New poll: Donald Trump still leads, but Ben Carson makes strong gains  —  Shares -  —  At 27 percent nationally, Donald Trump maintains his frontrunner status among Republican primary voters, but Ben Carson is now close behind him, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds.

Price Tag of Bernie Sanders's Proposals: $18 Trillion  —  Democratic presidential candidate's agenda would greatly expand government  —  WASHINGTON—Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose liberal call to action has propelled his long-shot presidential campaign, is proposing an array of new programs …

How Hillary Clinton is using old photographs to make herself more ‘relatable’  —  In a bid to burnish her image with voters, the Clinton campaign is flooding the Internet with nostalgic pictures of the Democratic front-runner.  —  Splashed across social media and the airwaves, the photos are hard to miss.

POLICY & POLITICS  —  DES MOINES, Iowa — People concerned about liberal political correctness on college campuses have a powerful ally: President Obama.  —  At a town hall here on college affordability on Monday afternoon, one student asked Obama to respond to Republican presidential …

Fecklessness 101  —  Apparently the Obama administration turned down a Russian offer to dump Assad... because the Administration was sure he was going to fall on his own.  The Guardian reports: … If true, this was a staggering missed opportunity.  The President's string of misjudgments …

Anti-Abortion Hardliners Not Budging In Shutdown Fight With GOP Leaders  —  The plan hatched by the GOP leadership in Congress to appease abortion hardliners and avoid a government shutdown over Planned Parenthood funding shows little sign of working so far.

Post-ABC poll: Most say Kim Davis should issue marriage licenses to gay couples  —  Sixty-three percent of Americans say Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis should be required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples regardless of her religious objections, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Donald Trump's Grand Inquisitor  —  Hugh Hewitt drew Trump's ire with a smart question.  On Wednesday night, the conservative talk radio host will be ready for round 2.  —  Getty  —  When the motor-mouthed mogul next takes the stage with the ten nearest rivals who have failed for months to trip him up …

Obama won't watch second GOP debate  —  President Obama will follow news coverage of the second Republican presidential primary debate on Wednesday night, but he won't be tuning in.  —  “He has better things to do,” press secretary Josh Earnest said when asked why Obama is skipping the debate, which will air on CNN.

Bremerton football coach investigated for post-game prayers  —  BREMERTON, Wash. — The Bremerton School District is investigating a football coach for praying after high school football games.  District policy states “school staff shall neither encourage nor discourage” students from praying.

Court-ordered religious classes raise concerns  —  ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) — Holly Salzman was hoping to get some help co-parenting her 11-year-old twin boys with her ex-husband.  Instead she says she got 10 court-ordered religious sessions that she did not want.  —  “It's very inappropriate,” Salzman said.

Donald Trump for President?  Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Sandra Bullock Sound Off at TIFF  —  Bryan Cranston, Naomi Watts, Ellen Page, Geoffrey Rush and Davis Guggenheim assess the starry political scene, while suggesting who from Hollywood should jump to the Hill.

CNN Hopes to Capture Candidates' Combative Spirit in G.O.P. Debate  —  SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — The leading Republican presidential hopefuls have spent the weeks since their first debate provoking each other, with distant taunts and tweeted insults.  —  And now CNN, which hosts …

Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke 'can't stand' sex scenes  —  As the star of the ‘sex and dragons’ drama Game Of Thrones, Emilia Clarke has disrobed in the name of her art numerous times, but she has now called for fewer explicit scenes on TV.  —  ‘Sex scenes should be more subtle,’ the 28-year-old tells me at a party in Mayfair.