Trump Lashes Out At Critics, Makes Incendiary New Claims About Mexico  —  In a lengthy written statement Monday, Donald Trump doubled down on his recent remarks about Mexican immigrants being “rapists” and criminals, making the additional claim that “tremendous infectious disease is pouring across the border.”

‘The devil is taking control’: Watch SC senator derail Confederate flag debate with insane gay marriage rant  —  DON'T MISS STORIES.  FOLLOW RAW STORY!  —  South Carolina state Sen. Lee Bright (R) began debate about removing the Confederate flag from the statehouse grounds on Monday …

APNewsBreak: Cosby said he got drugs to give women for sex  —  5 photos  —  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bill Cosby admitted in 2005 that he got quaaludes with the intent of giving them to young women he wanted to have sex with, and that he gave the sedative to at least one woman and “other people …

Amanda Peterson Dies — 'Can't Buy Me Love' Star Dead at 43 … KIDD KIDD  —  BONDSMAN TO THE RESCUE WITH $105K  —  ... Plus a Hot Dog

Confessions of a Clinton reporter: The media's 5 unspoken rules for covering Hillary  —  The reporter's job is to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable” — a credo that, humorously, was originally written as a smear of the self-righteous nature of journalists.

Bernie Sanders' Momentum in Iowa Leaves Clinton Camp on Edge  —  The ample crowds and unexpectedly strong showing garnered by Senator Bernie Sanders are setting off worry among advisers and allies of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who believe the Vermont senator could overtake her in Iowa polls …

Unyielding eurozone gives Athens last chance  —  Peter Spiegel in Brussels, Claire Jones in Frankfurt and Kerin Hope in Athens  —  Athens will be given a final chance to present a new reform plan to eurozone leaders on Tuesday night despite a hardening attitude to Greece in many capitals …

Video shows punch that led to QB De'Andre Johnson's arrest  —  FSU quarterback De'Andre Johnson at the Tallahassee bar Yiannis, State Attorney's Office  —  The State Attorney's Office released surveillance video today of Florida State University quarterback De'Andre Johnson punching a woman at a bar last month.

White House defends immigration policies after killing of San Francisco woman  —  The White House on Monday defended its immigration policies and blasted Republicans following the killing of a San Francisco woman — allegedly by an illegal immigrant.  —  When asked if the case was a failure …

Scott Walker's wife, toughened by life, is ready for fires of a campaign  —  WAUWATOSA, Wis. — Tonette Tarantino's year of sorrow came when she was only 30.  First she lost the grandmother who helped raise her, like a second mother.  Weeks later her brother, her only sibling, died of bone cancer.

Walker office already acts as if records exemption is law  —  Madison— Gov. Scott Walker announced over the weekend that Republicans were abandoning their plan to create new exceptions to the state's open records law, but for months the all-but-certain presidential candidate has been operating as if one exemption already was in place.

Eric Holder: The Justice Department could strike deal with Edward Snowden  —  Former attorney general Eric Holder said today that a “possibility exists” for the Justice Department to cut a deal with former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that would allow him to return to the United States from Moscow.

Alien Life On Philae Comet, Scientists Say  —  An image transmitted by the Rosetta space craft  —  Evidence of alien life is “unequivocal” on the comet carrying the Philae probe through space, two leading astronomers have said.  —  The experts say the most likely explanation for certain features …

Democrats face narrow path to retake Senate in 2016  —  The 2016 map is favorable for Democrats, but margin for error is slim.  —  Democrats can take back the Senate in 2016 after a stinging, nine-seat defeat last year — but their path is narrow, and any gains could be fleeting.

Perry Sense  —  While Donald Trump continues to get disproportionate attention for his correctly grounded—if not well formulated—attacks on out of control immigration, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is quietly emerging as a much more serious candidate.  Worth catching the excerpts of his remarks …

Officials: US jets scramble to intercept Russian bombers off California, Alaska coasts on July 4  —  This file photo shows a Russian Tupolev Tu-95 plane photographed by the Norwegian Air Force outside the coast of Norway in 2007.  (Reuters)  —  While the United States celebrated Independence Day …

The next big liberal cause: universal child care  —  Universal child care is becoming a central pillar of the liberal agenda — one that, if it is ever realized, could take its place alongside some of the great progressive reforms of the 20th Century, and possibly the Affordable Care Act …

Judge not: GOP blocks dozens of Obama court picks  —  The standoff could diminish the stamp that Obama leaves on the judiciary.  —  The GOP-controlled Senate is on track this year to confirm the fewest judges since 1969, a dramatic escalation of the long-running partisan feud over the ideological makeup of federal courts.