memeorandum: Democratic Presidential Debate: 7 Moments That Mattered (Ryan Struyk/ABC News)

2:20 AM ET, February 5, 2016

Top Items:

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Clinton and Sanders just had the election's most explosive exchange to date — The niceties are finished. — After a string of debates where Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders discussed (and occasionally disagreed about) the fine points of progressive policy, the two finally had a full-fledged throwdown Thursday night.

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, The Hill and Taylor Marsh

Ryan Struyk / ABC News:

Democratic Presidential Debate: 7 Moments That Mattered — Just five days before New Hampshire voters will have their say in their state's first-in-the-nation primary, there was another first in the Granite State: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders went toe-to-toe on a debate stage, just the two of them.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Atlantic, Politico, New York Times, The Daily Beast and The Moderate Voice

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Hillary Clinton's Problem Isn't That She's Not Progressive, It's That She's Cautious — Many of her struggles stem from the political calculations she's made in her career. — Senior Political Reporter, The Huffington Post — DERRY, N.H. — Back in May 2015, when Hillary Clinton's status …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, Vox and Slantpoint

MSNBC:

Watch LIVE: MSNBC Democratic Candidates Debate — Five days before Granite State voters head to the polls, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont will debate one-on-one for the first time in the MSNBC Democratic Candidates Debate.

Discussion: Trail Blazers Blog, Raw Story, Political Wire and Joe.My.God.

Mark Murray / NBC News:
Poll: Sanders Leads Clinton by 20 Points in New Hampshire

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, ThinkProgress and Talking Points Memo

New York Times:
In Democratic Debate, Candidates Clash on Money's Role

Discussion: Gothamist and American Power

Hillary Clinton / Yahoo Politics:
Meet the lobbyists, donors and bundlers behind Hillary's $157 million juggernaut

Discussion: Politico

Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
Questions on Speeches to Goldman Sachs Vex Hillary Clinton

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Anna Brand / NBC News:
Revolution or Evolution: Sanders, Clinton Tout Differences

Discussion: Advocate, AOL and FishbowlDC

Eliza Collins / Politico:
Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein: Sanders candidacy a ‘dangerous moment’

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, Boston Globe, Vox, Slantpoint, CNBC, International Business Times, Business Insider, Raw Story, Guardian, TIME, Bloomberg Business and Washington Monthly

Alex Swoyer / Breitbart:

EXCLUSIVE-Voicemails: ‘Ben Carson Suspending Campaigning’; Cruz: ‘Accurate Report’ — New audio obtained exclusively by Breitbart News indicates that as the Iowa caucuses began on Monday night, the Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) campaign called precinct captains informing them that Dr. Ben Carson …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Last Tradition, Raw Story, addictinginfo.org, The Last Refuge, No More Mister Nice Blog, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Right Scoop, Power Line, The Hill, KFOR-TV, The Stream, FOX News Radio, Vox, Telegraph and Deadline

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Ben Carson slashes staff as funds dry up — CONCORD, N.H. — Ben Carson, the famed neurosurgeon whose bid for the Republican presidential nomination has struggled to keep pace with rivals, will cut more than 50 staff positions on Thursday as part of an overhaul and downsizing of his entire campaign.

Discussion: The PolitiStick, The Resurgent, Outside the Beltway, RedState, The Right Scoop, Steve Deace Show, Mediaite, Mother Jones, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Hot Air, Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Slot and The Week

O. Kay Henderson / Radio Iowa:

Branstad says Cruz employed ‘unethical and unfair’ tactics Monday night (AUDIO) — Governor Terry Branstad is crediting Ted Cruz for running an “old-fashioned”, 99-county campaign that yielded victory in Monday night's Iowa Caucuses, but Branstad is joining the chorus criticizing Cruz for “questionable” campaign tactics.

Discussion: USA Today, Business Insider, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, The Last Tradition, Trail Blazers Blog, The Gateway Pundit, Politico and New York Times

Scott Whitlock / NewsBusters:
Ted Cruz Schools ABC on ‘Dirty Trick’ Claim

Discussion: Da Tech Guy Blog, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Young Conservatives

Tierney Sneed / Talking Points Memo:
Cruz Camp Left Iowa Voters Voice Mails Repeating Carson ‘Suspending’ Rumors

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
The fury of Ben Carson

Discussion: The Atlantic, Patterico's Pontifications, Daily Kos, Iowa Starting Line and Mediaite

Ken Dilanian / NBC News:

Condoleezza Rice Aides, Colin Powell Also Got Classified Info on Personal Emails — The State Department's Inspector General has found classified information sent to the personal email accounts of former Secretary of State Colin Powell and the senior staff of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, NBC News has learned.

Discussion: Hot Air, Hullabaloo, Politicus USA and Mother Jones

Justin Fishel / ABC News:

Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice Staffers Also Handled Emails Later Deemed Classified on Private Accounts, Officials Say

Discussion: Politico

Rachael Bade / Politico:
Ryan offers new warning for Chaffetz on email probe

Discussion: The Hill and Daily Kos

Rachael Bade / Politico: FBI contacts Colin Powell as part of email probe

CNN:

New Hampshire poll: Trump on top, battle for second emerges — (CNN)Donald Trump continues to hold a wide lead among likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire, according to a new CNN/WMUR tracking poll, with the pack vying for second place is beginning to break up.

Discussion: Power Line, Mother Jones, New York Times, Hot Air, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Last Refuge, Boston Globe and RedState

ABC News:
New Hampshire Polls Show Marco Rubio Climbing After Iowa Caucuses

Discussion: Associated Press and Florida Politics

CNN:
Sanders tops Clinton by 2-to-1 margin in New Hampshire

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Hill

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Republican Race Tightens Nationally; Clinton Still Solid

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, New York Times, Business Insider, The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, RedState, WHDH-TV, Politico, The Week, Rush Limbaugh and Political Wire

ABC News:

ABC News Hosts “New Hampshire: The Republicans Debate” in Partnership with WMUR, Independent Journal Review, RNC and Saint Anselm College — ABC News is partnering with ABC affiliate WMUR, Independent Journal Review, the Republican National Committee and Saint Anselm College to host …

Discussion: The Right Scoop, The Atlantic, New York Times, AOL, Business Insider and Young Conservatives

David Corn / Mother Jones:

Ted Cruz Attacks Sean Penn—and Here's Penn's Response — At an addiction policy forum in Hooksett, New Hampshire, on Thursday, Sen. Ted Cruz, the winner of the Republican Iowa caucuses, turned his talk about the awful consequences of addiction into a rant against...illegal immigration.

Discussion: Trail Blazers Blog and addictinginfo.org

Michael Grunwald / Politico:

Obama to propose $10-a-barrel oil tax — President Barack Obama is about to unveil an ambitious plan for a “21st century clean transportation system.” And he hopes to fund it with a tax on oil. — Obama aides told POLITICO that when he releases his final budget request next week …

Discussion: The White House, RT, Hot Air, addictinginfo.org, ThinkProgress and The Resurgent

Reuters:
Obama to seek new tax on oil in budget proposal

Discussion: Truth Revolt

Douglas E. Schoen / Wall Street Journal:

Why Mike Bloomberg Can Win — Record numbers of voters are independents—who won't be satisfied with Clinton, Trump or Cruz. — As the results from the Iowa caucuses rolled in Monday, it became more clear than ever: If former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ran for president as an independent …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Bloomberg Business and Politico

Daniel Schulman / Mother Jones:
This Is How Much the Koch Brothers Hate Donald Trump

Discussion: Vanity Fair

Research at Facebook:

In honor of Friends Day, we've recalculated the classic ‘Six degrees of separation’ statistic for everyone who uses Facebook and determined that the number is actually 3.57. Each person in the world (at least among the 1.55 billion people active on Facebook) is connected to every other person by an average of three and a half steps.

Discussion: USA Today, Mashable, Engadget, FOX 61, Washington Post, Refinery29, VentureBeat and The Week

Veronica Rocha / Los Angeles Times:

Lottery ‘destroyed’ his winning $63-million Lotto jackpot, man claims — A lottery ticket worth $63 million was sold at a 7-Eleven in Chatsworth. The ticketholder has until 5 p.m. Thursday to claim the prize. — With just hours remaining before California Lottery officials declare …

Discussion: KTLA, Q13 FOX News and The Atlantic

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:

Border agent: ‘We might as well abolish our immigration laws altogether’ — In a shocking reversal of policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are being told to release illegal immigrants and no longer order them to appear at deportation hearings, essentially a license to stay in the United States …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Last Tradition, Truth Revolt, Rush Limbaugh and BizPac Review