• Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT) calls in at 6:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform.

• Humorist Charlie Pierce , author of “Idiot America” calls in at 7:30am Pacific to riff on the news of the day.

• Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) calls in at 8:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform.

• Health care legislation heading to the Senate floor will give millions of Americans the option of purchasing government-run insurance coverage, Majority Leader Harry Reid announced yesterday. Reid said individual states would have the choice of opting out of the program.

• The government will release figures this week expected to show that the economy has emerged from its recession and is in the early stages of recovery. But the following week, the government will issue another set of figures expected to show unemployment continuing to rise toward and possibly above a clearly recessionary 10 percent.

• An al-Qaida linked group claimed responsibility for the twin suicide bombings in the heart of Baghdad that killed at least 155 people ahead of January’s elections.

• Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) calls in at 6:30am Pacific to talk about the need for health care reform.

• Dr. Mike Newcomb of KPHX-AM 1480 in Phoenix calls in at 7:30am to talk about his personal experience with the health care system.

• Howard Kurtz, media writer for “The Washington Post,” calls in at 8:30am to talk about CNN’s ban against talk show hosts, and the media’s coverage of health care town hall meetings.

• The White House sought to reassure jittery supporters yesterday that President Obama is not abandoning the fight for a public health insurance option. The assurance came amid a media firestorm ignited over the weekend by administration officials seeming to indicate a willingness to drop such an option in order to secure congressional approval of a health care reform bill.

• President Obama took a brief hiatus from his health care push on Monday, promising increased help for America’s war veterans in dealing with life after combat. Obama, speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Phoenix, said his government will always honor military service and never abandon what he called true American heroes.

• Hurricane Bill blew toward land early today, edging closer to the West Indies with near 100 mph winds and the potential for developing into a major hurricane.