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Just a day after allegations reemerged that Donald Trump raped his ex-wife, Ivana Trump, the bombastic billionaire’s former spouse played down the controversy, saying that the two are still “the best of friends.” *snip* “Donald and I are the best of friends and together have raised three children that we love and are very proud of. I have nothing but fondness for Donald and wish him the best of luck on his campaign,” she said. “Incidentally, I think he would make an incredible president,” Ivana Trump, who divorced her husband in 1992, added.

Late Monday night, The Daily Beast published a report about Donald Trump's ex-wife Ivana and her accusations against her former husband. In a deposition from their divorce, revealed in a book published in 1993, Ivana accused the real estate mogul and now Republican presidential candidate of “violent assault" and "rape," though not in the "criminal sense." *snip* "I will make sure that you and I meet one day while we’re in the courthouse. And I will take you for every penny you still don’t have. And I will come after your Daily Beast and everybody else that you possibly know,”...

Donald Trump has surged to the lead in the New Hampshire GOP presidential primary and virtually erased Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s advantage in the Iowa caucuses, according to new NBC News/Marist polls released Sunday. In Iowa, Walker still tops the field with 19 percent, the poll shows — only two points ahead of Trump, who garners 17 percent. Interviews for the poll began on July 14 — the day after the Walker campaign’s launch event in Wisconsin. The only other candidate in double digits is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, at 12 percent. Those lagging behind include a number of...

Real estate mogul and 2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump is ahead of his fellow Republican contenders in another national survey on the field. Mr. Trump was the first choice of 19 percent of GOP primary voters, followed closely by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at 17 percent in the poll released Monday by the Democratic-leaning firm Public Policy Polling. Next was former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 12 percent, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida at 10 percent apiece and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 8 percent. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly...

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) leads a new CNN/ORC poll of the Republican presidential horserace as second-place finisher former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) continues to fall from a large lead earlier this year. Rubio snagged 14 percent of Republican voters, enough for a slim 1-point lead over Bush, a fellow Floridian. Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) and Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) follow with 10 percent, ahead of Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who each grabbed 8 percent.

Weakening ratings for Hillary Clinton present opportunities for her potential Republican opponents, even as their own contest morphs into an all-out free-for-all, with Jeb Bush surrendering his frontrunner status in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll. -snip- Bush, at the same time, has even greater difficulties with personal favorability than Clinton, and a far weaker home base. He’s lost 11 points in support for the nomination among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents who are registered to vote, from a front-running 21 percent in March to 10 percent now, smack alongside Scott Walker and Rand Paul (11 percent apiece) and Marco Rubio...

Ahead of a major gathering of Republican presidential hopefuls in New Hampshire later this week, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has put some distance between himself and the rest of the field, leading by 10 points against his nearest competitor in a new poll on the Granite State. Mr. Walker is the top presidential choice for 24 percent of GOP primary voters, according to the poll out Wednesday from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling. Next was Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 14 percent, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky at 12 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 10...

Open vast expanses of water along Atlantic coastline, north coast of Alaska, eastern Gulf of Mexico to drilling for first time...

PARIS, France (CNN) -- Former first lady Laura Bush praised the performance of her husband's successor Monday, breaking with many Republicans in telling CNN that she thinks President Obama is doing a good job under tough circumstances.

The Obama administration is developing an initiative to take money from the $700 billion program for the banking system and make it available to millions of small businesses, which officials say are essential to any economic recovery because they employ so many people, according to sources familiar with the plan. The new effort -- which would represent a striking shift from the rescue program's original mandate -- would direct billions of bailout dollars toward a program that aims more at saving jobs than righting the financial system. A proposal being floated by senior Treasury Department officials calls for using the...