Missouri Senate: McCaskill (D) 48%, Akin (R) 38%  —  What a difference one TV interview can make.  Embattled Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill has now jumped to a 10-point lead over her Republican challenger, Congressman Todd Akin, in Missouri's U.S. Senate race.

The Bain Files: Inside Mitt Romney's Tax-Dodging Cayman Schemes  —  Mitt Romney's $250 million fortune is largely a black hole: Aside from the meager and vague disclosures he has filed under federal and Massachusetts laws, and the two years of partial tax returns (one filed and another provisional) …

Polls Say Medicare Is Key Issue in 3 Swing States  —  The Romney-Ryan proposal to reshape Medicare by giving future beneficiaries fixed amounts of money to buy health coverage is deeply unpopular in Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin, according to new polls that found that more likely voters …

EXCLUSIVE: Bin Laden raid tell-all author revealed, questions raised whether ex-Navy SEALs have freedom of speech  —  The author of a recently announced insider account of the raid that killed Usama bin Laden has been identified to Fox News as a 36-year-old former Navy SEAL Team 6 member …

The Lost Decade of the Middle Class  —  Fewer, Poorer, Gloomier  —  CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW  —  As the 2012 presidential candidates prepare their closing arguments to America's middle class, they are courting a group that has endured a lost decade for economic well-being.

Romney says his Mormon tithing shouldn't be public  —  • Mitt Romney says in a new interview that one of the reasons he's distressed about disclosing his tax returns is that everyone sees how much money he and his wife, Ann, have donated to the LDS Church, and that's a number he wants to keep private.

Romney Campaign Forbids Local Reporter From Asking About Akin, Abortion  —  Denver TV reporter Shaun Boyd wanted to ask Mitt Romney about Todd Akin and the abortion controversy roiling the GOP Thursday.  But the Romney campaign refused.  —  In a broadcast on Thursday …

Barack Obama actually said this  —  Pete Souza / White House (Obama addresses staff)  —  Barack Obama has become accustomed to being the center of attention.  For many like him, that's one of the biggest appeals of politics, the television exposure it attracts and the power that seems to come with that instant recognition and fame.

Audio: Obama Says “That Fetus or Child” Was “Just Not Coming Out Limp and Dead”  —  Here's an audio recording of Barack Obama arguing as an Illinois state senator in 2002 against legislation protecting infants who had survived an attempted late-term abortions:

Ties to Obama Aided in Access for Big Utility  —  WASHINGTON — Early in the Obama administration, a lobbyist for the Illinois-based energy producer Exelon Corporation proudly called it “the president's utility.”  And it was not just because it delivers power to Barack Obama's Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago.

Immigration agents file suit against Napolitano over ‘amnesty’ program  —  Aug. 6, 2012: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano talks with a video crew for a TV show in Hangar One at Air Station Kodiak, Alaska.AP  —  Ten federal immigration agents have filed suit against Homeland …

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.  —  SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.  Welcome, everybody.  Our “Starting Point” this morning, serious threat, tropical storm Isaac is barreling toward Florida.

Young Barack Obama's Genuinely Hilarious Self-Parody  —  “I fled to Chicago.  There I discovered I was black, and I have remained so ever since.”  Between Barack And A Hard Place by Baroque Yo' Mama.  —  Andrew Kaczynski

Fear of a Black President  —  As a candidate, Barack Obama said we needed to reckon with race and with America's original sin, slavery.  But as our first black president, he has avoided mention of race almost entirely.  In having to be “twice as good” and “half as black,” …

Dan Savage and Brian Brown Debate Gay Marriage Over the Dinner Table  —  THE ancient Greek symposium, which combined drinking with elevated discussion, was often held in a private house; at Parisian salons, conversation frequently took place in the bedroom.  Once upon a time …

Obama Volunteer Suggests Anti-Mormon Whisper Campaign  —  “I'm thinking that even though we don't LIKE campaigns to get nasty, we in the south (TN) come to EXPECT it,” a “team member” writes on the campaign Dashboard.  The campaign removes the post after an inquiry.