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.”

Carly Fiorina is wrong about the Planned Parenthood tapes.  I know because I watched them.  —  Carly Fiorina gave a harrowing description of the Planned Parenthood sting videos at Wednesday's Republican debate.  She challenged Barack Obama to watch “a fully formed fetus on the table …

Transcript: Read the Full Text of the Second Republican Debate  —  Eleven Republican presidential candidates met at the Reagan Library for a primetime debate on CNN.  —  At the debate were real estate mogul Donald Trump, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker …

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

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.

David Letterman Will Explore Climate Change For National Geographic Docu-Series  —  David Letterman has a new hosting gig - of sorts.  —  The veteran late-night comedian will in 2016 journey to India to examine how that nation is trying to bring solar power to its entire population within the next decade.

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.

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 …

For immediate release  —  Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in July suggests that economic activity is expanding at a moderate pace.  Household spending and business fixed investment have been increasing moderately, and the housing sector has improved further; however, net exports have been soft.