• Rep. Earl Perlmutter (D-CO) calls in at 7:30am Pacific to update us on health care reform.

• Christine Romans, host of “Your $$$$$” on CNN, calls in at 7:50am Pacific to update us on the economic recovery.

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is preparing to unveil a retooled health care overhaul plan today intended to bridge differences among Dems. She wants to have the legislation on the floor next week with a final vote before Veterans Day, that would give President Obama a bill to sign by year’s end.

• President Obama is considering a scaled-down version of the war plan advanced by his top Afghanistan commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, U.S. officials say. The plan would focus on protecting Afghan cities and key infrastructure. One official described the plan as “McChrystal Light.”

• Fox News Channel and the Obama administration are talking. The network confirmed a Politico report that a Fox News executive met at the White House yesterday with Robert Gibbs, President Obama’s press secretary. There were no details given about the meeting.

• The Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Yankees 6-1 last night in Game 1 of the World Series.

• Karl Frisch, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 7:05am Pacific to co-host “Right Wing World.”

• Hal Sparks joins the Mooks in studio in L.A. at 8am Pacific for “Humpdays with Hal.”

• Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) calls in at 8:30am Pacific to tell us what’s next in the health care reform process.

• Historic legislation to expand U.S. health care and control costs won its first GOP supporter yesterday and cleared a key Senate hurdle. “When history calls, history calls,” said Maine GOP-er Olympia Snowe, whose declaration of support ended weeks of suspense and provided the only drama of a 14-9 vote in the Senate Finance Committee.

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said yesterday she expects that the House will vote on a health care bill by Thanksgiving and that the House version will have a public plan option.

• Rampant government corruption might derail the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaida in Afghanistan, even if as many as 80,000 additional U.S. troops are sent to the war, Gen. Stanley McChrystal has concluded.

• President Obama launched a TV broadcast blitz yesterday to push his top domestic priority, a remake of the U.S. health care system that now rests in the hands of a pivotal but deeply divided Senate committee. Obama laid out what he called the “core principles” he required for health care reform that he says is targeted at middle-class families.

• Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, warns in an urgent, confidential assessment of the war obtained by The Washington Post that he needs more forces within the next year and bluntly states that without them, the 8-year conflict “will likely result in failure.”

• Conservatives descended upon Washington, D.C. over the weekend for the 2009 “Values Voter Summit,” the fourth annual gathering of like-minded political activists. Mike Huckabee won the 2012 Presidential Straw Poll taken at the event.

• “Mad Men” and “30 Rock” led a pack of Emmy winners who successfully defended their titles at last night’s show, while Australian Toni Collette of Showtime’s “United States of Tara” was honored as the best lead actress in a comedy series. Alec Baldwin (“30 Rock”), Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”), and Glenn Close (“Damages”) all took home acting honors.

• Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) calls in at 7:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform.

• Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) calls in at 8:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform.

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today expressed happiness and relief at the release of two journalists, on whose behalf her husband, former President Bill Clinton, sought amnesty from North Korea. North Korea pardoned Laura Ling and Euna Lee after the former US president arrived in Pyongyang.

• After a “pep talk” from President Obama, Senate Dems said yesterday they believe Congress will pass a bipartisan health care bill this year. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) now says the Dem senators are ready to “take on the world.”

• Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, is expected to ask the Obama administration for additional troops and equipment for conducting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, as well as more military resources to deal with roadside bombs and explosives.

• Paula Abdul announced yesterday that she will not be returning to American Idol when the show debuts its ninth season early next year.

• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in at 6:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform.

• Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis calls in at 7:05am to give us the White House perspective on health care reform.

• Karl Frisch, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 8:05am Pacific to talk about the “Birther” phenomenon.

• After more than six hours of negotiations among White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, talks between House Democratic leaders and key Blue Dog Democrats broke up last night without a deal on health care reform. The talks are expected to continue today.

• The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday approved the nomination of federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor to become the nation’s first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, setting up a final confirmation vote by the Senate. At least 5 GOP senators have announced their intention to support Sotomayor, making a confirmation by the Dem-controlled Senate a virtual certainty.

• The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan is expected to ask the Obama administration for additional troops and equipment, according to a senior U.S. military official familiar with Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s thinking.

• Hawaiian officials this week said they have once again checked and confirmed that President Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born citizen.

• 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.