memeorandum: Top talkers: Who's winning the mic at the GOP debate (Christina Animashaun/Politico)

12:25 AM ET, March 11, 2016

Top Items:

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Exclusive: Audio and transcript of Breitbart reporter allegedly being roughed up by Trump campaign manager — Donald Trump's spokesperson flatly denied on Thursday that campaign manager Corey Lewandowski roughed up a reporter for the conservative website Breitbart, and suggested she was fabricating …

Discussion: Gawker, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Little Green Footballs, American Spectator, ABC News, The Right Scoop, Business Insider, Raw Story, RedState, Politically Speaking, Townhall.com, EveryJoe, Independent Journal Review, Liberty Cannon Media Group and Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Ben Terris / Washington Post:

Inside Trump's inner circle, his staffers are willing to fight for him. Literally. — JUPITER, Fla. — The original Trump crew, the four who had been there from the start, stood at the fringe of the news conference, watching as their boss trash-talked his competitors …

Michelle Fields / Breitbart:
In Her Own Words — On Tuesday night, I went to cover Donald …

Inside Edition:

Trump Supporter Who Punched Protester: ‘Next Time, We Might Have To Kill Him’ — The Trump supporter who was filmed sucker punching a protester during Wednesday's rally in North Carolina said: “Next time, we might have to kill him.” — Multiple videos show the protester, 26-year-old Rakeem Jones …

Discussion: WNCN, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, Business Insider, addictinginfo.org, Mashable, U.S. Uncut, Fusion, Politico and Little Green Footballs

Justin Wm / Washington Post:

Trump protester sucker-punched at North Carolina rally, videos show — Multiple videos show a protester at a Donald Trump rally in North Carolina being sucker-punched by a Trump supporter. — The videos, which appeared on social media early Thursday and are shot from different perspectives …

WRAL-TV:
Man charged with assaulting protester during Trump rally in Fayetteville

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post, Right Wing Watch, New York's PIX11, addictinginfo.org and New York Magazine

Devlin Barrett / Wall Street Journal:
Punch of Trump Protester in North Carolina Sparks Police Probe

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, USA TODAY College, Mediaite, ThinkProgressPage Array, Business Insider and Guardian

Christina Animashaun / Politico:

Top talkers: Who's winning the mic at the GOP debate — Marco Rubio and John Kasich are debating for their campaign lives. Donald Trump smells blood in the water. And Ted Cruz is trying to figure out how to turn all of it into a bonus for his campaign. — But for any of them to make it work …

Holly Bailey / Yahoo Politics:

Civility makes a surprise appearance at GOP debate — MIAMI-After an all-out brawl of a debate last week in Michigan, which featured Donald Trump at one point defending the size of his genitalia, the Republican presidential hopefuls adopted an unusual tone in the opening minutes of their latest head-to-head in here: civility.

Discussion: Washington Post

Theodore Schleifer / CNN:

First on CNN: Cruz super PAC decides attacking Rubio in Florida isn't worth it — Ted Cruz: Unite behind me to beat Donald Trump — Super PACs backing Ted Cruz are scrapping a major media buy it once eyed in Florida because Marco Rubio is likely to lose there “all by himself,” the groups say

Discussion: The Last Refuge

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Five things to watch for at Republican debate in Miami

Discussion: Washington Post

McKay Coppins / BuzzFeed:
Mike Lee Endorses Ted Cruz

Discussion: Allen B. West, Independent Journal Review, Mediaite, The Atlantic, Weasel Zippers, RedState, Hot Air, Western Journalism, Talking Points Memo, The Week, The Resurgent, The Right Scoop and Guardian

Daniella Diaz / CNN:
Everything you need to know about CNN's GOP debate

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Jawa Report

Sarah Palin / Facebook:
GOP Majority Voters in Primary are Wayyyyyy Beneath Cruz, So Says Cruz

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

David Brody / blogs.cbn.com:
Brody File Exclusive: Ted Cruz Says Donald Trump's Voters Have “relatively low information” And Are “not that engaged”

Discussion: Fox News, Right Wing Watch, Western Journalism, The Last Refuge, The Gateway Pundit, FOX News Radio, RedState, CNN, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, Politico and Trail Blazers Blog

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:
Birther Joseph Farah: Canadian-Born Ted Cruz Can Run For President Because He ‘Loves America’

Discussion: WND, alan.com, Danthropology and Mediaite

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Ben Carson plans to endorse Trump — Woman asks about reuniting families … MIAMI — Conservative favorite Ben Carson, who recently suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, plans to endorse Donald Trump on Friday morning, according to two people familiar with his thinking.

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, Advocate, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Post On Politics, Business Insider, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, EveryJoe, Independent Journal Review, Weasel Zippers, Guardian, RedState, The Daily Caller and Fox News Insider

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Carson to endorse Trump for president — for president on Friday. — Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who ended his own presidential bid earlier this month, will join Trump at a press conference at the businessman's Mar-A-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., to make the announcement.

Discussion: Politico, Yahoo Politics and FOX News Radio

Katherine Krueger / Talking Points Memo:
Ex-Jeb Aide Burns Trump Supporter: 'You're Sitting In A Booster Chair!' (VIDEO)

Discussion: Raw Story

Chip Reid / CBS News:

Wounded Warrior Project execs fired — The two top executives of Wounded Warrior Project were fired Thursday by the board of directors. — Americans donate hundreds of millions of dollars each year to the charity, expecting their money will help some of the 52,000 wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, New York Times, The Atlantic, CBS Boston, CBS New York, The Week, KLFY-TV, news9.com KWTV, WHNT-TV, The Last Tradition, WPRI-TV and KRQE-TV

Edward Morrissey / The Fiscal Times:

Clinton Plays the Wrong Outrage Card and Sanders Makes Her Pay — This election cycle keeps demolishing expectations on both sides of the aisle. In Tuesday's contests, Donald Trump defied analysts who predicted a decline in his support after the Republican field narrowed …

Discussion: Esquire, Detroit Free Press, The Mahablog, Hot Air, naked capitalism and Washington Post

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
FLASHBACK: Reagan Trailed Carter 58% to 33% in March 1980

Discussion: Allen B. West

Alex Griswold / Mediaite:
Sanders Campaign Says This Photo Proves Clinton Broke Rules During Univision Debate

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Weasel Zippers, The Hill, Death and Taxes, U.S. Uncut, Slate, EcoWatch, Liberty Unyielding, Western Journalism and Althouse

Kaitlyn Schallhorn / TheBlaze.com:

Chuck Norris No Longer Will Campaign With Ted Cruz — Looks like Keep the Promise PAC can't keep its promise of a Chuck Norris appearance at a rally for Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz this weekend. — According to the pro-Cruz PAC, Norris, 75, was to attend a rally along with the GOP presidential hopeful …

Discussion: The Hill and Western Journalism

Bob Unruh / WND:
Chuck Norris presidential endorsement? Not so fast!

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Independent Journal Review and Liberty Cannon Media Group

Sara Jerde / Talking Points Memo:
Chuck Norris Bails On Cruz Rally After Rumors Swirl That He's Endorsing

Discussion: Business Insider and Wall Street Journal

Scott Adams Blog:

Scott Adams' Blog

Discussion: addictinginfo.org

Tkurzweil / KTLA:

Video Shows Mid-Air Passenger Brawl Aboard LAX Bound Spirit Airlines Flight — Cellphone video captured a brawl that broke out between passengers aboard a Spirit Airlines flight from Baltimore to Los Angeles Wednesday. — The video showed a group of women throwing punches and pulling each other's hair …

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite and Fox 59

Los Angeles Times:
Complaint over loud ‘boom box’ music leads to 5-woman brawl on Spirit Airlines flight

Discussion: CBS Los Angeles, Fox News Insider and The Daily Caller

Prime Minister of Canada:

U.S.-Canada Joint Statement on Climate, Energy, and Arctic Leadership — Washington, D.C., United States of America — President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau share a common vision of a prosperous and sustainable North American economy, and the opportunities afforded by advancing clean growth.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Guardian, Mother Jones, NPR, ThinkProgressPage Array, alberta.ca, Common Dreams, eNews Park Forest, Grist, Morning Consult, The Daily Caller and PRI

Sabato's Crystal Ball:

Why Donald Trump Is Winning and Why His Nomination Could Shatter the Republican Party — Alan I. Abramowitz, Ronald Rapoport, and Walter Stone, Guest Columnists March 10th, 2016 — There has never been a frontrunner for a major party nomination like Donald Trump.

Discussion: Washington Post

Ian Hanchett / Breitbart:

Benghazi Victim's Mother: ‘Special Place In Hell’ For People Like Hillary, “I Hope She Enjoys It There' — Patricia Smith, whose son Sean was killed in the 2012 terrorist attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, responded to Democratic presidential candidate former Secretary …

Andrew R. Lewis / FiveThirtyEight:

Americans May Be Too Religious To Embrace Socialism — For over a century, scholars have wondered why the United States has never had a viable socialist movement. Socialist parties in other Western democracies, such as Britain's Labour Party and Germany's Social Democratic Party …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Alan I. Abramowitz / Sabato's Crystal Ball:

A Simple Model for Predicting Hillary Clinton's Vote in the March 15 Democratic Primaries — A simple model based on two predictors — the racial composition of the Democratic primary electorate and a dummy variable for region — explain over 90% of the variance in Hillary Clinton's vote share …

Discussion: New York Times and Political Wire

Tom Wheeler / The Huffington Post:

It's Your Data: Empowering Consumers to Protect Online Privacy — Chairman, Federal Communications Commission — It's the age of anywhere, anytime Internet connectivity — do you know where your information is? — Whenever we go online, we share information about ourselves.

Discussion: New York Times, The Hill, Consumerist, Deadline, NPR, The Verge, Engadget and Washington Post

Steve Guest / The Daily Caller:

Obama: ‘I Certainly Have Not Contributed To’ Dividing The Country [VIDEO] — Obama: ‘I Certainly Have Not Contributed To’ Dividing The Country — Mizzou Loses 1,500 Students, Is Flat Broke Following Campus Protests — DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION | BLAKE NEFF

Discussion: Infowars, American Spectator and Weasel Zippers

Kurt Nimmo / Infowars:

FBI Instructs High Schools to Inform On “Anti-government” Students — Constitutionalists figure prominently on the target list — A new FBI initiative based on Britain's “anti-terror” mass surveillance program instructs high schools across America to inform on students who express “anti-government” and “anarchist” political beliefs.

Annie Karni / Politico:

Chelsea and Ivanka put their friendship on ice — When Chelsea Clinton and Ivanka Trump were introduced by their husbands a few years ago, they clicked immediately — the two famous daughters swanned around Manhattan together for a time, posing on the red carpet at events like the Glamour Women …

Discussion: Florida Politics, Towleroad and National Review

Los Angeles Times:

Griffith Park mountain lion P-22 suspected of killing koala at L.A. Zoo — In the legal world, it'd be called circumstantial evidence. — On March 3, one of the Los Angeles Zoo's koalas went missing. Down the road from its enclosure, a tuft of its hair was found.

Discussion: Slantpoint, KTLA and The San Diego Union …