memeorandum: D.C. police investigate Twitter video of black female lifted off feet by officer (Victoria St. Martin/Washington Post)

8:05 PM ET, August 16, 2016

Top Items:

Pow: It's just a 2-point race, Clinton 38%, Trump 36% — The convention polling bumps for Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Donald Trump are over, and they are practically even, according to a new poll of likely voters. — A Zogby Analytics survey provided to Secrets Tuesday shows:

Discussion: Washington Post

Washington Post:

Trump unpopularity fuels wide lead for Clinton in new Virginia poll — Hillary Clinton holds a commanding lead over Donald Trump in Virginia, with disdain for the Republican presidential nominee helping Clinton overcome her own vulnerabilities, a new Washington Post poll finds.

Discussion: USA Today, New York Magazine, Politico, AOL, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Politicus USA, RedState, Outside the Beltway, Towleroad, Washington Times, Daily Wire and twitchy.com

Clinton Leads / Monmouth University:

Monmouth University Polling Institute — Florida — Hillary Clinton holds a 9 point lead over Donald Trump in the crucial swing state of Florida. — The Monmouth University Poll also finds incumbent Marco Rubio leading either of his two main Democratic challengers to retain his U.S. Senate seat, although by varying margins.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Wire, New York Times, Real Clear Politics, Talking Points Memo, twitchy.com, Guardian, The Hill and Naked Politics

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Trump Leads By Only 6 in Texas — PPP's new Texas poll finds a relatively tight race, at least on the curve of recent Presidential election results in the state. Donald Trump leads with 44% to 38% for Hillary Clinton, 6% for Gary Johnson, 2% for Jill Stein, and less than half a percent (0) for Evan McMullin.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, Daily Wire and Politicus USA

NBC News:
Poll: Clinton Maintains Big Lead as Voters Doubt Trump's Temperament

Discussion: Hot Air, AFF, RedState, The New Civil Rights Movement, New York Post and Talking Points Memo

The Huffington Post:
HUFFPOLLSTER: Gary Johnson And Jill Stein Aren't Polling High Enough To Make The Debates

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Post, ThinkProgress and CNNMoney

New York Times:

Rogers Ailes to Advise Donald Trump Ahead of Presidential Debates — Roger Ailes, the former Fox News chairman ousted last month over charges of sexual harassment, is advising Donald J. Trump as he begins to prepare for the all-important presidential debates this fall.

NBC News:

Why Is Donald Trump's Campaign Sitting on $82 Million? — Donald Trump calls for ‘extreme vetting’ of immigrants to the US 1:53 — First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The PolitiStick and Daily Kos

Ryan Parker / Hollywood Reporter:
Trump Campaign Denies Roger Ailes Is Working With Candidate Ahead of Debates

more at Mediagazer »

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:

Trump: 'I don't wanna change' — Even as he sags in the polls both nationally and in nearly a dozen battleground states, Donald Trump must remain Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee said Tuesday. — Trump acknowledged that he should probably adjust his tactics to shore …

Discussion: WKBT, Talking Points Memo, madison.com and Business Insider

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

GOP Senator Lindsey Graham: I Think Trump Is Going To Lose — Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says he thinks Donald Trump is going to lose the election. Graham, who has said he's not voting for Trump, argued that demographics and Trump's rhetoric make it nearly impossible for him to win.

Discussion: Politico and Washington Times

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

A GOP Congressman Thinks Trump Is Trying To Lose To Help Clinton — Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo, one of the first congressman to say he would not vote for Donald Trump in November, says he believes the Republican nominee is trying to lose on purpose to help Hillary Clinton.

Discussion: The Hill, Townhall.com and RedState

Arlette Saenz / ABC News:

What You Need to Know About Hillary Clinton Interview Notes FBI Gave to Congress — The FBI provided Congress today with notes from the investigation of Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information over her private email server. — Republican lawmakers have pushed for the FBI …

Discussion: Politico, Fox News Insider, Hot Air and Washington Free Beacon

Arlette Saenz / ABC News:
FBI Hands Over Hillary Clinton Email Probe Materials to Congress

Discussion: Fox News, AFF and whorunsGov

Fox News:
House Republicans detail perjury allegations against Clinton

Discussion: Infowars and The Last Tradition

Pete Williams / NBC News:
FBI to Send Clinton Interview Notes to Congress

Discussion: Washington Post, BuzzFeed and Independent Journal Review

Lauren Fox / Talking Points Memo:

Trump Adviser Clarifies: Clinton Should Be Executed, Not Assassinated — Trump adviser Al Baldasaro clarified for the record Tuesday that he doesn't think Hillary Clinton should be assassinated, but rather thinks she should be shot by firing squad for “treason.”

Discussion: The New Civil Rights Movement

Shira Schoenberg / Union-News:
Trump adviser Al Baldasaro: Hillary Clinton should be shot for treason, not assassinated

Discussion: The Atlantic and Politicus USA

New York Daily News:

Rudy Giuliani blames his use of ‘abbreviated’ language for 9/11-forgetting gaffe, claim no terror attacks happened ‘before Obama came along’ — OMG, Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday he obvs hasn't forgotten about 9/11 and claimed that his remark was totes “misinterpreted” because he simply likes to speak in “abbreviated” language.

Discussion: RedState, Mediaite, Politico, alan.com and Talking Points Memo

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:
Giuliani: I Didn't Forget 9/11, I Was Using ‘Abbreviated Language’

Discussion: Raw Story, Slate and Washington Post

Peter Kafka / Recode:

Univision is buying Gawker Media for $135 million — Sold! — Asa Mathat — Univision has won the auction for Gawker Media. — The TV network and digital publisher has agreed to pay $135 million for the bankrupt blog network, according to a person familiar with the deal.

Discussion: Politico, alan.com, New York Magazine, Bloomberg, Boing Boing, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Mashable, Advertising & Branding, New York Post and Deadline, more at Mediagazer »

Matt Webb Mitovich / TVLine:

John McLaughlin, The McLaughlin Group Host Since 1982, Dead at 89 — John McLaughlin, the host of TV's The McLaughlin Group since its debut in January 1982, died on Tuesday at age 89. — The political commentator's passing comes just days after he missed his first hosting …

Facebook:
See more of The McLaughlin Group by logging into Facebook

Discussion: Politico, Fox News, The Jawa Report, Associated Press, Deadline, NBC News, New York Magazine, The American Spectator, TVNewser, Washington Free Beacon and The Daily Caller

Please share and spread the word . This:

Please share and spread the word . This is our family's official statement. Thank you. — Jabara Family Statement on the Murder of Khalid Jabara — August 15, 2016 — On Friday night, our world was shattered when our brother, Khalid Jabara, was murdered on the front porch of our family home.

Discussion: Tulsa World and Religion News Service

Michael E. Miller / Washington Post:
Man's ‘unusual fixation’ with Lebanese neighbors led to killing, Tulsa police say

Discussion: Raw Story, Walid Shoebat and KFOR-TV

Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight:

The GOP's Chances Of Holding The Senate Are Following Trump Downhill — Donald Trump's post-conventions polling slump seems to be having an effect on the Republican Party's U.S. Senate candidates. We thought this might happen: There's been an increasingly strong relationship between …

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Wire, Hot Air and Politicus USA

Manu Raju / CNN:
Ayotte: I will stand up to Trump but will vote for him

Discussion: Associated Press, Daily Kos, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Above the Law and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Sarah Kliff / Vox:

This certainly doesn't look good for Obamacare — Just a few months ago, Aetna was an insurer you could count on to be especially bullish on Obamacare. — Chief executive Mark Bertolini told Aetna shareholders in April that the law was “a good investment.” In May, he announced plans to expand to five additional states.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Townhall.com, National Review, NPR and The Atlantic

Nathan Bomey / USA Today:
Aetna's exit deals blow to Obamacare, patients

Discussion: Washington Examiner, MichelleMalkin.com, Mother Jones, Common Dreams, Media Matters for America, Daily Wire and Patterico's Pontifications

Milo / Breitbart:

Donald Trump Just Overtook The Democrats On Gay Rights — The madman has actually done it. God-Emperor Daddy — known to the rest of you as Republican presidential candidate Donald J Trump — has just outflanked Hillary Clinton on the Left and announced what can only be described as an ultra-progressive immigration policy.

Discussion: New York Magazine, BizPac Review, Friendly Atheist and Washington Post

Dan Elsom / New York Post:

Penis crushes pole vaulter's Olympic dream — Originally Published By: — Never before has a member of the male species wished for a smaller manhood. — Japanese pole vaulter Hiroki Ogita will be ruing the size of his phallus after it caused him to foul during the qualifying rounds at the Rio Olympics.

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Towleroad

Chris Spargo / Daily Mail:

Yachting with the enemy: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner take the jet skis out and relax on Democratic Hollywood billionaire David Geffen's $200m mega-yacht off the coast of Croatia — The pair are vacationing on the Rising Sun, the $200million yacht belonging to billionaire Hollywood executive David Geffen

Discussion: New York Post, Daily Wire and The Daily Caller

Roger Stone / The Hill:

Can the 2016 election be rigged? You bet — has said publicly that he fears the next election will be rigged. Based both on technical capability and recent history, Trump's concerns are not unfounded. — A recent study by Stanford University proved that Hillary Clinton

Discussion: Fox News, Mediaite, Media Matters for America, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and RedState

Jason Nichols / The Hill:

Would racism exist if there had been no US slavery? — As I sat on a shady park bench on a sweltering day in New York City, I had a leisurely conversation with a friend who was hosting me for the weekend. He and I often find ourselves on opposite sides of hot button political issues …

Discussion: Instapundit

Caitlin Gibson / Washington Post:

The abortion rights movement is bolder than it's been in years. That's Cecile Richards's plan. — On the morning of one of the most important days in her career, Cecile Richards waited anxiously in her office at Planned Parenthood headquarters in Manhattan, texting furiously with friends across the country.

Discussion: LifeNews.com, Common Dreams and National Review

The Local:

Sex pigs halt traffic after laser attack on Pokémon teens — Tiny Insjön in central Sweden isn't known for pig mask-wearing couples shooting lasers at Pokémon hunters before having sex against a waterwheel. But that could be about to change.

Discussion: Mashable

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Trump's Post Advocating For Intervention In Libya Is Still On His Facebook — If you are looking for evidence that Donald Trump initially supported an intervention in Libya despite now calling the U.S. action there a “disaster,” look no further than Trump's own Facebook page …