memeorandum: How decades of divorce helped erode religion (Julie Zauzmer/Washington Post)

9:50 AM ET, September 28, 2016

Top Items:

David Martosko / Reuters:

Miss Universe ‘fat-shamed’ by Donald Trump was accused of threatening to kill a judge and being an accomplice to a MURDER bid in her native Venezuela — Alicia Machado, from Venezuela, was Miss Universe in 1996 when Donald Trump bought the franchise for the contest

Discussion: Infowars, Mediaite, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Gateway Pundit, GotNews, Cosmopolitan, Daily Wire, Washington Post and Politico

Daniella Diaz / CNN:

Miss Universe strikes back — No more insults for the women," she says — Washington (CNN)Former “Miss Universe” Alicia Machado struck back Tuesday against insults hurled at her by Donald Trump, saying that he was “aggressive” and “really rude.” — Machado, who represented Venezuela in Trump's 1996 …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Daily Caller, Guardian and Washington Free Beacon

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

Figures. Hillary Touts Ex-Miss Universe at Debate... Who Later Became Porn Actress and Accomplice to Murder — STRONGER TOGETHER- — On Monday night Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of being an insensitive boor for “fat-shaming” Miss Universe Alicia Machado while she was Miss Universe in 1996.

Discussion: The Last Refuge

Alex Pfeiffer / The Daily Caller:

Porn Star Campaigns For Hillary Clinton — Former Miss Universe winner Alicia Machado, who has been campaigning against Republican nominee Donald Trump for the Hillary Clinton campaign, has appeared in pornographic videos. — Snippets of an adult film starring Machado are available on multiple free porn websites.

Discussion: /pol/, Outside the Beltway and Joe.My.God.

New York Times:
After a Disappointing Debate, Donald Trump Goes on the Attack

Discussion: Jezebel, Washington Post, New Urban Legends, USA Today, Politico, Liberty Unyielding and Elite Daily

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Debate breaks record as most-watched in U.S. history

Charles C. Johnson / GotNews: BUILD THE WALL! @HillaryClinton's Mentally Ill #AliciaMachado Is Drug Kingpin's Baby Mama, Had Anchor Baby With Him

Baltimore Gazette:
Clinton Received Debate Questions Week Before Debate, According to Sources

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Neal Broverman / Advocate:
Donald Trump Believes His Decade of Bullying Rosie O'Donnell Is Justified

Discussion: CNN, AOL, Jezebel, Washington Post, New Century Times, Washington Monthly, Guardian, Vox, The Huffington Post and Talking Points Memo

New York Times:
Shamed and Angry: The Beauty Contestant Donald Trump Mocked for Her Weight

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
How Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Made Alicia Machado the New Khizr Khan

Discussion: BostonGlobe.com, Politico, Washington Post, Mashable, Vox, BuzzFeed, Central Maine, National Review, Refinery29, CNN and NPR

Arizona Republic:

Endorsement: Hillary Clinton is the only choice to move America ahead — The Arizona Republic editorial board endorses Hillary Clinton for president. — Since The Arizona Republic began publication in 1890, we have never endorsed a Democrat over a Republican for president. Never.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNN, New York Magazine, FiveThirtyEight, Politico, Occupy Democrats, Slate, New Century Times, Business Insider, The Week, Politicus USA, The Atlantic, Shareblue and Guardian

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Clinton to score another GOP endorsement: former senator John Warner of Virginia — Although he has bucked his party before, Warner has never endorsed a Democrat for president. He will appear in Virginia on Wednesday with Clinton's running mate, Tim Kaine.

Discussion: Politico and The Week

Louis Nelson / Politico:

Michelle Obama in new Clinton ad: ‘Hillary will be a president our kids can look up to’ — After running ads for weeks portraying Republican candidate Donald Trump as a poor role model for America's children, Hillary Clinton's campaign has turned to first lady Michelle Obama to explain …

New York Times:

New Debate Strategy for Donald Trump: Practice, Practice, Practice — Campaign advisers to Donald J. Trump, concerned that his focus and objectives had dissolved during the first presidential debate on Monday, plan to more rigorously prepare him for his next face-off with Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: ABC News, Talking Points Memo, The Week and The Resurgent

The Hill:

Democrats target Libertarian ticket — Democrats panicked by third-party candidates drawing support away from Hillary Clinton — are ramping up their attacks against Gary Johnson — and warning that a vote for a third party is a vote for Donald Trump — Liberal groups are passing …

Discussion: RedState, Hot Air and Political Wire

Gary Johnson / New York Times:

Take a Deep Breath, Voters. There Is a Third Way. — The America I know wasn't on the television screen on Monday night. My America is about the freedom to make choices, pursue your dreams and use your skills as entrepreneurs. It is about having more choices than just red versus blue.

Discussion: Politico and NBC News

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill: Sanders: Young voters will ‘come on board’ Clinton's campaign

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

Trump's Georgia State Director Resigns After Past Criminal Charges Surface — The Donald Trump campaign's Georgia state director, Brandon Phillips, resigned on Tuesday after a local news station uncovered past criminal charges. — “Today we accepted the resignation of the Trump-Pence …

Discussion: The Week

Richard Elliot / WSB-TV:
Donald Trump's Georgia campaign executive director resigns

Discussion: Political Insider blog, Occupy Democrats and Raw Story

Los Angeles Times:

Shooting of black man by El Cajon police sparks outrage, protests — Pastor Russell Bowman, center, prays as people gather at the scene where a man was shot by police in El Cajon on Tuesday. (Hayne Palmour IV) — The police chief of El Cajon said Tuesday evening that officers shot …

Discussion: The Atlantic, sandiegouniontribune.com, fox5sandiego.com, Daily Kos, New York Times and KTLA

David Hernandez / sandiegouniontribune.com:
Man shot, injured by El Cajon police officer

Discussion: Associated Press, Jezebel, Guardian, Business Insider and Mashable

Emily Glazer / Wall Street Journal:

Wells Fargo Claws Back Millions From CEO After Scandal — CEO John Stumpf to forfeit $41 million in unvested equity awards, forgo salary during investigation; former retail banking head Carrie Tolstedt to forfeit $19 million in unvested equity awards — Wells Fargo & Co. Chairman …

Discussion: Forbes, Joe.My.God., NPR and New York Magazine

Christine Wang / CNBC:
Wells Fargo CEO Stumpf to forfeit $41 million in unvested equity amid independent probe

Discussion: AOL

Melanie Zanona / The Hill:

House strikes deal on Flint, potentially ending shutdown threat — House leaders have reached a deal to potentially include emergency funding for lead-contaminated communities like Flint, Mich., in a waterways bill in a move that is designed to stave off an election-year government shutdown later this week.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
House leaders reach deal on Flint aid, potentially averting shutdown

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, New York Magazine and The Week

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Clinton team preps for Trump's Bill attack — NEW YORK — Democrats would love Donald Trump to talk about sex. And it looks as if he will. — As threats emanated from Trump Tower on Tuesday that the Republican nominee was preparing to name-check Bill Clinton's mistresses …

Discussion: ABC News

Matea Gold / Washington Post:
Trump campaign says $18 million windfall followed Monday's debate

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Amie Parnes / The Hill:

Clinton feels the pressure — is feeling the pressure in the race for the White House — even after a strong night in the first 2016 presidential debate. — Clinton has a huge staff advantage over Donald Trump — , which should help her turn out supporters this fall.

Marilyn Berger / New York Times:

Shimon Peres of Israel Dies at 93; Built Up Defense and Sought Peace — Shimon Peres, one of the last surviving pillars of Israel's founding generation, who did more than anyone to build up his country's formidable military might, then worked as hard to establish a lasting peace with Israel's Arab neighbors …

Discussion: Power Line, The Times of Israel, Guardian and Politico

The White House:
Statement by the President on the Death of Former Israeli President Shimon Peres

Discussion: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Hot Air, CBS New York, The Week, New York Magazine, The Times of Israel and Deadline

Ali Watkins / BuzzFeed:

The White House Asked Congress To Keep Quiet On Russian Hacking — Sources tell BuzzFeed News that top White House officials tried to stop two of Congress's senior intelligence officials from publicly confirming Russian efforts to undermine the US election.

Discussion: Instapundit and The Week

Politico:

Cable news' election-year haul could reach $2.5 billion — All-time ratings records for CNN and Fox drive growth - but this won't last — The preliminary numbers are in, and they suggest that the first presidential debate of 2016 between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be the most watched debate going back decades.

Discussion: Washington Post

Business Wire: FOX News Channel Achieves Milestone by Delivering Its Most Watched Quarter Ever in Total Day Viewership

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

OBAMA, HILLARY AND BILL CLINTON to ISRAEL for Shimon Peres' funeral — TAPPER on what to expect in OBAMA town hall — Clinton gets small debate bump — NEW POLLING PARTNERSHIP between POLITICO and Morning Consult — BULLETIN from the NYT: “Shimon Peres, one of the last surviving pillars …

Discussion: Morning Consult, Political Wire, Guardian and Joe.My.God.

Trip Gabriel / New York Times:

Suburban Women Find Little to Like in Donald Trump's Debate Performance — WEST CHESTER, Pa. — Donald J. Trump badly needed to make an impression on women like Nancy Groux in Monday's presidential debate. She is an undecided Republican who hungers for change in Washington …

Discussion: Political Wire

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart:

PAYBACK: Obama Admin Sues Peter Thiel's Palantir for Bogus ‘Racial Discrimination’ — Palantir Technologies co-founder Peter Thiel is evidently paying the price for backing Republican nominee Donald Trump, as the Obama administration has slapped his company with a frivolous lawsuit alleging “racial discrimination” against Asians.

Discussion: Occupy Democrats and Washington Free Beacon