Fmr. Pres. Bill Clinton has agreed to several concessions in Hillary Clinton’s vetting for Secretary of State.

(CNN) –- A major obstacle in Hillary Clinton’s path to becoming President-elect Barack Obama’s secretary of state may be out of the way, as former President Bill Clinton has made several concessions to help move his wife’s vetting process along.

A source familiar with the discussions between Sen. Clinton and the president-elect confirms to CNN that the former president will release the names of several major donors to the Clinton Foundation as well as submitting future foundation activities and paid speeches to a strict ethics review.

In addition, the former president is offering to step down from his day-to-day responsibilities at the foundation and inform the State Department of his speaking schedule and any new sources of income.

President Clinton’s international and financial dealings with his foundation and presidential library have been a sticking point with an Obama camp worried that Sen. Clinton’s position in the cabinet could create a potential conflict of interest as the country’s top diplomat.

Watch Wednesday's episode of CNN=Politics Daily, The Best Political Podcast from The Best Political Team.

(CNN) – A top enemy of the United States has weighed in on the next president.

In the latest episode of CNN=Politics Daily, Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr reports on a message that surfaced Wednesday that is purportedly from Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s second-in-command. The message insults President-elect Barack Obama using a derogatory term for African-Americans.

White House Correspondent Ed Henry reports from Chicago with the latest on the reaction from the Obama camp.

State Department Correspondent Zain Verjee also takes a look at how former President Bill Clinton’s business deals, speaking engagements, and views on foreign policy issues might impact his wife’s diplomatic work should she ultimately be named the next secretary of state.

Finally, watch Chief National Correspondent John King and several other familiar faces from CNN as they take part in The Daily Show’s spoof of CNN’s Magic Wall.

Click here to subscribe to CNN=Politics Daily.

Bill Clinton is campaigning in Georgia Wednesday.

(CNN) – Jim Martin gets some major league help today in his runoff election battle against freshman Republican senator from Georgia, Saxby Chambliss.  And the surrogate stumping with Martin today is Bill Clinton — about as big a name as you can get.

The former President will join Martin, a former Democratic Georgia state lawmaker, at a campaign event in Atlanta.

Martin and Chambliss face off in the runoff election on December 2 for the U.S. Senate seat Chambliss won six years ago. Chambliss won a plurality of the vote two weeks ago on Election Day, but Georgia state law calls for the winner to grab 50 percent plus one vote. Due to the inclusion of a third party candidate, Chambliss fell just shy of that threshold, forcing a runoff contest.

Former President Clinton is the first big name Democrat to campaign in person with Martin, although President-elect Obama has sent resources and workers from his presidential campaign to Georgia to help out. Clinton carried Georgia in 1992 in his first presidential election victory. He won re-election as President in 1996 but lost Georgia that year.

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Obama officials are looking into the former president's finances. (Getty Images)

CHICAGO (CNN) – Two Obama transition officials confirm they have begun taking a look at former President Bill Clinton’s finances and post-presidential dealings as part of the early vetting process into whether or not there’s any negative information to wave President-elect Barack Obama off from consideration of Sen. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.

The officials said the transition team is seeking unspecified records from the former president to get a better handle on issues related to his foundation work and presidential library to try and deal with potential conflicts of interest if Sen. Clinton is nominated for the post.

While the officials refused to say how quickly the information is being turned over, they are refuting a Politico report suggesting transition officials are exasperated by slow cooperation from the Clintons.

“That is just not true,” said one of the Obama transition officials.

Bill Clinton says his wife would make a great secretary of state.

(CNN) — Former President Bill Clinton is weighing in on the possibility of his wife becoming secretary of state, saying the New York senator would "be really great" in the post.

"She loves doing what she is doing. But if she decided — if he decided to ask her to do it and they did it together I think she'd be really great at being secretary of state," Clinton said Sunday during an economic conference in Kuwait hosted by the National Bank of Kuwait.

But the former president made clear his wife did not seek out a job offer.

"She worked very hard for his election after the primary fight they had and so did I and we were very glad that he won and we have a lot of confidence that he can do a good job. But she did not do what she did with the hope or expectation of getting any kind of job offer, much less getting this discussed," he said.

The New York senator is reportedly on Obama's shortlist for the position. Sources tell CNN New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is also in the running.

Clinton will hit the trail in Georgia Wednesday.

(CNN) — Three weeks before Georgia’s December 2 Senate runoff vote, former President Bill Clinton – the last Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state – will stump for his party’s candidate Jim Martin, locked in a tight race with incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss.

Clinton, who first visited the state for Martin last fall, will become the first high-profile Democrat to visit the state to campaign for the Senate challenger since Election Day.

The former president’s campaign event in Atlanta Wednesday will have an economic focus, according to Martin’s campaign.

Former Republican presidential nominee John McCain visited Georgia last week to campaign for Chambliss.

Hillary and Bill Clinton cast their votes Tuesday from Chappaqua, New York.

(CNN) — Speaking to reporters in Chappaqua, New York, Bill and Hillary Clinton emphasized the tall order facing Barack Obama if he wins the presidency, and reflected on parallels between this year's race and President Clinton's own 1992 run.

"It’s got a lot of parallels to 1992, in the sense that the economy is in trouble and all that," Bill Clinton said. "But the difference is that it’s coming after eight years, six of which had the Republicans in control of both the White House and the Congress."

"I think most people understand this is not just a choice between candidates –- it’s a choice between philosophies," He said. "That’s going to be the fundamental significance, and our party tomorrow will wake up with an enormous responsibility, but a profound responsibility."

Watch: Bill and Hillary Clinton cast their votes Tuesday

Hillary Clinton also conveyed confidence in the Democratic ticket and Party—emphasizing the vital need to work across party lines moving forward.

"It's going to be really hard, but I think everybody's up to the task and we're gonna roll up our sleeves and we're gonna get to work," said the New York senator.

"I think that the country will be well served. I'm not painting any rosy scenarios," she said. "It's going to be very difficult to dig ourselves out of the ditch that the Republicans are gonna leave us in, but we'll do it, and I'm very confident about that."

Sen. Obama and former President Clinton greet supporters in Harlem after their September meeting. (Photo Credit: Getty Images/File)

(CNN) – In yet another sign that Democrats are putting the contentious and hard-fought primary season behind them, former President Bill Clinton will campaign with Sen. Barack Obama for the first time in Florida on Wednesday, according to Matt McKenna of the Clinton Foundation.

Sen. Hillary Clinton will not attend the event but did recently campaign with Obama in Florida, a crucial battleground state that CNN currently considers a toss-up.

The Clintons also recently campaigned together with Sen. Joe Biden and Biden’s wife, Jill, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where both Joe Biden and Sen. Clinton have roots.

Obama met personally with former President Clinton in September at Clinton’s Harlem offices. Then, Clinton predicted that Obama would win in November “pretty handily.”

The Clintons and the Bidens campaigned together Sunday.

SCRANTON, Pennsylvania (CNN) – The most powerful couple in Democratic politics came out to campaign with Joe Biden on Sunday — the first joint rally the Clintons have done for the Obama-Biden ticket, and the first time Bill Clinton has campaigned with either of the nominees.

Both Clintons sung the praises of the Delaware senator to a crowd of 6,000, pointing to his accomplishments in his 35-year Senate career and to his roots in this hardscrabble Pennsylvania town that has become synonymous with the blue-collar working class electorate.

“If you had a secret ballot of all the Republicans and Democrats in the Congress,” said former President Bill Clinton, “and you asked them to put two or three names down of the people in the entire Congress who know the most about the economic, political and security challenges of America and the world, his name would be on every single secret ballot.”

Missing from much of Clinton’s eight-minute introduction was Barack Obama himself, the latest in a series of lukewarm statements of support from the former president. Clinton said he would spend the rest of his life thanking those who supported his wife in the primary, and said that she had done more to support Obama than any of the other Democratic runner-ups combined.

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Bill Clinton was back on the campaign trail Wednesday, holding two rallies in Florida. During both he voiced an enthusiastic endorsement of Barack Obama's candidacy. (Patrick Oppmann/CNN)

Watch: Clinton back on the trail

The McCain campaign is highlighting a recent Clinton interview in a new ad.

(CNN) — As he gears up to hit the campaign trail on behalf of Barack Obama later this week, former President Bill Clinton is the star of a new television ad — for John McCain.

Watch: New McCain ad features Bill Clinton

The Arizona senator's campaign is highlighting Clinton's remarks in an interview with ABC News last week during which he appeared to lay some of the blame of the current economic crisis on congressional Democrats.

"I think the responsibility that the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was president to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," Clinton said in the ABC News interview that is highlighted in the new McCain ad.

The announcer of the one-minute spot called "Rein" cites McCain's call for more regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago and said "Democrats blocked the reforms."

"Loans soared. Then, the bubble burst. And, taxpayers are on the hook for billions. Bill Clinton knows who is responsible," the announcer also says.

But in the same interview with ABC, Clinton also said it is important not to assign blame at this time for the current state of the economy: "We are where we are. I think the most important thing is we got two candidates for president saying 'lets try to minimize the partisan differences,'" he said. "We will have plenty of time later to look at who caused this and what mistakes were made."

Those comments did not make it into the McCain ad.

The ad comes days after some Democrats grumbled the former president appeared to be overly praiseworthy of the Arizona senator as the final stretch of the heated presidential campaign gets under way. In the same interview with ABC News, Clinton defended McCain's call to possibly push back the first debate, saying it was a pledge made in "good faith." He also later said the Arizona senator had taken the lead in his party when it comes to climate change.

Bill Clinton said he wasn't ready to call Obama a 'great man'.

(CNN)– Former President Bill Clinton was hesitant to characterize Barack Obama as a "great man" Sunday, a phrase he had no qualms using last week to describe Obama's rival John McCain.

Clinton told NBC's Tom Brokaw that it was only earlier this month in Harlem that he and Obama had their "first conversation." He said he had spoken with Obama before, but only in passing.

Clinton then explained what he meant in characterizing McCain as a "great man."

"I think his greatness is that he keeps trying to come back to service without ever asking people to cut him any slack or feel sorry for him or any of that stuff because he was a POW," Clinton said of the Republican presidential nominee.

Clinton, who successfully ran his own 1992 presidential campaign on the now commonly used phrase "it's the economy, stupid," said that he believed the current economic crisis "left [Obama] in a position of leadership that he's now in."

Clinton said he thought Obama "saw and imagined" how the economic situation could develop.

"And I think that the rest of us should admire that. That's a big part of leadership, being able to sense, as well as see the future," he said.

Clinton said he and Obama are developing a "really good relationship," and the Democratic nominee has the potential for greatness. Explaining, he said Obama has many personal accomplishments, but none that exemplify his greatness to the country.

"When he becomes president, he'll be doing things for the American people and for the world and he is-and the greatness will then become apparent because of the good he'll do…That's what I very much believe is going to happen."

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Clinton had kinds words for John McCain Thursday.

(CNN) – Bill Clinton has long pointed out he has enjoyed a good relationship with John McCain, but for a moment the former president almost sounded like a surrogate for the Republican presidential nominee Thursday morning.

Appearing on ABC's Good Morning America, Clinton said McCain's move to suspend his campaign and request a delay in the first presidential debate was a move done in "good faith," rather than as a stunt to halt falling poll numbers as several Democrats have alleged.

"I presume he did that in good faith since I know he wanted — I remember he asked for more debates to go all around the country and so I don't think we ought to overly parse that," Clinton said, sounding a familiar McCain Campaign talking point.

A few hours later Clinton lavished praise on McCain as he introduced him at the Clinton Global Initiative forum, saying Republican presidential nominee had taken the lead in his party when it comes to climate change.

"When most people in his party were thinking that global warming was overstated and maybe even a myth — he decided to look into it," he said.

The former president also described the two trips that McCain took with his wife Hillary Clinton, “the junior senator from New York," to look into the issue.

But Clinton has also been effusive in his praise for Obama in recent days, telling CBS earlier this week the Illinois senator is better-suited than McCain to bring the country out of the economic crisis.

Clinton's praise of McCain also came days after he told CNN's Larry King Live he was looking forward to campaigning on behalf of Barack Obama, but was not planning on "dumping" on McCain.

Watch: Bill Clinton praises Obama, Palin on Larry King

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Former Pres. Clinton weighs in on the White House race Wednesday night on Larry King Live.

(CNN) — Bill Clinton praised Sarah Palin Wednesday, saying he found the Alaska governor an “appealing person” and her and her family “gutsy, spirited and real.”

“I think that she and her husband and their kids come across gutsy, spirited and real,” he said in an interview to be broadcast Wednesday night. “I have significant disagreements with her about any number of social and economic issues but I find her an appealing person and I think that it’s best to say that Senator McCain looks like he knew what he was doing. He picked somebody who gave him a lot of energy, a lot of support.”

Clinton said Palin’s selection also helped Barack Obama, because it brought more Democratic money and volunteers to his campaign.

Watch: Clinton on Obama, Palin

Watch Larry King’s full interview with Clinton after Pres. Bush's 9pm address

Clinton told reporters in New York Monday he knows why the Alaska governor is attracting massive crowds on the campaign trail.

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Bill Clinton said Dems shouldn't attack Palin.

(CNN) — Bill Clinton said Monday the Democratic ticket should steer clear of launching personal attacks on Sarah Palin over her relatively thin resume, and instead acknowledge she was a "good choice" for the No. 2 spot on the GOP ticket.

"Why say, ever, anything bad about a person? Why don't we like them and celebrate them and be happy for her elevation to the ticket? And just say that she was a good choice for him and we disagree with them?" said Clinton, who faced repeated charges during the primary season he was overly negative toward Obama on the campaign trail.

Clinton's comments appear to echo advice Karl Rove gave to Barack Obama in his regular Wall Street Journal column last week, when the former Bush strategist noted attacking the VP candidate has rarely proven to be an effective strategy.

In one of the former president's few extended comments to date on Palin's surprise VP candidacy, Clinton also told reporters in New York Monday he knows why the Alaska governor is attracting massive crowds on the campaign trail.

"I come from Arkansas, I get why she's hot out there," Clinton told reporters in New York, according to the Associated Press. "Why she's doing well."

"People look at her, and they say, 'All those kids. Something that happens in everybody's family I'm glad she loves her daughter and she's not ashamed of her. Glad that girl's going around with her boyfriend. Glad they're going to get married,'" he said.

Referencing Palin's 5-month old child who has Down Syndrome, Clinton also said voters will think, "I like that little Down syndrome kid — one of them lives down the street, they're wonderful children.”

Earlier Monday, Clinton suggested his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, would have been a better political choice for the Democratic VP spot than Joe Biden.

“She would have been the best politically, at least in the short run, because of her enormous support of the country,“ he said on the daytime talk show The View.

Bill Clinton said Dems shouldn't attack Palin.

(CNN) — Bill Clinton said Monday the Democratic ticket should steer clear of launching personal attacks on Sarah Palin over her relatively thin resume, and instead acknowledge she was a "good choice" for the No. 2 spot on the GOP ticket.

"Why say, ever, anything bad about a person? Why don't we like them and celebrate them and be happy for her elevation to the ticket? And just say that she was a good choice for him and we disagree with them?" said Clinton, who faced repeated charges during the primary season he was overly negative toward Obama on the campaign trail.

Clinton's comments appear to echo advice Karl Rove gave to Barack Obama in his regular Wall Street Journal column last week, when the former Bush strategist noted attacking the VP candidate has rarely proven to be an effective strategy.

In one of the former president's few extended comments to date on Palin's surprise VP candidacy, Clinton also told reporters in New York Monday he knows why the Alaska governor is attracting massive crowds on the campaign trail.

"I come from Arkansas, I get why she's hot out there," Clinton told reporters in New York, according to the Associated Press. "Why she's doing well."

"People look at her, and they say, 'All those kids. Something that happens in everybody's family I'm glad she loves her daughter and she's not ashamed of her. Glad that girl's going around with her boyfriend. Glad they're going to get married,'" he said.

Referencing Palin's 5-month old child who has Down Syndrome, Clinton also said voters will think, "I like that little Down syndrome kid — one of them lives down the street, they're wonderful children.”

Earlier Monday, Clinton suggested his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, would have been a better political choice for the Democratic VP spot than Joe Biden.

“She would have been the best politically, at least in the short run, because of her enormous support of the country,“ he said on the daytime talk show The View.

(CNN) – Sitting on a couch shmoozing the ladies of The View on Monday, Bill Clinton said Hillary didn’t want to be Barack Obama’s running mate, but that she would have taken the job if she was asked.

“She would have been the best politically, at least in the short run, because of her enormous support [in] the country,“ Clinton said. “She said 'If he asks, I’ll do it because it’s my duty.'”

Clinton praised Biden and said he was a “good choice.” He said he had “no real opinion” on whether or not she should have been his running mate, but that the decision is personal and that he chose to stay out of it completely.

Clinton praised John McCain for his time spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and said the Arizona senator had been the only Republican candidate this year who could win the election, but predicted that Obama will win in November because of the state of the economy.

“I've made everyone in the world mad in this election,” Clinton said. “But I genuinely like both of them. I genuinely admire both of them. I think we make a terrible mistake believing we have to find something wrong with the people we can't vote for.”

When asked about Obama’s experience, Clinton said he was the same age as the Democratic nominee when he stepped into the Oval Office. He said he thinks both candidates are experienced enough to be president.

“Having been there, you could argue that no one is ever fully qualified to be president until you take it, because it’s such a unique job, you have to learn things as you go,” Clinton said. “But I think he is ready to be president, and I think McCain is ready to be president, I think you gotta decide which president you want.”

Sen. Obama met with former president Clinton in Harlem Thursday in their first extended sit-down meeting since Obama defeated Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

NEW YORK (CNN) — Former President Bill Clinton predicted Barack Obama will "win" this fall's election and "will win pretty handily.”

The two men chatted with reporters in a photo-op at Clinton's Harlem office before sitting down for a private lunch.

Clinton is scheduled to campaign for Obama in Florida later this month. According to aides, the former president will appear at a mix of fundraisers and campaign events on behalf of the Democratic ticket throughout the fall.

"We're putting him to work," said Obama.

Clinton said he’d "agreed to do a substantial number of things, whatever I'm asked to do.”

Obama smiled at Clinton's prediction that he would take the White House: "There you go, you can take it from the President of the United States. He knows a little something about politics."

The image of the two men meeting comes as a relief to many Democrats who have been hoping to put to rest the "Clinton-Obama rift" storyline. Both Clintons praised Obama in their convention speeches, but agreed a face-to-face meeting with the president was a necessary step in putting the contentious primary season behind both camps.

The two men were said to be dining on a mix of sandwiches, salads and pizza from the lunch chain Cosi.

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(CNN) — Former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama will campaign together in Florida later this month.

Bill Clinton will attend the September 11 memorial ceremony at Ground Zero, Thursday.

(CNN) – Bill Clinton will join Barack Obama and John McCain in visiting Ground Zero this Thursday in memory of the victims of September 11, and deliver a speech focused on national security threats.

“But just as we reflect on the past, we must look ahead to ensure we are doing all we can to support families, unite our communities, and protect our country from future acts of terrorism," said the former president in a statement released by his office.

The McCain and Obama campaigns released a joint statement over the weekend announcing that both men will appear together in New York to mark the seventh anniversary of the attacks. The campaigns have also pledged to abstain from all negative campaign ads on that day.

Also Thursday, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama will meet at the former president's Harlem offices — their first extended in-person encounter since the tense primary season.

(UPDATED to clarify McCain and Obama are visiting Ground Zero Thursday, but will not be at the memorial ceremony.)