memeorandum: Weather Underground bomber unmasked — as city schoolteacher (Gary Buiso/New York Post)

9:15 AM ET, March 30, 2015

Top Items:

Iran Backs Away From Key Detail in Nuclear Deal — LAUSANNE, Switzerland — With a negotiating deadline just two days away, Iranian officials on Sunday backed away from a critical element of a proposed nuclear agreement, saying they are no longer willing to ship their atomic fuel out of the country.

Discussion: Power Line, Fox News Insider, Hot Air, Fox News and NBC News

Mark Hensch / The Hill:

O'Malley: Nuclear Iran ‘greatest man-made threat’ — Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) on Sunday said that a nuclear-armed Iran would present the gravest “man-made” danger to American interests. — “The greatest threat that we face right now in terms of man-made threats is a nuclear Iran …

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:

What to Worry About in an Iran Nuclear Deal — I'm in Berlin, not Lausanne, and I haven't spoken to anyone associated with the Iran nuclear negotiations in more than a week. Though there is a lot of good journalism being produced out of the talks, it is still difficult to discern what is actually happening at this moment.

Discussion: Horizons

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy:

Iran's Nuclear Breakout Time: A Fact Sheet — With reports that Washington and its partners may reach a nuclear accord with Iran in the coming days, a former senior IAEA safeguards official answers the most pressing questions about Tehran's program and how the agreement might affect its capabilities.

Discussion: New York Times and The Times of Israel

Tim Cook / Washington Post:

Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous — Tim Cook is chief executive of Apple. — There's something very dangerous happening in states across the country. — A wave of legislation, introduced in more than two dozen states, would allow people to discriminate against their neighbors.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Federalist, AMERICAblog News, The Verge, Mediaite, Daily Mail, Advocate, Business Insider and Little Green Footballs

Juan Williams / The Hill:

Boehner, Israel and race — Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) trip to Israel this week is so blatantly political that even the avowedly impartial Associated Press describes it as looking “like a jab at the White House.” — It is worse than that. President Obama can jab back in any political fight.

Timothy Cama / The Hill:
White House: Nuclear talks' success depends on Iran

Discussion: Pirate's Cove

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
White House to Netanyahu: Your move

Discussion: The Times of Israel

Dave Itzkoff / New York Times:

Trevor Noah to Succeed Jon Stewart on ‘The Daily Show’ — In December, Trevor Noah, a 31-year-old comedian, made his debut as an on-air contributor on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” offering his outsider's perspective, as a biracial South African, on the United States.

Discussion: Comedy Central Press, Talking Points Memo, Poynter, Raw Story, The Huffington Post, FOX2now.com, Mediaite, Towleroad News #gay, The Verge and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

Ben S. Bernanke / Brookings Institute:

Why are interest rates so low? — Interest rates around the world, both short-term and long-term, are exceptionally low these days. The U.S. government can borrow for ten years at a rate of about 1.9 percent, and for thirty years at about 2.5 percent. Rates in other industrial countries …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal

Peter Nicholas / Wall Street Journal:

Why Hillary Clinton Will Launch 2016 Campaign Soon — It's a near certainty that a few weeks from now Hillary Clinton will be a full-fledged presidential candidate, campaigning through New Hampshire and Iowa with a vast press corps in tow. — Some politicians relish the campaign trail: the rope lines, rallies and photo ops.

Discussion: ABC News and Bloomberg Business

Jon WardSenior / Yahoo Politics: Hillary Clinton's darkest days detailed in new book about White House staff

Kevin Cirilli / The Hill:

Elizabeth Warren plays Ted Cruz card with House Democrats — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is meeting with House Democrats in an effort to push back against President Obama's trade agenda. — The liberal senator met Tuesday with a group of House Democrats before administration officials …

Discussion: Political Wire

Charlie Rose / CBS News:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on 60 Minutes — Charlie Rose interviews the Syrian dictator as a four-year-old civil war drags on in which his regime has been accused of devastating attacks on civilians — The following is a script from “Bashar al-Assad” which aired on March 29, 2015.

Discussion: Power Line and Politico

Elizabeth Yale / The Atlantic Online:

When Do Official Documents Belong to the Public? — Westminster Abbey with a procession of Knights of the Bath, by Canaletto, 1749 (Wikimedia) — Hillary Clinton's use of a private email address and server to conduct government business as secretary of state attracted widespread criticism.

Discussion: FishbowlDC

Evan McMurry / Mediaite:

Stephanopoulos Corners Pence over LGBT Discrimination: 'It's a Yes or No Question!' — This Week host George Stephanopoulos absolutely grilled Indiana Governor Mike Pence (R) over the newly-signed “religious freedom” bill, which critics maintain would allow businesses to refuse services to LGBT customers.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Liberaland, Hot Air, Politico and USA Today

Michael Conroy / ABC News:
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence Says Controversial ‘Religious Freedom’ Law Won't Change

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

Cruz: ‘I was not a community organizer’ — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the only major declared Republican presidential candidate, is defending his credentials as a freshman senator while pursuing a White House bid. — “Unlike Barack Obama, I was not a community organizer before I was elected to the Senate …

Discussion: Bloomberg Business