• President Obama called the April jobs numbers showing the nation lost another 539,000 jobs last month “encouraging” yet still a “sobering” economic toll. “It underscores the point that we’re still in the midst of a recession that was years in the making and will be months or even years in the unmaking.”

• President Obama this weekend called on Congress to pass a credit card reform bill so he can sign it into law by Memorial Day. The president highlighted abuses in the credit card industry – including Americans getting ripped off by sudden rate hikes, unfair penalties, hidden fees, and fine print that all too often hides the truth.

• President Obama will deliver a key speech in Egypt on June 4th, the White House said Friday. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the speech will give the president the opportunity to “extend the hand to those that in many ways are like us but simply have a different religion.

• President Obama spared nobody, including himself, at his humorous speech in front of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night. He touched on his own gaffes, and harpooned GOPers like Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney.

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.

• Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) calls in at 7:06am Pacific to talk about the omnibus spending bill and earmarks.

• Karl Frisch with Media Matters for America calls in at 8:06am Pacific to talk about their monitoring of Rush Limbaugh and his diatribes of hate.

• Two Senate Dems, Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, urged President Obama yesterday to veto a $410 billion spending bill and said they are going to vote against it, criticizing it for its cost and for including too many personal pet projects.

• The Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention program was launched yesterday. It calls for companies to help as many as 4 million struggling borrowers by modifying loans so housing payments are no more than 31% of monthly gross income, and it will allow some to refinance into lower-cost loans even if they have little or no equity.

• Former White House political adviser Karl Rove and counsel Harriet Miers have agreed to face questions from Congress about allegations of improper political influence in the Justice Department. Both will give depositions to investigators from the committee, and claims of privilege will be “significantly limited.”

• Former first lady Barbara Bush underwent heart surgery yesterday in Texas. She is said to be “fine” and “awake” today.

• The Obama administration will release guidelines today to help lending institutions figure out which homeowners are most in need of help to stave off foreclosure. The guidelines will include tests to help banks figure out whether individual homeowners who are “underwater” can be saved by Obama’s $75 billion loan modification program.

• President Obama said yesterday that the country already is “seeing shovels hit the ground” on the first infrastructure repair project funded through the Transportation Department’s share of the $787 billion stimulus bill. Work began in Montgomery County, Maryland on resurfacing Maryland State Highway 650.

• President Obama yesterday overturned a last-minute Bush administration regulation that many environmentalists claim weakened the Endangered Species Act. The regulation made it easier for federal agencies to skip consultations with government scientists before launching projects that could affect endangered wildlife.

• Democrats plan to launch a website today that mocks GOP leaders for apologizing to radio host Rush Limbaugh for criticizing or publicly disagreeing with him. It will allow visitors to mockingly create an apology on behalf of people who have crossed Rush. You can find the website here!!!