit, Balloon Juice, The Reality-Based Community, Oregonian, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Washington Times and The Truth About Guns

New York Times:
Ammon Bundy and 7 Oregon Protesters Held; LaVoy Finicum Is Reported Dead

Discussion: Oregonian, The Week, PoliticusUSA, JustOneMinute and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Fox News:

Full statement on Trump declining to participate in Fox News/Google Debate — As many of our viewers know, FOX News is hosting a sanctioned debate in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday night, three days before the first votes of the 2016 election are cast in the Iowa Caucus.

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Monthly, TheBlaze.com, RedState, The Libertarian Republic, Political Insider blog, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, Althouse and BizPac Review

Kevin Cirilli / Bloomberg Business:

Trump, Fox News at War After He Decides to Skip Debate — The Republican front-runner says that the cable network treated him “unfairly” at a past debate. — Citing unfair treatment by Fox News, Donald Trump will not participate in the Republican presidential debate on Thursday, his campaign manager told reporters on Tuesday.

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit, Political Insider blog and Althouse

Donald J Trump for President:

TRUMP CAMPAIGN STATEMENT ON FOX NEWS DEBATE — (New York, NY) January 26th, 2016 - As someone who wrote one of the best-selling business books of all time, The Art of the Deal, who has built an incredible company, including some of the most valuable and iconic assets in the world …

Discussion: Hot Air, TheStreet.com, Instapundit, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Vox, CANNONFIRE, ABC News, Washington Post, Scared Monkeys, The Gateway Pundit, The Right Scoop, Mediaite and The Lid

Politico:

DonaldDuck: TRUMP WALKS INTO TRAP? Empty podium at Fox debate could tarnish dominance - FOX: 'can't give in to terrorizations' against Megyn Kelly - SURVEY OF GEOFF GARIN'S FRIENDS: Elite's Marco fever cools — By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; mallen@politico.com) and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; dlippman@politico.com)

Discussion: Vox and The Daily Caller

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:
Trump's Debate Boycott Throws Fox News Into Chaos

Discussion: Daily Mail, The Gateway Pundit and NBC News

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Trump says he won't participate in GOP debate on Fox News

Discussion: New York Magazine, BuzzFeed, The Week, Pamela Geller, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mickey Kaus, Politico, Vox Popoli, New York Times, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, The Wrap, CNNMoney, Daily Kos and Althouse, more at Mediagazer »

NBC News:
First Read: Donald Trump's Big Debate Gamble

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Times, Politico and Political Wire

Washington Post:
Trump will ‘definitely not’ participate in Fox debate, campaign says

Discussion: The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress, RealClearPolitics, Betsy's Page, New York Times, The Week, Taylor Marsh, BuzzFeed, Patterico's Pontifications, RedState and Hot Air, more at Mediagazer »

Sam Reisman / Mediaite:
Fox News Responds to Trump's Latest ‘Twitter Poll’ With First-Rate Trolling

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, NBC News, Politico, TheBlaze.com, AOL, Outside the Beltway, The Right Scoop and The Gateway Pundit

Harper Neidig / The Hill:
Cruz challenges Trump to one-on-one debate

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, Yahoo Politics, Hot Air, Mother Jones and The Week

Former Rep. John LeBoutillier / The Hill:

We are witnessing the end of the House of Clinton — A column for The Hill analyzing the current state of the 2016 presidential race. — It is the beginning of the end of the House of Clinton: — 1. There is the stench of political death around Hillary, Bill, Chelsea and the entire House of Clinton.

Discussion: Politico

Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Anti-Sanders attack ad isn't quite what it seems to be

Discussion: Mother Jones, Slantpoint and Political Wire

Justin Sink / Bloomberg Business:
Obama to Host Bernie Sanders at White House Ahead of Iowa Caucus

Discussion: ABC News

Fox News:
FBI going ‘right to the source’ in Clinton email probe, interviewing intel agencies

Discussion: Business Insider, Power Line, Hot Air, BarbWire.com, Betsy's Page and Front Page Magazine

Associated Press:
Sanders Says No Tragedy If He Loses Iowa; He Can Still Win

Discussion: ABC News, Politico and abc13.com

Conor Dinan / Talking Points Memo:

Jeb Bush Rises To Second Place In New Hampshire Poll — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) surged into second place in a New Hampshire poll released Wednesday by the Emerson College Polling Society, although real-estate billionaire Donald Trump retained a double-digit lead in Granite State.

Discussion: The Week

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Republicans point fingers: Who let Trump get this far?

Discussion: Shakesville, BostonGlobe.com and Politics Informer

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

Sanders Won't Attend New Democratic Debate Unless Sanctioned By DNC — After MSNBC and the New Hampshire Union-Leader announced on Tuesday that they would hold an unsanctioned Democratic presidential debate ahead of the New Hampshire primary, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said he would not attend …

Discussion: UnionLeader.com, Shakesville, New York Times, The Week, Raw Story and BuzzFeed

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
DNC throws cold water on unsanctioned New Hampshire debate

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Reuters

CNN:

Why I'm voting for Trump — (CNN)They are showing up in droves to see Donald Trump: Men and women, overwhelmingly white, frustrated with the country's first black president, fearful that they are being displaced by minorities and immigrants, and nostalgic for the way America used to be.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week and Balloon Juice

Chip Reid / CBS News:

Wounded Warrior Project accused of wasting donation money — A CBS News investigation into a charity for wounded veterans, the Wounded Warrior Project, looks into how the charity spends its donation money. — What caught our attention is how the Wounded Warrior Project spends donations compared to other long-respected charities.

Discussion: RedState, WJAX-TV, Fox News, The Week and WKRG-TV

Spencer Kornhaber / The Atlantic:

A Person Can't Be ‘Diverse’ … Ava DuVernay, the director of Selma, is one of the most visible and vocal advocates for diversity in the film industry. She does not, however, love being described quite that way. “We're hearing a lot about diversity,” she said at Sundance, as reported by The New York Times.

Discussion: New York Times and Guardian

Daily Mail:

Muslims are ‘not like us’ and we should just accept they will never integrate, says former racial equalities chief Trevor Phillips — Muslim communities are not like others in Britain and the country should accept they will never integrate, the former head of the equalities watchdog has claimed.

Discussion: Telegraph and Vox Popoli

New York Times:

Vindication for Planned Parenthood — One after the other, investigations of Planned Parenthood prompted by hidden-camera videos released last summer have found no evidence of wrongdoing. On Monday, a grand jury in Harris County, Tex., went a step further.