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(CNN) - The family of former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens offered its prayers to those on the plane that crashed in Alaska, the senator's former chief of staff said Tuesday, amid reports that Stevens was on the plane.
The chief of staff said he could not confirm that Stevens was a passenger on the plane.
The Anchorage Daily News is reporting that friends of Stevens believe he was on board. Reuters news agency says he was on board but it's unclear if he survived.
(CNN) – As Newt Gingrich continues to signal his intention to run for president in 2012, his ex-wife says she finds it inconceivable the former Republican House Speaker has any chance of winning the White House.
"There's no way," Marianne Gingrich tells Esquire Magazine in a profile of the ex-Republican leader posted on the magazine's website Tuesday. "He could have been president. But when you try and change your history too much, and try and recolor it because you don't like the way it was or you want it to be different to prove something new ... you lose touch with who you really are. You lose your way."
But Marianne, who was married to Gingrich from 1981-1999, says her former husband might just have the right mentality to launch a White House bid, even if victory is far-fetched.
"He believes that what he says in public and how he lives don't have to be connected," she tells the magazine. "If you believe that, then yeah, you can run for president."
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(CNN) –Former World Wrestling Entertainment executive Linda McMahon won Connecticut's GOP Senate primary on Tuesday, setting up a general election face off against the state's attorney general.
With 58 percent of the vote in, McMahon had a 19-point lead over former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons. McMahon, along with her husband Vince, operated World Wrestling Entertainment from its startup in 1980 until last year, when she announced her candidacy.
Connecticut was one of four states holding key Senate or gubernatorial primaries Tuesday, including Georgia and Colorado, where endorsements brought pre-voting drama. Full story
Updated – 12:30 a.m.
(CNN) – Levi Johnston wants to run for Sarah Palin's former job – with cameras watching him at every step.
Stone & Company Entertainment confirmed to CNN that it is actively shopping a show that will feature Johnston seeking his former almost-mother-in-law's old post as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
The show, to be called "Loving Levi: The Road to the Mayor's Office," will feature the trials and tribulations of America's most famous teen dad as he enters the world of politics while continuing to dabble in Hollywood, Stone also confirmed.
First reported by Variety, the company confirms it is already shooting the pilot and is shopping it to several networks.
Denver, Colorado (CNN) - President Obama and former President Bill Clinton are on opposite sides of a divisive Democratic Senate primary and a former pro-wrestling executive could take a big step toward winning election to the Senate - those are just two of the storylines as Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia and Minnesota hold primary contests Tuesday.
In Colorado, incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet is battling for his political life as he faces a primary challenge from former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff. Bennet was plucked out of political obscurity early last year when Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter named him to replace then-Sen. Ken Salazar, who stepped down to serve as interior secretary in the Obama administration. Bennet was superintendent of the Denver school system at the time.
As sitting senator, Bennet has the backing and help of the national party and the White House. Obama headlined a fundraiser for Bennet in Colorado early this year and last month he recorded a robocall and sent out an e-mail in support of the senator.
But Romanoff has his own big-name endorsement. Earlier this summer Clinton announced he was backing Romanoff, whom he's known since 1992. Romanoff also supported Hillary Clinton's 2008 Democratic presidential bid. Clinton's voice appears on a robocall urging Colorado Democrats to vote for Romanoff.
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Editor's Note: In the final 100 days before Election Day, CNN has been profiling one race at random each day from among the nation's top 100 House races, which we've dubbed "The CNN 100." Read the full list here. Today's featured district is:
Nebraska 2nd – Rep. Lee Terry is seeking a 7th term Primary: May 4, 2010 Location: Omaha area Days until Election Day: 84
Democrats in Nebraska's 2nd district hope to pull off the kind of upset here in 2010 that President Obama did in 2008.
In the last presidential election, the Obama campaign invested resources in Omaha and the surrounding area and managed to carry the district 50 percent to 49 percent. The victory was a narrow one, but because Nebraska awards some electoral votes to the winners of individual congressional districts, Obama won one of the state's five electoral votes.
(CNN) - Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, who is under investigation by the House ethics committee, said Tuesday she has not been given due process and she "will not be a sacrificial lamb for anyone."
The congresswoman is alleged to have helped steer federal bailout money to a bank in which her husband had a financial stake.
In a radio interview with CNN contributor Roland S. Martin on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Waters said she is "not guilty of any violations" and she "want[s] to go to trial."
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world.
WASHINGTON/POLITICAL For the latest political news: www.CNNPolitics.com
CNN: Gates proposes cutting Joint Forces command from defense budget Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced some far-reaching proposals Monday for restructuring the massive budget at his agency, including getting rid of the U.S. Joint Forces Command. The cuts could mean a loss of up to 3,000 jobs.
CNN: House returns from summer break for state-funding bill vote The House of Representatives - back in town during its summer recess - is expected to vote Tuesday will on a $26 billion package designed, in part, to help avoid teacher layoffs.