• Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) calls in at 6:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform.

• Jennifer Palmieri, Senior Vice President of Communications for the Center for American Progress, calls in at 7:05am Pacific to talk about health care reform and Obama’s speech to kids yesterday.

• Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) calls in at 8:05am Pacific to talk about health care reform.

• Comedian Hal Sparks joins us in studio at 8:05am Pacific for another edition of “Humpdays with Hal.”

• Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) calls in at 8:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform and Obama’s speech to school kids yesterday.

• House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said yesterday he could vote for a health care bill that lacks a public option. However, his statement differed from the insistence later yesterday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that a public option was essential to passing a bill in the chamber.

• President Obama steered clear of politics yesterday in a pep talk to students that sparked controversy among high-strung conservatives, who accused him of trying to indoctrinate America’s children.

• AIG Insurance is preparing to pay millions of dollars more in bonuses to several dozen top corporate executives after an earlier round of payments set off a national furor. The troubled insurance giant has been pressing the federal government to bless the payments in hopes of shielding itself from renewed public outrage.

• The White House says it expects “frank” but constructive talks in President Obama’s meeting today with Pope Benedict XVI – two men who share similar views on helping the poor and pushing for Middle East peace, but disagree on abortion and stem cell research.

• CIA Director Leon Panetta has ordered an internal inquiry into the agency’s handling of a contentious and still highly classified program that has caused heated dispute between the CIA and Dems on the House Intelligence Committee.

• Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) will today be announcing that he will not run for re-election in 2010. In addition to his problems regarding the details of his appointment to the seat by ousted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Burris has raised just $845 for the 2010 cycle.

• In April 2008, Sen. John Ensign’s parents each made gifts to the campaign staffer he had his affair with, her husband, and two of their children in the form of a check totaling $96,000. The payments were made as gifts, accepted as gifts, and complied with tax rules governing gifts.

• The GOP governors of Mississippi, Idaho, Alaska, Texas, South Carolina, and Louisiana said yesterday that they plan to turn down a portion of what’s offered in the stimulus bill that President Obama signed last week. GOP Gov. Schwarzenegger of California, however, said that he would be happy to take the money his colleagues turn down.

• President Obama today will announce that he will try to put the nation on track to cut the deficit he inherited from the previous administration in half by the end of his first term. Most of the savings will come from ending the war in Iraq, raising taxes on the wealthy, and a more efficient government.

• Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) is calling on fellow Dem Roland Burris to resign from the U.S. Senate seat once filled by President Barack Obama. Quinn said the controversy surrounding Burris’ appointment has cast a shadow over his service in the U.S. Senate.

• “Slumdog Millionaire,” the little film about a poverty-raised boy who goes on a game show as a way to find his lost love, won best picture last night, earning 8 Oscars at the 81st annual Academy Awards. Sean Penn won best actor for “Milk” and Kate Winslet won best actress for “The Reader.” Best supporting honors went to the late Heath Ledger for “The Dark Knight” and to Penelope Cruz for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”

• Bay Buchanan, President of The American Cause, calls in at 7:06am Pacific to talk about the GOP’s reaction to President Obama’s first 100 days.

• President Obama unveiled a $75 billion multi-pronged plan yesterday that seeks to help up to 9 million borrowers suffering from falling home prices and unaffordable monthly payments. The plan will make it easier for homeowners to afford their monthly payments either by refinancing the mortgages or having their loans modified.

• President Obama makes his first foreign trip as president today with a visit to Ottawa, Canada. Obama comes bearing a pro-trade message to assuage Canadian concerns over protectionism, a promise of a new strategy in Afghanistan as Canada moves to yank all its troops out of there, and talk of clean-energy cooperation as controversy hangs over Canada’s oil-rich sands.

• Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said yesterday that a Senate ethics panel is investigating Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) after his disclosure that he had spoken with the brother of Rod Blagojevich about raising money for the disgraced governor while seeking appointment to the Senate. Burris insisted yesterday that he was innocent of any wrongdoing.

• Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) calls in at 8:06am Pacific to talk about President Obama signing the stimulus bill yesterday and what it means for Americans.

• Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) calls in at 8:30am Pacific to talk about the stimulus, and about CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to furlough state employees due to a lack of a budget.

• President Obama today will visit Phoenix, AZ, one of the cities hardest hit with foreclosures, where he’s expected to outline a $50 billion to $100 billion plan to help homeowners. Officials are tight-lipped about details.

• President Obama has approved a significant troop increase for Afghanistan, Pentagon officials said yesterday. The new troop deployment is expected to include 8,000 Marines as well as 4,000 additional Army troops.

• The Chicago Tribune yesterday called for U.S. Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) to resign, a day after Burris detailed several conversations with impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s brother he had failed to mention under oath. In them, he said he discussed possibly raising money for the governor before ultimately declining.

• Bill Maher calls in at 6:30am Pacific to talk about the new season of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” and about the DVD release of “Religulous.”

• Author Austin Hill joins us via ISDN at 7:30am Pacific to talk about some of the weird presidential trivia contained in his book, “White House Confidential: The Little Book of Weird Presidential History” in celebration of Presidents’ Day.

• President Barack Obama will sign the economic stimulus bill Tuesday in Denver, Colorado. Aides cited a desire to get out of Washington, to go “out west in an area hit hard economically, away from the politics of Washington. Denver is described as “a place that will see the benefits of the bill in hiring workers.”

• Freshman Sen. Roland Burris released an affidavit Saturday that contradicts his statements last month to a House committee investigating former Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment. Members of the impeachment committee are calling for Burris’ resignation, but Burris is insisting he hadn’t done anything wrong and never misled anyone.

• President Obama plans to appoint senior administration officials – rather than a single “car czar” as had been discussed – to oversee a restructuring of the auto industry. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers will oversee the across-the-government panel.