John Mccain

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday signed the state's immigration bill into law. It is considered to be among the toughest legislation in the nation. What does the Arizona law do? Arizona's law orders immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there's reason to suspect they're in the United States illegally. It also targets those who hire illegal immigrant laborers or knowingly transport them. Are other states considering similar legislation?

Michael Dukakis, the 1988 Democratic nominee for president and former Massachusetts governor, appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" on Wednesday night, joining substitute host John King to talk about what the Democrats need to do to win the presidency in November. Some highlights: John King: Sen. [John] Edwards jumped into the fray today with that endorsement [of Barack Obama]. How about Gov. Dukakis? Michael Dukakis: Well, I made a decision I wasn't going to endorse. I like both of these candidates [Sens.

Sen. Barack Obama on Sunday tried to paint Sen. John McCain as a candidate who is out of touch with the middle class. Speaking about Friday's presidential debate, Obama accused McCain of not addressing working families. "We talked about the economy for 40 minutes, and not once did Sen. McCain talk about the struggles that middle class families are facing every day," Obama said at a campaign event in Detroit, Michigan. The economy took the lead in Friday night's presidential debate, as both candidates highlighted their plans to bring the United States out of what some are describing as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama introduced Sen. Joe Biden to the nation as his running mate Saturday, telling supporters that he is "a leader who is ready to step in and be president. " "For months, I've searched for a leader to finish this journey alongside me and join me in making Washington work for the American people. I searched for a leader who understood the rising costs confronting working people and will always put their dreams first," Obama said.

With less than a year to go till the Iowa caucus on February 6, 2012, the conventional wisdom is that President Obama is vulnerable, but there is no Republican who can beat him. In a new CNN poll, 26% of registered voters say they will definitely vote for Obama and 37% say they won't. If you add in those leaning one way or the other, it turns out that 47% will probably or definitely vote for Obama and 51% probably or definitely won't. What does a poll like this mean with more than 20 months to go to Election Day?

The son of an alcoholic who sold bootleg whiskey during Prohibition, Jerry Falwell was the father of a movement to restore America as God's country. Falwell died Tuesday at age 73. A big thinker from a small town, Falwell began humbly in Lynchburg, Virginia, with 35 members of his Thomas Road Baptist Church at its first Sunday worship service in 1952. The church became a mega-sanctuary with 24,000 worshippers today, according to the church Web site. His church's first offering was $135.

I have been involved in most of the presidential and vice presidential debates over the past 20 years. I've done debate prep, been a spin doctor, convened the greatest comedy writers in Hollywood in a one-liner factory, even played George W. Bush for Al Gore's practice debates. So now that I'm merely observing the debates as a CNN political analyst, I thought I'd offer our readers and the candidates my Top 10 rules for debates: 1. Debates are easy. It's a dirty little secret, but for all the hype, debates are easier than news conferences, town-hall meetings or in-depth, one-on-one interviews on Sunday morning television.

It's been almost two years since the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq came to light. This week, the logjam that thwarted congressional attempts to outlaw such abuses was broken -- thanks to one senator and his political Play of the Week. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, knows about torture. This year, he proposed an amendment to a defense bill that would ban cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of detainees. "We should do it ... because we're American and because we hold ourselves to humane standards of treatment no matter how evil or terrible they may be," McCain said on the Senate floor last month.

Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain joined CNN's Wolf Blitzer for an interview in "The Situation Room" on Wednesday. McCain spoke about the financial crisis, his plans for Social Security and the war in Iraq. The full transcript is below. WOLF BLITZER: Sen. McCain, thanks very much for joining us. SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-ARIZONA: Thank you for having me on, Wolf. BLITZER: Let's talk about Issue No. 1, as we call it, the economy. Colin Powell was pretty biting in his criticism.

Presidential candidates usually keep a low-profile during the other guy's convention, but not John McCain. He's trying here in his home state to stay relevant to what's happening in Denver at the Democratic National Convention. The strategy behind McCain skipping the usual R&R is pretty clear: The latest CNN/Opinion Research poll shows this race is much closer frankly than either side expected it to be in a sour year for Republicans, so Team McCain wants to keep the heat on Barack Obama.

HBO's new political docudrama "Game Change" isn't just any made-for-TV movie inspired by reality. The film explores the behind-the-scenes decision-making process that guided the 2008 McCain/Palin presidential ticket, and the human qualities of both candidates. Director Jay Roach ("Austin Powers," "Meet the Parents") didn't want to just rehash the story lines that dominated the news that fall. In addition to some of the widely publicized stories -- from the vetting process to the Katie Couric interview and the "Saturday Night Live" sketches -- "Game Change" shows how the campaign staffers, particularly Steve Schmidt (played by Woody Harrelson)

GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney's campaign stepped up its criticism of conservative challenger Rick Santorum on Friday, continuing to hit the former Pennsylvania senator on his spending record while in Congress. For his part, Santorum was slated to hold three "Faith, Family and Freedom" town hall meetings in New Hampshire, now four days from its first-in-the-nation primary. In addition, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul had events scheduled in the state. Romney holds a large lead in New Hampshire in most polls, which has resulted in high expectations for his performance next Tuesday.

"Saturday Night Live" alum Darrell Hammond was stabbed, beaten and subjected to electrical shocks by his mother during his childhood, which led to self-mutilation and hospitalizations during his later life and while he was performing on the hit TV show, he told CNN. "I was a victim of systematic and lengthy brutality," the comedic actor told CNN. "My mom did some things which have cost me dearly. " Hammond sat down with CNN for an interview for a CNN Comedy segment, but the tone shifted and it became clear that he had serious things to talk about.

In his first visit to Libya since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi, Sen. John McCain hailed that nation's revolution as the showcase for the so-called Arab Spring but acknowledged a tough road lay ahead. "The Libyan people have inspired the world," McCain said. "They have turned cynics into supporters. " But he cautioned that Libya's new leaders have "a lot of work to do" and will face challenges in unifying the nation as they move forward. McCain, the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, had been a strong proponent of increasing military stakes to oust Gadhafi.

Rep. Michele Bachmann won the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa last weekend -- and that may be the last good news she gets for a while. Texas Gov. Rick Perry's entry into the race overshadowed her decidedly narrow victory in Ames and the candidate herself in her hometown a day later, and might just turn the GOP primary fight into a two-person race with Bachmann on the outside. Let's start with the straw poll in which Bachmann was a clear favorite for a big win. Her campaign distributed 6,000 of the $30 tickets, the most of any competing Republican there.

As congressional budget cutters sharpen their axes and size up the Pentagon, the Army released a report Thursday admitting major problems with the way it dreams up, orders and pays for major weapons systems. The Army said it deserves credit for what it has achieved in a variety of programs, such as precision weapons, unmanned systems and mine-resistant vehicles. But its "white paper" on modernization said that too often in the past, technology, schedules and cost estimates have missed the targets.

As discussions swirled about its origins and impact, the U.S. forest service chief deemed a raging wildfire in southern Arizona as "the number one priority" for firefighters nationwide. "The conditions that we're dealing with here are as bad as we can get," said Tom Tidwell, head of the U.S. Forest Service, of the combination of high temperatures, low humidity, ample "fuel" and strong winds. "It just can't get any worse. " Gordon Van Vleet, a spokesman for the Joint Information Center, said that no cause has been determined for the so-called Monument fire, which has spread across the Huachuca Mountains and burned 20,956 acres as of Saturday afternoon.

The killing of Osama bin Laden raises many haunting questions. Here's the most important: Has our mission in Afghanistan become obsolete? To think through that question, start with a prior question: Why did we remain in Afghanistan after the overthrow of the Taliban? The usual answer to that question is: To prevent Afghanistan from re-emerging as a terrorist safe haven. There have always been a lot of problems with that answer. (For example: Does it really take 100,000 U.S. troops, plus allies, to prevent a country from becoming a terrorist safe haven?

Libyan opposition leaders received a major morale boost Friday as a top U.S. senator made a surprise visit to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and urged greater American involvement in the bloody campaign to oust longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi. The visit from Arizona Sen. John McCain came a day after the United States said it was deploying predator drones to Libya. McCain said the drones would increase NATO's capability in the war-torn North African country, but not enough to make up a shortfall in assets needed to break a "significant degree of stalemate.