Egyptians angry at film scale U.S. embassy walls  —  (Reuters) - Egyptian protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy on Tuesday, tore down the American flag and burned it during a protest over what they said was a film being produced in the United States that insulted Prophet Mohammad.

How Mitt Romney Is Losing The Debate Expectations Game  —  He's practicing hard, his aides say!  Obama's camp pretends to panic.  —  Romney with Senator Rob Portman, who is playing President Barack Obama in debate prep, earlier this month.  —  Image by Brian Snyder / Reuters

MSNBC's Hot Ticket  —  By Douglas Brinkley Photograph by Mark Seliger  —  Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, photographed at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, in New York City.  —  Five years ago this month, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski began co-hosting MSNBC's savvy, caffeinated Morning Joe …

How much do Chicago teachers make?  —  From left, students Labaron Scott, 10, Jalen Reed, 9, and Christian Robinson, 9, show support for Chicago teachers.  (Reuters)  —  Monday, I passed along the Chicago Public Schools' estimate of the mean teacher salary, which is $74,839.

Romney Has Given Two Version Of His 9/11 Experience  —  Romney's description of his 9/11 experience in a speech today differs in one detail from his recollection in his 2002 memoir.  A Romney spokesman did not respond to a BuzzFeed request of clarification of how Romney learned of the attacks.

Colorado Secretary of State Gives Up On Voter Purge  —  Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler (R) has decided not to pursue a voter purge he initiated by sending letters asking almost 4,000 voters to prove their citizenship.  After 482 people responded with proof and almost 90 percent …

The Kerry-ization of Mitt Romney  —  Mitt Romney is getting the full John Kerry treatment on national security — and some top Republicans are alarmed by what they see as his ham-handed response to it.  —  Romney — whose convention speech didn't include a salute to the troops or a reference to Afghanistan …

Bill Clinton's explanation tour begins  —  MIAMI - Professor Bill Clinton's explaining stuff tour began here with a sober dissertation on the 2012 election.  —  Speaking from notes but without a prepared text, Clinton delivered a 41-minute tour through President Barack Obama's track record …

Obama Gets Three-Point Convention Bounce  —  Now leads Romney by six percentage points, 50% to 44%  —  PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama got a modest bump in support immediately after last week's Democratic National Convention, with 50% of registered voters now saying they would vote …

GOP'S RYAN TO GO UP WITH TV ADS _ FOR HOUSE SEAT  —  HUDSON, Wis. (AP) — Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan plans to begin airing ads in Wisconsin as he asks voters to elect him to an eighth House term that he hopes to never serve.  —  Contracts formalized Tuesday with at least …

Southern whites troubled by Romney's wealth, religion  —  (Reuters) - Sheryl Harris, a voluble 52-year-old with a Virginia drawl, voted twice for George W. Bush.  Raised Baptist, she is convinced — despite all evidence to the contrary — that President Barack Obama, a practicing Christian, is Muslim.

Boehner ‘not confident’ that Congress, Obama will strike debt deal  —  House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday said he was “not confident at all” that Congress and the White House could strike a major debt deal, hours after Moody's threatened a credit downgrade next year absent an agreement.

The economy (slightly) favors Obama, not Romney  —  “It is becoming clear that if President Obama is reelected, it will be despite the economy and because of his campaign,” writes Charlie Cook.  “If Mitt Romney wins, it will be because of the economy and despite his campaign.”

Florida Sheriff Jokes About Using His Political Opponents As Target Practice  —  By some accounts, Sheriff Larry Campbell has the run of Leon County, Florida — population 277,971.  One resident of the area told ThinkProgress that Campbell once got in a bar fight, had his buddies arrest …

A Journalist With Rare Access to Obama Had to Play by Quote Rule  —  Michael Lewis, the best-selling author of “Moneyball” and “The Big Short,” was granted extraordinary access to President Obama for his latest article in Vanity Fair.  —  But with that access came one major condition.