Independent journalist and former CNN anchor Don Lemon speaks outside of a Los Angeles courthouse after he was criminally charged in connection with a protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
January 30, 2026
What 3 million new documents tell us about Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein
January 31, 2026
The release of many more records from Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein is revealing more about what investigators knew of his sexual abuse of young girls and his interactions with the rich and powerful such as Donald Trump and Bill Clinton
January 30, 2026
Fact check: Trump twice promotes phony claim that Walmart is closing 250 California stores
January 29, 2026
President Donald Trump is threatening Canada with a 50% tariff on any aircraft sold in the U.S., the latest salvo in his trade war with America’s northern neighbor as his feud with Prime Minister Mark Carney expands
January 29, 2026
President Donald Trump is suing the IRS and Treasury Department for $10 billion
January 30, 2026
When officials lie time and again, people don’t know what to trust. And when this happens, citizens cannot deliberate, approve or dissent coherently, because a shared world no longer exists.
January 27, 2026
Prize-winning composer Philip Glass has canceled the world premiere of his symphony about Abraham Lincoln at the Kennedy Center
January 27, 2026
When the Supreme Court granted an unusually quick hearing over President Donald Trump’s tariffs, a similarly fast resolution seemed possible
January 28, 2026
Amy Klobuchar says she's running for governor of Minnesota
January 29, 2026
President Donald Trump is making a big pitch in Iowa as the White House tries to focus on affordability ahead of midterm elections despite fallout over his administration's immigration crackdown
January 27, 2026
Russian authorities use various strategies to recruit new troops to replenish its supply of soldiers for its nearly 4-year-old full-scale invasion of Ukraine
January 27, 2026
Chris Madel, a Republican running for Minnesota governor, ends his bid and criticizes ICE
January 26, 2026
Zohran Mamdani’s first NYC snowstorm becomes a major governing test
January 23, 2026
How a Minneapolis federal building’s namesake is inspiring resistance to the ICE actions happening inside
January 23, 2026
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has voted to rescind its guidance on workplace harassment
January 22, 2026
NATO’s Mark Rutte emerges as Trump whisperer-in-chief after dramatic about-face at Davos
January 22, 2026
Trump says Board of Peace meant to oversee Gaza reconstruction ‘might’ replace UN
January 20, 2026
Divisions have emerged over U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace as its ambitions have grown beyond Gaza
January 21, 2026
Michelle Obama explains her comments that the US wasn’t ready for a female president
January 21, 2026
Although she’s the world’s reigning pop star, attitudes toward Swift are split markedly along both partisan and gender lines.
January 21, 2026
Israeli settlers are celebrating the inauguration of a new settlement in the West Bank on land where Israel and the U.S. once hoped to build a hospital for Palestinian children
January 20, 2026
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, are expecting their fourth child
January 20, 2026
Even some Trump advisers are wary of a military pursuit of Greenland. Is an off-ramp possible?
January 19, 2026
Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter says the holiday honoring her father's legacy is a “saving grace” amid political division
January 18, 2026
CNN's Nick Watt reports on The Lead.
January 16, 2026
Republican Congressman Mike Flood joins The Lead.
January 16, 2026
President Donald Trump has made lots of promises during the first year of his second term in the White House
January 17, 2026
Social media users are falsely claiming that Enrique Tarrio, a former Proud Boys leader, is working as an officer for the federal agency
January 16, 2026
Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams is facing questions about the launch of a new cryptocurrency token, which he claims will help support efforts to end antisemitism and anti- Americanism
January 15, 2026
International journalists have been flocking to Greenland's capital, Nuuk during the geopolitical crisis triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump's desire to control the island
January 15, 2026
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is trying to project political influence even as his term nears its end
January 15, 2026
U.S., Danish and Greenlandic officials have met face to face to discuss President Donald Trump’s ambitions to take control of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark
January 15, 2026
The two leaders fighting for Venezuela’s future – and for Trump’s favor
January 15, 2026
Senate Republicans have voted to dismiss a war powers resolution that would have limited President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks on Venezuela
January 14, 2026
President Donald Trump has claimed control of Venezuela, escalated threats to seize Greenland and increased immigration raids in the U.S. These actions have created turmoil as voters prepare for midterm elections that will determine control of Congress
January 14, 2026
In a letter to GOP Rep. James Comer, the Clintons' attorneys claim that the subpoenas are invalid and meant to embarrass and harass the former president and secretary of state. Jeffrey Toobin explains why he is skeptical of the Clintons' argument.
January 13, 2026
Restricting academic freedom is often thought of in terms of universities telling professors what they can and cannot do or teach. But that isn’t the only scenario.
January 14, 2026
Beirut’s Commodore Hotel, once a hub for foreign journalists during Lebanon’s civil war, has closed amid the country’s economic crisis
January 14, 2026
The House gave approval to legislation aimed at loosening water efficiency regulations for showerheads
January 13, 2026
Trump steps up pressure campaign to avoid rare Congress reprimand on war powers
January 13, 2026
Elizabeth Warren says Democrats need to ‘read the room’ on the economy
January 12, 2026
British-born Thomas Paine helped inspire the 13 English colonies to declare independence and form the United States of America
January 10, 2026
Republican Congressman Don Bacon joins The Lead.
January 06, 2026
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is running for a second term in the pivotal battleground state after a first term that put him on the Democratic Party’s radar as a potential presidential contender in 2028
January 08, 2026
Newsom contrasts California ‘blueprint’ with Trump’s ‘carnival of chaos’ in final state of state address
January 08, 2026
Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords returned to the House floor on the 15th anniversary of the assassination attempt that ended her political career
January 08, 2026
Lebanon says first phase of plan to disarm Hezbollah completed, but Netanyahu warns progress ‘far from sufficient’
January 08, 2026
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro launches his reelection bid with bigger plans in mind
January 08, 2026
Opposition supporters have long hoped their leaders could replace Nicolás Maduro as Venezuela's president
January 07, 2026
White House rewrites January 6 history and blames police for deadly attack on 5-year anniversary
January 06, 2026
Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans still face deportation from US after Maduro capture
January 07, 2026
A suburban Phlladelphia shop selling President Donald Trump-themed merchandise that became a magnet for die-hard supporters announced it’s closing its doors, six years after opening
January 06, 2026
Will Amy Klobuchar run for Minnesota governor? ‘I’m seriously considering it,’ she says
January 05, 2026
Trump’s ‘ammunition’ for House GOP to win the midterms involves lots of grievances
January 06, 2026
On the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, there is no official event to memorialize what happened
January 06, 2026
CNN's David Culver sees massive crowds building up in Doral, Florida, outside of Miami, a place where there are a lot of Venezuelans celebrating President Nicolas Maduro's capture Saturday.
January 03, 2026
President Donald Trump said Saturday that the US is “going to run” Venezuela in the immediate aftermath of President Nicolás Maduro's capture. Trump did not offer a timeline for how long he anticipated such a transition of power would take.
January 04, 2026
Zohran Mamdani took the oath of office at a private ceremony inside an abandoned subway station. The 34-year-old became the first South Asian mayor of New York.
January 01, 2026
In Rama Duwaji’s New York, everyone is entitled to a little glamour
January 02, 2026
Incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is making history not only as the city's first mayor to take the oath of office on a Quran but also as the first Muslim, South Asian, and African-born mayor
January 01, 2026
Ukrainian forces under ‘intense’ pressure in south, as troop shortage bites
January 01, 2026
President Donald Trump says he’s dropping — for now — his push to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon
December 31, 2025
UAE says it will withdraw its remaining forces in Yemen after Saudi Arabia struck port city
December 30, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump continues to claim he has ended eight wars this year, but that is exaggerated
December 29, 2025
More House seats are opening up as more members announce their upcoming departures
December 08, 2025
French Girl Chic or right-wing pin-up? The complicated style legacy of Brigitte Bardot
December 29, 2025
Zohran Mamdani has promised to transform New York City government when he becomes mayor
December 29, 2025
President Donald Trump says Ukraine and Russia are “closer than ever before” to a peace deal, but he acknowledges that negotiations could still break down and leave the war dragging on for years
December 28, 2025
A reform-minded mayor is taking over New York at a time of progress and stability for the NYPD
December 27, 2025
Karoline Leavitt announces she is pregnant with her second child
December 26, 2025
‘It’s perpetuated this news cycle’: Frustration mounts in Trump’s orbit about messaging on latest Epstein documents
December 24, 2025
President Donald Trump’s newly appointed envoy to Greenland says the Republican administration is looking to begin a conversation with residents of the semi-autonomous Danish territory about the best way forward for the strategically important island
December 23, 2025
A judge has scolded Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidant Ghislaine Maxwell for including confidential victim names in court papers seeking to set aside her 2021 sex trafficking conviction and free her from a 20-year prison sentence
December 22, 2025
What to know so far about the Justice Department’s release of Epstein files — and what questions remain
December 22, 2025
Hasan Piker wants to stream less in 2026
December 21, 2025
At Turning Point’s annual gathering, young conservatives fret about the future
December 20, 2025
The Department of Justice has released some of its records related to its investigations of Jeffrey Epstein
December 19, 2025
Justice Department tried to bring a third felony charge against Letitia James
December 18, 2025
Fact check: Trump repeats numerous false claims in prime-time address
December 18, 2025
Former University of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron is ending his short-lived campaign for lieutenant governor of Alabama
December 17, 2025
Norman Podhoretz, a leading neo-conservative and the former editor of Commentary magazine, has died
December 17, 2025
Marjorie Taylor Greene warns the ‘dam is breaking’ in the GOP and slams Trump for being tone deaf on multiple issues
December 17, 2025
Marjorie Taylor Greene announces engagement to pro-Trump media figure
December 16, 2025
Trump and Biden have issued pardons at a faster clip than their predecessors. Many of their decisions appear to have been political or personal in nature.
December 15, 2025
Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest have announced a final list of 35 countries that will take part in the glitzy pop-music gala next year
December 15, 2025
Brian Jack is a first-term Republican congressman from Georgia, but he's become a key figure in the Oval Office
December 14, 2025
Tariffs are taxes on imports, but the costs don’t stay at the border.
December 11, 2025
Having stable access to nutritious food sets children up for better mental and physical health into adulthood.
November 14, 2025
The deeply personal reasons why many Indiana Senate Republicans said no to Trump
December 12, 2025
In a resounding rejection of a pressure campaign from the White House, Indiana Republican Senators voted down a new congressional map created to give the GOP an advantage in the upcoming 2026 election
December 11, 2025
The Senate has rejected legislation to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits, essentially guaranteeing that millions of Americans will see a steep rise in costs at the beginning of the year
December 11, 2025
Trump isn’t to blame for affordability woes. Neither is Biden
December 11, 2025
As President Donald Trump announced a $12 billion farm aid package this week to help U.S. farmers hurt by tariffs, he placed responsibility for the U.S. agricultural trade deficit on former President Joe Biden
December 11, 2025
Kamala Harris is extending her book tour in 2026 and hitting politically important territory
December 10, 2025
The hardest bed he ever felt: Former French president recounts his 20 days behind bars
December 10, 2025
Almost eight years later, Trump confirms he used the phrase ‘shithole countries’
December 10, 2025
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy describes his time behind bars in a book released Wednesday
December 10, 2025
A gerrymandering battle is spreading among states after President Donald Trump pushed for new U.S. House districts ahead of next year's elections
December 01, 2025
Populist billionaire Andrej Babiš has been sworn in as the Czech Republic’s new prime minister following October’s parliamentary election
December 09, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court seems likely to expand presidential control over independent federal agencies, signaling support for President Donald Trump’s firing of board members
December 08, 2025
CNN's Whitney Wild reports for The Lead.
December 07, 2025
A year on from the ousting of Assad, Syrians remember the pain but rejoice at their freedom
December 08, 2025
The new film highlights how the tribunal broke ground – and where it fell short – raising enduring questions about complicity, morality and whether humanity can ever truly judge its worst crimes.
December 08, 2025
Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry go Instagram official
December 08, 2025
Inside Trump’s transformation of the Kennedy Center
December 06, 2025
Iran will play at least one World Cup match in the United States, though a group-stage clash with the U.S. was avoided in Friday's draw
December 05, 2025
The World Cup draw takes place Friday, featuring four debuting teams: Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan
December 04, 2025
FIFA World Cup Draw: Everything you need to know
December 05, 2025
Rank-and-file Republicans in the House are increasingly going public with anger towards their leadership
December 04, 2025
A special congressional election in Tennessee this week highlights the power and consequences of partisan gerrymandering
December 04, 2025
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday confirmed he held a "respectful and cordial" phone call with U.S.
December 03, 2025
U.S.
December 02, 2025
The Lebanese army has intensified efforts along the border with Israel, focusing on areas that were once Hezbollah strongholds
November 28, 2025
Trump pushes long-running attack on Biden autopen use, claiming he’s ‘cancelling’ actions signed with it
November 28, 2025
Republican U.S. Representative Troy Nehls announced on Saturday that he would not seek reelection for another term in Congress.
November 29, 2025
U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls says he will retire from Congress after his term ends in 2026 to focus on family
November 30, 2025
Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia remains in "very critical" condition at a Dhaka hospital, her party said on Sunday, as her self-exiled son and
November 30, 2025
From White House adviser to Trump’s handpicked prosecutor: 63 days with Lindsey Halligan
November 30, 2025
Republicans in Indiana's House of Representatives have introduced a new congressional map that could net the GOP two more U.S. House seats, sweeping all nine of the state's seats
December 01, 2025
Russia claims to have captured key city of Pokrovsk, as Ukraine dismisses Moscow’s ‘loud statements’ ahead of Witkoff talks
December 01, 2025
The message behind Putin’s camouflage-clad claim of victory in a key Ukrainian city
December 02, 2025
Switzerland will vote on a proposed wealth tax on Sunday that will be a litmus test of appetite for wealth redistribution in one of the world's richest countries.
November 28, 2025
Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau have announced a new junta leader, cementing a forceful takeover of power that began after a disputed presidential election and led to deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló departing for neighboring Senegal
November 27, 2025
The party of Pakistan's jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan demanded a meeting with him on Thursday, saying it was worried about his health as he has been
November 27, 2025
U.S.
November 27, 2025
Federal judges have allowed North Carolina to use a redrawn congressional map designed to give Republicans an additional U.S. House seat
November 26, 2025
Moldova summoned Russia's ambassador on Wednesday to complain about the latest intrusion of drones into its airspace and urged Moscow to take measures to prevent further instances.
November 26, 2025
A Peruvian court on Wednesday sentenced former President Martin Vizcarra to 14 years in prison after finding him guilty of taking bribes years before he took office,
November 26, 2025
President Donald Trump brought insults and grievances to the traditional Thanksgiving turkey pardoning ceremony at the White House
November 25, 2025
President Donald Trump and his supporters cast their domestic opponents as disloyal, traitorous or worse, rather than seeing dissent as part of democracy.
November 26, 2025
France and Germany are ratcheting up pressure on their industrial champions to rescue Europe's next-generation fighter
November 25, 2025
The leaders of the European countries supporting Ukraine, the so-called coalition of the willing, on Tuesday insisted to keep pressuring Russia with sanctions in a video call with
November 25, 2025
Amy McGrath joins The Lead.
November 24, 2025
French pollster Odoxa predicted for the first time that 30-year-old far-right leader Jordan Bardella would win the next presidential election, scheduled in 2027, no matter who his
November 25, 2025
See where abortion is banned and legal — and where it’s still in limbo
November 06, 2023
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is standing by his past criticisms that President Donald Trump acted like a despot and a fascist
November 23, 2025
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and senior ministry officials will present Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later on Sunday with the state budget and planned structural
November 23, 2025
New Yorkers praise Zohran Mamdani’s charm offensive on Trump, say they remain cautiously optimistic
November 22, 2025
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia says she is resigning from Congress in January
November 21, 2025
Bangladesh plans to execute its former leader. There’s one big thing in the way: India
November 22, 2025
Trump and Mamdani bond over affordability issues, love of New York and winning in collegial Oval Office meeting
November 21, 2025
Global ratings agency Moody's on Friday upgraded Italy's sovereign rating to "Baa2" from "Baa3", citing the country's consistent track record of political and policy stability.
November 21, 2025
A Democratic lawmaker who served on Donald Trump’s National Security Council in his first term urged the White House on Friday to release a transcript of
November 21, 2025
NAFTA and the decline of American community have created a new path for mayors of small and midsized cities to reach national office.
November 21, 2025
‘Volume up’: Trump set to host Mamdani at the White House
November 21, 2025
China is the real regional "troublemaker", a senior Taiwanese security official said on Friday, personally giving out copies of a new civil defence handbook the
November 21, 2025
Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees say the Trump administration is undermining the nation's spy services
November 20, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were not invited to Thursday's funeral service for former Vice President Dick Cheney, according to a White House official.
November 20, 2025
The chief of Russia's general staff told President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that Russian forces had taken control of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, but Ukraine's
November 20, 2025
Russia's defence ministry released video on Thursday showing its soldiers moving freely through the southern part of the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, patrolling deserted streets lined
November 20, 2025
Democrats are debating how to approach the new Marjorie Taylor Greene
November 20, 2025
The U.S. House is back in session after a multi-week hiatus
November 20, 2025
Trump says he’ll meet with NYC Mayor-elect Mamdani on Friday in the Oval Office
November 20, 2025
President Donald Trump says he will meet with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in Washington later this week
November 20, 2025
New Orleans may be next as immigration enforcement expands in North Carolina. Here’s what we know
November 19, 2025
Jessica Tisch accepts Zohran Mamdani’s offer to remain New York police commissioner
November 19, 2025
An Indiana lawmaker who who has yet to make a decision on whether to back President Donald Trump’s push to have Republicans redraw the state’s congressional boundaries was the victim of a swatting call that brought sheriff’s deputies to his home
November 17, 2025
Ro Khanna explains how he helped engineer the vote that ‘ripped MAGA apart’
November 19, 2025
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it regretted Warsaw's decision to close Russia's last operating consulate in Poland, in Gdansk, a move it said showed a lack of common sense.
November 19, 2025
President Donald Trump is finding that redistricting his way to a GOP House majority in next year's midterms is a lot harder than it sounds
November 19, 2025
Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was at the White House on Tuesday as President Donald Trump hosted a glitzy dinner to honor Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
November 18, 2025
The commission that oversees Alabama Public Television voted to continue paying its contract with PBS
November 18, 2025
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary and current Harvard professor Larry Summers says he'll step back from public commitments after the release of emails showing he maintained a friendly relationship with Jeffrey Epstein long after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl
November 18, 2025
U.S.
November 18, 2025
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan will hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Ankara on Wednesday, a Turkish foreign ministry source said on Tuesday.
November 18, 2025
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy plans to visit Turkey this week to revive talks on ending Russia's invasion, which began nearly four years ago
November 18, 2025
FBI and Justice Department struggle to beat back conspiracies their leaders once fanned
November 18, 2025
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani says he hopes to meet with President Donald Trump to find ways the political polar opposites can work together on the central focus of his winning campaign: affordability
November 17, 2025
A Bangladesh court sentenced ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death on Monday, concluding a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led
November 17, 2025
Several crude bombs exploded in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka on Sunday, police said, heightening tensions ahead of a verdict on Monday in a case against ousted former Prime Minister
November 16, 2025
CNN's KFILE unearths new and incredibly revealing details about Jeffrey Epstein and his opinions of Donald Trump.
November 14, 2025
Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene accused U.S.
November 15, 2025
President Donald Trump was
November 15, 2025
President Donald Trump has announced the removal of U.S. tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruits and other commodities
November 14, 2025
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to get rid of tariffs on a broad swath of commodities, including beef, coffee and tropical fruits
November 14, 2025
The U.S.
November 14, 2025
Israel has returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza, according to officials at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis
November 14, 2025
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday dismissed a German general's comments about the possibility of conflict between Moscow and Germany as baseless fear-mongering.
November 14, 2025
The rush to redraw America's congressional maps has put a historically Black neighborhood in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and a mostly white farming community 100 miles away in the same district
November 14, 2025
Russia on Thursday proposed its own draft of a U.N. resolution on Gaza in a challenge to a U.S. effort to pass its own text at the Security
November 13, 2025
Families and staff who rely on the federal preschool program Head Start may have to wait even longer to return to their centers even though the 43-day government shutdown ended Wednesday night
November 13, 2025
Federal workers are expressing relief and frustration as the longest government shutdown has come to an end
November 13, 2025
Pakistan said on Thursday Afghan nationals carried out two deadly suicide bombings in its territory this week, amid sharpening tensions between the South Asian
November 13, 2025
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Ukraine would have to negotiate with Russia "sooner or later" and predicted that Kyiv's negotiating position would get worse by the day.
November 13, 2025
The longest government shutdown in history has come to an end, with almost no one happy with the final result
November 12, 2025
Epstein mentioned Trump multiple times in private emails, new release shows
November 12, 2025
The White House said on Wednesday that October jobs and inflation data reports might never be released as a consequence of the government shutdown.
November 12, 2025
The Senate voted 60-40 on Sunday on a key step toward reopening the government. CNN's Manu Raju reports on the latest move.
November 10, 2025
Prosecutors in the case of a man charged with killing a top Minnesota Democratic lawmaker and her husband say they've turned over a massive amount of evidence to the defense
November 12, 2025
Israel’s defense minister said on Wednesday he planned to close publicly funded Army Radio in what he described as an attempt to preserve the military’s nonpartisan character, but the
November 12, 2025
How the Trump administration seeks to ‘weaponize’ the White House website to troll Democrats and amplify its message
November 12, 2025
South Korea will co-sponsor an annual U.N. resolution that raises concerns over North Korea's human rights situation, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday, defying
November 12, 2025
Trump floats $2,000 tariff rebate checks. What you need to know
November 10, 2025
Politicians get blamed for government shutdowns. But does the fault lie also with citizens, who are more invested in punishing partisan rivals than in demanding competent government?
November 10, 2025
Trump administration flies 10-year-old back from Cuba amid custody fight involving gender identity
Vaccines, budget cuts and affordability: Takeaways from RFK Jr’s gauntlet of congressional hearings
US health officials nix publication of a study on COVID vaccine effectiveness
Man City top of Premier League as Haaland's winner relegates Burnley
Gov. Tim Walz to release 'Good Neighbors,' inspired by ICE surge in Minnesota and the pushback
Line drive gets lodged in Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert's jersey
3-year-old girl reunited with beloved stuffed animal lost at Boston Marathon