Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the ramifications of the NBA’s Donald Sterling situation

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about what the GOP would do if they took over the Senate

Schechner• Health care reform expert Jacki Schechner joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for “Jacki’s Healthcare Corner”

• Democratic legislation to raise the federal minimum wage hit a road block Wednesday when Republicans blocked the bill in the Senate, setting up an election-year battle over which party can best grow the economy and help struggling Americans.

• Some NBA owners are prepared to tell Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling that he must sell the team in response to racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he would call on the owners to vote to force Sterling to sell the team.

• An apparent natural gas explosion at a jail in the Florida Panhandle killed two inmates and injured as many as 150 inmates and corrections officers, officials say.

• Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will take a leave of absence to seek help for substance abuse, his lawyer said Wednesday, as a national Canadian newspaper reported viewing of a new video of the embattled politician smoking what was described as crack.