• Former Olympic figure skater and cancer survivor Scott Hamilton calls in at 7:30am Pacific to talk about his battle with cancer and his charitable with with Target House.

• Patrick Campbell, Chief Legislative Counsel for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America, calls in at 8:06am Pacific to talk about the shooting incident at Camp Liberty in Baghdad.

• An American soldier suspected of killing five U.S. soldiers and wounding 4 others at a stress clinic at Camp Liberty in Baghdad yesterday had been disarmed earlier after a dispute at the facility but came back with another weapon. The soldier, who is in custody, had gone to the clinic earlier in the day and got into a verbal altercation with someone there.

• The U.S. replaced the top allied commander in Afghanistan yesterday, deciding “fresh eyes” are needed to reverse the course of the seven-year-old war there, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said. Gen. David McKiernan will be replaced by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a former special operations chief.

• President Obama yesterday welcomed the health care industry’s promise to cut $2 Trillion in costs over 10 years and vowed to keep working tirelessly to find a solution to the problem of uninsured Americans. Obama has offered an outline for overhauling the health care system and he wants Congress to pass legislation this year.

ALSO: Be sure to check out Steph on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” (now a part of John King’s “State of the Nation”) this Sunday at 10am Eastern / 7am Pacific!

• Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) calls in at 7:30am Pacific to talk about Congress’ passage of the omnibus spending bill.

• Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) calls in at 8:06am Pacific to talk about his offer to debate Rush Limbaugh.

• Angela V. Shelton and Frances Callier (Frangela) have fallen ill today, and won’t be able to do their regular “Fridays with Frangela” segment.  They will be filling in for Steph and the Mooks during their vacation later this month, however!

• Confronting misgivings, even in his own party, President Obama mounted a stout defense of his blueprint to overhaul the economy yesterday, declaring the national crisis is “not as bad as we think” and his plans will speed recovery. He said that Americans shouldn’t be whipsawed by bursts of either bad or good news and he was “highly optimistic” about the long term.

• President Obama and Vice President Biden yesterday rallied a gathering of state officials yesterday, telling the people he is counting on to help turn around the economy and warning anew that he will not tolerate wasteful spending of his $787 billion economic stimulus package.

• GOP national chairman Michael Steele said yesterday that he’s opposed to abortion and that Roe v. Wade should be repealed, commenting a day after GQ Magazine quoted him as saying abortion was “an individual choice.”

• Admitted Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff pled guilty to 11 felony counts of fraud yesterday and a Manhattan judge ordered him handcuffed and taken straight to jail. He faces a 150 year sentence.