The ‘Everything is Bad’ party  —  The debate made it official: For the GOP, Morning in America is now Darkness at Noon.  —  America's potential, said Carly Fiorina, is being “crushed.”  America's military, said Marco Rubio, is being “eviscerated.”  Working people, said Mike Huckabee, are “taking a gut punch.”

House GOP leaders to members: We'll be blamed for shutdown  —  House GOP leaders are trying to convince their rank and file it would be a bad move to risk a government shutdown over blocking funding for Planned Parenthood.  —  At a closed-door conference meeting on Thursday morning …

Bristol Palin Rages: Obama ‘Needs To STAY Out Of’ Ahmed Mohamed's Case  —  Bristol Palin wrote on her blog Thursday that President Obama “needs to STAY out of” the case of a 14-year-old Muslim student in Texas who was wrongly arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school.

BREAKING: Friend of Dylann Roof arrested by the FBI  —  Joey Meek was picked up by FBI agents just before 4 p.m. Thursday, girlfriend tells The State newspaper  —  Meek said Tuesday he doesn't think he committed any crime  —  Accused Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof stayed with the Meeks on and off before the June 17 shootings

Asthmatic sea otter learns to use inhaler  —  The Seattle Aquarium believes it has diagnosed the first case of sea otter asthma.  —  “Mishka” knows nothing about wildfires, but the 1-year-old did learn what it's like to have trouble breathing when smoke got thick and hovered over Seattle skies.

EXCLUSIVE: Race relations in America are ‘getting worse,’ says James Blake's mother Betty, a white Briton who raised 2 black sons in New York  —  Betty Blake, 80, is the mother of retired tennis star James Blake.  Betty, who is white and grew up in England, talks about raising two sons who are black.

New White House Campaign Will Encourage Legal Immigrants to Become Citizens  —  White House officials announced the start of a nationwide campaign on Thursday to encourage legal immigrants to become American citizens, which could add millions of voters to the electorate in time for the presidential election next year.

Contraception opt-out violates religious freedom: U.S. appeals court  —  A U.S. appeals court has ruled that President Barack Obama's healthcare law violates the rights of religiously affiliated employers by forcing them to help provide contraceptive coverage even though they do not have to pay for it.

Fed Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged  —  WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve announced on Thursday that it would keep interest rates near zero as officials assessed the impact of tighter financial conditions and slower global growth on the domestic economy.  —  The Fed's decision …

The Planet Set Three Major Heat Records In August  —  Like a broken record, we are breaking records for temperature over and over and over again.  NOAA's latest monthly State of the Climate Report reports that the Earth just experienced the hottest August on record, the hottest summer …

Draft Biden Official: ‘I Am 100 Percent That Joe Is In’  —  When Josh Alcorn joined the Draft Biden super PAC, MSNBC headlined its story on the move “Draft Biden just got real.”  Alcorn had been finance director and senior adviser to the late Beau Biden, the vice president's son …