memeorandum: Fast-Food Eaters Have More Industrial Chemicals in Their Bodies (John Tozzi/Bloomberg)

10:30 AM ET, April 13, 2016

Top Items:

Jeff Merkley / New York Times:

Why I'm Supporting Bernie Sanders — NO decision we make as Americans more dramatically affects the direction of our country than our choice for president. He or she is more than the manager of the executive branch, commander in chief or appointer of judges.

Discussion: Vox, Washington Post, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Common Dreams, NPR, Booman Tribune, The Daily Caller, CNN and The Week

Editorials / New York Daily News:

Daily News Editorial Board says Vote Hillary Clinton: Her plans to give working- and middle-class Americans a fighting chance at rising incomes are far superior to Bernie Sanders' — A ritual that plays out at 8:30 a.m. on the first Friday of every month highlights the urgency …

Discussion: Vox, CNN, CBS New York, New York Post, Balloon Juice, Daily News Bin, Washington Times, The Week, Politico and Guardian

Stuart Rothenberg / Roll Call:

Democrats Are Headed off Their Own Cliff — Instead of trying to control the center, Sanders takes his party to the extreme — The Beginning of the End for Donald Trump Maybe It Really Is the Media's Fault A Party Divided Is a Party Defeated — Usually — Political observers - yes …

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:

Cruz likely to block Trump on a second ballot at the GOP convention — What's the deal with the Colorado GOP convention? — What is a super PAC? … State of the 2016 race … Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is close to ensuring that Donald Trump cannot win the GOP nomination …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Political Wire, The Atlantic and Hit & Run

New York Times:

Donald Trump, Losing Ground, Tries to Blame the System — WASHINGTON — Donald J. Trump and his allies are engaged in an aggressive effort to undermine the Republican nominating process by framing it as rigged and corrupt, hoping to compensate for organizational deficiencies that have left …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Little Green Footballs and Political Wire

Matthew J. Dowd / Wall Street Journal:

How Donald Trump Is Right About Our ‘Rigged’ Politics — Matthew J. Dowd is an independent; chief political analyst for ABC News; and founder of Paradox Capital, a social-impact venture fund. He was chief strategist of President George W. Bush's 2004 campaign. He is on Twitter: @MatthewJDowd.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and The Daily Caller

Bob Cusack / The Hill:
Trump slams RNC chairman, calls 2016 process ‘a disgrace’

Discussion: NBC News, Politico, Denver Post and Guardian

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
BREAKING: Colorado Republicans Passed Around “Resolution to Deny Trump Delegates” Back on March 22

Discussion: BizPac Review, Ari Armstrong, Mediaite, Politico, NBC News, myfox8.com and The Right Scoop

MJ Lee / CNN:
Donald Trump: Rules ‘stacked against me’

Discussion: NBC News, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Scared Monkeys, Business Insider, twitchy.com, Q13 FOX News, The Week, KTLA and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

CNN:
First on CNN: Top Republicans may skip GOP convention

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Indianapolis Star, AOL, The Last Refuge, Washington Monthly, NY State of Politics, The Week and New York Times

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

White House demands Maryland super PAC pull Senate ad — The White House is wading into one of the hardest-fought Democratic primaries in the country — to tell one side to stop invoking the president on its behalf. — In an unprecedented and forceful move, President Barack Obama's administration …

Discussion: Washington Post

Bob Cusack / The Hill:

Trump won't attend White House dinner — says he will not be attending this year's White House Correspondents' Association dinner, despite receiving a flurry of invitations from the media. — Trump attended the annual dinner in 2011, only to have President Obama poke fun at him repeatedly in his comedy routine.

Discussion: Oliver Willis and Political Wire

Rachel Weiner / Washington Post:
White House intervenes in Maryland Senate Democratic primary

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Baltimore Sun

Carrie Dann / NBC News:

NBC Poll: Trump, Clinton Lead in Maryland — Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton hold big leads in Maryland two weeks before the state's presidential primary election, according to a new NBC 4/Marist poll released Tuesday night. — Among likely Republican voters, Trump holds a 12-point lead …

Discussion: Political Wire

Laura Meckler / Wall Street Journal:
If Elected, Clinton Would Create Special Office on Immigration

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Annie Karni / Politico:
Bill Clinton can't stop talking about himself

Discussion: CBS New York

The New York Observer:

In the Republican Primary: Donald Trump for President — Donald Trump is the father-in-law of the Observer's publisher. That is not a reason to endorse him. Giving millions of disillusioned Americans a renewed sense of purpose and opportunity is. — Explaining the phenomenon …

Discussion: Media Matters for America, New York Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Gawker, Althouse, Independent Journal …, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, The Week, Politico, Talking Points Memo and Guardian

New Jersey Online:
Ted Cruz is an American and can appear on N.J. primary ballot, judge says

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, AOL and The Gateway Pundit

John Tozzi / Bloomberg:

Fast-Food Eaters Have More Industrial Chemicals in Their Bodies — Would you like phthalates with that? — People who reported eating fast food in the last 24 hours had elevated levels of some industrial chemicals in their bodies, according to a new analysis of data from federal nutrition surveys.

Discussion: nrdc.org

Ben White / Politico:

Cruz's message to Wall Street: Help me — NEW YORK — This Monday, assorted bankers, traders and Wall Street lawyers will gather inside the neo-Georgian walls of the Harvard Club in midtown Manhattan to write big checks to an unlikely recipient: Ted Cruz. — Cruz, who attended Harvard Law School …

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Post, AOL and The Week

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
Progressive groups target Julián Castro

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Washington Free Beacon and Towleroad

Tom Hayden / The Nation:

I Used to Support Bernie, but Then I Changed My Mind — I have a variety of concerns about both candidates' campaigns. But I intend to vote for Hillary Clinton in the California primary for one fundamental reason. — By , — A maze of political signs for Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in Charleston, South Carolina.

Discussion: New York Daily News, Washington Monthly, susiemadrak.com, Raw Story, Boing Boing, Blue Nation Review and Guardian

Lucas Tomlinson / Fox News:

Russian jets pass US Navy destroyer at ‘unsafe’ speed in Baltic Sea, official says — Two Russian warplanes buzzed a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Poland multiple times this week, a defense official tells Fox News. — In one incident, the USS Donald Cook …

Marcel Harmon / Salon:

Sam Brownback declares war on Kansas: This is how extremists gut a state — and democracy — The ultraconservatives take control, with an assist to ALEC and no concern for the people — It's not uncommon to see developments named after what they displace or sometimes destroy.

Prachi Gupta / Cosmopolitan:

Hillary Clinton Responds to Bernie Sanders' Remark That She's “Condescending” to Young People — “I'm excited that so many young people are involved in this campaign.” — While on the campaign trail in Las Vegas, a young girl asked Hillary Clinton, “If you're elected the girl president …

Discussion: ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Guardian, Mediaite, Gawker, The Week, NY State of Politics, Politico, New York Times, New York Post, The Daily Caller, New York Daily News, Washington Free Beacon, American Spectator and NBC News

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

FBI paid professional hackers one-time fee to crack San Bernardino iPhone — The FBI cracked a San Bernardino terrorist's phone with the help of professional hackers who discovered and brought to the bureau at least one previously unknown software flaw, according to people familiar with the matter.

Discussion: The Week, AOL, The Next Web, Engadget and Mashable

Ryan Tracy / Wall Street Journal:

Regulators Set to Reject Some Big Banks' ‘Living Wills’ — J.P. Morgan, other firms to receive not credible verdict from Fed, FDIC — WASHINGTON—Regulators are set to reject the so-called living wills of at least half of the U.S.'s systemically important banks, including J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. …

Discussion: Bloomberg, ValueWalk, The Week and New York Times

Danielle Douglas-Gabriel / Washington Post:

Obama to forgive the student debt of permanently disabled people — The Obama administration plans to forgive $7.7 billion in federal student loans held by nearly 400,000 permanently disabled Americans. — By law, anyone with a severe disability is eligible to have the government discharge their federal student loans.

Discussion: Fusion, Associated Press and Occupy Democrats

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Team Clinton: Sanders ‘rigging the system’ with quest for superdelegates — 's presidenital campaign on Tuesday accused Bernie Sanders — of “rigging the system” by seeking to pick-off the superdelegates that have already pledged their support to Clinton.

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

WOW! Glenn Beck: Nobody Can Understand the Moses-Like Burden Ted Cruz Carries (VIDEO) — What the hell? — Glenn Beck endorsed Senator Ted Cruz before the Iowa Caucuses and has been campaigning for the former Canadian for several weeks. — Radio host Glenn Beck told his audience …

David Corn / Mother Jones:

The Time Ted Cruz Defended a Ban on Dildos — His legal team argued there was no right “to stimulate one's genitals.” — In one chapter of his campaign book, A Time for Truth, Sen. Ted Cruz proudly chronicles his days as a Texas solicitor general, a post he held from 2003 to 2008.

Discussion: The Slot

Sam Roberts / New York Times:

Arthur Anderson, Voice of Lucky Charms Cereal's Leprechaun, Dies at 93 — Arthur Anderson, who performed on radio as a teenager with Orson Welles's Mercury Theater and appeared on Broadway, in films and on television, but whose most enduring role was as the voice of Lucky Charms cereal's leprechaun, died on Saturday in Manhattan.

Discussion: NPR

Chicago Tribune:

Chicago police must face ‘hard truths’ about racist past, task force draft report says — Lori Lightfoot, left, and Sergio Acosta, center, of the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force, listen to comments during a community forum at the South Shore Cultural Center in Chicago on Feb. 11, 2016.

Discussion: CBS Chicago and NPR