• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the “slut shaming” of the Christie ‘Bridgegate’ Report

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to ask if Chris Christie will be let off the hook

• John Nichols of “The Nation” calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the forgotten GOP support for voting rights

• A cluster of orange objects spotted by a search plane hunting for any trace of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet turned out to be nothing more than fishing equipment, Australian officials said Monday, the latest disappointing news in a week-long hunt that Australia’s prime minister said will continue indefinitely.

• The United States and Russia agreed Sunday that the crisis in Ukraine requires a diplomatic resolution, but four hours of talks between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov failed to break a tense East-West deadlock over how to proceed.

• March 31 has finally arrived, and with it comes the last official day for people to sign up for health insurance on the federal exchange websites. But just as enrollment doesn’t close for good on Monday, the fight over Obamacare will hardly be settled by the coming and going of the end of the month.

• Syndicated columnist Tina Dupuy calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about hypocrites among the Far Right

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT for another edition of Fridays With Fugelsang

• The search area for the lost Malaysian jetliner moved 680 miles to the northeast on Friday, as Australian officials said a new analysis of radar data suggests the plane had flown faster and therefore ran out of fuel more quickly than previously estimated.

• Russia on Friday dismissed a U.N. General Assembly resolution that branded Crimea’s secession referendum invalid, saying it was “counterproductive.” The U.N. vote, held Thursday, saw 100 countries back the nonbinding resolution, with 11 opposed and 58 abstaining.

• A top appointee of Chris Christie apparently told another official that he informed the New Jersey governor about the now-infamous traffic tie ups near the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee last year as they were occurring, according to a review of the matter by outside lawyers hired by the governor’s office.

• More than 6 million people have signed up for Obamacare, as a crush of people raced to get health insurance before the March 31 deadline. Those who’ve started the application by next Monday but are unable to finish because of technical issues will receive more time to complete the process, officials have said.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the latest with Misstep McConnell in Kentucky

• Actress Molly Parker from House of Cards on Netflix calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Season 2 of the show

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

• A Thai satellite has detected about 300 objects near the search area for the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner, officials in Bangkok said Thursday, but there was little chance of getting human eyes across those items in the near term as weather again forced officials to halt the search for debris by air.

• In a sweeping speech to a European audience in Brussels Wednesday, President Obama argued that the U.S. and Europe must stand together to stop Russia from undoing nearly a centuries’ worth of democratic gains with its annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

• President Barack Obama met with Pope Francis for the first time on Thursday morning – part of a jam-packed five-day tour of Europe and the Middle East. He is the ninth president to make an official visit to the Vatican, and his audience is a change of pace after three days of high-level talks with European leaders.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about troubles in Mitch McConnell’s campaign

• Sexy Liberal Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of Coffee With Carlos

• Another satellite has relayed images of debris in the southern Indian Ocean that may be from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Malaysia’s acting transport minister told a news conference Wednesday. Hishammuddin Hussein said 122 objects were spotted Sunday.

• The women of the Supreme Court and the conservative men on the court appeared split Tuesday over whether for-profit companies have religious freedom protections that would exempt them from providing their workers with health care coverage for contraception.

• With the Crimean peninsula in Russian hands and no resolution in sight to the crisis in Ukraine, President Obama will have to make his case for a unified response from the United States and Europe in a speech Wednesday at the Palais Des Beaux Arts in Brussels, Belgium.

• The Secret Service sent three agents home from the Netherlands just before President Obama’s arrival after one agent was found inebriated in an Amsterdam hotel, the agency said Tuesday.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about teaching the Bible’s story of creation in schools

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about why “Cosmos” isn’t teaching the story of Creation

• China demanded that Malaysia turn over the satellite data used to conclude that a Malaysia Airlines jetliner had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean killing everyone on board, as gale-force winds and heavy rain on Tuesday halted the search for any remains of the plane.

• A meeting of the Group of Seven (G-7) nations in The Netherlands Monday helped cement Russia’s status as persona non grata on the international stage. The group suspended any meetings of the G-8, which included Russia, until the situation in the Crimean Peninsula changes.

• President Obama is poised to call for an end to the controversial bulk data collection of phone records by the NSA. The White House will outline proposed legislation this week that would bring sweeping changes to the National Security Agency’s controversial data collection program.

• Desperate crews digging through the muck and rubble left by a massive mudslide in Washington State found six more bodies Monday, bringing the official death toll to 14. But officials admitted they have little hope that any one else will be found alive.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about how CNN has lost its mind with the Malaysia Airlines coverage

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about how Conservatives can’t stop making Nazi references

• A Chinese plane spotted “some suspicious objects” in the broad area where satellite images have indicated possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, but a high-tech U.S. military search plane which responded to the area Monday was able to find nothing.

• President Obama says that despite Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula away from Ukraine he does not view Europe as a battleground between the East and the West. He told a Dutch newspaper that Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to understand the economic and political consequences of his actions in Ukraine.

• The death toll from a massive landslide rose to at least eight Sunday night as five more bodies were recovered from the wall of mud and debris that destroyed a small riverside neighborhood in northwestern Washington state. More than a dozen people remain missing.

• No timetable has been set to reopen a major U.S. shipping channel after nearly 170,000 gallons of tar-like oil spilled into the Texas waterway. More help is being called in to contain the spill and protect important shorebird habitat.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT for another edition of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Comedian Judy Gold calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to tell us about her new show in Los Angeles, “An Evening of Comedy with Judy Gold”

• Search planes flying out of Australia resumed a difficult hunt through rough seas in one of the most remote places on Earth Friday for objects that may be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane. “This is a lead, it’s probably the best lead we have right now,” Australian officials said. They cautioned that the objects could be seaborne debris along a busy shipping route.

• The buildup of Russian troops along the Ukrainian border is large and getting larger, and it is raising serious concerns that Russia could invade Ukraine proper. On Thursday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called Moscow to ask Russia’s defense minister directly about the troop movements.

• President Obama on Thursday expanded U.S. economic sanctions against Moscow over its actions in Ukraine, targeting President Putin’s chief of staff as well as a Russian bank that provides him support.

• Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., on Thursday defended his handling of the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal that has paralyzed his second-term agenda and put his presidential viability in question. “There were lots of reasons for the firing,” Christie said.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about some crazy candidates the GOP is putting up for election

• Marathon swimmer and motivational speaker Diana Nyad calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about her stint on “Dancing With The Stars”

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

• Two objects spotted by satellites in the southern Indian Ocean may be debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Australian authorities said Thursday, fueling hopes of a breakthrough in an international search of unprecedented scale.

• Ukraine’s acting president says the commander of the country’s navy has been freed after being held by Russian forces and local Crimean militia at the navy’s headquarters. Rear Adm. Sergei Haiduk and an unspecified number of civilians were held for hours after the navy’s base in Sevastopol was stormed Wednesday.

• Fresh criticism of a Senate bill to extend a lapsed unemployment insurance program has all but killed the chances that it will become law just a week after a compromise deal on the issue raised its prospects for the first time in months. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has said the bill has no chance in his chamber.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to tell us what Florida really tells us about ObamaCare

• Sexy Liberal Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of Coffee With Carlos

• The missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is more likely to be in the southern search area identified by investigators, which stretches far into the Indian Ocean, a U.S. government official familiar with the investigation said on Wednesday.

• Some data had been deleted from the flight simulator found at the home of the pilot of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the Malaysian Transport Minister said. Forensic work is under way to try to recover it, he said.

• Crimea’s self-defense forces on Wednesday stormed the Ukrainian navy base in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol a day after Russia signed a treaty with local authorities to annex the region. A Ukrainian serviceman and a member of a local self-defense brigade were killed by gunfire in an incident in Crimea on Tuesday.

• Two people were killed and another injured this morning when a helicopter crashed in Seattle just yards away from the iconic Space Needle. The helicopter was a news chopper owned by ABC News affiliate KOMO.

• Daily Beast columnist Dean Obeidallah calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about weather racists in Texas

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about President Obama’s reaction to Russia

• Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday approved a draft bill for the annexation of Crimea, one of a flurry of steps to formally take over the Black Sea peninsula. The U.S. and the E.U. on Monday announced asset freezes and other sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian officials involved in the Crimean crisis.

• Officials revealed a new timeline Monday suggesting the final voice transmission from the cockpit of the missing Malaysian plane may have occurred before any of its communications systems were disabled, adding more uncertainty about who aboard might have been to blame.

• Five million people have now signed up for health insurance on the state and federal online exchanges, the Obama administration said Monday — a number that suggests a big-last minute surge to get coverage.

• Prominent figures still associated with President Obama and his White House team are sounding the alarm bell that the Democratic Party could lose the Senate — if not more — in November. “We have a turnout issue,” said former White House senior adviser David Plouffe.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to tell us why Christian bakers should just go ahead and bake that gay cake

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the Far Right’s flip-flops on Russia

• Australia took the lead Monday in searching for the missing Boeing 777 over the southern Indian Ocean as Malaysia appealed for radar data and search planes to help in the unprecedented hunt through a vast swath of Asia stretching northwest into Kazakhstan.

• The final results of the referendum in Crimea show that 97 percent of voters have supported leaving Ukraine to join Russia, the head of the referendum election commission said Monday. The referendum was widely condemned by Western leaders, who are expected to announce sanctions against Russia today.

• Irish brewer Guinness said on Sunday that it would not participate in New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day parade this year because gay and lesbian groups had been excluded, costing organizers a key sponsor of the annual event.

• Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps Sr. has been admitted to a hospice facility and is “on the edge of death,” his estranged son revealed. Phelps was excommunicated from his own church last year.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in for the 10am ET / 7am PT hour for another edition of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Syndicated columnist Tina Dupuy calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the GOP’s love affair with Vladimir Putin

• President Obama urged his Russian counterpart Thursday to embrace a diplomatic solution as Ukraine lurched toward breakup when lawmakers in Crimea unanimously declared they wanted to join Russia and would put the decision to voters in 10 days.

• President Vladimir Putin rebuffed a warning from U.S. President Barack Obama over Moscow’s military intervention in Crimea, saying on Friday that Russia could not ignore calls for help from Russian speakers in Ukraine.

• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, receiving a warm reception from the far right CPAC audience Thursday, said the GOP needs to change the way it shares its message with voters in order to defeat Democrats in future elections.

• The Senate has rejected a bipartisan bill to remove military commanders from decisions over the prosecution of sexual assault cases in the military, delivering a defeat to those that argued wholesale changes are necessary to combat an epidemic of rapes and sexual assaults in the military.

• The Army’s top prosecutor in charge of sexual assault cases has been suspended from his position because he is under investigation for allegedly groping and assaulting a female lawyer on his staff.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about Elijah Cummings standing up to Darrell Issa yesterday

• Dean Obeidallah, columnist for The Daily Beast, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to ask whether CPAC is getting less crazy

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

• Lawmakers in the embattled Crimean region of Ukraine have decided to hold a referendum March 16 on whether Crimea should become part of Russia. “This is our response to the disorder and lawlessness in Kiev,” Sergei Shuvainikov, a member of the local Crimean legislature, said.

• The Republican-led House could move forward today with a bill that would authorize a loan guarantee to Ukraine. House leaders are also working on a possible bill to issue sanctions against Russia in response to its intervention in Ukraine.

• Rep. Darrell Issa cut the microphone on Rep. Elijah Cummings Wednesday morning at a hearing to investigate the IRS for targeting Tea Party groups. “Allow me to ask the question! I am a member of the Congress of the United States of America! I am tired of this,” Cummings said. “You cannot have just a one-sided investigation.”

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Obama’s handling of the mess in Ukraine

• Sexy Liberal Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of Coffee With Carlos

• Top diplomats from the major players trying to find an end to the crisis in Ukraine are gathering in Paris today as tensions simmered over the Russian military takeover of the strategic Crimean Peninsula.

• When asked about Russian President Putin’s defiant comments defending his right to use force if necessary to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine, President Obama said, “I know President Putin seems to have a different set of lawyers making a different set of interpretations, but I don’t think that’s fooling anybody.”

• President Obama on Tuesday released a nearly $4 trillion budget proposal for 2015 that includes more generous tax breaks for working families while scaling back breaks for the rich.

• George P. Bush beat conservative David Watts in the primary for Texas land commissioner, marking Bush’s first big contest as he launches what many political observers expect to be a must-watch career in politics.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Sen Lindsey Graham getting the vapors again

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about President Obama’s reaction to events in Ukraine

• Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow reserves the right to use all means to protect Russians in Ukraine as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was on his way to Kiev. Tensions remained high in Crimea with troops loyal to Moscow firing warning shots to ward off protesting Ukrainian soldiers.

• Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) blamed President Obama’s “feckless” foreign policy for inviting the crisis in Ukraine on Monday, telling a pro-Israel group that the president has repeatedly failed to demonstrate American strength in the face of adversaries.

• Lois Lerner, former director of tax exempt organizations for the IRS, will testify this week on Capitol Hill, Rep. Darrell Issa said Sunday. But Lerner’s attorney, William Taylor, has told CNN “she intends to continue to assert her Fifth Amendment rights.”

• Court papers show the FBI has contacted Chris Christie’s former campaign manager as part of a federal probe of a traffic scandal that has upended the New Jersey governor’s administration.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the Far Right’s attempt to spin hatred for LGBT people

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the Far Right’s embrace of Ted Nugent

• Evan Thomas, who’s running for Congress in California, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about flipping a district

• Comedian Michael McDonald joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to bring the funny

• Russia’s G8 partners condemned its military build-up in Ukraine as Moscow tightened its grip on the eastern Crimea region despite Western demands that it withdraw. A senior U.S. administration official said Sunday that Russian forces now “have complete operational control of the Crimean Peninsula.”

• President Obama will take his campaign to increase the minimum wage on the road in the coming week in an effort to build pressure on Republicans who oppose the raise.

• “12 Years a Slave” won the Oscar for best picture at Sunday’s Academy Awards, while the 3D space spectacle “Gravity” won the most awards. The awards for best actor and actress went to Matthew McConaughey, for his role as a determined AIDS patient in “Dallas Buyers Club,” and Cate Blanchett for playing a socialite experiencing a meltdown in Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine.”

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT for Fridays With Fuglesang

• President Obama spoke Thursday at the White House, where he announced “My Brother’s Keeper” – a new initiative to help young men and boys of color succeed. He described the program as one that “goes to the very heart of why I ran for President” and dove into his own life to explain why such an initiative is needed, speaking candidly about his father, drugs and race.

• Men in military uniforms patrolled the main airport in Ukraine’s Russian-majority Crimea region Friday, a move that Ukraine’s Interior Minister called part of an “armed invasion” by Russian forces.

• Funnyman Seth Rogen went to Washington to address a non-laughing matter. He appeared on Capitol Hill Wednesday to speak before the Senate Committee on Appropriations about the rising costs of Alzheimer’s disease on Americans, and to address the lack of funding for adequate treatment or a cure.

• Gov. Jan Brewer’s veto of an Arizona bill allowing businesses to refuse service to gays exposed a fracture within the Republican Party between social conservatives and the GOP’s pro-business wing, a split that Democrats hope to turn into a midterm election campaign issue.

• Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for 1,000 homes in two foothill suburbs east of Los Angeles in advance of a powerful storm.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about Gov. Brewer’s veto of SB 1062 yesterday

• Lucas Grindley, Editorial Director for “The Advocate”, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about big gay news in Arizona and Texas

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

• Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said yesterday she has vetoed a controversial bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse to serve gays on religious grounds. Brewer said she had made her decision after consulting with her lawyers and both opponents and supporters of Senate Bill 1062.

• A federal judge in Texas struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage on Wednesday, ruling that the laws restricting marriage to a man and a woman violated the United States Constitution.

• House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., unveiled a tax-reform proposal yesterday that includes broad simplifications to the tax code, along with lower rates for higher incomes and surtaxes on certain types of income for the wealthy.

• The first of back-to-back rain storms swept the length of California on Wednesday, canceling flights and threatening floods and deadly landslides.

• Daily Beast columnist Dean Obeidallah calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the anti-LGBT bill in Arizona

• CC Goldwater (Barry Goldwater’s granddaughter) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the LGBT situation in Arizona

• Sexy Liberal Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for “Coffee With Carlos”

• Arizona Governor Jan Brewer came under mounting pressure on Tuesday from other prominent Republicans and consultants to veto a controversial bill described by critics as a license to discriminate against gays and others in the name of religion.

• President Obama on Tuesday called Afghan President Hamid Karzai with a blunt warning that all U.S. troops will leave his war-torn country by 2015 unless Karzai or his successor sign a bilateral security agreement (BSA) with the United States.

• Former President Bill Clinton took center stage today in the most watched Senate race in the country, telling a crowd of 1,200 that “it makes a big difference” whether Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes wins over Mitch McConnell in November.

• A sprawling Democratic bill expanding health, education and other benefits for veterans easily cleared an early Senate hurdle on Tuesday. Republicans are still battling to make the bill smaller.

• Larry Schweiger, President and CEO of The National Wildlife Federation, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the environment

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about strange doings in Kansas GOP politics

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about why we shouldn’t ignore crackpots like Ted Nugent

• Faced with tight budgets at the end of two lengthy wars the Pentagon is proposing cuts that could reduce the Army to its lowest level since just before the U.S. entered World War II. “Our recommendations favor a smaller and more capable force, putting a premium on rapidly deployable, self-sustaining platforms,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said.

• Three Republican Arizona state senators who voted for Senate Bill 1062 say they made a bad decision in a rushed process and are now asking Gov. Jan Brewer to veto the right to refuse service bill. They join Sens. McCain and Flake in asking her to veto the anti-LGBT legislation.

• Temperatures are expected to drop again in the Great Plains, Northeast and Midwest. In Illinois, ice blocks are tearing up the shore line of one river and threatening a bridge, while Minneapolis has restricted parking until April because emergency vehicles can’t get through snow-clogged streets.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the immense hypocrisy of Joe The Plumber

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about how Fox News’ Benghazi smears aren’t working

• Actress and comedian Julie Brown joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to tell us what she’s up to next

• Ukraine’s acting government issued a warrant Monday for the arrest of President Viktor Yanukovych, last seen in the pro-Russian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, accusing him of mass murder of protesters who stood up for months against his rule.

• National Security Advisor Susan Rice said Sunday that she doesn’t regret blaming the September 2012 attack a U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya, on a spontaneous protest against an anti-Islamic video when she first spoke publicly about the attack.

• Jason Collins signed a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets yesterday morning and played 10 scoreless minutes with two rebounds and five fouls in the Nets’ 108-102 victory last night to become the first openly gay athlete to play in a major American sport.

• Russia celebrated 17 days of sport-driven global unity in Sochi on Sunday night with a farewell show that hands off the Winter Games to their next host, Pyeongchang in South Korea.

• Syndicated columnist Tina Dupuy calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about why the GOP should help raise the minimum wage

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT for another edition of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Graham Richard, CEO of Energy Now, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the growth of alternative energy

• Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Friday announced early presidential elections and promised to form a coalition government in a bid to defuse a deep crisis in which scores have been killed and hundreds injured. There was no immediate comment from opposition leaders.

• Venezuelan prosecutors dropped the most serious charges against opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, whom the country’s government blames for inciting clashes that have left at least five people dead.

• President Obama’s 2015 budget proposal will not include a budget gimmick that amounts to a cut to Social Security payments, the White House acknowledged Thursday.

• Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged Wednesday that the new Obamacare marketplaces may not meet their original enrollment goals. Still, Biden said that the new marketplaces are nevertheless off to “hell of a start.”

• At a town hall yesterday, NJ Gov. Chris Christie is blaming the federal government for failing to allocate enough money to the state to fully recover from Superstorm Sandy.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about GOP shenanigans in DC

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about what needs to be done to make ObamaCare a winner

• Despite a truce called by Ukraine’s protest leaders and the president they aim to oust, fierce clashes between protesters and police in the center of Kiev erupted anew on Thursday morning, as the number of people reported dead in the conflict continued to rise.

• The Department of Homeland Security has in the last 12 hours has put out an advisory to airlines to be aware of new chatter about explosives in shoes. No direct threat has been made, but the terrorist chatter was enough to cause feds to issue a warning.

• A Nebraska state court ruling Wednesday opened up the possibility of even more delays for the Keystone XL pipeline. The ruling tossed out the state law that gave Gov. Dave Heineman the right to approve the proposed Keystone’s route through the state, saying the law violated the state’s Constitution.

• A former aide to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker appeared to suggest that he was involved in a secret email system where staffers blended official and campaign business, and another former aide passed along a derogatory email about religious and ethnic groups, according to documents released Wednesday.

• Sexy Liberal Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for “Coffee With Carlos”

• Twenty-five people have been killed in fighting between anti-government protesters and police in the capital Kiev, the Ukrainian Health Ministry said in a statement Wednesday. The Health Ministry also said 241 people had been hospitalized.

• President Obama is traveling to Mexico today for the annual North American Leaders’ Summit with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. A pending trade agreement with other nations in the Asia-Pacific region will be at the top of their agenda.

• One of the jurors who convicted Michael Dunn of attempted murder after he fired into an SUV during a fatal argument over loud music believes he should have been convicted of first-degree murder. Ultimately, the jury convicted Dunn on the charges of attempted murder.

• A new report by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office finds a wage hike would lift 900,000 families out of the federal poverty threshold, but it could result in a net job loss of about half a million workers even though it would increase wages for 16.5 million others.

• President Obama used his executive authority yesterday and announced plans to further tighten fuel efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

• Jigar Shah, author of the new book “Creating Climate Wealth” calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT talks about the dangers of climate change

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about what the gobshites are saying this week

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the bizarre saga of GOP congressman Steve Stockman

• With the stroke of a pen, The Obama administration will take the next step in its multi-year effort to cut emissions and reduce oil use by getting better fuel economy from trucks. President Obama is set to announce the environmental initiative today in Maryland.

• Michael Dunn, the man who shot and killed a teenager in Florida after an argument over loud music, told his fiancée in a telephone call a month after his arrest that he was both the victim and the victor in the deadly encounter.

• A stunning catalog of torture and the widespread abuse of even the weakest of North Koreans reveal a portrait of a brutal state “that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world,” a United Nations panel reported Monday.

• To thunderous applause and with a Cheshire cat grin, Jimmy Fallon walked on to the stage at the NBC Studio in New York last night — the new host in the old home of the “Tonight Show.”

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about why marriage equality is driving the Far Right crazy

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the problems Boehner is having with his caucus

• Health Care Expert Jacki Schechner joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Jacki’s HealthCare Corner

• After 30 hours of deliberation, a Florida jury on Saturday found Michael Dunn guilty of three counts of attempted murder as well as for shooting into an SUV full of teenagers. But jurors didn’t convict him of murder for the death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis.

• President Obama has pledged more than $100 million in federal aid to California farmers who are suffering from the severe drought. Many farmers, though, are wondering how much longer they can hold on.

• President Barack Obama on Saturday signed separate measures into law to lift the federal debt limit and restore benefits that had been cut for younger military retirees. Obama signed the bills during a weekend golf vacation in Southern California.

• House Democrats are vowing to try a rarely used tactic to force votes in the GOP-led chamber on the minimum wage and immigration reform, a strategy that will likely fail but might hurt Republicans with voters in this year’s elections.

• Today is Valentine’s Day.

• Prison psychologist Wanda Von Kleist calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the problem of using jails as mental hospitals

• California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about his book, “Citizenville: How To Take The Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government”

• A federal judge ruled Thursday that Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, making it the first state in the South to have its voter-approved prohibition overturned. The judge issued a stay of her order while it is appealed, meaning that gay couples in Virginia will still not be able to marry until the case is ultimately resolved.

• President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will huddle with House Democrats at their annual retreat in Cambridge, Md., today. Officially billed as a forum to talk policy, the policy discussion generally dovetails with the politics of a tough midterm election for the president’s party.

• Commuters in the east are facing a messy morning of travel today, a day after a winter storm brought snow and ice to many states, leaving at least 21 dead, including a pregnant woman struck by a mini-plow in New York City whose baby was then born by cesarean section in critical condition.

• Citing a lack of evidence, Afghan authorities released from prison 65 men Thursday over strong objections from U.S. officials, who said they pose a threat to security forces and civilians. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul called the move “deeply regrettable.”

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about GOP missteps of the last week

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to preview Saturday’s Phoenix Sexy Liberal Show

• Health care expert Jacki Schechner joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to hang for the rest of the show

• Georgia school shooting hero Antoinette Tuff calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about her new book, “Prepared For A Purpose”

• The Senate broke a Ted Cruz-led filibuster and voted Wednesday to avert at least one chronic Washington political crisis for more than a year. It approved a House-passed measure that allows the government to borrow more money to pay its bills through March 2015.

• Sen. Rand Paul said Wednesday he’s suing President Barack Obama and top national security officials over the government’s sweeping electronic surveillance program made public by intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.

• After four full months of open enrollment, younger Americans are signing up for Obamacare in greater proportions, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department announced yesterday. Still, as of Feb. 1, just 25 percent of people who have enrolled in a private insurance plan through the new Obamacare marketplaces are between the ages of 18 and 34.

• Former Vikings kicker Chris Kluwe calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about NFL prospect Michael Sam coming out

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about more GOP lies about ObamaCare and Job Creation

• The House voted Tuesday to lift the debt ceiling and avert the threat of a U.S. default until March 15, 2015 with a bill that broke a trend for the GOP by seeking no spending cuts or additional policy items. Twenty-eight Republicans joined 193 Democrats in voting “yes” for the bill.

• What the National Weather Service is calling a potentially catastrophic storm of ice and snow is making its way across the South Tuesday night – two weeks after snow and ice shut down Atlanta. Winter storm watches, warnings and advisories are up from Texas over to the East Coast, the storm’s next target.

• Shaun White lost to a kid they call the “I-Pod,” and now, he may never hear the end of it. White, the best snowboarder of his era, didn’t even win a medal. He finished fourth. The Americans were shockingly shut out on the halfpipe for the first time since the sport was introduced to the Olympics in 1998.

• Former “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Brokaw revealed Tuesday that he has cancer but said he is “very optimistic about the future.” Brokaw, 74, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer affecting blood cells in the bone marrow, in August.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about more stupid Republicans in Congress

• Sexy Liberal Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Coffee With Carlos

• The Obama administration announced Monday it is giving small businesses an extra year to comply with an Obamacare rule requiring that they provide their workers with health coverage or pay a fine.

• An archive of correspondence, diary entries, memos and notes from conversations kept by one of Hillary Clinton’s closest friends portray her as “a strong, ambitious and ruthless Democratic operative,” according to a conservative website that went through the documents.

• Football players, coaches and personalities had a range of reactions to prospective NFL player Michael Sam’s announcement that he’s gay. “I don’t think football is ready for [an openly gay player] just yet,” an NFL player personnel assistant told Sports Illustrated. “In the coming decade or two, it’s going to be acceptable, but at this point in time it’s still a man’s-man game.”

• Former child star Shirley Temple died in her Woodside, Calif. home late Thursday night at the age of 85, her publicist, Cheryl Kagan says. She attained fame in dozens of movies before she was 16, then years later became US ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia.

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about rich Fox News pundits lecturing “lazy” workers

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the meaning of the Jobs Report that came out on Friday

• In an assertion of same-sex marriage rights, Attorney General Eric Holder is applying a landmark Supreme Court ruling to the Justice Department, announcing Saturday that same-sex spouses cannot be compelled to testify against each other, should be eligible to file for bankruptcy jointly and are entitled to the same rights and privileges as federal prison inmates in opposite-sex marriages.

• President Obama on Friday signed a five-year farm bill into law, marking the hard-fought legislative accomplishment with eight Democratic members of Congress by his side.

• Missouri football All-American Michael Sam says he is gay, and the defensive end could become the first openly homosexual player in the NFL. Sam said he came out to all his teammates and coaches at Missouri in August. “I am an openly, proud gay man,” he said.

• The first weekend of the Winter Olympics in Sochi brought us moments of humor and technical problems from the Opening Ceremony, a skater’s reaction that went viral and the sparkling debut of a sport where “stoked” and “dude” are part of a winning news conference.

• Clay Aiken calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his run for congress from the state of North Carolina

• Daily Beast columnist Dean Obeidallah calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about media coverage of the Sochi Olympics

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of Fridays With Fugelsang

• As Congress stands at a stalemate over how to move forward on several big ticket items stuck on the legislative agenda, House Speaker John Boehner says President Obama must rebuild trust with Republicans before any immigration reform will come up for consideration in the House this year.

• Russia kicks off the opening ceremony today in Sochi as the world turns its attention to the costliest Olympic Games in history. After anxiety about terror strikes, controversy over gay rights and ridicule over poor preparations, the nation’s officials have maintained that the sites in Sochi are secure.

• Mourning for Philip Seymour Hoffman continued as family and close friends paid respects to the actor at a wake in Manhattan. Among the mourners were Amy Adams (who co-starred with Hoffman in the films “Doubt” and “The Master”), Cate Blanchett, Joaquin Phoenix and Diane Sawyer.

• Jay Leno said goodbye to “The Tonight Show” last night. The comedian became tearful and choked up as he concluded what he called the “greatest 22 years of my life.”

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about Clay Aiken’s run for Congress

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the weirdest things about Edward Snowden

• The Affordable Care Act will shrink the workforce by the equivalent of 2 million full-time workers by 2017, according to a nonpartisan report, but Democrats on Wednesday stressed the fact that it will not increase unemployment — in fact, the health law is expected to grow the economy.

• The United States has warned airlines that terrorists looking to disrupt the Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, could conceal bomb-making components in toothpaste tubes or skin care product containers, CBS News confirmed Wednesday.

• At least one of four drug suspects arrested by police investigating Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death had the actor’s cellphone number. Although autopsy results are still pending, authorities suspect the Oscar winner overdosed on heroin.

• Embattled New Jersey Governor Chris Christie today kicks off a tour of the country to attend fundraisers and other events for the Republican Governors’ Association. It’s unclear whether the scandal surrounding the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge will erode his support among Republican donors.

· Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the hottest news stories of 2014

· Sexy Liberal Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the new Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Coffee With Carlos

· The nation’s first recreational pot industry opened in Colorado on Wednesday, kicking off an experiment that will be followed closely around the world and one that activists hope will prove that legalization is a better alternative than the costly American-led drug war.

· Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a one-page order late Tuesday night that temporarily exempts some church-affiliated organizations from a requirement in the Affordable Care Act that they provide health insurance that includes birth control.

· Utah asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to stop same-sex marriages while it tries to overturn a judge’s ruling legalizing them, calling legal recognition of the ceremonies “an affront” to its residents and the courts.

· Standing atop a giant wedding cake float, Aubrey Loots and Danny Leclair exchanged vows New Year’s Day in the first same-sex marriage during the Tournament of Roses Parade.

· A winter storm arrived early Thursday in New England with the potential to drop more than a foot of snow. The worst of the storm was expected to hit later Thursday with bitterly cold temperatures.

• Alonso Duralde, author of “Have Yourself A Movie Little Christmas” calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the best Christmas movies for Progressives

• Syndicated columnist Tina Dupuy calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about ObamaCare, and also about income disparity in America

• Nelson Mandela, who battled apartheid in South Africa before becoming its first democratic leader, died at his home in South Africa after several months of ongoing health problems. He was 95. South African President Jacob Zuma announced Mandela’s death in an address to the nation late Thursday, saying “we’ve lost our greatest son.”

• President Obama praised Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa who passed away on Thursday, as one of the “most influential, courageous, and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this earth.”

• Republicans ought to be “embarrassed” of their record low productivity during their time in charge of the House of Representatives, President Barack Obama said Thursday.

• Fast food workers and union demonstrators gathered outside fast-food restaurants in 100 cities Thursday, campaigning for a $15 an hour wage and the right to unionize.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about Fox News’ new battles in the War On Christmas

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about Fox News calling for President Obama’s overthrow

• President Barack Obama put a spotlight on rising income inequality in a major economic speech on Wednesday, arguing that the disparity poses a “fundamental threat” to the American dream. President Obama urged Washington to adopt policies to address the economic divide.

• While the politics of the healthcare law and immigration debate play out this week, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) are quietly working out the details of a possible two-year long budget agreement to avoid another government shutdown.

• New court documents released Wednesday suggest Toronto Mayor Rob Ford may have offered $5,000 and a car to suspected drug dealers in exchange for a video that appears to show him smoking crack.

• “Fast & Furious” star Paul Walker was killed by impact and fire in a crash that occurred while he was a passenger in a Porsche driven by his friend, according to an autopsy released Wednesday.

• Dean Obeidallah of The Daily Beast calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about life for President Obama after 2016

• Sexy Liberal Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for “Coffee With Carlos”

• President Barack Obama said his signature health care reform law is going nowhere as long as he’s in office, and he’ll spend the remainder of his presidency fighting to make it work if necessary. A self-imposed Nov. 30 deadline behind him, Obama said the website is now “working well for the vast majority of users.”

• The House has passed an extension of a ban on firearms that cannot be detected by metal detectors and X-ray machines. The ban, which has been in place for 25 years, is scheduled to expire on December 9th if Congress fails to act. The bill passed by voice vote.

• The engineer in the fatal New York train derailment tearfully told the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday that he was in “a daze situation” when he took a curve at almost three times the speed limit, his lawyer said.

• A federal judge’s ruling approving Detroit for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history Tuesday set the stage for an epic legal battle over who will be asked to help pick up the tab, including bond investors, retired city workers, city vendors, state taxpayers, or Wall Street bankers.

• CHARLIE PIERCE OF ESQUIRE’S POLITICS BLOG CALLS IN AT 10:30AM ET / 7:30AM PT TO TALK ABOUT PEOPLE WHINING OVER THE “END” OF THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY

• AMERICAN IDOL FINALIST CRYSTAL BOWERSOX CALLS IN AT 11:30AM ET / 8:30AM PT TO TALK ABOUT HER NEW SONG, “COMING OUT FOR CHRISTMAS”

• THE HEALTH CARE WEBSITE FACED ITS FIRST BIG TEST MONDAY SINCE THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SAID IT MET ITS DEADLINE TO MAKE HEALTHCARE.GOV WORK SMOOTHLY. 375,000 PEOPLE TRIED TO SHOP ON HEALTHCARE.GOV BEFORE NOON MONDAY. OFFICIALS CALLED THAT A STRONG SIGN OF INTEREST, BUT THAT HIGH NUMBER CREATED SOME PROBLEMS.

• A COMMUTER TRAIN THAT DERAILED IN NEW YORK OVER THE WEEKEND, KILLING FOUR PASSENGERS, WAS HURTLING AT 82 MPH AS IT ENTERED A 30 MPH CURVE, A FEDERAL INVESTIGATOR SAID MONDAY. BUT WHETHER THE WRECK WAS THE RESULT OF HUMAN ERROR OR BRAKE TROUBLE WAS STILL UNCLEAR, HE SAID.

• PRESIDENT OBAMA LAUDED “EXTRAORDINARY” PROGRESS TOWARDS ENDING HIV/AIDS MONDAY AND PROMISED FURTHER U.S. INVESTMENT TO FIND A CURE. OBAMA ANNOUNCED THAT $100 MILLION IN FUNDING WILL BE REDIRECTED TO A NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH PROGRAM TO SEEK A CURE FOR AIDS.

• A CONNECTICUT PROSECUTOR SAID MONDAY HE WILL NOT APPEAL A JUDGE’S ORDER TO RELEASE 911 RECORDINGS FROM LAST YEAR’S MASSACRE AT SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. THE TAPES WILL BE RELEASED TOMORROW.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the holiday rudeness that happened nationwide on Black Friday

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the media’s false narrative about President Obama being “doomed”

• With the deadline to fix Obamacare website HealthCare.gov passed, the Obama administration is touting “dramatic progress” in improving the consumer experience on the troubled health insurance portal, which had been plagued by bugs and glitches since its October 1 debut.

• New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan said yesterday that the Catholic Church has been “out-marketed” on the issue of gay marriage. He lamented that opponents of the church’s position on same-sex marriage have been able to caricature the church as being “anti-gay.”

• A fiery car crash killed “Fast & Furious” star Paul Walker and one other person Saturday afternoon. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says speed was a factor in the one-car crash north of L.A. Deputies found a red Porsche engulfed in flames when they arrived on-scene.

• A New York commuter train rounding a riverside curve derailed Sunday, killing four people and injuring more than 60 in a crash that threw some riders from toppling cars and raised questions about whether excessive speed, mechanical problems or human error could have played a role.

• Comedian and actor Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Coffee With Carlos

• With the self-imposed deadline to fix Healthcare.gov quickly approaching, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius assured state and local elected officials Tuesday that the troubled Obamacare website is “definitely on track” to improve by the end of November.

• The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to referee another dispute over President Barack Obama’s health care law, whether businesses like Hobby Lobby can use religious objections to escape a requirement to cover birth control for employees.

• Visiting the DreamWorks Animation studio in Glendale, CA on Tuesday, President Obama told employees of the film industry that their work has profound influence both at home and abroad. In the wake of tragedies like Sandy Hook, the entertainment should be mindful of that power, he said.

• The Texas National Guard will immediately begin letting same-sex couples register for benefits after the Defense Department approved a new procedure for enrolling National Guard members and their dependents for benefits.

• A wall of storms bearing down on the East Coast packing ice, sleet and rain could upend holiday travel plans as millions of Americans take to the roads, skies and rails Wednesday for Thanksgiving.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about whether the Iran deal was a good idea

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about GOP reaction to the historic Iran nuclear deal

• Leading Dem and GOP senators are crafting legislation to reinstate the full force of sanctions and impose new ones if Iran doesn’t make good on its pledge to roll back its nuclear program, brushing aside the Obama administration’s fears about upending its diplomatic momentum.

• Answering a heckler in his San Francisco audience, President Obama repeated on Monday that he will not take executive actions to halt deportations of undocumented immigrants, saying that such unilateral action would “violate our laws.”

• Newtown shooter Adam Lanza was obsessed with Columbine and planned the rampage that took the lives of 20 children and six school staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary, “including the taking of his own life,” according to a report on last December’s shooting released Monday.

• HealthCare.gov experienced an “unscheduled outage” for about an hour Monday morning, officials confirmed Monday, but the administration maintains that the federal website will work for the “vast majority” of users by next week.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the DC Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• Jim Ward has a special segment this morning, honoring the 50th Anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination

• Senate Democrats dropped the filibuster bomb yesterday. By a 52-48 vote, the Senate ended the ability of minority Republicans to continue using filibusters to block some of President Obama’s judicial and executive nominations, despite the vehement objections of Republicans.

• According to a CNN/ORC poll released Thursday, 41% of Americans approve of the job the President’s doing in the White House, the lowest level for that crucial indicator in CNN polling. Fifty-six percent questioned say they disapprove of Obama’s performance, an all-time high in CNN surveys.

• Rep. Trey Radel, R-Fla., who earlier in the day pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, announced Wednesday night he would be taking a leave of absence to get “intensive in-patient treatment.”

• Few tragedies loom as large in the American psyche as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who was gunned down in Dallas a half-century ago today. Now, we pause to remember that dark day in the country’s history — recalling a shared trauma that can feel both political and personal.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to give us his view of the Cheney Family marriage equality fight

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about GOP efforts to sabotage the Affordable Care Act

• Rep. Trey Radel, R-Fla., who earlier in the day pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, announced Wednesday night he would be taking a leave of absence to get “intensive in-patient treatment.”

• Email messages released yesterday by Republican congressional investigators reveal that at least five days before the launch of HealthCare.gov, the White House apparently “feared” negative publicity from the site’s now-famous ‘System Is Down’ warning.

• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, frustrated by Republicans who have been blocking President Barack Obama’s nominees, could invoke the so-called “nuclear option” this week – a controversial move that would change Senate rules over GOP objections to prevent filibusters of presidential nominations.

• The U.S. and Afghanistan have agreed on the language of a bilateral security pact that could clear the way for thousands of U.S. troops to train and assist Afghan forces after the NATO combat mission ends in 2014.

• Comedian Dean Obeidallah calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Chris Christie’s upcoming big immigration decision

• Comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Coffee With Carlos

• President Obama admitted that, even once the health care website is working properly, he faces an uphill battle to “remarket and rebrand” his signature law in the face of political opposition. The president said Republican resistance contributed to the rocky Obamacare rollout.

• The Justice Department and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have reached agreement on all issues in a $13 billion settlement of a civil inquiry into the company’s sales of low-quality mortgage-backed securities that collapsed in value during the 2008 financial crisis.

• George Zimmerman posted bond and was released from jail in Sanford, Fla., at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Zimmerman had been held on charges of aggravated assault, battery, domestic violence and criminal mischief related to an altercation with his girlfriend on Monday.

• Rep. Trey Radel (R-FL) is “profoundly sorry” after being charged Tuesday for misdemeanor cocaine possession. “I struggle with the disease of alcoholism, and this led to an extremely irresponsible choice,” Radel, who’s serving his first term in the U.S. House.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about how well the economy has been doing under Obama

• Progressive superhero Thom Hartmann calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about his new book “The Crash of 2016: The Plot To Destroy America And What We Can Do To Stop It”

• President Obama’s job approval rating has fallen to 42 percent in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, down 13 percentage points this year and 6 points in the past month to match the lowest of his presidency. 55 percent disapprove, which is a record.

• Scandal-plagued Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was stripped of the last of his meaningful powers last night after a heated City Council debate in which he argued with members of the public, charged hecklers and knocked a councilwoman down.

• George Zimmerman is being held without bail on charges that he threatened his girlfriend with a shotgun. Zimmerman, 30, was taken into custody Monday afternoon following a disturbance call at a home in Apopka, Fla., about 15 miles from Orlando.

• Stunned residents across the Midwest picked through the wreckage of what used to be their homes on Monday after a fierce storm system swept across six states, spawned nearly 60 reported tornadoes and killed at least eight people.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Obama’s plan to let people keep their health plans for another year

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the falling standards at CBS News

• Dozens of tornadoes and intense thunderstorms swept across the Midwest on Sunday with Illinois taking the brunt of the fury, leaving at least six people dead and unleashing powerful winds that flattened entire neighborhoods, flipped over cars and uprooted trees.

• House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said yesterday that Democrats are not losing confidence in President Barack Obama’s ability to make the Affordable Care Act work and don’t fear ObamaCare’s effect on their chances in next year’s elections.

• In a mild rebuke to President Barack Obama, more than three dozen House Democrats broke with their party Friday in supporting a measure the GOP said would help reverse cancellation of Americans’ individual insurance plans.

• Liz Cheney took fire Sunday from her own sister and sister-in-law over her public opposition to their right to be married. Mary Cheney and her wife, Heather Poe, went on Facebook to chastise Liz after the Wyoming Senate candidate said this weekend that she believes “in the traditional definition of marriage.”

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins Steph in the New York Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• Facing growing opposition from his own party, President Obama yesterday proposed a fix to a key component of his signature health care law, allowing Americans who are losing their coverage because of the Affordable Care Act to keep their plans for up to a year before being forced into coverage that meets the new standards.

• The White House is receiving mixed reactions from allies in Washington as it tries to soothe growing unease among Democrats on Capitol Hill about the implementation of the health reform law so many of them risked their careers to pass.

• Survivors in remote areas of the Philippines devastated by Typhoon Haiyan said Friday they had been ignored by relief efforts, even as aid began to reach some of the worst-affected zones. The United Nations said Thursday the death toll from the monster typhoon had reached 4,200.

• Toronto’s beleaguered mayor Rob Ford who has surprised his city with almost daily revelations about crack use, drug purchases and drunken stupors shocked a live news conference today with a crude comment about oral sex. He apologized for the comment a short time later, blaming the “pressure” of the ongoing scandal.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about coverage of the ObamaCare implementation numbers

• Aaron Hicklin, Editor-In-Chief of “Out Magazine” joins Steph in the New York Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about The Out 100

• Actress Linda Lavin calls in at 11:20am ET / 8:20am PT to talk about her role in the NBC Sitcom “Sean Saves The World”

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about Bill Clinton feeding the anti-ObamaCare trolls

• The Obama administration announced Wednesday that as of early November, 106,185 people had successfully chosen health insurance plans from the new Obamacare marketplaces. The administration has repeatedly stressed that it expected the initial enrollment figures to be low.

• The mayor of the typhoon-ravaged Philippine city of Tacloban has urged residents to flee the city. Thousands of people have jammed the airport, hoping to get one of the few seats out on military planes.

• The federal government may have wasted $1 billion on a TSA program called “SPOT” that profiles people who may be “bad guys” at airports by talking to them, according to the GAO. There is no evidence that it works.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the high-stakes election recount in Virginia is so important

• Comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang with us for the hour

• Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) announced Tuesday that she will support legislation aimed at repairing the now-broken promise that the president — and many senators — made to Americans when the Affordable Care Act was passed: That if they liked their health insurance, they could keep it.

• Desperation triggered anarchy in communities in the Philippines flattened by Typhoon Haiyan as survivors of one of the most violent storms to ever hit land struggled to find food, clean water and medicine Wednesday.

• The Hawaii State Senate passed a bill Tuesday legalizing gay marriage, putting Hawaii a signature away from becoming a same-sex wedding destination. Gov. Neil Abercrombie said in a statement he will sign the measure.

• Congress’ approval rating has fallen to nine percent in a new Gallup poll, the lowest it has been in the public opinion research firm’s 39 years of asking the question. A new Quinnipiac University poll found that American voters disapprove of President Obama by a margin of 54 percent to 39 percent, which is the lowest approval rating he has had since becoming president.

• Comedian Dean Obeidallah calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about why Chris Christie isn’t a shoo-in for the GOP nomination

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the manufactured feud between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren

• Aid is coming to Tacloban, Philippines: medical supplies, pallets of water and food piled on trucks, planes and ferries, sent by the Philippine government and countries around the world. But the scale of the typhoon disaster and challenges of delivering the assistance means few in this city, strewn with debris and corpses, have received any help.

• Hailing “patriots who have rendered the highest service any American can offer this nation,” President Barack Obama honored the country’s military veterans Monday at a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

• If New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie runs for president in 2016, just 32 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning respondents say they would vote for him in a GOP presidential primary, while 31 percent prefer another Republican candidate. according to a new NBC News poll.

• An arctic blast from Canada brought winter-like temperatures across a wide swath of the country early Tuesday with snow and lows in the single digits and teens in the Upper Midwest.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about why Chris Christie isn’t the GOP’s savior

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the “60 Minutes” Benghazi report fiasco

• Writer, director, and actress Cathryn Michon calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about her new movie, “Muffin Top: A Love Story”

• Stunned survivors of one of the most powerful typhoons ever to make landfall picked through the remains of their homes Monday and pleaded for food and medicine as the Philippines struggled to deal with what is likely its deadliest natural disaster with a potential death toll of 10,000 or more.

• Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that the major world powers remain united on reaching a deal with Iran that would lead to it abandoning any efforts to build nuclear weapons. Talks failed in Geneva Saturday after an agreement had seemed imminent on Friday.

• Obamacare didn’t harm Democrats in last week’s elections and, in fact, could be a boon to future candidates, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said Sunday.

• 19 year old Zack Kopplin calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about fight against teaching Creationism in Louisiana public schools

• Actor Alan Alda calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about hosting the Homeward Bound telethon benefiting soldiers with PTSD

• Health care reform expert Jacki Schechner calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the continuing rollout of ObamaCare

• Columnist Tina Dupuy joins John Fugelsang in the New York Bureau for the 11am ET / 8am PT hour

• President Obama said Thursday that he is “sorry” that some Americans are losing their current health insurance plans as a result of the Affordable Care Act, despite his promise that no one would have to give up a health plan they liked.

• President Barack Obama’s budget chief said Thursday that last month’s 16-day partial shutdown of the federal government cost taxpayers more than $2.5 billion for work that furloughed federal employees never got a chance to do.

• The Senate approved historic legislation Thursday to expand workplace protections for gay, lesbian and transgender Americans. But the bill faces a bleak future in the GOP-led House.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to review this week’s election results

• Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about her new book, “For the Next Generation: A Wake-Up Call to Solving Our Nation’s Problems”

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the sadistic tendencies of ObamaCare opponents

• President Obama yesterday traveled to Dallas, Texas, where he met with supporters of his health care law, encouraging them to keep up their efforts to promote it, even in the face of conservative resistance. He took state leaders to task for refusing to expand Medicaid.

• Tony Trenkle, The Chief Information Officer for the agency running the troubled ObamaCare website, has resigned, officials confirmed on Wednesday — but they wouldn’t say whether he was a casualty of the messy rollout.

• Chris Christie said Wednesday that he’s ignoring the speculation about his presidential ambitions following a decisive re-election victory in deep-blue New Jersey. But his words and actions suggested otherwise.

• Twitter late Wednesday priced its shares at $26, as the social networking firm prepares to go public this morning in the splashiest initial share offering since Facebook’s May 2012 market debut.

• Comedian Dean Obeidallah calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about why we should charge the LAX shooter with terrorism

• MSNBC’s Chris Matthews calls in at 10:50am ET / 7:50am PT to talk about his book, “Tip And The Gipper: When Politics Worked”

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• Democrat Terry McAuliffe won the Virginia governor’s race, Republican Chris Christie won re-election in New Jersey, and Democrat Bill De Blasio won the mayor’s race in New York City in yesterday’s most-contested elections.

• Rob Ford said Tuesday he loves his job and will stay on as mayor of Toronto despite admitting for the first time that he smoked crack. Ford earlier acknowledged he smoked crack “probably a year ago” when he was in a “drunken stupor,” but balked at growing pressure on him to resign.

• The Illinois General Assembly approved a bill on Tuesday to allow gays and lesbians to marry in the Land of Lincoln, opening the path for the state to become the 15th to allow same-sex marriage. It now goes to Gov. Pat Quinn, who has vowed to sign it into law.

• Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul said yesterday he will create a “new approval process” for his speeches and written material after facing charges of plagiarism.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about strange political events in Maine and Virginia

• Comedian Kevin Nealon calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his online benefit “Comedy Gives Back”

• A gunman fired at least fix rounds into an escalator near closing time in a popular New Jersey mall Monday evening before taking his own life, authorities said. Thousands of shoppers fled the building but no injuries were reported.

• Voters headed to the polls Tuesday for a series of off-year elections, including high-profile contests in Virginia and New Jersey that could offer nationally resonant lessons for Republicans and Democrats alike.

• The Senate cleared its first procedural hurdle today on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), legislation which would ban discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill faces a tougher road in the House where Speaker Boehner says he opposes it.

• Suspended Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito sent text messages to teammate Jonathan Martin that were racist and threatening, according to multiple reports. The team and NFL continued their investigation into allegations by Martin’s representatives that he was bullied.

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the media’s reaction to the LAX shooting on Friday

• Health care reform expert Jacki Schechner calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the rollout of the Affordable Care Act

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about what the Family Research Council thinks of ObamaCare

• After a weekend of intense investigation, authorities are piecing together more details about Friday’s fatal shooting at Los Angeles International Airport — including the suspect’s behavior earlier in the week and a warning from his family that may have come moments too late.

• Last year’s losing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Sunday that President Barack Obama’s “fundamental dishonesty” on the Affordable Care Act has “put in peril the whole foundation of his second term.”

• Lowering expectations, White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer yesterday morning said on “This Week” that the first Obamacare enrollment numbers would not be as high as the administration would like.

• President Obama turned blogger on Sunday night, making an impassioned plea in the Huffington Post for Congress to pass a long-delayed measure to ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.

• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and its success in his home state of Kentucky.

• Only six people were able to enroll for health insurance through the ObamaCare website on the first day, according to documents released Thursday by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee. Obama administration officials have said that early enrollment numbers would be very low.

• Experts from Google and other prominent tech companies are joining a so-called tech surge to fix the struggling HealthCare.gov website. The agency overseeing the Obamacare site announced the additions Thursday, after the site had crashed for over 36 hours.

• President Barack Obama’s closest advisers secretly considered replacing Vice President Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton on the 2012 ticket, according to the New York Times.

• A third of the abortion clinics in Texas can no longer perform the procedure starting Friday after a federal appeals court allowed most of the state’s new abortion restrictions to take effect, overturning a district judge’s ruling that the provision violated the Constitution.

• The parents of a boy suffering from severe seizures have filed a lawsuit against the state of Arizona to ensure that their son will have access to medicinal cannabis oil without the risk of prosecution.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the Kathleen Sebelius hearings on ObamaCare yesterday

• Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius took responsibility for problems with HealthCare.gov but blamed contractors for the site’s flaws. She also faced bruising questions from lawmakers about Americans who are losing insurance that doesn’t comply with the law’s standards.

• At a speech in Boston’s Faneuil Hall, President Barack Obama on Wednesday said there is “no excuse” for the problems with the health care website and that he will “take full responsibility for making sure it gets fixed ASAP.”

• President Barack Obama’s approval rating has declined to an all-time low of 42 percent as public frustration with Washington and pessimism about the nation’s direction continue to grow, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

• Cory Booker, who became a rising star in the Democratic Party as mayor of Newark, N.J., has come to Washington. He will be sworn in as a U.S. senator at noon ET today.

• The Boston Red Sox, baseball’s bearded wonders, capped their remarkable turnaround by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 in Game 6 on last night to win their third World Series championship in 10 seasons.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about problems with the ObamaCare website

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of Humpdays With Hal

• The nation today will hear from both President Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about the ongoing problems associated with the Affordable Care Act. Both leaders are expected to say they just need more time to make the law work smoothly.

• The White House argued Tuesday that President Obama didn’t mislead the public when he repeatedly promised Americans “If you like your health plan, you will be able to keep your health plan” under the Affordable Care Act.

• The nation’s top intelligence official told Congress on Tuesday that the U.S. has been snooping on friendly foreign leaders for years, and getting spied on by allies in return. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper gave the impression he didn’t know what all the fuss was about.

• It took all day before the Cardinals finally arrived in Boston, trailing the Red Sox 3-2 going into Game 6 on tonight. Their flight took off about 9:10 p.m. EDT after a delay that appeared to last around 6 hours and landed shortly after 11 p.m.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the decline of Sen. Marco Rubio

• The White House is under fire to explain exactly how much President Obama knows about U.S. surveillance programs in the wake of a report that suggested the National Security Agency (NSA) had been monitoring the phones of 35 world leaders until an internal Obama administration review discovered and ended the program.

• In a stunning move, a federal judge Monday ruled that abortion restrictions authorized by Texas lawmakers in July are unconstitutional, and will not be implemented as scheduled on Tuesday.

• Four sources deeply involved in the Affordable Care Act tell NBC News that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a “cancellation” letter over the next year because their existing policies don’t meet the standards mandated by the new health care law.

• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that the Senate will vote on a bill to expand gay rights in the workplace before the Thanksgiving holiday. Reid said the upper chamber would consider the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, which would “work against discrimination on gender identity.”

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the who is hurting us more than the ObamaCare website

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about media coverage of the ObamaCare website’s ‘challenges’

• Republicans are set to continue hammering the administration over the failures of the HealthCare.gov website this week, with plans to question several administration officials about the site’s rocky rollout and continue demanding information about why it happened.

• The U.S. National Security Agency spied on tens of millions of phone calls in Spain over a single month last year, according to a Spanish newspaper report published online Sunday evening.

• The White House learned this summer that the National Security Agency had tapped the phones of world leaders and ordered a halt to some of the eavesdropping, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

• A ride operator is due in court Monday to face criminal charges after five people were injured on a ride at the North Carolina State Fair. He faces three criminal counts of assault with a deadly weapon in the mishap.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the two sides of the Republican party

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• In more than four hours of testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, officials of companies hired to create the HealthCare.gov website said there was a lack of testing on the full system and last-minute changes by the federal agency overseeing the online enrollment system.

• President Barack Obama tried to refocus attention on the incomplete comprehensive immigration reform push Thursday, saying that “this is the moment we should be able to finally get the job done.”

• The teenager charged with murdering his “gentle and caring” math teacher in Danvers, Massachusetts this week, caught a Woody Allen movie and picked up fast food after the alleged killing, authorities and local media reported Thursday.

• German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded on Thursday that the United States strike a ‘no-spying’ agreement with Berlin and Paris by the end of the year, saying alleged espionage against two of Washington’s closest EU allies had to be stopped.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the ObamaCare rollout

• Gov. Jesse Ventura calls in at 10:50am ET / 7:50am PT to talk about his new book on the JFK assassination, “They Killed Our President”

• Comedian Dean Obeidallah calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about why the Tea Party can’t take a joke

• The White House reaffirmed a key deadline in the health reform law Wednesday, saying people have until March 31 to sign up for health insurance even if the coverage doesn’t kick in till later. However, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is already drafting a bill to delay the mandate for a year.

• In a series of hearings this week and next, the Republican-led House will investigate the multiple technical flaws with the website, as well as whether any of the decisions that led to the site’s poor design were politically motivated.

• Germany has become the latest government to demand answers from the United States about NSA spying after reports the U.S. may have monitored the cell phone of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

• A well-liked teacher was found slain in woods yesterday behind the Danvers, Massachusetts high school, and a 14-year-old boy who was found walking along a state highway overnight was charged with killing her.

• Susan Bennett, better known as the voice of Siri, calls in at 9:50am ET / 6:50am PT to tell us about her ubiquitous voice

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• President Obama has turned to longtime adviser Jeffrey Zients to provide management advice to help fix the flailing health care marketplace website. Zients is a former acting director of the Office of Management and Budget and a veteran management consultant.

• Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius should be “held accountable” for the botched rollout of the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said yesterday.

• As police tried to piece together how and why a seventh-grader shot and killed a teacher and wounded two other students at his Sparks, Nevada school, recordings of the first calls to police captured the horror and chaos he unleashed.

• Republican Sen. John McCain says he’s considering running for a sixth term in 2016, the year he turns 80.

• Apple rolled out the fifth generation of its market-leading tablet, called the iPad Air, Tuesday. Among its new features, the iPad will weigh 1 pound, down from 1.4 pounds. It’s 20% thinner and 28% lighter than the current fourth-generation iPad.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the aftermath of the ObamaCare fight

• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about making sure we have no more GOP-forced government shutdowns

• President Obama publicly acknowledged on Monday that the new health care law’s website “hasn’t worked as smoothly as it was supposed to work,” but he urged Americans not to be deterred from registering for Obamacare because of the technological problems that have plagued its rollout.

• A 13-year-old student armed with a semi-automatic handgun opened fire on a middle-school campus near Reno, NV just before the starting bell Monday, wounding two boys and killing a teacher member who was trying to protect other children, police said.

• France is the latest in a growing list of nations demanding explanations from Washington about NSA spying. A report published on Monday said the U.S. swept up 70 million French telephone records and text messages and recorded some private conversations.

• In a new ABC News poll, a near-record 78% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the federal government works, with anger at a new high in polls since 1992. Criticism over the shutdown is focused on the GOP, now at their greatest unpopularity in data since 1984.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the latest in anti-ObamaCare comments

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP’s switch of focus to ObamaCare

• The Health Department said Sunday that it has enlisted the “best and brightest” to help fix the Affordable Care Act’s website’s torrent of technical glitches and bugs as the president prepares to address the problems at the White House today.

• Gay couples exchanged vows in early morning ceremonies in several New Jersey communities today as the state began recognizing their marriages at 12:01 a.m., becoming the 14th state to do so.

• Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on NBC’s Meet the Press that President Barack Obama will keep trying to undo or ease the sequestration cuts in spending that he reluctantly signed into law as part of the Budget Control Act in 2011.

• Just more than half the public says that it’s bad for the country that the GOP controls the House of Representatives, according to a new national CNN poll conducted after the end of the partial government shutdown.

• Former V.P. Dick Cheney has revealed that when he had a device implanted to regulate his heartbeat in 2007, he had his doctors disable its wireless capabilities to prevent against a possible assassination attempt.

• John Fugelsang calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT for a telephonic version of Fridays With Fuglesang

• The threat of default and 16-day government shutdown that ended Wednesday night left the American people — and President Obama — frustrated. “You don’t like a particular policy or a particular president? Then argue for your position. Go out there and win an election,” Obama said. “Push to change it. But don’t break it,” Obama told Republicans.

• After Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell helped broker Wednesday’s deal that reopened the government, his critics found something in that agreement they’re using to attack him with — a $2.9 billion locks and dam project.

• Senior administration officials confirm that President Barack Obama has chosen former Defense Department general counsel Jeh Johnson to succeed Janet Napolitano as Homeland Security Secretary.

• Dianne Reidy, the House stenographer who erupted into a verbal tirade against members of Congress in the midst of the vote to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling said in a statement that the “holy spirit” told her to do it.

• People in the San Francisco Bay area faced a frustrating Friday commute as workers for BART, the region’s largest transit system, walked off the job for the second time in four months.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the last minute deal to reopen the government last night

• Thom Hartmann calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about his film “Last Hours,” about how global warming can lead to extinction

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to tell us the ramifications of the last minute deal yesterday to keep from defaulting

• After 15 days of a government shutdown and on the eve of when the country was set to lose its borrowing authority, Congress passed legislation to fund the government and avert a default Wednesday night. President Obama later signed the bill, officially reopening the government and allowing federal employees to head back to work.

• The bill that President Obama signed last night will fund the government through Jan. 15 and lift the debt ceiling through Feb. 7. The bill will also pay furloughed government workers for the time they missed during the shutdown.

• Newark Mayor Cory Booker won a special election Wednesday to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate, giving the rising Democratic star a bigger political stage after a race against conservative Steve Lonegan, a former small-town mayor.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the Senate’s last, best hope to avoid default

• Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the rules change in congress that put Eric Cantor in power

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• The nation is just hours away from a crucial deadline to avert default on its debts and Washington remains muddled in a risky legislative process. Senate leaders say they are closing in on a deal that could pass the upper chamber with bipartisan support but it’s unclear how fast they can get it to the president’s desk.

• Fitch Ratings, one of the country’s three major credit rating agencies, signaled Tuesday that it could downgrade the United States’ rating, citing the impasse in Washington over raising the debt ceiling.

• Former President George W. Bush’s heart situation that caused him to undergo a procedure in August was more serious than originally thought, as two sources close to the 43rd president now confirm he had a 95% blockage in an artery.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the GOP shooting themselves in the foot with the shutdown

• Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about what Dems in the House are doing about the government shutdown

• Outlines of a deal to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling emerged Monday as key senators huddled to hammer out the specifics of a possible compromise. GOP and Dem leaders said they are closing in on an agreement to end a government shutdown and stave off a default on the national debt come Thursday.

• A survey released yesterday from ABC News/Washington Post, is similar to two polls out last week in suggesting congressional Republicans are getting more of the blame than Democrats or President Barack Obama for the fiscal impasse.

• Speaker John Boehner and other top House GOP leaders met yesterday afternoon to discuss their options and consider preparing their own bill to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. It’s unlikely to be simply a clean short term increase in the debt ceiling.

• A magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck central Philippines on Tuesday, leaving at least 49 people dead and rattling many who were celebrating a religious holiday.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about why the Far Right thinks that God hates ObamaCare

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the madness behind the GOP’s government shutdown

• Comedian Dean Obeidallah calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about why Ted Cruz is the Miley Cyrus of the Senate

• DC is deadlocked as it enters the 14th day of a partial government shutdown that has already led to furloughs of 350,000 federal workers, canceled military training missions and slowed economic growth. Now, the U.S. is just days away from losing its ability to borrow money and faces the prospect of defaulting on its bonds.

• A Tea Party-led protest against the government shutdown that started at the World War II Memorial ended up in front of the White House yesterday, where some protesters waved Confederate flags. Police, some in riot gear, were called in with members of the crowd heckling them, calling them “brown shirts,” opining that the unit “looks like something out of Kenya.”

• Former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was gravely wounded in a 2011 mass shooting that killed six and injured 12 others, attended a New York gun show Sunday to draw attention to voluntary background checks for buyers.

• Syndicated columnist Tina Dupuy calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about why the Heritage Foundation suddenly hates the individual mandate

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• House GOP and White House negotiators worked behind closed doors late Thursday to try to hammer out a deal that could potentially reopen the government in the coming days and delay an Oct. 17 deadline to raise the nation’s debt limit.

• The GOP has been badly damaged in the ongoing government shutdown and debt limit standoff, with a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finding that a majority of Americans blame the GOP for the shutdown, and with the party’s popularity declining to its lowest level at 24% approval.

• President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill that would restore funding for emergency payments to the families of deceased soldiers as the government shutdown continues.

• A New Jersey judge has reaffirmed her call for the state to start issuing same-sex marriage licenses on Oct. 21, but the Gov. Chris Christie is taking another crack at putting the mandate on hold. Both developments are the latest in a flurry of legal activity over whether the state should allow gay couples to marry.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about movement in the GOP’s government shutdown

• Comedian Kathleen Madigan joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to hang with us for the rest of the morning

• Suzanne Somers calls in at 10:50am ET / 7:50am PT to talk to Steph about “The Change” and to promote her book, “I’m Too Young For This!”

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the debt ceiling and the upcoming financial apocalypse

• Multiple House Republican members and GOP leadership sources say that leaders are preparing a proposal to raise the debt ceiling temporarily in order to avoid default while keeping the government shut down. President Obama has said he’d be open to this idea.

• Janet Yellen, the first woman to be nominated to lead the Federal Reserve, is receiving early praise from Dems and is likely to face a far smoother Senate confirmation than Lawrence Summers, the man who was widely seen as President Obama’s top choice to lead the central bank.

• Libya’s state news agency says Prime Minister Ali Zidan, abducted by gunmen at dawn, has now been freed and was seen on his way to his office.

• Comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about his show at The Marin Showcase Theatre on Friday

• Actor Sean Astin calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his Kickstarter campaign to fund his new political web show, “Vox Populi”

• Actorvist Melissa Fitzgerald joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT with her West Wing Co-Star Josh Singer, writer of the new movie “The Fifth Estate”

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of Humpdays With Hal

• President Barack Obama is ready to talk even on Republicans’ terms, he insisted Tuesday, so long as Congress acts first to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling — even for a short period. House Speaker Boehner immediately rejected the idea.

• President Obama will nominate Federal Reserve vice chair Janet Yellen to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the nation’s central bank, the White House said Tuesday. She would be the first woman to lead the Fed.

• Supreme Court Justices yesterday heard the latest challenge to campaign finance reforms enacted after the abuses of the Watergate era. The question before the court is whether limits on individual contributions to candidates and political parties violate the First Amendment.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the government shutdown in the rudest way possible

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to ask where the gutsy Republicans are when it comes to ending the shutdown

• Rocky Mountain Mike calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to tell us about the release of his comedy album, “Politically Incoherent”

• Conservative radio host Michael Medved calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about The Great Debate 3 in Chicago with Steph

• With the government shutdown entering week 2, the focus of ending a stalemate is shifting to the upcoming deadline to increase how much the federal government can borrow. A White House reference to the length of a debt ceiling deal caused speculation that they might be signaling flexibility on the issue to legislators.

• A new poll from Washington Post/ABC News found that disapproval of GOPers is up to 70% among American adults from 63% approval at the end of September. Disapproval of Dems is up to 61% from 56% at the end of last month.

• A top Chinese official chided DC on Monday about the government shutdown and the debt-ceiling impasse, fretting that the political gridlock could leave the economy of America’s top foreign creditor in a jam.

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about media coverage of the GOP’s government shutdown

• Comedian Jen Kirkman, author of “I Can Barely Take Care Of Myself: Tales From A Happy Life Without Kids” joins Steph in studio at 11am ET / 8am PT

• White House officials on Sunday pushed back on House Speaker John Boehner’s assertion that the Republican-controlled lower chamber could not pass a government spending bill or raise the debt ceiling without concessions from Democrats.

• The Pentagon announced Saturday that it will recall more than 300,000 furloughed civilian employees – or more than three-quarters of those idled by the partial government shutdown.

• Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that al Qaeda and other terrorists “can run but they can’t hide.” Kerry’s comment followed twin raids launched Saturday by U.S. forces in Somalia and Libya, where they captured senior al Qaeda official Anas al Libi, accused of planning the 1998 embassy attack in Kenya and Tanzania.

• A team of international experts began the process of destroying Syria’s chemical weapons on Sunday, according to the United Nations. The group consists of inspectors from the Netherlands-based watchdog Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons along with a U.N. team.

• Radio legend Robin Quivers calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about her new vegan cookbook, “The Vegucation Of Robin: How Real Food Saved My Life”

• Comedian Dean Obeidallah calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to wonder who the 10% of people who like Congress are

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT for a telephonic version of “Fridays With Fugelsang”

• Lynda Carter (“Wonder Woman”) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the shutdown from the perspective of a former Congressional spouse

• Investigators are attempting to determine why an unarmed Stamford, Conn., woman ran her car into a security fence outside the White House on Thursday before leading authorities on a short chase that ended with her death in a hail of police gunfire near the U.S. Capitol.

• House Speaker John Boehner has privately told Republican lawmakers anxious about fallout from the government shutdown that he would not allow a potentially more crippling federal default as the atmosphere on Capitol Hill turned increasingly tense on Thursday.

• With FEMA crippled because of the GOP shutdown, Tropical Storm Karen is poised to become the first named storm to hit the Gulf Coast of the U.S. during what had been a relatively quiet hurricane season.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to tell us what’s going on in DC with the GOP’s government shutdown

• Former CIA agent Valerie Plame calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to tell us about her new espionage thriller, “Blowback”

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about what the GOP’s government shutdown is doing to America

• President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he is “exasperated” by the government shutdown but won’t negotiate with the Republicans until they pass an extension of funding to reopen it.

• Emerging from a White House meeting that stretched for more than an hour last night, Republican and Democratic congressional leaders said that they are still at an impasse over how to end the ongoing government shutdown.

• U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said today it would be “diplomatic malpractice of the worst order” not to test Iran’s willingness to comply with international demands over its nuclear program.

• In a defeat for Michael Jackson’s family, jurors yesterday found concert promotor AEG was not negligent in hiring Dr. Conrad Murray, the doctor who administered an overdose of anesthesia to the singer.

• Michelangelo Signorile, host of “The Michelangelo Signorile Show” afternoons on SiriusXM Progress 127, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for “Humpdays With Hal”

• The first full day of government shutdown ended in another stalemate as Dems rejected an attempt by House GOP-ers to restore funding to delayed veterans benefits and closed national parks and memorials, and to give D.C. the authority to use local revenue to continue operations.

• President Barack Obama has postponed visits to Malaysia and the Philippines so he can concentrate on dealing with the first federal government shutdown in 17 years, an administration official confirmed this morning.

• President Obama marked the opening of enrollment in the new health insurance marketplace in a speech in the Rose Garden on Tuesday, saying that despite the partial shutdown of the federal government “a big part of the Affordable Care Act is now open for business.”

• Nearly 3 million people tried to sign onto the Affordable Care Act’s main federal website at HealthCare.gov yesterday, only to be met with frozen screens. Officials said it was a testament to the site’s popularity; critics said it was evidence the government has bungled the effort.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the government shutdown

• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in to talk about the GOP shutting down the government over the implementation of ObamaCare

• Parts of the federal government officially shut down at 12:01 Tuesday morning after Congress played hot potato with a spending bill for several hours but failed to come to an agreement to fully fund normal operations.

• In a message broadcast over Armed Forces Television at midnight Eastern Time, President Obama said he was signing emergency legislation ensuring that service members would still be paid and promised that “we’ll continue working to address any impact this shutdown has on you and your families.”

• With the government shut down, national parks expected to close, homebuyers will probably facing delays on government-backed mortgages, and an estimated 800,000 federal workers are facing furlough. Federal agencies have stopped paying for veterans’ medical care, halted disease surveillance, and have shelved toxic cleanups.

• More than three years after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, one of the most critical elements of the health care law goes into effect today when open enrollment begins on 51 different state-based, online insurance marketplaces.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the GOP’s lack of compromise in the government shutdown standoff

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about media coverage of the possible GOP government shutdown

• Actor and activist Kal Penn calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to tell us about his new CBS comedy series “We Are Men”

• Lee Fang of “The Nation” calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to tell us about the GOP’s hypocritical ObamaCare fans

• House Republicans pushed through a spending plan early Sunday morning that would delay Obamacare for a year and repeal its tax on medical devices. The vote makes the chances of a government shutdown tomorrow increasingly likely.

• President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are set to meet today, and the two leaders are set to discuss negotiations with the Palestinians, developments in Syria, and Iran. The topic of Iran is likely to be contentious with the recent thaw in relations between Iran and the US.

• Americans remain deeply divided on the Affordable Health Care Act, with half confused about how it works or worried about how much it will cost them, a new NBC News / Kaiser poll shows. Just 24 percent said they were enthusiastic.

• Actor-vist Melissa Fitzgerald joins Steph in the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the news of the day

• Out country singer Chely Wright joins Steph in the New York Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to tell us what she’s been up to lately

• President Obama yesterday accused Republicans of political extortion, saying they are trying to “blackmail a president” by threatening to shut down the government or refuse to raise the debt ceiling unless he agrees to gut his signature health care law.

• The five permanent members of the deeply divided U.N. Security Council reached agreement Thursday on a resolution to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons, a major step in taking the most controversial weapon off the battlefield of the world’s deadliest ongoing conflict.

• The Navy ordered an investigation into the deadly Washington Navy Yard shooting on Thursday, and the D.C. medical examiner released the gunman’s remains. The investigation will also look into the shooter’s mental health background as well as his military record.

• Sen. Wendy Davis, the Texas state senator who gained national attention for a filibuster against statewide abortion restrictions, is planning to run for governor of the state in 2014.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about Sen. Ted Cruz’ pointless talkathon on the floor of the Senate

• Comedian Dean Obeidallah calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about right wing attacks on his documentary “The Muslims Are Coming”

• The legendary Jo Anne Worley calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about Actors & Others For Animals’ benefit “Best In Show”

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about what Sen. Ted Cruz was trying to accomplish with his day-long speech

• According new a new CBS News / NY Times poll, if the government shuts down, the GOP in Congress may take more of the blame: 44 percent of Americans say they would blame the GOP while fewer – 35 percent – would put more of the blame on President Obama and the Dems in Congress.

• President Obama will deliver a speech in Maryland today, according to the White House, “to lay out one of the cornerstones of what it means to be middle class in America: having access to affordable health care that you can count on.”

• Video footage released by the FBI yesterday shows D.C. Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis in the moments before his deadly rampage, entering the facility in his car and stalking through hallways and staircases armed with a shotgun.

• Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the latest on Syria, the situation in Kenya, and the GOP efforts to shut down the Government

• Hal Sparks calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT for a Hal Sparks Birthday edition of Humpdays With Hal

• Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) took to the Senate floor just after 2:41 p.m. on Tuesday, vowing to speak in opposition to the Affordable Care Act “until [he] is no longer able to stand.” Cruz read Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham” as he wished his children goodnight from the Capitol.

• When open enrollment begins on the online, state-based marketplaces established under Obamacare, premiums nationwide are expected to be around 16 percent lower than originally predicted, Health and Human Services said in a new report released today.

• Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday his nation is prepared to resume negotiations over its disputed nuclear program – but only under certain conditions. Rouhani told the U.N. that he is also open to talks with the United States “to manage differences.”

• Kenya’s president proclaimed victory Tuesday over the al Qaeda-linked terrorists who stormed a Nairobi mall, saying security forces had “ashamed and defeated our attackers” following a bloody four-day siege in which dozens of civilians were killed.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about John Boehner vs GOP Exremists

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about events at the shopping mall in Kenya

• Kenyan security forces battled al Qaeda-linked terrorists in an upscale mall for a fourth day Tuesday in what they said was a final push to rescue the last few hostages in a siege that has left at least 62 people dead.

• President Obama and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, will be at the United Nations together today. The White House has said no meetings are planned, but hasn’t ruled out at least a handshake, which would be historic between leaders of the two nations.

• Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has announced he won’t oppose moving forward with the House-passed legislation to fund the government, breaking with Ted Cruz and tea party conservatives on a key procedural issue.

• In an unguarded moment at the United Nations on Monday, President Barack Obama joked that he was able to successfully quit smoking six years ago “because I’m scared of my wife.”

• Former President George W. Bush, who quit playing golf shortly after the Iraq war began in 2003, said critics of President Obama’s zeal for the sport are off-base.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about what’s next in the GOP’s threat to shut down the government

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about why the discussion of Syria is making the Beltway Media crack up

• Sporadic gunfire and explosions were heard Monday from the shopping mall in Kenya’s capital where Somali terrorists remained holed-up with an unknown number of hostages. At least 69 people had been killed and another 175 injured according to the Kenya Red Cross, which said another 63 people were still listed as missing.

• Lamenting “once more” a deadly mass shooting, President Barack Obama assured families of the Navy Yard massacre victims at a memorial service on Sunday there was “nothing routine about this tragedy, there’s nothing routine about your loss.”

• President Barack Obama excoriated Congress for being “focused on trying to mess with me,” hours after the Republican House approved a stopgap spending measure to continue government operations, but also eliminate funding for “Obamacare.”

• “Breaking Bad” won best drama series, “Modern Family” won best comedy series, Jeff Daniels won best actor for “The Newsroom” and Claire Danes won best actress for “Homeland” at last night’s Emmy Awards.

• Tina Dupuy of The Contributor calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the Congressional fight over Food Stamps

• Rep Adam Schiff (D-CA) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the Navy Yard shooting and the need for gun legislation

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of Fridays With Fugelsang

• The House has voted to cut nearly $4 billion a year from food stamps, a 5 percent reduction to the nation’s main feeding program used by more than 1 in 7 Americans. The 217-210 vote was a win for conservatives after Dems united in opposition and some GOP moderates said the cut was too high.

• USIS, a private security firm that conducted the background check of ex-N.S.A. contractor Edward Snowden, acknowledged yesterday it also conducted the 2007 background check of Aaron Alexis that allowed the Washington Navy Yard shooter to get a security clearance.

• Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s overtures to the West have been “very positive” but sounded a note of caution. “Everything needs to be put to the test,” Kerry said.

• Political Strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the politics behind Syria and the Navy Yard shooting

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about what could have been done to stop the Navy Yard shooter

• Sources say Aaron Alexis left behind two short phrases on the side of the shotgun used in the Washington Navy Yard massacre. One of the messages scratched into the gun’s metal reads, “Better off this way.” The other is more cryptic: “My ELF weapon.” Investigators don’t know what the etchings mean.

• Syrian President Bashar Assad said yesterday that a United Nations report finding “clear and convincing evidence” sarin nerve gas was used in Syria painted an “unrealistic” account, and he denied his government orchestrated the attack.

• After watching the cost of food stamp assistance soar during the recession, the Republican-led House of Representatives today plans to vote on a bill to cut the food stamp program by a whopping $40 billion over 10 years.

• One Powerball ticket has matched all six numbers in the latest drawing for the estimated $400 million jackpot. The winning numbers selected Wednesday night were purchased at a gas station in Lexington, S.C.

• Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT with his thoughts on the situation in Syria

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• The Navy was told by authorities in Rhode Island last month of an incident in which Aaron Alexis complained that he was hearing voices, according to a police report on the incident. It is unclear whether the Navy followed up.

• President Obama has ordered a comprehensive review of government contractor and employee protections. The move comes in the wake of the mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, which raised concerns about security procedures at U.S. military installations.

• A day after a mass shooting left 13 dead in DC, federal gun legislation is in the same place as it’s been for months: stalled in Congress. Still stung by an April defeat in the Senate, discouraged proponents of gun control legislation say that the chances for change are still dim.

• President Barack Obama said the world would still be better off if Bashar Assad left power, but on Tuesday stressed that his top priority was removing chemical weapons from the Syrian president’s arsenal.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP spin of the Syria Resolution

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about gun control in the wake of yesterday’s Navy Yard shootings

• Comedian Julie Brown joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about her new musical “The Homecoming Queen’s Got A Gun”

• An employee at a defense contractor used his pass to get into the Washington Navy Yard and went on a deadly shooting rampage Monday, spraying bullets in the hallways and firing from a balcony on workers in an atrium below. Twelve people were killed plus the gunman.

• The man believed responsible for 12 deaths in the DC Navy Yard Monday has had at least two violent, angry encounters that lead to his arrests in Texas and Washington state. In both cases he was arrested, but there was no prosecution by the local jurisdictions.

• President Obama appealed to more moderate Republicans on Monday, pleading with them to break with the party’s conservative flank and help avoid a government shutdown over ObamaCare at the end of this month

• U.N. weapons inspectors returned “overwhelming and indisputable” evidence of the use of nerve gas in Syria, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday, calling the findings “beyond doubt and beyond the pale.”

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the next outrageous thing Ann Coulter has said

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to fill us in on media coverage of President Obama and the Syria crisis

• Jackie Schechner calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of Jackie’s Healthcare Corner

• Over the weekend, the U.S. and Russia hashed out a new plan to get Syria to give up control of its chemical weapons. Syria says it welcomes the plan. Syria has until next week to provide a full list of all its chemical weapons, and where it’s storing them.

• Lawrence Summers, who was considered the leading candidate to replace current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, has withdrawn his name from consideration, the White House said Sunday. In a statement, President Obama said he had accepted Summers’ decision.

• Helicopter rescue teams were on standby early Monday after bad weather prevented them from reaching more than 1,000 people still trapped across Colorado, five days into record flooding which has killed five people and wrecked 17,500 homes.

• Forty-four percent of respondents call ObamaCare a bad idea, while 31 percent believe it’s a good idea — virtually unchanged from July’s NBC/WSJ survey.

• Ross Matthews of the new E! show “Hello Ross” calls in at 10:20am ET / 7:20am PT to tell us about his new pop culture show

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang will be calling in periodically through the morning from his movie set for “Fridays With Fugelsang”

• U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday that the prospects for a resumption in the Syria peace process are riding on the outcome of their chemical weapons talks.

• Congressional leaders in both parties made clear there is no clear path forward in avoiding a government shutdown in just over 18 days, after which all but the most essential government services would cease for lack of money.

• Many civilians were killed when Taliban insurgents launched a major attack on a U.S. Consulate in western Afghanistan early Friday, the American envoy to the country said. Civilians and contractors who worked for the consulate in Herat were among the victims.

• With rain still falling and flooding and the threat of more still real, rescuers are struggling to reach dozens of people cut off by flooding in Colorado mountain communities, while residents in the Denver area and other downstream communities were warned to stay off flooded streets.

• Political Strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about Syria, and about this past Tuesday’s elections in NYC and Colorado

• Actor-vist Melissa Fitzgerald joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to give us her insight on the President’s decisions with Syria

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to tell us why President Obama is doing the right thing on Syria

• Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Geneva today for talks about Moscow’s plan for international inspectors to seize Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons, the first major effort in over a year to get both sides of the civil war onto the same page.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has written an op-ed for the New York Times in which he warned that a potential strike by the United States in Syria could unleash a new wave of terrorism, increase violence and further destabilize the Middle East and North Africa.

• The House Ethics Committee on Wednesday announced it will continue its review of Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann over allegation that she violated campaign finance law during her 2012 presidential run.

• Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to give us his impressions of President Obama’s address regarding Syria last night

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of Humpdays With Hal

• President Barack Obama pledged on Tuesday to explore a diplomatic plan from Russia to take away Syria’s chemical weapons, but voiced skepticism about it and urged Americans to support his threat to use military force if needed.

• Public Advocate Bill de Blasio completed his surge from seemingly nowhere in New York City’s mayoral primary Tuesday by taking a commanding lead on his Dem opponents, hovering near the threshold needed to avoid a runoff. The night also marked the end of political comebacks for Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer.

• Voters ousted two Colorado Democratic lawmakers Tuesday in the state’s first ever legislative recall, launched over their support for stricter gun laws after last year’s mass shootings.

• House Republican leaders are moving forward with a bill that would extend government funding until mid-December, averting a government shutdown but forcing the Democratically-controlled Senate into a vote on defunding the 2010 health care reform law.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in from Washington, DC at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about how events in Syria are playing there

• Comedian Beth Lapides calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the book “No Kidding,” a collection of essays from Women who have decided not to have children

• Comedian Dean Obeidallah calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his documentary “The Muslims Are Coming!”

• President Obama will meet with Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans behind closed doors during their respective weekly policy luncheons today to discuss his proposals on Syria. Tonight, he will deliver a televised address to make his case to the nation.

• If Syrian President Assad gives up his chemical weapons, a military strike would “absolutely” be on pause, President Obama said yesterday. Obama’s comments came after Russia suggested Syria could avoid a U.S. attack by turning its chemical weapons over to international control and destroying them, a proposal the Syrian government “welcomed.”

• George Zimmerman was released without charges yesterday after his wife called 911 to say Zimmerman punched his father-in-law in the nose and threatened to shoot him and his wife.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about President Obama’s push for action in Syria

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the media’s reaction to the Syria debate

• Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to tell us about his Huffington Post piece on Syria intervention

• President Obama will address the nation tomorrow as Congress prepares to vote on a resolution authorizing limited military strikes against Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons.

• A CNN poll released this morning shows that even though eight in 10 Americans believe that the Bashar al-Assad regime gassed its own people, a strong majority doesn’t want Congress to pass a resolution authorizing a military strike against the regime.

• President Bashar Assad warned Sunday that if President Obama decides to launch military strikes on Syria, the U.S. and its allies should “expect every action” in retaliation.

• A football fan fell to his death from an elevated pedestrian walkway Sunday at Candlestick Park during the 49ers’ final season opener at the San Francisco stadium, police said.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• The Obama administration’s plans to strike at Syria lost its most important foreign ally last night when the British government said it would not take part in any military action against Syria for its suspected use of chemical weapons.

• The administration will release today a declassified version of its intelligence report on last week’s purported Syria chemical weapons attack. It will also go public with its legal justification for taking military action against the Syrian regime if and when President Obama orders a strike.

• All legally wed gay couples, no matter which state they live in, are entitled to the same U.S. federal tax benefits as married heterosexual couples, the Obama administration said on Thursday.

• The National Football League agreed yesterday to pay $765 million to retired football players who sued the league over head injuries that they blamed on their time playing pro football.

• Valerie Harper’s doctor says the actress’ brain cancer is getting close to remission. The 74-year-old former sitcom star had announced in March that she had an incurable form of cancer and was given as little as three months to live.

• Political Strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the Far Right’s problems with yesterday’s March on Washington

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the Far Right’s fervor to impeach President Obama

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the new enemies of racial equality

• U.S. intelligence officials say intel linking Syrian President Bashar Assad to an alleged chemical weapons attack that killed at least 100 people is no “slam dunk,” with questions remaining about who controls some of Syria’s chemical weapons and doubts about whether Assad himself ordered the strike.

• President Obama has not yet decided on U.S. action in Syria, where he says his administration has “concluded” President Bashar al Assad used chemical weapons in an attack against civilians last week near Damascus.

• For many among the tens of thousands of Americans who thronged to D.C. to mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, President Obama’s challenge to seize the cause of racial equality from the “glorious patriots” of the 1960s struck a deep generational chord.

• Former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan was sentenced to death Wednesday for killing 13 people in a 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas – and the families of several victims said justice had been served for a “coward.”

• Rep. Adam Schiff of the House Intelligence Committee calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the exploding situation in Syria

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT for a telephone edition of Humpdays With Hal

• President Obama and his European and Middle East allies have blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for last week’s killing of hundreds of civilians. But the U.N. experts, who were first allowed to cross the front line by Assad’s forces on Monday, are still engaged in gathering evidence.

• Tens of thousands of people are expected to converge on the National Mall in D.C. today to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his historic “I Have a Dream” speech to 250,000 supporters.

• Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, two Arizona Republican senators who helped craft the Senate immigration reform bill, said Tuesday that they are still hopeful that the GOP-led House will ultimately approve a measure that includes a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

• Wal-Mart says it now will extend its health care benefits to its U.S. workers’ domestic partners, including those of the same sex. The Bentonville, Ark.-based discounter has 1.3 million full-time and part-time U.S. workers.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the Snowden Effect

• Tina Dupuy of The Contributor joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the exploding situation in Syria

• The diplomatic push ahead of a possible U.S.-led military strike on Syria intensified this morning as the White House prepared to release intelligence evidence alleging the use of chemical weapons by Bashar Assad’s military.

• Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday said there was “undeniable” evidence that Syria’s government had used chemical weapons to kill its own people, adding that “there must be accountability” for what he termed a “moral obscenity.”

• A California wildfire that has scorched an area roughly the size of Chicago near Yosemite National Park was 20 percent contained Monday night, officials said — a jump from 7 percent the previous night.

• A district manager for the City of San Diego has filed a new sexual harassment claim alleging former mayor Bob Filner held her in a choke hold and pressed his elbow into her breast.

• George Zimmerman will ask the state of Florida to reimburse him for as much as $300,000 in expenses he racked up successfully defending himself in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the message of the NSA Scandal rather than the messenger

• Jacki Schechner calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of Jacki’s Health Care Corner

• A U.N. team that is expected to investigate an alleged chemical attack near the Syrian capital Damascus that reportedly killed hundreds last week left their hotel Monday morning. Activists say between 322 and 1,300 people were killed in the alleged chemical attack on Wednesday.

• A northern California wildfire at Yosemite National Park grew to historic proportions early Monday, becoming the 14th largest in state history. It has scorched an area about the size of the city of Chicago while more than 3,400 firefighters try to rein it in.

• The “dream” of racial equality described by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 50 years ago at the March on Washington has not yet been fulfilled, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), the last living speaker from the original march, said Sunday.

• Sen. Ted Cruz admitted on Sunday he doesn’t have the votes yet to pass a budget resolution to defund Obamacare, adding it will take “a grass-roots tsunami” to back his plan to pass a budget continuing resolution in September that strips all funding for President Obama’s health care law.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the latest in the Greenwald / NSA case

• Comedian Rick Overton joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to tell us about his new podcast, “Overview”

• Bob Filner, the embattled mayor of San Diego, is expected to step down today, after weeks of growing calls for his resignation and a torrent of sexual harassment claims. His resignation is dependent on the City Council accepting a proposed mediation agreement.

• President Obama yesterday kicked off a two-day bus tour of lower-profile cities emphasizing college affordability heading into his showdown with Congress this fall over fiscal matters and the national debt.

• Justice Department officials say they’ll launch a few legal fight to block the Texas voter ID law. The government will claim that the voter ID law violates a different section of the Voting Rights Act that was left intact by the Supreme Court’s decision.

• U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked the Syrian government on Thursday to allow U.N. inspectors to investigate “without delay” the latest alleged chemical attack in the country’s civil war and grant them access to the site near Damascus.

• Political Strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about Chris Christie’s social policy dance

• Comedian Lewis Black calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about his new PPV special, “Lewis Black: Old Yeller Live At The Borgata”

• Embattled San Diego Mayor Bob Filner on Wednesday reached a tentative deal involving a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him — but details were not made public, including whether settlement hinged on the former congressman resigning.

• The Obama administration acknowledged that it was ordered to stop scooping up thousands of Internet messages from Americans with no connection to terrorism — a practice it says happend when it gathered bundles of Internet traffic connected to terror suspects.

• The troubled young man who allegedly walked into a Georgia elementary school with a high-powered rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammo told a staffer that he didn’t care about dying and should have just gone to a mental hospital, 911 tapes revealed Wednesday.

• Syrian President Assad’s forces pressed on with a military offensive in eastern Damascus on Thursday, bombing rebel-held suburbs where the opposition said a chemical weapons attack the day before killed between 100 and 1,300 people.

• Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the NRA’s blame in escalating gun violence in America

• John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for a Wednesday edition of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Christopher Lane, an Australian baseball player out for a jog in an Oklahoma neighborhood, was shot and killed by three “bored” teenagers who decided to kill someone for fun, police said. Two of the teens were charged with 1st Degree Murder, while a third was charged with being an accessory after the fact.

• Just a week into the new school year, a man with an assault rifle and other weapons exchanged gunfire with officers Tuesday at an Atlanta-area elementary school before surrendering, a police chief said. No one was injured.

• Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz on Tuesday refused to say whether he believes he is eligible to run for president of the United States even though he was born in Canada.

• Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier convicted of the biggest breach of classified data in the nation’s history, will be told on today how much of his life will be spent in a military prison. He could face up to 90 years in prison.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about some of the strange moves Chris Christie has been making

• Bob Cesca, Managing Editor of TheDailyBanter.com, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about finding balance in the NSA spying situation

• The “Supreme Guide” of the Muslim Brotherhood, the political group aligned with deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, was arrested early Tuesday, according to state television.

• San Diego City Hall opened as usual Monday but Mayor Bob Filner was nowhere to be found, still out of public view as he tries to survive a recall effort prompted by sexual harassment allegations that led many to call for him to resign.

• Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden is undergoing medical testing in Texas after being hospitalized last week when he felt weak and disoriented, his office said Monday night.

• Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) renounced any claim to Canadian citizenship late Monday amid questions about his birthplace and whether he is constitutionally eligible to be president of the U.S.

• Comedian Dean Obeidallah calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the phenomenon of oversharing on social media

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about upcoming GOP struggles in 2016

• Tina Dupuy, Editor of TheContributor.com, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the GOP’s real achievements in Congress

• Islamic militants today ambushed two mini-buses carrying off-duty policemen in Egypt, killing 25 of them execution-style in a brazen daylight attack that deepens the turmoil roiling the country and underscores the volatility of the strategic region.

• San Diego mayor Bob Filner is expected to appear at City Hall today, when he has said he will return to work after undergoing an intensive two-week therapy program for sexual harassment. A recall campaign started its petition drive a day before his return.

• The partner of Glenn Greenwald was detained for nearly nine hours Sunday under anti-terror legislation at Heathrow Airport, triggering claims that authorities are trying to interfere with reporting on the issue of leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

• Oscar Pistorius was indicted today on charges of murder and illegal possession of ammunition for the shooting death of the double-amputee Olympian’s girlfriend on Valentine’s Day

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• As the death toll from the rising tide of violence in Egypt surpassed 500 on Thursday, President Obama delivered a plea for restraint, urging the interim government to respect the rights of protesters and urging the protesters to demonstrate peacefully.

• Peggy Shannon, a 67-year-old great-grandmother, claims San Diego Mayor Bob Filner kissed her on her lips, repeatedly asked her out and called her “his girl” while she worked at City Hall.

• The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

• Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced in a memo on Thursday a series of new actions the Pentagon plans to take to combat sexual assault in the military. At a briefing, a Pentagon press secretary called the problem “a stain on the honor of our men and women who serve our country.”

• WWE superstar wrestler Darren Young publicly came out as gay during an unplanned interview with the news entertainment website TMZ late Wednesday. He is the first openly gay wrestler in the organization.

• Political Strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the growing calls for a boycott of the Winter Olympics in Russia

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 8am ET / 8am PT for a Thursday edition of Humpdays With Hal

• The Egyptian Health Ministry said Thursday that the death toll from clashes between police and supporters of the country’s ousted president had risen to 525.

• Investigators seeking the cause of Wednesday’s crash of a UPS cargo plane in a field near the Birmingham airport Wednesday were waiting to retrieve the cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders because the tail of the aircraft was still smoldering.

• Private Bradley Manning, convicted of handing state secrets to WikiLeaks, on Wednesday told the sentencing part of his court martial that he was sorry for his actions and for hurting the United States.

• The California Supreme Court unanimously rejected an attempt Wednesday to revive Proposition 8, ending the pending legal challenges over the 2008 ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage.

• Former Illinois lawmaker Jesse Jackson Jr. was sentenced Wednesday to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to spending $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items.

• Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Coffee With Carlos

• Actor-vist Melissa Fitzgerald (“The West Wing”) joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the news of the day

• Former congressman Anthony Weiner fell to fourth among Democratic candidates in New York City’s latest mayoral race poll on Tuesday but was the center of attention in a heated debate last night.

• Newark Mayor Cory Booker won the Democratic primary yesterday for the special election to fill New Jersey’s U.S. Senate seat that is open due to Frank Lautenberg’s death in June. He will face off in October against GOP businessman Steve Lonegan who beat physician Alieta Eck.

• Hillary Clinton offered some of her sharpest political rhetoric since stepping down as secretary of state when she roundly criticized stricter voter ID laws and a recent Supreme Court decision striking down a central component of the Voting Rights Act.

• Egyptian security forces stormed two massive makeshift camps filled with ousted President Mohamed Morsi’s supporters, bulldozing tents and escorting away hundreds of protesters. Within three hours of the raid, forces had cleared the smaller of the two camps.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about President Obama’s fights with the GOP in the House

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Eric Holder’s plan to abolish minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders

• With the U.S. facing massive overcrowding in its prisons, Attorney General Eric Holder is calling for major changes in the nation’s criminal justice system that would scale back the use of harsh sentences for certain drug-related crimes.

• Mayor Michael Bloomberg vowed Monday that his cops will go where the crime is, not follow a census chart — lashing out at a federal judge’s ruling that a controversial NYPD tactic known as “stop and frisk” amounts to racial profiling.

• Whitey Bulger was convicted Monday of racketeering and conspiracy by a Boston jury that found he was involved in 11 murders and a raft of other crimes during his long reign as a blood thirsty crime boss in bed with rogue FBI agents.

• Kidnapped California teen Hannah Anderson was unaware that her mother and 8-year-old brother had been killed and was held under “extreme duress,” until she was rescued by FBI agents, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said yesterday.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about racism, Bill O’Reilly, and Ann Coulter

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the Far Right media’s comical assessment of Obama’s 2nd Term

• President Obama on Friday announced a series of steps to make NSA programs more transparent, explaining not only how the programs operate but also releasing the Justice Department’s legal rationale for the programs.

• With the U.S. facing massive overcrowding in its prisons, Attorney General Eric Holder is calling for major changes in the nation’s criminal justice system that would scale back the use of harsh sentences for certain drug-related crimes.

• The grandmother of kidnapped San Diego teenager Hannah Anderson has said it was “fitting” that the family friend who officials believe abducted her was killed by law enforcement officers in the Idaho wilderness during the successful rescue operation.

• Israel approved building nearly 1,200 more settlement homes Sunday and prepared the release of more than two dozen long-held Palestinian prisoners — highlighting an apparent settlements-for-prisoners trade-off that got both sides back to peace talks after a five-year freeze.

• Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his Los Angeles Times Op-Ed on Immigration

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the NYC Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• The U.S. government ordered the evacuation of non-essential staff from its consulate in the northeastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Friday due to the threat of attack, with the State Department also warning U.S. citizens not to travel to Pakistan.

• Amid lingering questions about the United States’ relationship with Russia and the closure of Middle East embassies prompted by a terror threat earlier this month, President Barack Obama will hold a news conference today at the White House.

• House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa demanded Wednesday that the Federal Election Commission turn over records of more than five years of communications with the I.R.S. — a move that significantly expands the ongoing probe of alleged federal targeting of conservative groups.

• Firefighters say the wildfire burning in the rugged San Jacinto mountain range in Southern California, some 90 miles east of Los Angeles, is one of the fastest moving they’ve seen in 50 years.

• Political Strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about how the Obama Administration is dealing with Russia

• Comedian Judy Gold joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about her one woman show, The Judy Show

• After nearly 12 years, the war in Afghanistan is winding down, President Obama told troops at Camp Pendleton, Calif. on Wednesday, but he added, “The end of the war in Afghanistan doesn’t mean the end of threats to our nation.”

• President Obama said that he was “disappointed” that Russia granted temporary asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, defying Obama administration demands that the former government contractor be sent back to the U.S. to face espionage charges.

• Two female military veterans — and victims of military sexual assault — have alleged that San Diego Mayor Bob Filner sexually harassed them. The women say the former chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee used his significant power and credentials to access military sexual assault survivors, who they say are less likely to complain.

• Lottery officials announced that three winning tickets were sold for Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot of $448 million, the fourth largest lotto jackpot ever — two in New Jersey and one in Minnesota.

• Comedian Dean Obeidallah calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the GOP’s latest attempts to bully the media

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT for an hour of Humpdays With Hal

• President Obama wrapped up his Western swing with an appearance on NBC’s “Tonight Show.” In a wide-ranging interview with the late night talk show host, Obama discussed recent terrorist threats, Hillary Clinton, and the NSA controversy.

• President Obama in Phoenix on Tuesday said it is time to wind down pseudo-government institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac so that the economy never goes through a never housing bubble.

• The house where three women were held captive and raped over a decade by Ariel Castro faces complete demolition this morning in Cleveland.

• Army Pfc. Bradley Manning’s possible sentence for disclosing classified information through WikiLeaks was trimmed from 136 years to 90 years Tuesday by a military judge who said some of his offenses were closely related.

• Mitt Romney jumped into the debate over the GOP’s future Tuesday night, warning congressional Republicans against forcing a government shutdown in their quest to stop President Obama’s signature health care law.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk RNC Chairman Reince Priebus butching it up

• Comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about his role in the new Pixar movie “Planes”

• The State Department on Tuesday ordered non-essential personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Yemen to leave the country following the threat by al-Qaida that has triggered temporary shutdowns of 19 American diplomatic posts across the Middle East and Africa.

• Alex Rodriguez faced reporters Monday, thanking Major League Baseball for the opportunity to continue playing as he fights against doping charges. Rodriguez’s suspension, effective August 8, covers 211 games, but he will be allowed to continue playing as he appeals the decision.

• Today, President Obama will deliver a speech in Phoenix to, as White House spokesman Jay Carney put it Monday, “lay out proposals for continuing to help responsible homeowners and those Americans who seek to own their homes.”

• A gunman blasted shots through the wall of a municipal building during a meeting in Pennsylvania last night and then barged into the room and continued firing, killing three people, before he was tackled by a local official and shot with his own gun, a witness said.

• Comedian Kathleen Madigan joins us in studio at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours today

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the NSA and what it means for the Embassy closures this weekend

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the media’s role in the GOP’s desired government shutdown

• Rep. Adam Schiff of the House Intelligence Committee calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about this weekend’s major terror threat

• The United States extended embassy closures by a week in the Middle East and Africa as a precaution on Sunday after an al Qaeda threat that U.S. lawmakers said was the most serious in years.

• Capping a legislative work period more noted for what it failed to pass than for what it completed, the House voted for the 40th time on Friday to repeal ObamaCare before heading home for a five week recess. The legislation faces virtually no chance of advancing in the Senate.

• A driver was held on suspicion of murder after a car plowed through Los Angeles’ popular Venice Beach boardwalk, killing a young Italian woman in the U.S. for her honeymoon and injuring 11 other people, authorities said Sunday.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the NYC Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for an hour of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Tina Dupuy, Editor in Chief of TheContributor.com, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP’s new practice of “poor shaming”

• Kidnapper Ariel Castro shocked a Cleveland court yesterday by saying he is “not a monster,” “lived a normal life” and that the sex he had with the three women he held captive for more than a decade was “consensual.” Castro’s statement came after one of his victims, Michelle Knight, confronted him for the “hell” she endured in his house for 11 years.

• The White House says it is “evaluating the utility” of an anticipated meeting between President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G-20 meeting in Moscow in September after Russia granted temporary asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

• San Diego Mayor Bob Filner’s office canceled a scheduled new employee and management sex harassment training session in the first months in office, according to a published report.

• U.S. embassies in a slew of Muslim countries will close on Sunday in response to “a specific threat against a U.S. embassy or consulate,” according to a senior U.S. official, who called it a “concerted effort” to target an embassy or consulate in a Muslim country.

• Political strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the boycott of Russian vodka to protest LGBT policies in that country

• President Obama promised congressional Dems behind closed doors Wednesday that he will fight to help retake the House of Representatives in 2014 and urged them to close ranks with the White House to defend Obamacare, congressional aides said.

• The House approved a measure Wednesday to link interest rates on student loans to financial markets, sending the compromise legislation to the president’s desk after a lengthy back-and-forth between Congress and the White House.

• A lawyer for San Diego Mayor Bob Filner criticized the city for not providing sexual harassment training to the mayor, saying its failure to do so violated the law. “If there is any liability at all, the city will almost certainly be liable for ‘failing to prevent harassment,’ ” Filner’s attorney wrote in a letter dated Monday.

• The Senate Judiciary Committee heard evidence yesterday from intelligence officials about the NSA’s domestic snooping activities revealed by leaker Edward J. Snowden — and critics pounced.

• Dozens of gay couples began tying the knot early this morning at Minneapolis City Hall as Minnesota became the latest state to legalize same-sex marriage.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• President Obama challenged Republicans yesterday to help him craft a “grand bargain” for the middle class, unveiling a corporate tax reform proposal intended to put the GOP on the spot ahead of the budget battles he faces with Congress this fall.

• The sentencing hearing for Pfc. Bradley Manning begins today, and in the coming days, the famed leaker will find out how much time he will serve behind bars. It could be years or up to 136 years. He was found guilty of 20 charges, but acquitted of aiding the enemy.

• The San Diego City Council voted Tuesday to deny Mayor Bob Filner’s request for taxpayers to pay his legal fees associated with a sexual harassment lawsuit against him, a spokesman said.

• New York City mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner has released a new campaign video saying he won’t quit the race. The 1 minute video was posted on his campaign’s website Tuesday evening. “’Quit’ isn’t the way we roll in New York City,” he says in the video.

• A bagged salad mix is being investigated as a source of the cyclospora stomach bug outbreak that has caused hundreds of cases of diarrhea.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the non-scandal that was the IRS targeting

• Actor/activist Melissa Fitzgerald (“The West Wing”) joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau for the 11am ET / 8am PT to introduce a new project

• A judge is due to announce her verdict today in the case of Pfc. Bradley Manning, accused of the largest leak of classified information in U.S. history after he handed hundreds of thousands of documents to the Wikileaks website.

• Bill and Hillary Clinton increasingly see Anthony Weiner’s mayoral campaign as an embarrassment and potential liability, and are signaling through associates that they are eager to see him exit the race, several former Clinton aides and advisers say.

• President Obama heads to Capitol Hill tomorrow to huddle in separate meetings with Democrats in the Senate and the House— strategy sessions ahead of the August recess, when lawmakers are likely to face riled up voters in their home districts.

• Dozens of explosions rocked a propane tank servicing plant in central Florida near Orlando late on Monday, injuring seven workers, at least three critically, and prompting the evacuation of nearby homes, authorities said.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Rep. Steve King’s comments about immigrants having “cantaloupe calves”

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the GOP’s new tactic of denying that racism exists

• Anthony Weiner’s campaign manager has quit in the wake of new revelations about the New York City mayoral candidate’s online communications with women, according to a spokeswoman.

• There are “zero privacy violations” in the NSA’s collection of phone records, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said yesterday, just days after the chamber narrowly rejected a measure that would have stripped the agency of its authority to collect records in bulk.

• Heading into another budget battle this fall, the number of Americans who say they have been negatively affected by the sequester budget cuts is on the rise, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

• Amanda Berry, one of three women held captive in a Cleveland home for a decade, appeared at a public event for the first time since her rescue, a day after her abductor Ariel Castro pleaded guilty in the case.

• Comedian Dean Obeidallah calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the differences between Dem and GOP sex scandals

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the NYC Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• President Barack Obama used the Port of Jacksonville as a backdrop for his latest economic policy speech, using an infrastructure project there to illustrate his call for greater investment in similar projects.

• A member of the jury that acquitted George Zimmerman said Thursday she thinks Zimmerman “got away with murder” but that jurors had no choice in finding him not guilty under the law.

• Sydney Leathers, the 23-year-old woman who says she exchanged steamy online messages and phone calls with Anthony Weiner, alias “Carlos Danger,” told Inside Edition in an exclusive interview that she believes the New York City mayoral candidate is “responsible for his downfall.”

• The U.S. Justice Department will seek a federal court order forcing Texas to resume “preclearing” any changes to its voting laws, the first enforcement action by the Obama administration since the Supreme Court tossed out a key provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about Anthony Weiner and the politics of sexting

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about why we need to repeal John Boehner

• President Obama vowed yesterday to focus his energy for the rest of his presidency on the core tenet of his election victories — equal opportunity for all Americans — starting with speeches on the economy that appeared to launch this year’s budget battle with the GOP.

• After a series of delays, the Senate passed legislation Wednesday to fundamentally restructure government student loans and reverse the sharp hikes in interest rates that went into effect on July 1.

• After a fierce public debate over balancing national security interests with the privacy of Americans, the House narrowly voted Wednesday to continue a sweeping NSA program that collects phone record data on all American citizens.

• Baby Cambridge now has a name: George Alexander Louis. The name of Prince William and Kate’s son was announced Wednesday by Kensington Palace, two days after he was born.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• With his wife Huma Abedin by his side, NYC mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner acknowledged that he sent previously undisclosed inappropriate photos to a woman during summer of 2012, a year after he publicly resigned from Congress amid a scandal for similar behavior.

• The Obama administration squared off with skeptical lawmakers Tuesday over efforts to terminate the government’s authority to collect phone records of millions of Americans, a proposition that exposed sharp divisions among members of Congress.

• Seeking to focus public attention on the problem he was sent to the White House to solve, President Obama is making a renewed push for policies to expand the middle class, helping people he says are still treading water years after the financial meltdown.

• An out-of-control natural gas well off the Louisiana coast has caught fire, hours after a blowout that prompted the evacuation of 44 workers.

• Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate kept the world guessing about the name of their first child as they left hospital to start family life with the future king.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s politics blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the latest thing to give Lindsey Graham the vapors

• Current TV’s John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau for an hour of Fridays With Fugelsang

• President Obama told supporters on Monday that he plans to focus his agenda clearly on the economic challenges of the middle class, a theme he will lay out in a speech on Wednesday and follow up with detailed proposals in the coming months.

• The world was awaiting the first glimpse of Britain’s new prince on Tuesday, with camera crews poised to photograph Prince William and his wife, Kate, leaving a London hospital with their baby son.

• The front landing gear of a Southwest Airlines flight arriving at New York’s LaGuardia Airport collapsed Monday right after the plane touched down on the runway, officials said, sending the aircraft skidding before it came to a halt.

• George Zimmerman, who has been in hiding since he was acquitted of murder in the death of Trayvon Martin, emerged to help rescue a family who was trapped in an overturned vehicle on a Sanford, FL highway, police said yesterday.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the president’s remarks about the Zimmerman case

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP’s use of race in discussions of the Zimmerman case

• President Obama, making his first public remarks on the George Zimmerman acquittal, said on Friday that many African-Americans believe that “both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different” if Trayvon Martin had been white.

• Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) joined President Barack Obama’s call to review so-called “Stand Your Ground” laws in the aftermath of the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the 2012 shooting of black teen Trayvon Martin.

• Amid record-low productivity on Capitol Hill this year, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Sunday that Congress should be judged on how many laws it repeals, rather than how many new laws lawmakers enact.

• With her husband, Prince William, at her side, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, 31, was admitted to a London hospital at 6 a.m. local time (1 a.m. ET) Monday in the early stages of labor.

• Famed and pioneering White House journalist Helen Thomas has died at the age of 92 after a long illness.

• Actor and comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Coffee With Carlos

• Detroit, saddled with more than $18 billion in debt, became the biggest U.S. city in history to file for bankruptcy on Thursday. “This is a difficult step, but the only viable option to address a problem that has been six decades in the making,” Michigan governor Rick Snyder said.

• More than three years after signing a massive health care system reform into law, President Barack Obama on Thursday worked to sell the legislation’s benefits to an American public still largely skeptical about the overhaul.

• Lawmakers kept bickering Thursday over the origin of the IRS targeting of Tea Party groups applying for tax-exempt status, as Republicans sought to refocus public outrage toward a controversy that has diminished in recent weeks.

• Protesters who set up camp in the Florida Capitol building earlier this week finally got to meet with Gov. Rick Scott late Thursday, and they urged him to push for the repeal of Florida’s “stand-your-ground” law. Scott ultimately said the law will remain.

• Most residents have evacuated Idyllwild, CA as the massive Mountain fire roars in rugged terrain south of Palm Springs; six homes are lost in the early stages.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about Liz Cheney running for Senate from Wyoming

• Markos Moulitsas of DailyKos calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the humiliation of Mitch McConnell by Harry Reid

• A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday reached a deal that, if passed, would fix the big jump in interest rates for federally backed student loans. Under the proposed deal, undergraduates this fall would be able access loans at a projected rate of 3.86 percent.

• Liz Cheney struck a no-compromises tone Wednesday as she launched her campaign to unseat Wyoming’s senior U.S. senator, Mike Enzi. Speaking in Cheyenne, Cheney said it’s time for Republicans in Congress to stop “cutting deals” with Democrats.

• In a symbolic vote meant to highlight the Obama administration’s decision to delay the implementation of a key part of its health care law, the GOP-led House passed bills Wednesday to stall parts of “Obamacare” despised by the GOP.

• Rolling Stone magazine sparked a heated social media debate Wednesday after releasing a cover image promoting an upcoming profile of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

• Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about GOP opposition in the House to real immigration reform

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• Four of the jurors at the George Zimmerman trial distanced themselves from statements that another juror made in a televised interview. “The opinions of Juror B37, expressed … were her own, and not in any way representative of the jurors listed below,” said a statement signed by Jurors B51, B76, E6 and E40.

• Stand-your-ground laws that allow a person who believes he is in danger to use deadly force in self-defense “sow dangerous conflict” and need to be reassessed, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday in assailing the statutes that exist in many states.

• President Obama said Tuesday that an immigration bill without a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants is “not who we are as Americans,” arguing that the House should move comprehensive immigration legislation rather than the step-by-step approach favored by most House Republicans.

• Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, will challenge veteran Sen. Mike Enzi in a blockbuster battle for the Republican Senate nomination in Wyoming next year.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about his strong reaction to the Zimmerman verdict

• Tina Dupuy of TheContributor.com calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the GOP’s continuing war on women

• A juror in the George Zimmerman trial made her first public appearances since the trial reached its verdict on Saturday, saying race did not play a role in the jury’s decision but admitted she believes Zimmerman went “above and beyond” his role as a neighborhood watch member.

• Protesters ran through Los Angeles streets Monday night, breaking windows, attacking people on sidewalks, while others blocked a major freeway in the San Francisco Area in the third night of demonstrations in California over George Zimmerman’s Florida acquittal in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

• U.S. senators failed to reach a deal on Monday to avert a showdown over President Obama’s executive-branch nominees and threats by Democrats to strip Republicans of their power to block such nominations with procedural hurdles known as filibusters.

• Blazing temperatures left thousands of people sweltering without power in New York as forecasters warned Tuesday that the worst might be yet to come across the Northeast.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the Zimmerman verdict, and about the fight for women’s rights in Texas

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about race and the Zimmerman verdict

• Thousands of demonstrators from across the country — chanting, praying and even fighting tears — protested a jury’s decision to clear neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the shooting death of an unarmed Trayvon Martin while the Justice Department considered whether to file criminal civil rights charges.

• President Obama called on the nation to honor Trayvon Martin a day after George Zimmerman was acquitted of his murder by asking “ourselves if we’re doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence.”

• Edward Snowden has very sensitive “blueprints” detailing how the National Security Agency operates that would allow someone who read them to evade or even duplicate NSA surveillance, a journalist close to the intelligence leaker said Sunday.

• Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) said yesterday that Dems needed to change Senate rules in order to give President Obama executive branch officials whom he wanted to carry out his agenda. “Whoever is president should be able to have the people on their team that they want,” Reid said.

• DCCC Chairman Steve Israel calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the dysfunctional and chaotic House GOP

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us in from the NYC Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Former prosecutor Marcia Clark calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Zimmerman trial and her new book, KILLER AMBITION

• When jurors begin deliberating in the racially charged murder trial of George Zimmerman, they will also be able to consider a lesser charge of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin.

• House approval of a scaled-back farm bill is setting up what could be an even bigger fight over food stamps and the role of domestic food aid in the United States.

• Pilots twice called to abort the landing of Asiana Flight 214 in the last few seconds before it crashed at the San Francisco airport last weekend, federal investigators said Thursday.

• Incensed by what they call unfair blocking of executive branch nominees, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid yesterday dared Republicans to keep up their objections and warning that he could change Senate rules to prohibit future nominee filibusters if necessary.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about Sarah Palin possibly running for Senate

• Comedian Judy Gold joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about her new stage show, “The Judy Show”

• Survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings got little satisfaction from suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s first public appearance since the deadly attacks. “Not guilty” was all he said, over and over.

• Defense lawyers for George Zimmerman, charged with the second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin, rested their case on Wednesday, on a day when Zimmerman told the judge he did not want to testify on his own behalf.

• Six of the 12 flight attendants aboard the South Korean flight that crashed on landing last weekend in San Francisco still haven’t been interviewed and could help explain why the pilots initially told them not to evacuate the plane, federal investigators said Wednesday.

• The White House pushed back Wednesday on critics of its move to delay the implementation of a key part of the Obama-backed health care law, saying that skeptics of the postponement are “willfully ignorant” about how such laws have worked in the past.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• George Zimmerman’s attorneys are finishing up their defense of the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing Trayvon Martin, though the judge first must rule on two requests by defense attorneys.

• Survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing will watch as Dzkokhar Tsarnaev, who could face the death penalty for the attack, appears in court for the first time since he was found bleeding and hiding in a boat in a suburb days after the April 15 explosion.

• Investigators are trying to understand whether automated cockpit equipment Asiana flight 214’s pilots say they were relying on to control the airliner’s speed may have contributed to the plane’s dangerously low and slow approach just before it crashed.

• The White House is trying to turn up the pressure on Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives to pass sweeping immigration reform in coming weeks, making the argument that modernizing the outdated system would boost the economy and cut the deficit.

• U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden is grounded in Moscow’s airport, but his future is up in the air. A tweet by a Russian lawmaker Tuesday announced that Snowden had accepted Venezuela’s offer of asylum, giving the impression that the American had evaded U.S. authorities again.

• Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his new series on TNT, “Perception”

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the GOP’s new shenanigans with the debt ceiling

• Comedian Jen Kirkman (“I Can Barely Take Care Of Myself”) joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT

• Investigators trying to understand why Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crash-landed focused Monday on the actions of an experienced pilot learning his way around a new aircraft, fellow pilots who were supposed to be monitoring him and why no one noticed that the plane was coming in too slow.

• Texas Republicans pushed ahead Monday with aggressive efforts to pass tough new abortion restrictions they failed to approve last month, scheduling a House vote as thousands flocked to the Capitol for an anti-abortion rally and a marathon public hearing about the legislation.

• Washington’s top elected Republican, House Speaker John Boehner, expressed his support Monday for the Egyptian military’s effort last week to topple the elected government of President Mohammed Morsi.

• Governor Rick Perry – the longest-serving governor in Texas history and a former GOP presidential candidate – will not run for re-election in 2014, he announced Monday.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Edward Snowden and Independence Day

• Current TV’s Jacki Schechner calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to update us on the implementation of health care reform

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the GOP’s fight against Sen. Wendy Davis in Texas

• The pilot at the controls of an Asiana plane that crash landed was guiding a Boeing 777 into the San Francisco airport for the first time, and tried but failed to abort the landing after coming in too slow to set down safely, aviation and airline officials said Sunday.

• The political battle in Texas over proposed restrictions on abortion resumes today with a rally by abortion opponents and a public hearing in the state Senate, where Dem Wendy Davis staged a filibuster last month to stall the GOP-backed measure.

• A solemn procession of 19 white hearses carrying the remains of firefighters killed battling an AZ wildfire left Phoenix accompanied by police motorcycle outriders on Sunday on a final journey passing through the crew’s hometown.

• Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Secretary of State John Kerry, has been flown to Boston for further medical treatment after being taken by ambulance from the couple’s Nantucket home to a hospital on Sunday afternoon.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• The requirement that businesses provide their workers with health insurance or face fines – a key provision contained in President Obama’s sweeping health care law – will be delayed by one year, the Treasury Department said Tuesday.

• Bolivia said President Evo Morales’ plane was diverted on a flight from Russia and forced to land in Austria over suspicions that Edward Snowden might be on board, as several countries spurned the former U.S. spy agency contractor’s asylum requests.

• Egypt braced for a showdown today after embattled President Mohammed Morsi insisted he will not step down in the face of demands by millions of protesters, vowing to protect his “constitutional legitimacy” with his life.

• The lone survivor of a 20-member elite crew deployed to fight a wildfire in Arizona was doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing, officials said Tuesday as the blaze was partly contained for the first time.

• The lead investigator for George Zimmerman’s case testified on Tuesday that he believes Zimmerman may have exaggerated the manner in which he was injured during the confrontation that resulted in Trayvon Martin’s death last year.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about what is happening to Edward Snowden

• Comedian Dean Obeidallah calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about why America needs to forgive Paula Deen

• In a heartbreaking sight, a long line of vans from a coroner’s office carried the bodies of 19 elite firefighters out of the tiny mountain town of Yarnell, Arizona on Monday, as the wind-driven wildfire that claimed the men’s lives burned out of control.

• NSA leaker Edward Snowden’s attempts to seek refuge outside the U.S. hit hurdles Tuesday, after Russian media reported he canceled his asylum bid in Russia and several European countries said such applications wouldn’t be considered if they were made from abroad.

• Texas lawmakers returned for a second special session on Monday to reconsider anti-abortion legislation derailed initially by a one-woman filibuster and a raucous crowd at the state Capitol that drowned out a final effort to push it through.

• Dem President Barack Obama and GOP predecessor President George W. Bush found common ground in Tanzania, Africa on Tuesday, honoring the victims of a terrorist attack in an unprecedented chance encounter a world away from home.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Paula Deen, SCOTUS’ marriage equality rulings, and TX Gov. Rick Perry sucking on things

• Ted Boutrous, attorney arguing against Prop. 8 at the Supreme Court, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about last week’s marriage equality victories

• An elite crew of firefighters trained to battle the nation’s fiercest wildfires was overtaken by an out-of-control blaze in Arizona, killing 19 members as they tried to protect themselves from the flames under fire-resistant shields.

• Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has denied a request from Proposition 8 supporters in California to halt the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses in the nation’s most populous state. Kennedy turned away the request on Sunday with no additional comment.

• In a speech in Cape Town, South Africa, President Obama saluted the progress that has “rippled across the African continent” in recent decades and encouraged Africa’s young people to continue pushing forward in pursuit of a brighter future.

• The second week of testimony in the trial of suspected murderer George Zimmerman is scheduled to launch today in a Florida courtroom. Several key witnesses testified last week, one of whom said he believes Trayvon Martin was on top of Zimmerman moments before the fatal gunshot.

• Actor and comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for “Coffee With Carlos”

• Far-reaching immigration legislation offering the prize of U.S. citizenship to millions is swiftly gaining ground in the Senate following agreement between Republicans and Democrats on dramatic steps aimed at securing the border with Mexico.

• U.S. stock futures are roughly 0.5% higher this morning as investors catch their breath after a market plunge that followed Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s remarks Wednesday that the central bank may start winding down its stimulus policies later this year.

• President Obama is holding his first meeting with a privacy and civil liberties board today as he seeks to make good on his pledge to have a public discussion about secretive government surveillance programs.

• Official autopsy results are expected today for “Sopranos” star James Gandolfini, who died of an apparent heart attack while vacationing in Italy. Doctors analyzed samples from his body and will provide a final report later in the day.

• It was a Heat repeat last night. They beat the Spurs 95 to 88 to keep the NBA title in Miami. King James (and his headband crown) led the way with 37 points.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about another GOP senator coming out for marriage equality

• Actor-vist Melissa Fitzgerald (“The West Wing”) joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the news of the day

• Actress and comedian Margaret Cho calls in at 111:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the new season of “Drop Dead Diva” on Lifetime

• President Obama followed in the footsteps of past U.S. leaders with a speech on Wednesday in Berlin, where he said he would ask Russia to join the United States in slashing its supply of strategic nuclear warheads.

• FBI Director Robert Mueller acknowledged that the bureau uses unmanned drones for surveillance on U.S. soil during testimony before a Senate Committee on Wednesday, adding that it is done in a “very, very minimal way, and very seldom.”

• A bipartisan group of Senate negotiators is expected announce today it has reached an agreement designed to bolster border security mandates in the pending immigration reform bill.

• James Gandolfini, the actor who most famously portrayed Tony Soprano on the series “The Sopranos,” has died of a suspected heart attack in Italy at age 51.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• Top U.S. security officials revealed yesterday that the government’s recently exposed surveillance programs led them to an al Qaeda cell that plotted, scouted, but ultimately abandoned a plan to bomb the Wall Street in 2008.

• The NSA is reviewing whether to stop collecting a vast stockpile of records of Americans’ telephone calls by allowing telecommunications companies to retain the data until U.S. intelligence officials have a specific reason to review it for possible connections to terror plots, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

• President Obama will renew his call Wednesday at a speech in Berlin to reduce the world’s nuclear stockpiles, including a proposed one-third reduction in U.S. and Russian warhead arsenals, a senior administration official says.

• Despite calls from GOP leaders to move away from focusing on social issues in light of the GOP’s 2012 election losses, the Republican-led House of Representatives Tuesday passed a bill that would restrict abortions to the first 20 weeks of pregnancy.

• FBI agents plan a third day of digging Wednesday in suburban Detroit for the remains of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa, who disappeared 38 years ago.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about questions surrounding Ed Snowden and the NSA

• Rolonda Watts, host of Sundays With Rolonda on BlogTalkRadio, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Zimmerman Trial

• President Obama promised in an interview with PBS that his decision to arm Syrian rebels does not mean the United States is “taking sides in a religious war.” Obama also played down the “ruckus” over the NSA’s controversial surveillance programs.

• President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin said they would sign an agreement on securing and destroying nuclear material to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, replacing a 1992 deal that expired on Monday.

• A key committee in the Republican-led House is preparing to cast its first votes on immigration this year, on a tough enforcement-focused measure that Democrats and immigrant groups are protesting loudly.

• The FBI saw enough merit in a reputed Mafia captain’s tip to once again break out the digging equipment in Michigan in search of the elusive remains of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa, last seen alive when he left for lunch with two mobsters 38 years ago.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the Left’s reaction to the NSA Scandal

• Actor and comedian Wayne Knight (“Seinfeld”) calls in at 9:50am ET / 6:50am PT to talk about his TV Land show, “The Exes”

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about an unbelievable case of sexism in the Beltway press

• The Guardian says the British eavesdropping agency GCHQ repeatedly hacked into foreign diplomats’ phones and emails when the U.K. hosted international conferences, even going so far as to set up a bugged Internet café in an effort to get an edge in high-stakes negotiations.

• Syria’s raging civil war was set to top the agenda at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland starting on Monday, with President Obama trying to get Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Syria’s most powerful ally, to help bring Bashar Assad to the negotiating table.

• President Obama has chosen a high-powered D.C. lawyer with extensive experience in all three branches of the government to be the State Department’s special envoy for closing down the military-run prison at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

• Firefighters are getting a better handle on the most destructive wildfire ever in Colorado, but they’re still struggling against hot spots that could threaten homes that have been spared by the massive blaze.

• Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about his online petition for a “Mind Your Own Business” Act that is gaining popularity

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang (“Viewpoint” on Current TV) joins us from the NYC Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Fridays With Fuglesang

• The United States and its allies have concluded that the government of Bashar Assad has used chemical weapons in Syria’s protracted civil war, leading President Obama to broaden aid — including military support — to opposition groups.

• The director of the National Security Agency and members of Congress on Thursday pledged to release more information in the coming week about thwarted terrorist attacks to prove the value of the agency’s sweeping surveillance tactics.

• Amid ongoing debate about the U.S. government tracking private citizens’ phone and internet use, FBI Director Robert Mueller said Thursday that the government might have prevented the 9/11 terrorist attacks had similar surveillance programs been in place in 2001.

• There was a groundbreaking ruling at the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday. The justices ruled unanimously that biotech companies may not patent human genes. However, genes in the lab may be patented.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to give us his impressions of the NSA data mining controversy

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the NSA and Edward Snowden

• Alleged NSA leaker Edward Snowden claimed yesterday to have evidence that the U.S. government has been hacking into Chinese computer networks since at least 2009 – an effort he said is part of the tens of thousands of hacking operations American cyber spies have launched around the world.

• Phone records obtained by the government through a secret surveillance program disclosed last week helped to prevent “dozens” of terrorist acts, Gen. Keith Alexander, the director of the National Security Agency, told a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

• FEMA has denied additional aid tied to deadly explosions at a Texas fertilizer plant, a decision ripped Wednesday by local and state officials who accused President Barack Obama of having “gone against his word.”

• Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) said he was taken out of context Wednesday and tried to clarify his controversial comment from a committee markup earlier in the day, when he said the “incidents of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low.”

• Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos.com, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the Senate’s immigration reform efforts

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• Edward Snowden, an American who has leaked details of top-secret U.S. surveillance programs and is believed to be in Hong Kong, is technically free to leave the China-ruled city at any time, local lawyers said on Wednesday, and one suggested he probably should.

• Dogged by fear and confusion about sweeping spy programs, intelligence officials sought to convince House lawmakers in an unusual briefing Tuesday that the government’s years-long collection of phone records and Internet usage is necessary for protecting Americans — and does not trample on their privacy rights.

• President Obama prodded Congress Tuesday to send him a bill by fall remaking the nation’s immigration laws, even as the Senate prepared to cast its first floor votes on the landmark measure opening a door to citizenship for millions.

• At least four major wildfires fueled by hot, gusty weather Tuesday burned along the front of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, including two that together destroyed dozens of structures and chased people from hundreds of homes

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the new revelations in the NSA data mining situation

• Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who exposed classified U.S. surveillance programs leaked by an American defense contractor, said this morning that there will be more ‘significant revelations’ to come from the documents in the coming weeks and months.

• The Obama administration considered whether to charge a government contractor with leaking classified surveillance secrets while it defended the broad U.S. spy program that it says keeps America safe from terrorists.

• As the Supreme Court prepares to once again weigh in on the issue of affirmative action, a record-low number of Americans (just 45%) support such programs, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

• Potential jurors in the George Zimmerman trial were questioned Monday about what they knew about the death of Trayvon Martin. The first four jurors to be grilled had at least a passing knowledge of the situation but said they had not immersed themselves in media coverage.

• Calling it “the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of the iPhone,” Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday unveiled an operating system for iPhones and iPads that will radically overhaul how users’ touchscreens look.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to give us his rude thoughts about the NSA spying program

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Fox News’ war on women

• Actor, producer, and director Peter Paige (“Queer As Folk”) joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau for the 11am ET / 8am PT hour to talk about his new show, “The Fosters”

• A 29-year-old former CIA technical assistant named Edward Snowden revealed yesterday that he is the source who leaked information about vast National Security Agency surveillance programs collecting data about American citizens and foreigners.

• A fifth victim of the horrific shooting spree in Santa Monica, Calif., was confirmed dead Sunday as law enforcement officials revealed the name of the suspected gunman as John Zawahri, 23.

• More than a year after the killing of Trayvon Martin touched off a national furor over race, guns and Florida’s expansive self-defense laws, George Zimmerman, the man who shot him to death, is going to trial today.

• “Kinky Boots” won six Tony awards on Sunday including the top award of best musical and a prize for its composer, pop queen Cyndi Lauper, as Broadway presented its top honors.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to update us on the IRS, Verizon, and AP situations in DC

• The N.S.A. and the F.B.I. have been tapping into the servers of major Internet companies to collect audio, video, photographs, e-mails and other documents, according to a Washington Post report on a program code-named PRISM.

• An I.R.S. official involved in a 2010 conference cited for wasteful spending said Thursday no rules were broken and no fraud occurred, though he acknowledged that video parodies, fancy hotel suites and other excesses funded by taxpayers never should have happened.

• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced Thursday he will appoint the state’s Republican attorney general Jeffrey Chiesa to serve as an interim senator to succeed the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg.

• Trade deals, cybercrime and North Korea will likely be at the top of the agenda when President Barack Obama spends two days with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a 200-acre California estate in Rancho Mirage, CA.

• Tropical Storm Andrea weakened but remained dangerous as it moved northward Friday, threatening to cause flooding and severe thunderstorms along the East Coast.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the importance of Sen. Frank Lautenberg and his death

• Lee Fang of “The Nation” calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to tell us about some GOP supporters of ObamaCare

• Shaking up his national security team, President Obama tapped diplomat Susan Rice as his national security adviser, defying Republicans who have vigorously criticized her faulty explanation about the attack on Americans in Benghazi, Libya.

• Internal Revenue Service officials can expect a grilling today when they face lawmakers over the latest controversy to rock the agency: lavish spending at employee conferences.

• The head of the Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday he’s dropping a proposal that would have let airline passengers carry small knives, souvenir bats, golf clubs and other sports equipment onto planes.

• Amid calls by some congressional Republicans for his resignation, Attorney General Eric Holder told NBC News Wednesday that he has no intentions of stepping down.

• A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary to suspend existing organ allocation rules to give a 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl a better chance at a life-saving lung transplant.

• Jeffrey Toobin, author of THE OATH, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about The Supreme Court and the upcoming rulings that will shape the Roberts’ Court legacy

• Joe Muto, Gawker’s Fox Mole calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about his book, AN ATHEIST IN A FOXHOLE

• Lawmakers outraged by sexual assaults in the military are moving swiftly to address the problem, tackling legislation that would strip commanders of their authority to overturn convictions in rape and assault cases.

• Leaders from conservative and tea party groups told a congressional panel that the Internal Revenue Service’s methods of vetting organizations seeking nonprofit status discouraged supporters from donating to their causes.

• Setting the stage for what is likely to be a months-long struggle with Senate GOP, President Obama yesterday nominated two attorneys and a judge to fill the vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit – considered to be the nation’s second-most powerful court.

• In a decision with implications for his own re-election this fall, the next presidential campaign and the GOP in Washington, Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) yesterday called for a special election to be held this year to choose the successor to the late Dem Sen. Frank Lautenberg.

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about how Fox News is wallowing in a world of Obama “scandals”

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about why his dedication to the 1st Amendment is being tested

• The new acting commissioner of the IRS vowed Monday to work quickly and with the cooperation of Congress to implement reforms to the tax agency in response to the revelations that conservative groups had been targeted for scrutiny in their applications for tax-exempt status.

• Trade unions claiming 240,000 members are throwing their weight behind anti-government demonstrations across Turkey. The KESK confederation of public sector workers was calling a two-day strike starting Tuesday to protest what it called the “fascism” of the governing party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he had some “pretty good fights” with Sen. Frank Lautenberg. But Lautenberg’s death early Monday puts the Republican governor in a pretty good bind in replacing him.

• Lawyers for Jill Kelley, the Florida woman whose complaint to federal authorities led to the resignation of former CIA Director David Petraeus, yesterday filed a lawsuit claiming the government violated her privacy by failing to keep information about her role in the investigation confidential.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about why Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is such an a-hole

• Three professional “storm chasers” were among the 13 people who died in the tornadoes that ripped through the Oklahoma City area Friday, the research project they ran confirmed Sunday.

• The IRS, already under fire after officials disclosed that the agency targeted conservative groups, faces increased scrutiny because of an inspector general’s report that it spent about $50 million to hold at least 220 conferences for employees between 2010 and 2012.

• Amid a furor over a Justice Department subpoena of Associated Press phone records, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the third-ranking senator in the Democratic leadership, yesterday continued to voice confidence in Attorney General Eric Holder.

• With student loan rates set to double in a month, President Barack Obama on Friday urged Congress to extend the current rates, a demand which Republicans rejected as needlessly partisan.

• Angelina Jolie returned to the red carpet for the first time on Sunday, weeks after announcing that she had undergone a double mastectomy in February. Jolie joined partner Brad Pitt for the premiere of his new film, “World War Z,” in London.

• Tina Dupuy of TheContributor.com calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about what Michele Bachmann’s retirement means for the women’s movement

• Dean Obeidallah calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about his latest CNN Opinion piece on anti-Muslim backlash in the UK after last weeks brutal murder of a British Soldier

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us in the New York Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• Yanira Maldonado, The Arizona mother detained in Mexico for more than a week on drug charges, has been released and will be returning home to the U.S.

• Authorities are interviewing a person in Texas in connection with threatening letters sent to President Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg that are being tested for ricin, a person with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Thursday.

• It would be “regrettable” if the identities of the men photographed with Sen. John McCain in Syria this week are confirmed to be individuals responsible for a year-old kidnapping, the AZ senator’s office said in a statement Thursday.

• The Justice Department expressed regret on Thursday that the agency went as far as it did in national security leak investigations involving close scrutiny of reporters, and said it would review its guidelines so reporters would not be at legal risk for doing their jobs.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about Michele Bachmann’s exit from Congress

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the importance of Bachmann’s exit from Congress

• New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was sent an anonymous threatening letter that preliminary tests indicated contained the presence of the poison ricin, law enforcement officials have said. A similar letter was sent to the director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns in DC.

• U.S. Senator John McCain said on Wednesday, two days after meeting with rebels in Syria, that he is confident the United States can send weapons to fighters in Syria without the risk they will fall into the wrong hands.

• The man poised to be the next head of the FBI is James Comey, a former prosecutor respected by both sides of the aisle, who may be best known for his role in a Hollywood-esque Washington showdown that thwarted the reauthorization of a warrantless eavesdropping program.

• 25 conservative and Tea Party groups have filed suit against the IRS, Attorney General Eric Holder and top IRS officials, alleging that the Obama administration unlawfully targeted the groups because of their political beliefs and obstructed their applications for tax-exempt status.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) said today that she will not run for re-election in 2014. She made the announcement in a video posted on her web site. “After a great deal of thought and deliberation, I have decided next year, I will not seek a fifth Congressional term,” Bachmann said.

• Additional scrutiny of conservative organizations’ activities by the IRS did not solely originate in the agency’s Cincinnati office, with requests for information coming from other offices and often bearing the signatures of higher-ups at the agency, according to attorneys representing some of the targeted groups.

• President Barack Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie revived their political odd-couple partnership Tuesday for a tour of a rebuilt Jersey Shore that was devastated by Hurricane Sandy seven months ago.

• A Florida judge ruled Tuesday that George Zimmerman’s defense team cannot mention Trayvon Martin’s suspension from school, prior marijuana use, text messages or past fighting during opening statements at next month’s trial.

• Severe weather will continue to batter many parts of the United States on Wednesday, forecasters warned, after violent storms brought heavy rain to Chicago and large tornadoes to Kansas, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and a fatal lightning strike in Florida.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to fill us in on what’s REALLY going on with the IRS/Tea Party situation

• President Obama marked Memorial Day by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery and urging Americans to remember the soldiers still fighting, and dying, in Afghanistan.

• Sen. John McCain traveled to Syria on an unannounced trip yesterday and met with rebel leaders, who called on the U.S. to increase its support of the Syrian opposition by providing weapons, a no-fly zone and air strikes on forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

• President Barack Obama travels to New Jersey on Tuesday for a progress report on the state’s recovery from Superstorm Sandy that on the surface appears remarkable but which hides deep and lingering pain.

• In a speech to the graduating class of 2013 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., President Obama challenged the 1,047 graduates to “live with integrity” and help restore trust in a military that has been stained by recent charges of sexual assault.

• A House GOP group is launching an ad campaign against four incumbent Dems this week that aims to tie the lawmakers to the I.R.S., a government agency under scrutiny after officials admitted earlier this month to targeting conservative groups applying for nonprofit status.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us in the New York Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• In a major address Thursday President Obama sought to reframe the nation’s counterterrorism strategy, saying, “Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue. But this war, like all wars, must end. That’s what history advises. That’s what our democracy demands.”

• The Boy Scouts of America voted Thursday to end its controversial policy banning gay kids and teens from joining one of the nation’s most popular youth organizations, ditching membership guidelines that had roiled the group in recent years.

• Three people were rescued from water after a bridge along Interstate-5 in Washington State collapsed on Thursday evening, plunging cars into Skagit River below, according to Washington State Patrol.

• Jurors in the high-profile Jodi Arias trial on Thursday failed to reach an agreement over whether she should receive the death penalty for killing her ex-boyfriend. A new jury will be impaneled on July 18th unless the prosecutor decided to no longer seek the death penalty.

• The decimated city of Moore, Okla., will hold a public memorial service Sunday evening, six days after a tornado killed 24 people, injured 377 and destroyed hundreds of homes.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the GOP and disaster relief

• Comedian Lewis Black calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about his new comedy tour “The Rant is Due”

• Comedian Judy Gold calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about her new one-woman show, “The Judy Show”

• The tornado that tore through an Oklahoma City suburb destroyed or damaged as many as 13,000 homes and may have caused $2 billion in overall damage, officials said Wednesday.

• British Prime Minister David Cameron convened an emergency meeting of his intelligence chiefs on Thursday after two Islamists hacked a soldier to death with meat cleavers on a south London street.

• A highly anticipated hearing by the top investigative committee in the House delivered on the drama that was expected. Lois Lerner, the IRS official in charge of the division accused of wrongdoing, invoked her Fifth Amendment right against testifying, and defiantly asserted her innocence.

• The Obama administration publicly acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that U.S. drone strikes have killed four American citizens since 2009.

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about media coverage of Obama’s “scandals”

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• Rescue efforts in the tornado-ravaged Oklahoma City suburb of Moore continued through the night into Wednesday morning, with officials increasingly confident that everyone caught in the disaster had been accounted for.

• A far-reaching bill to remake the nation’s immigration system is headed to the full Senate, where tough battles are brewing on gay marriage, border security and other contentious issues, with the outcome impossible to predict.

• Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner, who leads the exempt organizations division under scrutiny for targeting conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status, is refusing to testify before Congress. She was supposed to testify today, but will plead the Fifth.

• Former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman and outgoing Commissioner Steven Miller told the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday that they knew last year that the IRS had a “Be On The Lookout” list while processing nonprofit applications and that tea party groups were on it. The extent of their knowledge at the time, however, was limited, they said.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the tightening screws on Rep. Michele Bachmann

• Comedian Dean Obeidallah calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about his humorous review of Donald Rumsfeld’s new book, “Rumsfeld’s Rules”

• A monstrous tornado barreled through the Oklahoma City suburbs, demolishing an elementary school and reducing homes to piles of splintered wood. At least 51 people were killed, including at least 20 children, and those numbers were expected to climb, officials said Tuesday.

• Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll sharply reject a string of scandals that have touched the White House, yet the national survey also finds no backlash against President Obama, at least at this point. His job approval rating is stable, at 51 percent.

• Lawmakers are getting their first chance today to question former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, the man who ran the agency when agents were improperly targeting tea party groups.

• The Senate Judiciary Committee hopes to nail down an elusive compromise on high-tech visas and may punt a controversy over gay marriage to the full Senate as it makes final drafting decisions on immigration legislation that grants a shot at citizenship to millions living in the country illegally.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the craziness of Rep. Louie Goehmert and about the GOP trying to hurt Hillary Clinton

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP’s desperation to pin SOMETHING scandalous on President Obama

• President Barack Obama’s team emerged on Sunday to defend his handling of revelations that the IRS had targeted conservative groups for scrutiny, as senior Republicans conceded they lacked evidence — so far — that the president directed the abuses.

• The Senate Judiciary Committee is aiming this week to pass a landmark immigration bill to secure the border and offer citizenship to millions, setting up a high-stakes debate on the Senate floor.

• A vast area of the central U.S. was warned to prepare for storms on Monday, after tornadoes killed one and injured 21 in Oklahoma and also hit Iowa and Kansas.

• Lottery officials confirmed early Sunday that the one winning PowerBall ticket for the estimated $590.5 million prize was sold at a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills, Fla.

• Taylor Swift not only took home the most trophies — eight – from last night’s Billboard Music Awards but also the night’s biggest honors: Top Artist and Billboard 200 Album of the Year for her mega-hit “Red.”

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the NYC Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• Lawmakers are ready to question the ousted head of the Internal Revenue Service today as Congress holds its first hearing on the tougher scrutiny the IRS gave tea party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status.

• President Barack Obama at a press conference on Thursday strongly defended the Department of Justice‘s controversial secret seizure of journalists’ phone records during an investigation into leaked national security information.

• Prospects for passage of a major immigration bill improved on Thursday when a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives declared they had reached a tentative deal, resolving disputes that had threatened to torpedo negotiations.

• With six people already confirmed dead, rescue crews in a northern Texas town continued their search for victims Friday after a wave of 16 tornadoes crashed through the region, ripping homes to pieces and laying waste to large swaths of the area.

• Responding to a question from a 700 Club viewer, host Pat Robertson said that married men “have a tendency to wander” and it is the spurned wife’s job to focus on the positive and make sure the home is so enticing, he doesn’t want to stray.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about media coverage of the DC “scandals” this week

• Former Nixon counsel John Dean calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about whether this week’s DC scandals even come close to Watergate

• Bluntly declaring “I am angry” about the IRS scandal, President Barack Obama said late Wednesday that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had forced out Steven Miller, the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

• Under heavy political pressure, the White House on Wednesday released 100 pages of internal Obama Administration emails in which senior officials debated what to tell Americans about the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.

• Sexual assault in the U.S. military is costing the armed services the confidence of women in uniform that the problem can be solved, says the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey.

• O.J. Simpson, a former star athlete who once lived for the spotlight, was back on stage telling the grim story of the Las Vegas afternoon in 2007 that sent him to prison.

• Nobody won last night’s huge Powerball lottery drawing, so the jackpot for Saturday’s drawing soars to $475 million dollars.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• Lax oversight at the IRS allowed for the singling out of some conservative groups, resulting in lengthy delays in the processing of their applications for federal tax-exempt status, according to a report by the agency’s inspector general released Tuesday.

• The Justice Department on Tuesday defended its decision to subpoena phone records from Associated Press bureaus and reporters, saying the requests were limited and necessary to investigate a leak of classified information.

• CNN has obtained an e-mail sent by a top aide to President Barack Obama about White House reaction to the deadly attack last September 11 on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that apparently differs from how sources characterized it to two different media organizations.

• The Army announced Tuesday that a sergeant first class assigned to an assault prevention program at Fort Hood is under investigation for sexual assault. The solider was assigned as a Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program coordinator when the allegations surfaced.

• OJ Simpson is set to speak again today in a Las Vegas courtroom in a bid to win freedom from a sentence that could keep him behind bars until he dies.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the political circuses going on in DC

• Former Obama advisor Van Jones calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his new book, “Rebuild The Dream”

• House Republicans pushed ahead Monday with their investigation of the deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year as President Obama asserted that GOP charges of a cover-up are baseless

• Congress was not told tea party groups were being inappropriately targeted by the Internal Revenue Service, even after acting agency Chief Steven Miller had been briefed on the matter.

• The Justice Department used a secret subpoena to obtain two months of phone records for Associated Press reporters and editors without notifying the news organization.

• The Minnesota Senate gave final approval on Monday to a bill that will make the state the 12th in the United States to allow same-sex couples to marry and only the second in the Midwest. Gov. Dayton will sign the bill into law today.

• Angelina Jolie revealed in an emotional op-ed for the New York Times that she underwent a double mastectomy earlier this year after a blood test showed she was genetically susceptible to cancer.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the fruitlessness of the Benghazi hearings

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP’s continuing screeching about Benghazi

• Actor/comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of Coffee With Carlos

• New Orleans police vowed to swiftly track down the gunmen who wounded 19 people at a neighborhood Mother’s Day parade, the latest case of violence flaring up around a celebration in the city this year.

• When tax agents started singling out non-profit groups for extra scrutiny in 2010, they looked at first only for key words such as ‘Tea Party,’ but later they focused on criticisms by groups of “how the country is being run,” according to investigative findings.

• Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) pushed back Sunday on charges that Republican efforts to investigate last year’s Benghazi attack are designed to inflict political damage on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

• After 37 years with ABC News, Barbara Walters is announcing on “The View” today that next summer, she will retire from TV journalism.

• Current TV’s John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT for an hour of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Matthew Breen, Editor in Chief of “The Advocate”, joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau for the 11am ET / 8am PT hour to talk about the latest LGBT news

• Ariel Castro, the man accused of holding three women captive for a decade in his Cleveland home, terrorized the mother of his children, frequently beating her, playing twisted psychological games and locking her indoors in the years before their relationship disintegrated, her relatives say.

• Secretary of State John Kerry promised Thursday to leave “no stone unturned” in the investigation into the deadly terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, and vowed that anyone guilty of wrongdoing would be disciplined “appropriately.”

• A Minnesota House bill legalizing same-sex marriage passed 75-59 with resounding DFL support and the votes of four Republicans. The measure now goes to the Senate on Monday, where its passage is considered likely. Gov. Mark Dayton has said he intends to sign the bill into law.

• A man holed up in a Phoenix hotel was arrested and accused of threatening to bomb the courthouse where jurors were to begin deciding whether convicted murderer Jodi Arias should get the death penalty, authorities said Thursday.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the results of yesterday’s Benghazi witch hunt on Capitol Hill

• Author and legal pundit Marcia Clark calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the Jodi Arias verdict, and what’s going on with the Cleveland Kidnapping case

• Doug Kendall, President of Constitutional Accountability Center, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the business-friendly environment at the Supreme Court

• The Cleveland man accused of kidnapping and holding three young women captive for the past decade will make his first court appearance this morning. Ariel Castro, 52, is charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape.

• Jodi Arias has been found guilty of first-degree murder but the trial is far from finished. The same jury now returns to the courtroom today to decide whether she deserves to die for killing her one-time boyfriend on June 4, 2008 at his Mesa home.

• The Benghazi terrorist attack returned to Congress yesterday in hours of sharply partisan questioning that included the first public retelling from a US diplomat in Libya at the time of what happened the night Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT for a segment of Humpdays With Hal

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about why the Constitution guarantees no absolute right to bear arms

• After three women who vanished a decade ago were found captive Monday at a peeling, rundown house, Cleveland police are facing questions about their handling of missing-person cases and are conducting an internal review to see if they overlooked anything.

• Once the disgraced and tearful figure at the epicenter of an embarrassing scandal, former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford will return to public life as a U.S. congressman after his win over Elizabeth Colbert Busch last night.

• House Republicans open their hearings today into the Benghazi attack that killed Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans but have already released transcripts from State Department witnesses, including former Deputy Chief of Mission Gregory Hicks.

• New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has struggled with obesity for much of his adult life, said on Tuesday he underwent lap band surgery in February to lose weight, a move he said had nothing to do with a possible run for the White House in 2016.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Fox News’ outrage over Benghazi

• Three brothers have been arrested after three women who disappeared in separate incidents about a decade ago were found alive in a house in Ohio, police said. Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight went missing between 2000 and 2004 when they were aged between 14 and 20.

• The Air Force official in charge of its sexual-assault prevention program was arrested for groping, authorities said Monday. Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski, 41, was removed from his position as head of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office pending an investigation, the Air Force said.

• Robel Phillipos, one of three friends accused of helping Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev cover up his alleged crime, got out on bond Monday, released to his mother’s custody.

• It could take weeks to figure out why a white stretch limousine caught fire in the Bay Area over the weekend, turning a celebratory bachelorette party deadly, authorities said Monday.

• Voters in South Carolina’s first congressional district head to the polls today to decide whether to offer former Gov. Mark Sanford a chance at political redemption, or instead send the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert to Congress.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about this weekend’s big NRA Convention in Houston

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Glenn Beck’s competing conspiracy theories

• Actor and comedian Rick Overton joins us for two hours in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT to fill in for Jim Ward

• A funeral director trying to find a cemetery to take the body of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev is going next to the city where Tsarnaev lived, Cambridge, but will run into another obstacle: It doesn’t want him.

• Israel sought to persuade Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday that its recent air strikes around Damascus did not aim to weaken him in the face of a more than two-year-old rebellion.

• The National Rifle Association on Sunday wrapped up its first national meeting of members since the high-profile mass shootings last year at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, and the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

• A bride-to-be celebrating her bachelorette party was among the five people killed when a stretch limousine burst into flames while crossing a San Francisco area bridge, according to reports.

• Anna Chlumsky, star of the HBO comedy “Veep”, calls in at 10:50am ET / 7:50am PT to talk about season two of the hit show

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us in from the New York Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• The two brothers suspected of carrying out the deadly attacks on the Boston Marathon had originally planned to set off their bombs on July 4, a law enforcement official said.

• U.S. President Obama gave his blessing on Thursday to a new security arrangement with Mexican leader Enrique Pena Nieto, in which Mexico will make reducing violence a priority over hunting drug cartel kingpins in the war against organized crime.

• President Barack Obama said Thursday he was comfortable with his administration’s decision to allow over-the-counter purchases of a morning-after pill for anyone 15 and older.

• Rhode Island became the final state in New England and the 10th in the country to legalize gay marriage after independent Gov. Lincoln Chafee on Thursday signed a bill that will allow same-sex marriage.

• Southern California firefighters early Friday were fiercely battling a growing, brush-fueled wildfire that had reached the beach in Ventura County and was pushing toward the upscale city of Malibu, officials said.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the week’s big stories, including the politicization of the Boston Bombings

• Eric Ferrero, Planned Parenthood‘s VP of Communications, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about making the morning after pill available to girls 15 years and older

• Federal authorities arrested three college friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Wednesday, accusing them of trying to obstruct justice by hiding a backpack and a laptop involved in the case and lying about it.

• President Barack Obama on Thursday begins a whirlwind trip to Latin America, where a high-profile meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto involving immigration, drug violence and trade tops the agenda.

• A bipartisan proposal to expand background checks for gun sales failed in part due to Republicans’ desire to prevent President Obama from winning a victory on a major policy initiative, Sen. Pat Toomey, the gun proposal’s chief GOP proponent, said Wednesday.

• Israel has warned it will do whatever is necessary to prevent the Syrian government’s large stockpile of chemical and biological weapons from falling into the hands of militants, believing that one day they may be used against Israel.

• Minnesota Viking Kicker and straight ally Chris Kluwe calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Jason Collins, the first gay professional athlete to come out

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about why the GOP is doing even worse with African Americans

• Australian Rugby Star turned Actor Ian Roberts calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about how coming out in 1995 changed his life and where he is at 18 years later

• President Barack Obama on Tuesday forcefully defended his policy toward Syria, his handling of the Boston Marathon bombing, the future of Obamacare and even his political relevance in a wide-ranging press conference 100 days into his second term. He also again promised to close Gitmo.

• Massachusetts primary voters on Tuesday picked Democrat Ed Markey and Republican Gabriel Gomez as their candidates in the June 25 special election, the second such race the state has seen in three years

• Relatives of the dead suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing will claim his body now that his wife has agreed to release it, an uncle said as officials in both Washington and Russia deepened their investigations into him and his ties.

• A new Kaiser Foundation poll indicates many Americans are still unclear about the details of Affordable Care Act and, in some cases, unaware it’s actually law of the land.

• Gay P.R. guru Howard Bragman calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about NBA player Jason Collins coming out and making history at the first openly gay pro athlete

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about diluted gun control, and Jason Collins’ historic announcement

• Investigators have found female DNA on at least one of the bombs used in the Boston Marathon attacks. FBI agents have removed bags of evidence including DNA samples from the home where Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s widow has been living.

• Prosecutors and lawyers for surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have begun very early discussions about a possible deal, in which he would cooperate in exchange for avoiding the death penalty, legal sources said Monday.

• Jason Collins received an outpouring of support and admiration from the sporting world and many other influential voices on Monday after announcing he was gay. The 12-year NBA veteran became the first active player in a major men’s North American team sport to announce his homosexuality.

• Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor expressed doubts that the nation’s highest court should have ruled on the controversial Bush v. Gore case that decided the outcome of the 2000 presidential election.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the latest in gun control and the Boston Bombings

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about media coverage in the Boston Bombings

• Rev. Jim Wallis, CEO of Sojourners, joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about his new book, “On God’s Side: What Religion Forgets and Politics Hasn’t Learned About Serving the Common Good”

• The Boston Bombings suspects’ mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, is drawing increased attention after federal officials say Russian authorities intercepted her phone calls, including one in which she vaguely discussed jihad with her elder son.

• President Barack Obama chided Republicans on Saturday for approving a plan to ease air-traffic delays caused by federal spending cuts while leaving budget cuts that affect children and the elderly untouched.

• A national group of prominent GOP donors that supports gay marriage is pouring new money into lobbying efforts to get Republican lawmakers to vote to make it legal.

• Journalists, celebrities, and politicos converged in D.C. Saturday night for the 2013 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, laughing along as President Obama and Conan O’Brien took the stage to skewer targets in Washington, Hollywood, and beyond.

• Darren Criss (Blaine on “Glee”) calls in at 9:50am ET / 6:50am PT to talk about his upcoming 16-city North American tour

• Comedian and author Richard Belzer calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the Boston Bombings and about the gun control controversy

• Boston Marathon bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was transferred to prison Friday from the hospital where he had been held since his arrest by police a week ago.

• New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters Thursday that the surviving suspect in last week’s marathon blasts that killed three and wounded scores more told investigators that he and his brother were targeting New York next.

• President Obama, standing before a line of flag-draped coffins, consoled family and friends on Thursday at a memorial service for firefighters killed in a massive explosion last week at a Texas fertilizer plant.

• The Senate moved quickly Thursday evening to help ease the Federal Aviation Administration’s ability to handle automatic spending cuts set forth in the sequester. The House takes up the bill today.

• President Obama and the other four living presidents along with other dignitaries gathered in Dallas to mark the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library on the campus of Southern Methodist University.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the Far Right’s response to the Boston Bombings

• The surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings acknowledged to the FBI his role in the attacks but did so before he was advised of his constitutional right to keep quiet and seek a lawyer, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

• With deep federal spending cuts known as the sequester beginning to affect air travel and forcing some public-sector layoffs, the White House on Wednesday seemed to offer public support for Sen. Harry Reid’s proposal to temporarily pay down the sequester without generating new tax revenue.

• The number of U.S. states allowing gay marriage is set to enter double digits now that Rhode Island’s state Senate has taken a landmark vote. Legislation allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed passed Wednesday evening by a comfortable 26-12 margin. Gov. Lincoln Chafee said he will sign it into law.

• All the living American presidents past and present are gathering in Dallas, a rare reunion to salute one of their own at the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center today.

• Lawmakers are asking tough questions about how the government tracked suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev when he traveled to Russia last year, renewing criticism from after the Sept. 11 attacks that failure to share intelligence may have contributed to last week’s deadly assault.

• A man accused of plotting with al-Qaida members in Iran to derail a train in Canada was due to appear in a Toronto court Wednesday after declaring at his initial court appearance that the charges against him are unfair. Law enforcement officials in the U.S. said the target was a train that runs between New York City and Canada.

• Charges were dropped Tuesday against the Mississippi man suspected of mailing ricin-laced letters to President Obama and other public officials — as authorities searched the home of another man hoping to find clues in the expanding investigation.

• On Tuesday, hackers took over the Associated Press Twitter account and falsely claimed that there had been explosions at the White House and that the president was hurt. The tweet was up for a few minutes before Twitter took the account offline.

• The Justice Department late Tuesday formally filed its case against Lance Armstrong and his company Tailwind Sports for millions of dollars that the U.S. Postal Service spent to sponsor the cycling team.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the politicization of the Boston Marathon Bombings

• Matthew Breen, Editor-In-Chief of “The Advocate”, joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Boy Scouts’ movement on allowing gays

• The hospitalized Boston Marathon bombing suspect charged Monday with using a weapon of mass destruction has told investigators that he and his brother were motivated by religion but were not in contact with overseas terrorists or groups, officials said.

• Two men face a bail hearing today after their arrest on charges of plotting a terrorist attack against a Canadian passenger train with support from al-Qaida elements in Iran, authorities said. The case has raised questions about Shiite-led Iran’s murky relationship with the predominantly Sunni Arab terrorist network.

• Flight delays piled up all along the East Coast Monday as thousands of air traffic controllers were forced to take an unpaid day off because of federal sequester budget cuts.

• River flooding that’s already swamping part of the Midwest from Oklahoma to Michigan could get worse today and Wednesday with more rain and snow spreading over the region.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about what he missed during last week’s busy news week

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about media coverage of last week’s Boston Marathon bombings

• The legendary Lily Tomlin calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the debut of her new HBO documentary, “An Apology To Elephants”

• Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is awake and “responding sporadically in writing to questions … about other cell members and other unexploded bombs, ” law enforcement sources told ABC News on Sunday evening.

• President Barack Obama late Friday praised Boston police and law enforcement cooperation for their week-long response to the Boston Marathon bombings and acknowledged “many unanswered questions” about what drove the suspects to violence.

• The fertilizer plant that exploded on Wednesday, obliterating part of a small Texas town and killing at least 14 people, had last year been storing 1,350 times the amount of ammonium nitrate that would normally trigger safety oversight by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us in the New York Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• A late-night police chase and shootout has ended with one Boston Marathon bombing suspect dead and another on the run, police said early Friday morning. One police officer was killed and another was seriously wounded during the violent spree.

• President Barack Obama on Thursday delivered a message in Boston to those in the city touched by Monday’s deadly bombings, as well as to individuals worldwide watching the country’s response: We will persevere.

• Blocked by Congress from expanding gun sale background checks, President Barack Obama is turning to actions within his own power to keep people from buying a gun who are prohibited for mental health reasons.

• Members of the “Gang of Eight” promoted their 844-page immigration bill, which was released earlier in the week, on Capitol Hill Thursday. It’s the product of months of intense private negotiations that supporters say will secure the borders and provide a path to legality for nearly 12 million people currently living in the nation illegally.

• Rescuers searched on Thursday for survivors in the rubble of homes destroyed by a fiery fertilizer plant explosion in a rural Texas town that the mayor said had killed at least 14 people.

• Political Strategist Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about gun control, and about this week’s terrorism in America

• Lanny Davis, veteran political strategist and former White House special counsel to President Clinton, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about his book “Crisis Tales: Five Rules for Coping with Crisis in Business, Politics, and Life”

• Mark Follman from Mother Jones calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to discuss debunking NRA myths about more guns mean safer schools

• Rescue workers searched rubble early today for survivors of a fertilizer plant explosion in a small Texas town that killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160 others. The blast left the factory a smoldering ruin and leveled homes and businesses for blocks in every direction.

• President Obama and gun control allies say Senate rejection of expanded background checks and other restrictions won’t stop the drive to reduce gun violence.

• Federal agents on Wednesday arrested a suspect in the mailing of letters to President Barack Obama and a U.S. senator that initially tested positive for the poison ricin. The suspect was identified as Paul Kevin Curtis of Tupelo, Miss.

• A service in Boston to honor the victims of the city’s bombings will be attended by President Obama today, as investigators spend a third day combing through evidence in search of those responsible for the deadly blasts.

• Comedian Jen Kirkman calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about her new book, “I Can Take Care Of Myself: Tales From A Happy Life Without Kids”

• Former FBI Agent Chris Kerr calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about what investigators are looking for in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Humpdays With Hal

• Federal agents zeroed in Tuesday on how the Boston Marathon bombing was carried out — with kitchen pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails and other lethal shrapnel — but said they still didn’t know who did it and why.

• A suspicious letter potentially laced with a poison, ricin, and postmarked from Memphis, was sent to the office of Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi. Sources confirmed the letter was sent to Wicker, R-Miss., but did not arrive at his office on Capitol Hill. It was stopped at a mail processing facility.

• A bipartisan effort to expand background checks is in deep trouble as the Senate approaches a long-awaited vote on the linchpin of the drive to curb gun violence.

• The coffin of Margaret Thatcher was carried up the steps of London’s main cathedral on Wednesday for a funeral service attended by Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s political elite, and global dignitaries.

• Boston-based Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to update us on the Boston Marathon Bombings

• The bombs that blew up seconds apart at the finish line of one of the world’s most storied races left the streets spattered with blood and glass, three dead, including an 8-year-old boy, more than 140 wounded and gaping questions of who chose to attack at the Boston Marathon and why.

• The 8-year-old boy killed in the explosions at the Boston Marathon has been identified as Martin Richard, The Boston Globe reported. No suspects have been identified in the case, which federal authorities are classifying as an act of terrorism.

• President Obama said he ordered the “full resources” of the federal government to respond to the Boston bombings on Monday, and that he also called for increased security around the U.S. as necessary. Notably absent from his remarks was the word “terror,” though federal investigators are classifying the bombings as a terror event.

• Early Tuesday, law enforcement officials went to an apartment in the north Boston suburb of Revere, where they interviewed two men and were seen by reporters removing two trash bags and a duffle bag. It is still unclear what significance, if any, this had with regard to the bombing investigation.

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about why some commentators are complaining there was TOO MUCH coverage of Newtown

• With the Senate set to begin debate on gun control legislation this week, a proposal to expand background checks for gun buyers picked up some key Republican support over the weekend. But it may not be enough to ensure the measure is adopted.

• A bipartisan group of senators is almost ready to share an immigration overhaul crafted over several months. The Gang of Eight is finishing up the final details and is planning to unveil the proposed legislation tomorrow.

• The United States and Japan opened the door Sunday to new nuclear talks with North Korea if the saber-rattling country lowered tensions and honored past agreements, even as it rejected South Korea’s latest offer of dialogue as a “crafty trick.”

• Two more people have died in China from a new strain of bird flu, raising the death toll from the virus to 13, state media reported Sunday. In all, 60 cases of the virus, known as H7N9, have been reported in China.

• Adam Scott of Australia produced the performance of his life to win the Masters Sunday and finally exorcise the demons of last year’s British Open.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT for an hour of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Timothy Kurek joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his autobiography “The Cross in the Closet”, which highlights his “coming out” as a heterosexual Christian exploring life as a gay man in the LGBT community

• Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in South Korea today on an unusual diplomatic journey, traveling directly into a region bracing for a possible North Korean missile test and risking that his presence alone could spur Pyongyang into another headline-seeking provocation.

• A new gun control law cleared a major Senate hurdle Thursday, with 16 Republicans voting with most of the chamber’s Democrats to begin the process of moving one of President Obama’s top domestic initiatives through a long, legislative slog.

• The Defense Intelligence Agency has concluded with “moderate confidence” that North Korea might have a nuclear weapon that’s small enough to be placed on a ballistic missile. But the DIA also says that if that is the case, the reliability of the missile would be low.

• 53% favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry, which is up 2 points since the NBC/WSJ survey last asked this question in December, though that increase is within the poll’s margin of error. 42% oppose gay marriage.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the gun control bill, lingering racism in America, and marriage equality

• Al Jazeera America’s Ali Velshi calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to tell us about the new business lineup Al Jazeera America has in store

• Kristen Stills calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Autism Speaks Concert at Club Nokia that will be headlined by her husband Stephens Stills

• Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) unveiled a deal yesterday morning to expand background checks to nearly every commercial gun purchase. President Obama said there were parts of the agreement “that I might prefer to be stronger,” but welcomed the move.

• President Barack Obama declared on Wednesday that his newly unveiled fiscal 2014 budget would “reignite” sputtering economic growth and pressed skeptical Republicans to help him “finish the job” of deficit reduction.

• A brand-new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that nearly two-thirds of Americans – including eight-in-10 Latinos – support giving undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship.

• TMZ reported Wednesday that Ryan Seacrest is the latest victim in the trend of swatting, or calling 911 for help when no assistance is needed as some sort of prank.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• President Barack Obama today is sending Congress his 2014 budget, an effort to achieve an elusive “grand bargain” to tame runaway deficits that have soared above $1 trillion for each of the past four years.

• Sen. Mitch McConnell was prepared to go after Ashley Judd as “emotionally unbalanced,” according to secret audio tapes of the GOP-er’s strategy session, but the release of those tapes have prompted an FBI investigation into who may have bugged the senator’s office.

• A bipartisan deal seems imminent on expanding background checks to more gun buyers, an agreement that could build support for President Barack Obama’s drive to curb firearms violence. The Senate has set a roll call vote for tomorrow on starting consideration of the firearms legislation.

• If North Korea decides to launch a missile, the United States is ready to respond and is capable of intercepting it, the Commander of US Pacific Command told Congress on Tuesday.

• Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan says her upcoming court-ordered trip to rehab is “a blessing.” The actress discussed her planned rehab Tuesday night during an appearance on “The Late Show With David Letterman.”

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about this morning’s news in the rudest way possible

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the president’s latest push for background checks for gun sales

• Comedian Michael McDonald joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of hilarity

• Legendary director Garry Marshall calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the premiere of “Billy & Ray” at his Falcon Theater in Toluca Lake, CA

• North Korea intensified threats of an imminent conflict against the United States and the South on Tuesday, warning foreigners to evacuate South Korea to avoid being dragged into a “merciless, sacred, retaliatory war”.

• President Obama yesterday warned Congress not to use delaying tactics against tighter regulations and told families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims that he’s “determined as ever” to honor their children with tougher laws.

• The Maryland General Assembly on Monday approved a measure allowing medical marijuana programs at research centers that choose to participate. The action sends the bill to Gov. Martin O’Malley, who indicated he is likely to sign the bill.

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about what the media have been ignoring in this week’s news

• Rock legend Stephen Stills joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the release of his new box set, “Carry On”

• Talks between Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) have emerged as the most promising route for a bipartisan breakthrough on expanding federal background checks for gun buyers, a pivotal part of President Barack Obama’s plan for combating gun violence.

• Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday that if a military conflict breaks out with North Korea, “the North loses and the South wins with our help.”

• White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer is telling Republicans their “my way or the highway” approach would spell the GOP’s defeat in upcoming budget negotiations. He also is telling Obama’s Democratic allies that they, too, will have to bend on the spending plan that is due Wednesday.

• As the Senate returns from recess this week, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he thinks the bi-partisan Gang of Eight will have its immigration plan completed by the end of the week.

• Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) President Michael Goodwin calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about by the current taxi strike in Las Vegas

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• President Obama will offer cuts to Social Security and other entitlement programs in a budget proposal aimed at swaying Republicans to compromise on a deficit-reduction deal, a senior administration official said on Friday.

• U.S. officials suspect that North Korea may be preparing for a test of its medium-range missile after seeing evidence of it being transported to North Korea’s eastern coast. Such a launch would be the latest in a series of provocations by North Korea in recent weeks.

• A University of Denver psychiatrist treating movie-theater massacre defendant James Holmes warned police of “homicidal statements” Holmes made one month before the Aurora, Colo., attack, according to a search warrant unsealed Thursday.

• Roger Ebert, the longtime critic who popularized film criticism with his “thumbs up, thumbs down” reviews in print and on television, died on Thursday. He was 70.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the flurry of Senators who are changing their positions about marriage equality

• Actor/Comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Coffee With Carlos

• Connecticut lawmakers passed a bipartisan package of gun laws that will expand the state’s existing assault weapons ban, impose limits on the size of magazines, and require universal background checks in the state scarred by one of the worst school shootings in American history.

• President Obama on Wednesday insisted “there doesn’t have to be a conflict” between respecting gun rights and enacting new gun controls as he tries to use the power of his office to prompt a reluctant Congress to take action in the wake of the Newtown shootings.

• An advanced anti-ballistic missile system will be sent to Guam to protect American military sites, U.S. defense officials said as North Korea escalated its threats and warned “the moment of explosion is approaching fast.”

• NBC confirmed yesterday that after 22 years, Jay Leno will step down as the host of “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” next spring. Jimmy Fallon, now the star of “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” will take over shortly thereafter.

• Actor/Activist Melissa Fitzgerald joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the circumstances behind Ashley Judd not running for Senate

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Humpdays With Hal

• A task force backed by the National Rifle Association has put forth a slate of recommendations to improve school safety, including a proposal to arm school personnel and train educators on how to police school campuses with the aim of reducing the response time during a school shooting.

• North Korea on Wednesday barred South Korean workers from entering a jointly run factory park just over the heavily armed border in the North in the latest sign that Pyongyang’s warlike stance toward South Korea and the United States is moving from words to action.

• GOP Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois on Tuesday became the second sitting Republican senator to endorse gay marriage — a move that also could shift the political debate over legalizing gay marriage in Kirk’s home state.

• The White House says it is “encouraged” by recent progress on efforts to overhaul immigration. Spokesman Jay Carney cited positive comments from a bipartisan cast of senators over the weekend.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about KeystoneXL Pipeline’s bad week

• Tina Dupuy of TheContributor.com calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about how far to take ‘Freedom of Religion’

• EJ Graff of “The Advocate” calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the National Organization For Marriage and their avoidance of campaign finance laws

• Connecticut lawmakers say they have reached an agreement on gun control legislation that they said would be one of the toughest in the nation, 3½ months after 26 people were killed in a mass shooting at Newtown.

• Two key Senate lawmakers said Sunday that a deal on a comprehensive immigration reform bill is close but not complete after a breakthrough in talks between business and labor groups this weekend.

• Exxon Mobil Corp continued efforts on Monday to clean up thousands of barrels of crude oil spilled from a near 65-year-old pipeline in Arkansas, as a debate raged about the safety of the KeystoneXL pipeline.

• North Korea announced plans on Tuesday to restart a nuclear reactor that has been closed since 2007, but emphasized it was seeking a deterrent capacity, rather than repeating recent threats to attack South Korea and the United States.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about everything gay before the Supreme Court last week

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about how dangerous Fox News is for the Republican Party

• Actress Julia Sweeney calls in at 10:50am ET / 7:50am PT to talk about her new book, “If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Your Mother”

• Sen. Chuck Schumer said yesterday that while there is not a final deal on immigration legislation just yet, the bi-partisan “Gang of Eight” senators working on immigration reform has reached a “substantive agreement” on the major components of an immigration plan.

• Authorities have launched a massive investigation into the weekend killings of a Texas district attorney and his wife, which occurred months after an assistant prosecutor was shot dead in the same county.

• University of Louisville basketball player Kevin Ware suffered a graphic, horrific broken right leg during Sunday’s NCAA Midwest Regional final that left his teammates and coach in tears.

• After a week of legal twists and turns, James Holmes will find out today if he could face execution if convicted in the Colorado theater attack that killed 12 people.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the NYC Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT for an hour of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Actor Val Kilmer calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his new solo show “Citizen Twain” and talk about what Mark Twain would think of today’s news

• President Obama spoke at the White House with rows of grieving mothers behind him and publicly implored Congress to pass gun-reform legislation 100 days after the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shootings in Newtown, CT.

• Adam Lanza left a home stuffed with weaponry and carried out the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in a 154-bullet barrage that took less than five minutes, investigators said Thursday in the first detailed account of his surroundings and troubled state of mind.

• On his radio program on Wednesday, conservative host Rush Limbaugh predicted that same-sex marriage would eventually be made legal “nationwide,” regardless of how the Supreme Court rules in cases on the subject later this year.

• The White House will release its budget proposal for fiscal year 2014 on April 10, it said on Thursday. Previously the White House had said only that the budget would come out the week of April 8, without specifying a date.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about this week’s two big marriage equality cases before the Supreme Court

• Andrew Gumbel, co-author of “Honor Bound: My Journey to Hell and Back with Amanda Knox”, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Knox’ retrial

• Brenda S. Feigen, Esq. was in attendance for the Prop 8 & DOMA hearings before the Supreme Court. She calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT with an update

• The Legendary Carl Reiner calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his memoir, “I Remember Me”

• A majority of Supreme Court justices expressed concern Wednesday about DOMA, a federal law that bars same sex marriage, signaling the nation’s highest court may be poised to extend a potentially historic victory to the gay rights movement.

• Four members of the “gang of eight” senators pushing for a bipartisan approach to immigration reform on Wednesday got an unexpected optical to demonstrate their case: During a tour of the border, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) witnessed a woman in Nogales, Ariz., “successfully climb an 18-ft bollard fence a few yards away from us.”

• Former South African President Nelson Mandela was admitted to the hospital just before midnight Wednesday due to his recurring lung infection.

• San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT from Washington DC with an update on the Prop 8 hearing at the Supreme Court

• Today, the Supreme Court justices will hear arguments in the second gay marriage case ever in the court’s history, again raising hopes from both sides that the court will weigh in decisively on the issue after justices suggested on Tuesday that they may dodge a decision in California’s gay marriage case.

• David Petraeus apologized Tuesday night to an audience of veterans for the conduct that led to his resignation as head of the CIA following the disclosure of an extramarital affair.

• The possibility that American Amanda Knox could be convicted of murder and extradited to Italy for punishment could force U.S. courts to enter uncharted legal territory. The move potentially pits a U.S. constitutional ban on double jeopardy, or being tried twice for the same offense after an acquittal, against international extradition agreements, experts said.

• President Barack Obama on Tuesday named veteran Secret Service agent Julia Pierson as the agency’s first female director, signaling his desire to change the culture at the male-dominated service, which has been marred by scandal.

• Actress/musician Traci Lords calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the Steubenville OH rape trial, her experiences of being raped as a teen in the same town, and her new song about it called “Stupidville”

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Wayne LaPierre’s crazy appearance on Meet The Press this weekend

• This morning, the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the first gay marriage case to ever reach the court, Hollingsworth v. Perry. The legal battle over California’s gay marriage ban began more than four years ago, when a majority of voters backed ballot Proposition 8, which rescinded the right to marry from same-sex couples.

• Secretary of State John Kerry and Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a show of unity on Monday after weeks of heightened tensions over prisoner transfers and Afghan suggestions of U.S.-Taliban collusion.

• Italy’s highest criminal court on Tuesday overturned the acquittal of Amanda Knox in the slaying of her British roommate and ordered a new trial, prolonging a case that has become a cause celebre in the U.S.

• President Obama supports universal background checks for gun purchases but does not support a national registry of those who own guns legally, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest told reporters today.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to fill us in on what we missed while we were on vacation

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to tell us why Rush Limbaugh wants to marry his couch

• Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), the newest gay member of Congress, joins us in studio at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk to us about this week’s Prop. 8 arguments before the Supreme Court

• President Obama says each of his proposed steps to reduce gun violence should get a vote in Congress — even an assault weapons ban that both parties agree stands little chance of passing. Senate Dems dropped the ban from the bill they plan to debate next month out of concern it could sink the whole package.

• Fox News contributor and former Bush deputy chief of staff Karl Rove said yesterday morning on ABC’s “This Week” that he can imagine the next Republican nominee for the White House supporting gay marriage.

• The Supreme Court will hear arguments this week in two cases that have the potential to transform American society and the status of gays and lesbians in it.

• New Jersey lottery officials say that the sole winning ticket for this weekend’s $338.3 Billion PowerBall drawing was sold in their state.

Steph and crew are off this week for vacation, but Hal Sparks and Jacki Schechner are in studio giving it to you live all week!  Give ’em a call 9am to 12pm ET at 1-800-STEPH-1-2

• Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the budget, and his Wisconsin colleague Paul Ryan

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Fridays With Fugelsang

• President Obama’s third and final day of in-person courtship of Congress found him lunching on lobster Thursday with Senate Republicans, and chewing over prospects for reforming the nation’s tax code, entitlements and regulatory structure.

• A Senate committee approved an assault weapons ban Thursday on a party-line vote that signaled how difficult it will be for the proposal to survive in the full Senate.

• Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) has announced that he’s had a change of heart and now supports marriage equality. The change came two years after his son told him and and his wife that he is gay.

• Stocks closed near session highs Thursday, with the Dow logging its first 10th-straight winning streak since 1996 and the S&P 500 within a hair’s breadth of its all-time closing high, lifted by a better-than-expected jobless claims report.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 8am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the fights over sequestration and the budget

• Kelly Carlin (daughter of George Carlin) joins us in the studio at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about her upcoming Los Angeles performance of “A Carlin Home Companion”

• The House GOP emerged from a rare conferencewide meeting with President Obama yesterday. The discussion focused on taxes, entitlements, immigration, gun control, the nation’s relationship with Israel, energy, and the announcement of a new pope.

• In an opening bid for possible negotiations with House Republicans that might lead to a compromise budget resolution this summer, Senate Dems yesterday unveiled their budget for the new fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

• The GOP’s internal struggle over how to expand its reach will play out at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), with activists warring over the question of who should be part of the movement and who should not.

• Pope Francis, barely 12 hours after his election, quietly left the Vatican early on Thursday to pray for guidance as he looks to usher a Roman Catholic Church mired in intrigue and scandal into a new age of simplicity and humility.

• Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the budget and sequestration negotiations

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Ha

• Republicans on Tuesday debuted their full 2014 budget, an ambitious proposal that would seek to balance the budget within a decade, but which is also almost certain to never become law.

• President Barack Obama huddled with Senate Democrats on Capitol Hill Tuesday, stepping onto congressional turf as part of a week of outreach to both his own party and his GOP rivals.

• Senators negotiating a bill mandating background checks for all gun buyers are privately expecting the National Rifle Association not to fight the measure — provided the legislation does not require private gun sellers to maintain records of the checks.

• The 115 cardinal electors of the Roman Catholic Church have returned to the Sistine Chapel today to resume the conclave that will elect the next pope. The cardinals started the conclave on Tuesday but black smoke emerged from the chapel’s chimney a few hours afterwards, signaling that no candidate had received the two-thirds majority needed for election.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the infinite flip flops of Rep. Paul Ryan and his budget proposals

• Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the budget and sequester negotiations on Capitol Hill

• House Republicans are sticking to their guns on the federal budget, promising to try to repeal so-called Obamacare, cut domestic programs from Medicaid to college grants and require future Medicare patients to bear more of the program’s cost.

• Democrats are ready to muscle expanded background checks and other gun curbs through the Senate Judiciary Committee, giving President Barack Obama an initial if temporary victory on one of his top priorities.

• Afghan President Hamid Karzai has accused the U.S. of colluding with the Taliban. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, in Afghanistan, appeared cautious and at pains to avoid sharply criticizing the Afghan leader in public, even as he firmly disputed Karzai’s assertions.

• Roman Catholic cardinals prayed for divine help on Tuesday, hours before a conclave to elect a new pope to tackle the daunting problems facing the Church at one of the most difficult periods in its history.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks sits in the Los Angeles Bureau for Jim Ward all three hours this morning

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to give us his observations about Sen. Rand Paul’s filibuster last week

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Actress/Activist Melissa Fitzgerald joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the news of the day

• Sarah Imes Borden, producer of The River And The Mountain, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to discuss her new play about homosexuality in Uganda

• The legendary Lynda Carter calls in to talk about her upcoming jazz gigs in Los Angeles, and about her upcoming gig at Lincoln Center in New York

• Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the GOP’s point person on fiscal issues in Congress, said on Sunday that compromise with President Obama is possible on taxes and spending even though his own soon-to-be-unveiled budget plan faces certain rejection from Obama’s Democrats.

• Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel encountered political tension with the Afghan president and a series of security problems during his first visit to Afghanistan as Pentagon chief, but he met privately with President Hamid Karzai and says they discussed the key issues.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about sequestration and keeping the government funded and open this year

• John Brennan won Senate confirmation Thursday to head the CIA after a late struggle that had more to do with presidential power to order drone strikes than with the nominee’s credentials to lead the spy agency.

• Members of both parties cheered on Sen. Rand Paul Wednesday during his 13-hour filibuster but Paul drew a smack-down from two influential fellow Republicans Thursday who called the Kentucky lawmaker’s actions uninformed and irresponsible.

• President Obama on Thursday heralded the expanded protections offered to Native Americans, gay, lesbian and transgender victims as well as undocumented immigrants in the reauthorized Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) he signed into law.

• President Barack Obama expanded his fledgling search for Republican allies on a possible deficit-reduction deal when he hosted lunch on Thursday for Paul Ryan, one of the House of Representatives’ leading fiscal conservatives.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about sequestration and avoiding a government shutdown

• Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) ended his 13-hour filibuster to block Senate confirmation of John Brennan’s nomination to be CIA director shortly after midnight, but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would continue to oppose Brennan’s confirmation and try to keep the debate going.

• North Korea on Thursday vowed to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States, amplifying its threatening rhetoric hours ahead of a vote by U.N. diplomats on whether to level new sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test.

• With a nasty weather system threatening the nation’s capital, the House on Wednesday quickly passed a bill to keep the government funded through the current fiscal year. It will incorporate the lower funding amounts mandated by sequestration.

• An unpredictable winter storm that buried parts of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions with snow but barely laid a glove on Washington was bound early Thursday for New England, where it was expected to bring strong winds, more snow and the possibility of coastal flooding.

• Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the Sequester and the resolution that would leave sequester cuts in place through the end of the year to avoid a government shutdown

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Humpdays With Hal

• President Obama is getting some surprising kudos from a group of unlikely lawmakers … GOP senators. As part of a recent outreach effort from the White House, Obama is making phone calls to some senators from across the aisle as they craft a new budget for the coming fiscal year.

• Less than two months into his second term, President Obama’s approval rating has dropped to 42 percent and Americans blame him and his fellow Democrats almost as much as his Republican opponents for a fiscal mess.

• Hundreds of anguished Venezuelans poured into the streets of downtown Caracas crying, hugging each other and shouting slogans in support of President Hugo Chavez after learning of his death Tuesday.

• The Dow rose 125.95 points Tuesday and closed at 14,253.77, topping the previous record set in 2007 by almost 90 points. It’s another sign that the country is slowly healing after the worst recession since the 1930s.

• Washington and its suburbs face what could be their heaviest snowfall in two years on Wednesday, as a fierce storm headed east after blanketing the Midwest.

• Comedian Kathleen Madigan joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau for the entire show this morning to talk about the news of the day and promote her upcoming tour dates

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about what the GOP has done to get us into this sequester mess

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the political news of the day

• Republicans controlling the House are moving to take the roughest edges off across-the-board spending cuts that are just starting to take effect. A new GOP measure released Monday would give the Pentagon much-needed funding for readiness and would fund critical agencies like the FBI and the Border Patrol.

• A Senate committee is scheduled to vote on John Brennan, President Obama’s pick to lead the CIA, after weeks of wrangling with the White House over access to top-secret information about the use of lethal drone strikes and the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

• A Dominican woman who previously stated in a video that she was paid to have sex with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) now says the allegations were false, according to a sworn statement released by a lawyer on Monday.

• Chicago this morning finds itself in the midst of a storm that could wind up dumping as much as 10 inches of snow before the end of the day — the most since the 2011 blizzard.

• John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for an hour of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Actor-vist Melissa Fitzgerald joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau for the 11am ET / 8am PT hour to talk about the news of the day

• President Obama urged Americans this weekend to help him pressure GOPers to help halt painful automatic government spending cuts. Obama acknowledged that the $85 billion “sequestration” would not be the end of the world, but warned that it would slow the tepid recovery and cost jobs.

• Mitt Romney says it “kills” him that he’s not president. But he doesn’t blame Superstorm Sandy, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie or anything else on his loss to President Barack Obama–except his campaign’s failure to connect with minority voters.

• Queen Elizabeth was admitted to a London hospital yesterday as a precaution after experiencing symptoms of a stomach bug, according to a Buckingham Palace spokesperson.

• A baby born with the virus that causes AIDS appears to have been cured, scientists announced Sunday. A child from Mississippi who’s now 2½ and has been off medication for about a year with no signs of infection.

• Reba McEntire of ABC’s Malibu Country calls in at 10:40am ET / 7:40am PT to promote the show (which also stars Lily Tomlin)

• Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), the newest gay member of congress, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about President Obama’s friend of the court filing in the Prop 8/DOMA case

• Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) calls in 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about how sequestration will affect the country’s science innovation funding and science education funding

• Despite a parade of dire warnings from the White House, an $85 billion package of deep automatic spending cuts appears poised to take effect at the stroke of midnight tonight. The sequester will hit every federal budget, from defense to education, and even the president’s own staff.

• The Obama administration has waded into the legal battle over California’s gay marriage ban, filing a brief with the Supreme Court Thursday evening that argues the state’s voters did not have the right to decide gay couples cannot wed.

• The House yesterday passed and sent to President Obama a far-reaching extension of the Violence Against Women Act. The vote came after House GOP leaders, cognizant of the need to improve their faltering image among women voters, accepted a bill that cleared the Senate on a strong bipartisan vote.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the looming sequestration cuts

• Robert McFadden a former senior NCIS official & top interrogator, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Ali Soufan’s op ed from the NY Times on Zero Dark Thirty and torture

• Across-the-board spending cuts all but certain, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are staging a politically charged showdown designed to avoid public blame for any resulting inconvenience or disruption in government services.

• President Obama has invited top congressional leaders to a meeting at the White House on Friday to discuss ways to avert across-the-board spending cuts that he says may devastate the economy—the day after cuts start kicking in.

• The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Jack Lew as President Obama’s new Treasury secretary, putting the former White House chief of staff in the middle of a bitter political fight over the government’s budget.

• Pope Benedict slips quietly from the world stage today after a private last goodbye to his cardinals and a short flight to a country palace to enter the final phase of his life “hidden from the world”.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT for an hour of Humpdays With Hal

• CA Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his new book, “Citizenville”

• As the country inched closer to the March 1 sequester deadline, President Obama on Tuesday traveled to Newport News, Va., to make a local case for what he and the administration believe will be the devastating economic impacts of the budget cuts.

• With across-the-board federal spending cuts set to kick in on Friday, House Speaker John Boehner reiterated his plea for the Senate to pass an alternative to the sequester, calling on senators to get “off their ass.”

• Gov. Chris Christie announced Tuesday that he would expand Medicaid health insurance coverage to more low-income New Jersey adults as part of President Obama’s health insurance overhaul — all while making it clear he’s “no fan of” the president’s program.

• Pope Benedict bid an emotional farewell at his last general audience this morning, saying he understood the gravity of his decision to become the first pontiff to resign in 600 years but that he had done it for the good of the Roman Catholic Church.

• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the looming sequester and what it means for average Americans

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the looming sequester

• Cities across the country are preparing for austerity measures that the budget cuts in sequestration would require if it goes into effect Friday. The White House previewed what some of those effects might be and President Obama called on governors to help him devise a deal with Congress to avert implementation of the sequester.

• A deeply divided Senate is moving toward a vote on President Obama’s choice of Chuck Hagel to head the Defense Department, with the former GOP senator on track to win confirmation after a protracted political fight

• President Obama today will meet Senator John McCain and Senator Lindsey Graham, leading Republicans working on a bipartisan immigration reform plan, to discuss efforts to overhaul the U.S. system, a White House official said on Monday.

• Another blizzard bore down on the nation’s midsection early today after lashing the Texas Panhandle with hurricane-force winds, closing highways and cutting power to thousands in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the awesomeness that was Abraham Lincoln

• President Barack Obama will be meeting with the nation’s governors today as they push Congress to avert deep federal spending cuts that begin to take effect Friday.

• John Kerry embarked Sunday on his first official overseas trip as secretary of state, hoping to bring new ideas to Europe and the Mideast about how to end nearly two years of violence in Syria.

• The Obama administration urged the Supreme Court on Friday to throw out a section of a 1996 federal law that prohibits recognition of same-sex marriage. The brief was filed in United States v. Windsor, a case challenging Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, the law that legally declares marriage to be only between a man and a woman.

• “Argo” beat out eight other Best Picture contenders at last night’s Oscars, including Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” which was expected by many to dominate the night. Daniel Day Lewis won Best Actor for his portrayal of Lincoln, and Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress for her role in “Silver Linings Playbook.”

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau for an hour of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Dave Gilson, writer for “Mother Jones”, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about debunking right wing gun myths

• Vice President Joe Biden urged lawmakers to have the “courage” to pass legislation addressing gun violence on Thursday at a conference in Connecticut just 10 miles from Sandy Hook Elementary School, scene of the Dec. 14 mass shooting.

• The White House on Thursday afternoon flatly rejected a request made earlier in the day by 15 Republican senators to withdraw Chuck Hagel‘s nomination as defense secretary.

• President Barack Obama reached out to the Republican leaders of the House and Senate on Thursday, the first sign in weeks that the two sides could be willing to work on a bipartisan solution to the potentially devastating spending cuts set to take place March 1.

• The defense and prosecution both completed their arguments Friday in Oscar Pistorius’ bail hearing, with the magistrate soon to rule if the double-amputee athlete can be freed before trial or if he must stay behind bars pending trial in the shooting death of his girlfriend.

• Birthday boy Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk to us about gun control, the sequester, and GOP obstructionism on Capitol Hill

• Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak today at a gun violence conference a few miles from the scene of last year’s Newtown school shooting massacre. The conference, in Danbury, is to push President Barack Obama’s gun control proposals.

• Facing heightened expectations from gay rights supporters, the Obama administration is considering urging the Supreme Court to overturn California’s ban on gay marriage — a move that could have a far-reaching impact on same-sex couples across the country.

• The lead investigator in the murder case against Oscar Pistorius faces attempted murder charges himself over a 2011 shooting, police said Thursday. The prosecution said they were unaware of the charges against the detective when they put him on the stand in court to explain why Pistorius should not be given bail.

• Former Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday morning to misusing more than $750,000 in campaign cash on private expenses — including a $43,000 Rolex, Blu-ray players, health clubs, lavish vacations, furs, and a slew of luxury goods.

• Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the sequester, gun control, and the State of the Union

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Humpdays With Hal

• Conjuring up the specter of fired teachers, sidelined firefighters, criminals freed by cutbacks and “hundreds of thousands” of lost jobs, President Obama pressed congressional GOPers on Tuesday to agree to increase tax revenues as part of a plan to avert “brutal” across-the-board spending cuts set to take effect one week from Friday.

• Marine Gen. John Allen, former commander of allied forces in Afghanistan, will retire from the military to care for his ailing wife. President Obama, who had nominated Allen to head NATO, met with the departing officer on Tuesday and accepted his request to leave the armed forces.

• Illegal immigrants would face a maximum of a 13-year wait to become citizens if the Obama administration’s version of immigration reform passed, according to a leaked draft of the bill obtained by the Miami Herald.

• Witnesses heard “non-stop shouting” in the home of Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius shortly before his girlfriend was shot dead, the lead detective in the murder investigation said on Wednesday.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the media’s fight against President Obama

• President Obama this morning will make a fresh push to force congressional Republicans to make concessions that will head off budget cuts that appear increasingly likely to kick in starting on March 1. He will appear at the White House with emergency responders who would lose their jobs if the cuts go into effect.

• The White House is downplaying its draft immigration proposal as merely a backup plan if lawmakers don’t come up with an overhaul of their own. It won’t be necessary, GOP and Dem lawmakers alike are telling the Obama administration.

• GOP opponents are sending signals that Chuck Hagel’s bid to become defense secretary will probably come to an up-or-down vote soon in the Senate. That’s unless more information damaging to the nominee — and the Obama administration — surfaces in the coming week.

• The Democratic-controlled Colorado House of Representatives on Monday formally approved a package of strict gun-control measures, in a state hit by two of the most notorious mass shootings in U.S. history.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the flailing NRA, the State of the Union, and the death of alleged cop killer Christopher Dorner

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• President Barack Obama’s choice to lead the Pentagon, former GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel, will likely be confirmed next week, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), one of his most dogged opponents, said Sunday.

• A draft of a White House immigration reform bill leaked to USA Today on Saturday puts pressure on the Senate to deliver with its own package of comprehensive legislation. An Obama spokesperson stressed that the administration bill was neither final nor an attempt to derail a bipartisan reform effort in the Senate.

• While discussing the contentious confirmation hearings for defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel, things got a bit heated on Sunday’s “Meet The Press” when Sen. John McCain referred to the lack of information from the White House surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks in Benghazi as a “massive cover-up.”

• Troubled country singer Mindy McCready, age 37, has died of an apparent suicide, the result of a single self-inflicted gunshot, the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed. McCready’s tragic death follows a recent commitment to rehab and her children being removed from her home.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the NYC Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for an hour of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about increasing the minimum wage, and about his reaction to the State of the Union

• President Barack Obama is criticizing Senate Republicans for delaying the confirmation of Chuck Hagel as his secretary of defense. The president said his opponents are using politics while the nation is still in a war in Afghanistan.

• President Obama yesterday promoted his new proposal to guarantee high quality preschool for every 4-year-old in the US citing a need to bring low-income and minority children up to speed with higher-income children– a move he says will translate into an economic boost.

• Senate Dems yesterday proposed a plan to put off dramatic cuts to the Pentagon and a host of popular government programs until next January. The move comes after weeks of lawmakers playing the blame game, with both sides claiming the sequester was the other party’s idea.

• The passengers of a Carnival cruise ship began the process of getting back to normal early Friday, checking into hotels for a shower, hot meal and good night’s sleep or boarding buses bound for other cities after five numbing days at sea on a powerless ship disabled by an engine-room fire.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Ari Berman of The Nation calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to tell us what Conservatives are doing to weaken the Voting Rights Act

• Road-testing his State of the Union message for the first time since his speech, President Obama yesterday visited a factory in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains that he said exemplified his second-term vision for manufacturing growth.

• President Obama continues his post-State of the Union road show today in Decatur, Ga., where he will unveil details of his plan to expand preschool programs, which he mentioned during his address Tuesday night.

• The Senate will hold a test vote on Friday to move toward final confirmation of former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., as President Barack Obama’s next secretary of defense.

• House Speaker John Boehner has in the past sounded pessimistic about the prospect of gun control legislation passing this year, but yesterday he said that Congress has a “responsibility” to try to reduce gun violence.

• Oscar Pistorius, the South African double amputee “Blade Runner” who competed as a sprinter in the London Olympics, is under police custody Thursday after allegedly shooting and killing his girlfriend.

• Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about last night’s State of the Union

• Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the State of the Union, and about increasing mental health funding

• Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about last night’s State of the Union

• David Shuster of Current TV and WeActRadio.com calls in at 10:45am ET / 7:45am PT to go over last night’s State of the Union

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Humpdays With Hal

• In his first State of the Union address since being reelected last November, Obama made an emotional plea for new gun safety measures, saying the victims of gun violence “deserve a vote” on legislation to ban assault weapons and large ammunition magazines. He also urged Congress to prevent the looming sequester.

• Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) outlined a personal and direct rebuttal to key parts of Obama’s speech, criticizing Obama’s call for higher taxes and increased federal spending, but was overshadowed by an awkward sip of water.

• Investigators have located charred human remains in the burned out cabin where they believe suspected cop killer and ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner was holed up as the structure burned to the ground, police said.

• David Bender of the Progressive Voices channel on TuneIn Radio joins us at 10am ET / 7am PT to preview tonight’s State of the Union address

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Ted Nugent at the State of the Union, and about Pope Benedicts legacy

• North Korea said it successfully detonated a miniaturized nuclear device at a northeastern test site Tuesday, defying U.N. Security Council orders to shut down atomic activity or face more sanctions and international isolation.

• President Barack Obama is promising to focus his State of the Union address tonight primarily on the state of the economy – but victims of gun violence are taking advantage of the high-profile event to try to shine a spotlight on their cause.

• The Senate Armed Service Committee vote for Chuck Hagel to be defense secretary is set for today. Top Republicans on the committee are threatening a walk out, but Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) isn’t one of them.

• Vice President Joe Biden, speaking hours after a fatal shooting at a courthouse in his home state of Delaware, said on Monday there was an unprecedented sense of urgency among police and officials to enact gun control laws.

• Today is Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and rainy forecasts are threatening to wash out the celebrations there.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the buffoonery of the Family Research Council, and George W. Bush’s strange 2nd career in art

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Sunday threatened to block votes on President Barack Obama’s nominees for CIA director and defense secretary until the administration gives more information about the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

• President Barack Obama will describe his plan for spurring the economy in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, offering proposals for investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, clean energy and education, a senior administration official said on Saturday.

• Pope Benedict on Monday said he would resign on Feb 28 because he no longer had the strength to fulfill the duties of his office. He will be the first pope to resign the post in over 500 years.

• Gotye won Record of the Year at last night’s Grammy Awards for his song “Somebody That I Used to Know.” Fun. landed two of the other top awards: Song of the Year for “We Are Young” and Best New Artist. Album of the Year went to British folk-rockers Mumford & Sons for their album “Babel.”

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the NYC Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) calls in at 11:05am ET / 8:05am PT to talk about closing tax loop holes for corporations

• More than 100 police officers were going door-to-door and searching for new tracks in the snow in the hopes of catching suspected cop killer Christopher Dorner overnight in Big Bear Lake, Calif., before he strikes again as laid out in his chilling online manifesto

• John Brennan, the White House nominee to head the Central Intelligence Agency, faced a series of questions during his Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday regarding how he would lead the organization, with an emphasis on Brennan’s views on waterboarding.

• Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., sharply criticized Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta for not deploying U.S. forces so they could rapidly respond to the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.

• President Barack Obama predicted a tough road ahead as he urged House Democrats on Thursday to stick to their principles on guns, immigration and the economy in legislative fights with Republicans.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Matthew Breen, Editor in Chief of “The Advocate”, joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the Boy Scouts’ delayed decision on allowing gay leaders

• Rep Adam Schiff (D-CA) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his LA Times Op Ed on Gun Control

• President Obama directed the Justice Department on Wednesday to share with key congressional committees secret memos laying out the legal justification for targeted drone-strike assassinations overseas, an aide said.

• White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan will face questions about America’s expanded drone war—including strikes that have killed U.S. citizens around the world—when he faces the Senate Intelligence Committee today in what is expected to be a tough hearing on his nomination to head the CIA.

• House Democrats today will unveil 15 proposals for curbing gun violence that resemble President Barack Obama’s plan and will include a call for banning assault weapons, people familiar with the package said Wednesday.

• Yesterday, the US Postal Service announced it’s not going to deliver first-class mail on Saturdays anymore, beginning August.

• Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about comprehensive immigration reform

• Tina Dupuy of TheContributor.com calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the NRA enemies list and to provide a true list of all of the people who have spoken out against the organization

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Humpdays With Hal

• President Barack Obama on Tuesday directed Congress to pass short-term spending cuts and tax reform measures to avoid automatic cuts known as the sequester.

• The White House on Tuesday defended targeted assassinations of Americans thought to consort overseas with terrorists as “necessary,” “ethical” and “wise,” as the Obama administration faced fresh questions about its sharply expanded drone war.

• The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday held a preliminary hearing to examine efforts to overhaul the nation’s immigrations laws, launching the chamber’s first public efforts on the issue this year.

• A decision by national Boy Scout leaders on whether to allow gay leaders and members is expected today. Some fear an unwanted new era, while others are welcoming what they believe is an overdue change that comes amid other recent gains for LGBT rights nationwide.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about why Americans like President Obama so much

• Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about what he’s doing to protect Americans from the greediness of drug companies

• President Barack Obama, speaking in Minneapolis on Monday, placed public pressure on Congress to pass gun control measures. The speech was part of an ongoing effort to respond to December’s shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT

• House Majority Leader Eric Cantor will outline an ambitious blueprint spelling out the House Republican agenda today, one that emphasizes education, innovation, simplifying the tax code, and reforming immigration and labor laws.

• Republican Sen. John McCain, a sharp critic of Chuck Hagel’s nomination as defense secretary, said Monday he will not support a filibuster of President Barack Obama’s pick, even though he declined to say whether he intends to vote for confirmation.

• Following a daring rescue, a 5-year-old boy held captive for seven days in an underground bunker in southern Alabama is alive and his kidnapper, Jimmy Lee Dykes, is dead, the FBI said Monday afternoon.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6am PT to talk about the mentally ill and guns, and about Hispanics and the GOP

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• In a live interview on CBS before the Super Bowl, President Obama yesterday encouraged the Boy Scouts of America to end its ban on gay members and leaders, days before the group is expected to vote on the controversial and long-standing rule.

• President Obama will pitch his proposals to stem gun violence today in Minnesota, a Democratic-leaning state where officials have been studying ways to reduce gun-related attacks and accidents for several years.

• New Secretary of State John Kerry reached out to Israeli and Palestinian leaders in phone calls this weekend, assuring them the Obama administration will continue to pursue a Mideast peace agreement while recognizing the individual concerns on both sides.

• The Baltimore Ravens shook off an unprecedented Superdome blackout and a near improbable second-half comeback by the San Francisco 49ers to hold on and capture one of the greatest, and certainly wildest, Super Bowls, 34-31 on Sunday.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang (“Viewpoint”) joins us from the Los Angeles Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT for an hour of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Markos Moulitsas of DailyKos calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the debate over comprehensive immigration reform

• Defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel endured a thorough pounding on Thursday at the hands of his fellow Republicans during a contentious, daylong confirmation hearing that did nothing to improve his prospects for heading the Pentagon.

• Congress passed must-do legislation Thursday to permit the government to borrow hundreds of billions of dollars more to meet its obligations, averting a first-ever government default that had loomed as early as mid-February.

• Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch on Thursday afternoon announced his candidacy for U.S. senator in Massachusetts, setting up a competitive primary race against his colleague, Rep. Ed Markey.

• Former Mayor Ed Koch, the combative, acid-tongued politician who rescued the New York City from near-financial ruin during a three-term City Hall run in which he embodied New York chutzpah for the rest of the world, died this morning. He was 88.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about getting some meaningful gun control accomplished

• More than a month after an elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., that left 26 dead, the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday held a three-hour hearing on gun control to examine possible new federal restrictions on “assault-style” weapons, background check enforcement and banning high capacity magazines.

• Chuck Hagel will face tough questions on Pentagon spending cuts and U.S. relations with Israel and Iran on Thursday as he faces a deeply skeptical Senate panel considering his nomination to be President Barack Obama’s next secretary of defense.

• President Barack Obama rejected Republican complaints about his proposals for overhauling the U.S. immigration system on Wednesday and said he believed it was possible to get a deal done by the end of the year if not in the first half.

• Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has picked William “Mo” Cowan, his former chief of staff, to serve as the state’s interim US senator until the successor to John F. Kerry is chosen by the voters in a June 25 special election.

• Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to tell us what she’s doing to make it easier for people to vote in America

• United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) president Joe Hansen was at Obama’s immigration reform speech yesterday and calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Labor’s role in the debate

• President Barack Obama unveiled his vision for immigration reform in a speech on Tuesday afternoon in Las Vegas, Nev., telling Congress that he will send them his own bill and call for a vote if they don’t move fast.

• The National Rifle Association and gun-control advocates, including the husband of wounded former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, are facing off today at the year’s first Senate hearing on what lawmakers should do to curb gun violence.

• The Senate on Tuesday easily confirmed one of its own—Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts—to be the next secretary of state, ending a largely noncontroversial process and kicking off what is expected to be a hotly contested special election for the seat Kerry has held since 1985.

• Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the only Republican in President Barack Obama’s Cabinet, announced on Tuesday he is stepping down.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about responsible gun ownership, and the state of the GOP today

• Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about comprehensive immigration reform

• President Obama will wade cautiously into the debate over U.S. immigration reform on Tuesday, seeking to build momentum for a new bipartisan plan to offer a pathway to citizenship for the country’s 11 million illegal immigrants.

• A slim majority of Americans – 51% – thinks illegal immigrants working in the U.S. should be able to stay and apply for citizenship; another 20% say they should stay but only as guest workers. A 25% think illegal immigrants now working here should be required to leave the country.

• Three months after Superstorm Sandy ravaged coastal areas in much of the Northeast, Congress on Monday sent a $50.5 billion emergency relief measure for storm victims to President Barack Obama for his signature.

• President Obama is enlisting the help of police chiefs from communities devastated by mass shootings as he continues a public push for Congress to act on his proposals to curb gun violence.

• The Boy Scouts of America is considering dropping a longtime ban on gay members, leaving such membership and leadership decisions up to local sponsors.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the deeper holes that Rand Paul and Bobby Jindal are digging for themselves

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• A bipartisan group of leading senators has reached agreement on the principles of sweeping legislation to rewrite the nation’s immigration laws. The deal, to be announced today, covers border security, guest workers and employer verification, as well as a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in this country.

• President Obama urged gun control advocates to listen to views of rural Americans who use guns for hunting and said bridging a cultural divide in attitudes to gun ownership will be critical to his administration’s push to curb gun violence.

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sidestepped questions about her presidential ambitions in 2016, though she was the beneficiary of effusive praise from her boss, President Barack Obama, in a new interview on Sunday’s “60 Minutes”.

• At least 233 people were killed after a band’s fireworks show sparked a rapidly moving fire in a packed nightclub in southern Brazil and fleeing patrons were unable to find their way out, local police said.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• Columnist Tina Dupuy calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the correlation between the lies of Lance Armstrong and the lies of the GOP

• John Kerry urged Congress to fix the U.S. economy to ensure the country’s role as a world leader and pledged to keep pressure on Iran at a Senate hearing on Thursday that left little doubt he will win easy confirmation as secretary of state.

• Facing long political odds, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) nonetheless unveiled legislation yesterday that would greatly restrict the availability of assault weapons, one of the major legislative changes requested by President Obama in the aftermath of the massacre in Newtown, Conn.

• The tradition-laden Senate voted Thursday to modestly curb filibusters, using a bipartisan consensus rare in today’s hyper-partisan climate to make it a bit harder but not impossible for outnumbered senators to sink bills and nominations.

• The Rhode Island House yesterday overwhelmingly passed legislation to allow gays and lesbians to marry in the only New England state where they can’t. Gay marriage opponents vow to press their case in the state Senate, where Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport, remains opposed to the legislation.

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• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the debt ceiling fight, and about Secretary Clinton’s testimony on Benghazi yesterday

• Comedian Judy Tenuta joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about her show “Stimulus Package” at Universal CityWalk in Hollywood this Saturday

• In one of her last acts as America’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hit back hard Wednesday at fierce Republican criticisms over the deadly Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.

• Democratic Sen. John Kerry, on a smooth path to confirmation as secretary of state, is likely to face friendly questioning when he testifies today before the committee that he’s served on for 28 years and led for the past four.

• Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is expected to announce Thursday that more than 230,000 combat positions — many in Army and Marine infantry units and in potentially elite commando jobs — are now open to women.

• Polar air settled in earnest over the Northeast after trekking through the Midwest, grinding trains to a halt, bursting pipes and bringing further misery to folks still trying to recover from Superstorm Sandy.

• Hal Sparks, Jacki Schechner, Jim Ward, and Chris Lavoie are holding down the fort today from the Los Angeles Bureau

• A measure to extend the U.S. debt limit for nearly four months moved closer on Tuesday to a vote and the White House said the president would sign the bill if it cleared Congress, easing uncertainty that could have threatened the U.S. economy.

• No one expects any bombshell revelations about Benghazi when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies in Congress today about the Sept. 11, 2012, attack that claimed the lives of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens.

• U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, signaled on Tuesday that despite earlier indications to the contrary, he may allow a vote on a possible ban on assault weapons.

• National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre blasted President Obama for his Inaugural warning against “absolutism” and reiterated his promise to give no ground on gun control.

• A 22-year-old man has been charged in a shooting on a community college campus in Texas that left three people wounded, one critically, authorities said.

Matthew Breen, Editor in Chief of “The Advocate”, joins us in the DC Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the LGBT history made with President Obama’s re-election

Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog joins us in the DC Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT to give us his impressions of President Obama’s inauguration

David Bender, Political Director for Progressive Voices, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the history made with yesterday’s inauguration speech

President Barack Obama delivered a forceful defense of the nation’s safety net programs, and vowed to expand gay rights and tackle the problem of climate change in his second inaugural address Monday afternoon.

President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle shared a tender dance while Jennifer Hudson sang Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” at the Commander in Chief ball Monday night, hours after he swore the oath of office during the public inauguration.

Republican leaders in the House of Representatives have scheduled a vote on Wednesday on a nearly four-month extension of U.S. borrowing capacity, but the bill does not specify a dollar amount.

Hours before President Barack Obama’s official swearing-in to a second term, top Democrats predicted a victory for universal background checks, the broadest component of the White House’s push to change the nation’s gun laws.

President Barack Obama on Sunday was officially sworn in for a second term in a private ceremony lasting just a few minutes at the White House. The ceremonial swearing in will take place today on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, DC.

President Barack Obama has prepared a second inaugural address that broadly lays out his vision for the country’s future, setting the stage for looming debates over taxes, guns, immigration and other issues while leaving the details for another day

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum on Sunday accused President Obama of being a “sore winner” in his dealings with Republicans. Santorum, chairman of Patriot Voices – a group that promotes conservative issues – also tweaked the president for what he argued was a lack of action to address the “glorification of violence” in film and TV.

Democrats are looking to make new revenue part of the Senate’s first budget in almost four years, which will be released soon after the start of President Barack Obama’s second term.

For the first time, two coaching brothers will face off in the Super Bowl. John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens dismantled New England 28-13 last night. Just hours earlier, Jim Harbaugh’s San Francisco 49ers outlasted Atlanta 28-24. Their two teams will meet Feb. 3 in New Orleans for the NFL championship.

Veteran ABC newswoman Barbara Walters has fallen at an inauguration party at the British ambassador’s home in Washington DC and has been hospitalized.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for an hour of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Sister Simone Campbell of the Nuns on The Bus calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about her new campaign against gun violence

• Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his efforts for filibuster reform

• One day after President Obama unveiled the his plan to curb gun violence, Vice President Joe Biden defended their intentions, answering critics who have spoken out against the plan for potentially infringing on the Second Amendment rights of Americans. “The president and I support the Second Amendment,” Biden said definitively.

• At least 22 foreign hostages were unaccounted for on Friday and their al-Qaeda-linked captors threatened to attack other energy installations after Algerian forces stormed a desert gas complex to free hundreds of captives, resulting in dozens of deaths.

• Not once but twice after he supposedly discovered his online girlfriend of three years never even existed, Notre Dame All-American linebacker Manti Te’o perpetuated the heartbreaking story about her death.

• Pauline Phillips, the original “Dear Abby” advice columnist, died Wednesday at the age of 94 after a decade-long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to discuss the Sandy Aid package and President Obama’s gun control proposals

• Sexy Liberal Aisha Tyler calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to promote Sexy Liberal DC and to tell us about tonight’s season premiere of “Archer” on FX

• President Obama yesterday announced the most ambitious gun-control drive in generations. Proposals include universal background checks as well as bans on assault weapons and ammunition clips that hold more than 10 bullets. Some of his proposals are sure to run headlong into fierce opposition from the GOP in Congress, as well as the NRA lobby.

• Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is preparing to step down from his post at the end of March. Salazar, a former Colorado senator, was among the Cabinet members expected to resign in the president’s second term, but the timing had not been revealed.

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will testify before a Senate panel next Wednesday on the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and the committee will hold a confirmation hearing on her successor the following day.

• Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about what the House is doing to help prevent gun violence

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to update us on the political fights going on in DC

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Humpdays With Hal

• President Obama’s broad effort to reduce gun violence will include proposed bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines as well as more than a dozen executive orders aimed at circumventing congressional opposition to stricter gun control. The measures will be announced today.

• The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved $50.5 billion in long-delayed federal disaster aid to victims of Superstorm Sandy, but not before Republicans flexed their budget-cutting muscle to strike some spending provisions.

• Rep. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the highest-ranking Jewish member in the Senate, announced Tuesday that he will support Chuck Hagel’s nomination for defense secretary, a breakthrough for President Obama’s effort to have his appointee confirmed in the Senate.

• Police say two people were killed when a helicopter crashed Wednesday during rush hour in central London after apparently hitting a construction crane on top of a building.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Clarence Thomas suddenly and mysteriously speaking up during a Supreme Court hearing

• Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about President Obama’s press conference on the debt ceiling debate yesterday

• President Barack Obama on Monday rejected any negotiations with Republicans over raising the U.S. borrowing limit, accusing his opponents of trying to extract a ransom for not ruining the economy in the latest fiscal fight.

• Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) challenged President Obama to another battle over the country’s mounting deficit Monday, answering Obama’s declaration that “America cannot afford another debate” over the debt limit by saying that Americans “do not support raising the debt ceiling without reducing government spending at the same time.”

• Facing powerful opposition to sweeping gun regulations, President Barack Obama is weighing 19 steps that could be taken through executive action alone, congressional officials said.

• His fall nearly complete, disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong finally confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs in an interview on Monday with Oprah Winfrey, USA Today reported.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the GOP and vaginas, and about Hitler’s history of actually relaxing gun laws

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• As Vice President Joe Biden finalizes a package of recommendations for the president to curb gun violence, the NRA predicted that Congress is likely to block any new laws that would ban assault weapons.

• Conservatives and watchdog groups are mounting a “not-so-fast” campaign against a $50.7 billion Superstorm Sandy aid package that Northeastern governors and lawmakers hope to push through the House this coming week.

• The U.S. Treasury Department said on Saturday it will not produce platinum coins as a way of generating $1 trillion in revenue and avoiding a battle in Congress over raising the U.S. debt ceiling.

• President Obama and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan agreed after talks at the White House on Friday to slightly speed up the process that calls for NATO forces to leave that war-torn country by late 2014.

• “Argo” and “Les Miserables” took top film honors when winners of the 70th annual Golden Globe Awards were announced last night. Director/actress Jodie Foster gave a heartfelt, confessional speech while accepting the Cecille B. DeMille lifetime achievement award.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York City Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Fridays With Fugelsang

• After meeting with Joe Biden, the NRA said in a statement that his effort to suggest new ways to curb gun violence amounted to an “attack” on the 2ND Amendment. Biden also suggested that tweaks to background checks could be included in the recommendations he’ll present on Tuesday.

• Looking for broader remedies to gun violence, Vice President Joe Biden is reaching out to the video game industry today for ideas as the White House seeks to assemble proposals in response to last month’s massacre at a Connecticut elementary school.

• President Obama yesterday tapped his chief of staff Jack Lew to be the next Treasury Secretary, elevating a close confidante and trusted adviser to leading economic voice for the administration’s second term.

• Rev. Louie Giglio, who had been announced as the pastor to give the invocation at the presidential inauguration, has now pulled himself out of the ceremony, after criticism of his previous anti-gay comments and actions.

• Charting the course for a war’s end, President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai meet today at the White House to discuss the future of the U.S. role in Afghanistan and the 66,000 American troops in harm’s way.

• Political strategist Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the upcoming debt ceiling fight, and about the talk of gun control in DC

• Actress Valerie Harper (“Rhoda” “Valerie”) calls in at 10:25am ET / 7:25am PT to talk about her upcoming guest voice gig on “The Simpsons”

• The Obama administration, including Vice President Biden, today is sitting down with gun owners groups — including the National Rifle Association — as officials look at ways to curb gun violence.

• The U.S. Congress should accept in the next round of deficit-reduction talks that revenue from taxes must be raised further if it expects President Obama to sign off on a deal, the president’s top economic adviser, Gene Sperling, said in an interview.

• The composition of President Obama’s second term Cabinet became clearer Wednesday, with Labor Secretary Hilda Solis resigning and three other members of the president’s team deciding to stay on amid concerns about diversity in Obama’s inner circle.

• With flu cases in Boston up tenfold from last year, the mayor declared a public health emergency yesterday as authorities around the U.S. scrambled to cope with a rising number of patients.

• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the debt ceiling fight, and about the GOP digging in with their positions

• Seeking to spur fresh action on gun legislation, Vice President Joe Biden is meeting today at the White House with victims groups and gun-safety organizations as a part of a series of gatherings aimed at building consensus around proposals to curb gun violence following the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT.

• Two years after she was shot at point-blank range while meeting with constituents in Tucson, former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, joined by her husband, Mark Kelly, are launching an initiative urging Congress to pass legislation to curb gun violence.

• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is calling for a delay in confirming President Barack Obama’s pick of John Brennan for CIA director until the administration provides answers on the deadly Sept. 11 assault in Libya that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.

• House Speaker John Boehner drew a 51 percent disapproval rating and a 31 percent approval rating for his handling of the fiscal cliff deal in an ABC News poll released Tuesday morning. Among registered voters, Boehner received a 56 percent disapproval and 30 percent approval rating.

• Christopher Kennedy Lawford and Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy call in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Christopher’s new book, “RECOVER TO LIVE: Kick Any Habit, Manage Any Addiction”

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the upcoming fight over the debt ceiling

• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the debt ceiling fight, the fiscal cliff deal and the Chuck Hagel nomination for Secretary of Defense

• Former Ambassador James Hormel calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Chuck Hagel nomination, and Hagel’s 1998 anti-gay remarks about Hormel

• President Obama yesterday nominated GOP former Sen. Chuck Hagel to be defense secretary, and top White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to be CIA director. Obama pressed the Senate to confirm them quickly, warning “we don’t like to leave a lot of gaps” in senior national security posts.

• President Barack Obama is slated to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday, the White House said in a statement.

• The No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide rolled top-ranked Notre Dame, 42-14, for the BCS championship last night, locking up a second straight national title and third in four years with another laugher of a title game.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the recent and upcoming (again!) talks regarding the fiscal cliff

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about his triumphant return to Congress

• Several GOP senators voiced their concerns yesterday about President Obama’s expected nomination of former GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel for defense secretary over past statements the former Nebraska lawmaker made about Israel and gay rights–hinting Hagel’s confirmation would not come without a fight.

• Struggling for the upper hand in the next round of debt talks, Republicans and Democrats this weekend drew lines in the sand they said they’d never cross when it comes to the U.S. debt limit.

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will resume her official duties today, five days after being released from a hospital for treatment of a blood clot, the State Department said on Sunday.

• President Obama today will nominate John Brennan as his next director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Brennan, a 25-year CIA veteran, currently serves as Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser.

• Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the delayed vote on Sandy relief funding for his state

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the NYC Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Fridays With Fugelsang

• House Speaker John Boehner narrowly retained the position as the new Congress voted Thursday. Boehner has had a bruising time in recent days as the outgoing Congress and the Obama administration negotiated and passed a limited deal to avoid the worst of the so-called “fiscal cliff.”

• The first order of business for a new Congress today is a scheduled vote on national flood insurance legislation to help victims of Superstorm Sandy, a contentious issue for House Republicans and Speaker John Boehner.

• Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s plans to leave near the end of January put the White House in a tricky spot, depriving the Obama administration of its longest-serving economic adviser for its next fiscal showdown with Congress.

• The State Department says Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to return to work next week after being treated for a blood clot in her head. Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says Clinton is resting at home but is speaking with senior staff and is, quote, “sounding terrific, upbeat and raring to go.”

• Karl Frisch, co-founder of Bullfight Strategies, calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• David Shuster of Current TV and We Act Radio calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to update us on the fight for Sandy Relief in the House

• The new 113th U.S. Congress, which convenes today at Noon ET, is set to take a fresh crack at a number of old, and highly contentious, issues, such as gun control, immigration, the record debt, tax reform and the farm bill.

• President Obama signed the “fiscal cliff” legislation into law yesterday via autopen from Hawaii, where he is vacationing with his family.

• In a State House news conference, Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) blasted Republican U.S. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio for delaying a vote on a $60 billion aid package for Superstorm Sandy recovery. “Do your job and come through for the people of this country,” Christie pointedly said about Boehner.

• Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was released from a New York hospital on Wednesday, three days after doctors discovered a blood clot in her head. Clinton’s medical team advised her Wednesday evening that she was making good progress on all fronts and said they are confident she will fully recover.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Humpdays With Hal

• The House of Representatives late Tuesday easily approved emergency bipartisan legislation sparing all but a sliver of America’s richest from sharp income tax hikes — while setting up another “fiscal cliff” confrontation in a matter of weeks.

• President Obama spoke about the fiscal cliff deal late last night, renewing his call for “balance” in any solution in the coming year to address deficits and debts. But the he also warned Congress against using the debt ceiling as a bargaining chip, as the GOP had in summer of 2011.

• A long-awaited deal to avoid a U.S. fiscal crisis prompted a broad global market rally on Wednesday, with shares and commodities rising sharply while the dollar and safe-haven government bonds fell.

• The House of Representatives adjourned last night without acting on a $60 billion superstorm Sandy disaster aid bill, prompting angry denunciations from members from the states hardest hit by the storm.

• Stepfan Taylor rushed for 89 yards and an early touchdown, Kevin Hogan passed for 123 yards, and No. 8 Stanford won its first Rose Bowl since 1972, beating the Wisconsin Badgers 20-14 last night in the 99th Annual Rose Bowl.

Hey everyone! We’re on vacation, and returning on Wednesday, 1/2/13. Here’s the list of the great best-of’s we have lined up:

M 12/24 – Kathleen Madigan & Ari Berman
T 12/25 – Cenk Uygur, Al Gore, and Aisha Tyler
W 12/26 – Rob Reiner & Lily Tomlin
Th 12/27 – Elvira, Orly Taitz, and Steven Weber
F 12/28 – Richard Belzer, Harry Shearer, and Chely Wright
M 12/31 – Chris Kluwe & Jason Alexander
T 1/1/13 – Mark Hamill & David Crosby

And, if you want to join the Current TV message board during show time, click here!

• Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP’s failed Plan B to avoid the fiscal cliff

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for a holiday edition of Fridays With Fugelsang

• In a stinging setback for Republican House Speaker John Boehner, a lack of support from inside his own party for his “fiscal cliff” fall-back plan forced him late Thursday to cancel a much-trumpeted vote on the measure.

• The White House says President Obama is willing to continue bargaining for a bipartisan solution to avert the “fiscal cliff” after Republicans in the House of Representatives abandoned efforts to pass an alternative plan.

• For the past week, leadership at the National Rifle Association has largely stayed away from the media, but this morning the group may weigh in on how to keep a deadly shooting massacre like last week’s at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school from happening again.

• Travelers facing canceled flights and closed roads were hoping to finally head to their holiday destinations as a widespread snowstorm that dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of the Midwest moved across the Great Lakes toward Canada.

• Karl Frisch, co-founder of Bullfight Strategies, calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to update us on the fiscal cliff negotiations in DC

• Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the shootings in Connecticut and the need to look at our gun laws

• Matthew Phelps, an active duty Captain in the Marine Corps, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about being part of the first same-sex marriage proposal at the White House

• President Obama on Wednesday tasked Vice President Biden with getting him a package of recommendations for battling a national “epidemic” of gun violence “no later than January.”

• President Obama yesterday publicly pressured the GOP to compromise before Christmas on a deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff.” “If this past week has done anything, it should just give us perspective,” Obama said. “Right now what the country needs is for us to compromise.”

• Three State Department officials have resigned after an internal investigation of the Benghazi attack found “systemic failures and leadership deficiencies at senior levels in securing the compound,” prior to and during the assault.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Humpdays With Hal

• President Barack Obama will announce today that Vice President Joe Biden will lead an effort to come up with policies to address gun violence amid calls for action following the massacre of 26 people including 20 children in a Connecticut elementary school last week.

• Six more victims of the Newtown school shooting will be honored at funerals and remembrances today, including the school principal who was killed with 20 of her students and five other staff members at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.

• President Obama supports Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s legislation banning assault weapons—signed into law in 1994, it expired in 2004—and other potential gun measures, the White House revealed on Tuesday, after declining to discuss gun control specifics the day before.

• Still short of a “fiscal cliff” deal with the White House, top House Republicans are laboring to rally their rank-and-file behind an alternative plan that would prevent looming tax increases for everyone but those earning over $1 million a year.

• The State Department has released its independent, internal investigation into the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, concluding the attack was the result of the State Department’s “systematic failure” in addressing the security needs of the consulate.

• Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the tragedy in Connecticut (his district borders with the district where the shooting occurred)

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about how we move forward from the Newtown shootings

• Actress and activist Melissa Fitzgerald (“The West Wing” “Chasing The Hill”) joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk with us about the tragedy in Newtown

• The schools of Newtown (except for Sandy Hook Elementary), which stood empty in the wake of a shooting rampage that took 26 of their own, will again ring with the sounds of students and teachers today as the bucolic Connecticut town struggles to return to normal.

• Prominent gun-rights advocates in Congress are now calling for a national discussion about restrictions to curb gun violence, signalling that the horrific shooting at a Connecticut elementary school could be a tipping point in a debate that has been dormant for years.

• President Obama made a fresh fiscal cliff offer to Republican House Speaker John Boehner on Monday, dropping the total the White House wants in new tax revenues and raising the amount of spending cuts in an effort to forge a compromise. Boehner’s office rejected the deal but vowed to keep talking.

• Dr. Wanda Von Kleist, a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who has a history of working with violent offenders with mental health issues, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the tragedy in Connecticut

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about gun control and the tragedy in Connecticut

• Actress Robin Weigert (Sons of Anarchy, The Sessions) joins us in studio at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about her political new play, “Other Desert Cities”

• President Obama assured the grieving, shell-shocked Newtown community on Sunday that “you are not alone” and vowed sternly to wield “whatever power this office holds” in a quest to prevent future mass shootings.

• Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said she will introduce legislation next year to ban new assault weapons, as well as big clips, drums and strips of more than 10 bullets. “It can be done,” Feinstein told “Meet the Press” of reinstating the ban despite deep opposition by the NRA and similar groups.

• The gunman in the Connecticut shooting rampage was carrying hundreds of rounds of especially deadly ammunition — enough to kill just about every student in the school if given enough time, authorities said, raising the possibility that the bloodbath could have been even worse.

• Joy Behar calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about her Hurricane Sandy benefit called “Joy Behar’s Comics with Benefits” airing tonight at 9pm ET on Current TV

• Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to discuss the fiscal cliff negotiations

• Sexy Liberal and Current TV host John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., withdrew her name on Thursday from consideration to be secretary of state in the face of angry GOP opposition. She had not been formally nominated, but Rice was the favorite for the post and spent time on Capitol Hill trying—vainly—to placate her GOP critics.

• The White House “fiscal cliff” meeting between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner ended last night with no immediate indication of progress from either side.

• Sen. Jim DeMint (D-SC) said yesterday that he believes President Obama will win his push to raise taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent. “The president’s proposal… will fund the government for a few days, and we all realize it’s a political trophy, it’s not a solution.”

• A 6.4-magnitude quake shook the coast of Baja California and San Diego this morning. No damage or tsunamis have been recorded.

• Political Strategist Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the fiscal cliff negotiations

• Tina Dupuy, editor in chief of TheContributor.com calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about her most recent column on who’s been naughty and who’s been nice in politics

• President Obama’s GOP foes in Congress worked on Wednesday to turn up the heat on the White House on the fiscal cliff. The GOP push came after the release of a new poll showing Americans side with the president with time running short to defuse the economic time bomb.

• Barack Obama holds a substantial advantage over John Boehner in handling budget negotiations to avoid the fiscal cliff: Nearly twice as many Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll approve of the president’s work on the issue so far as favor the speaker’s approach.

• North Korea’s successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile hit its target: it bolstered the standing of its young tyrant Kim Jong Un and raised the specter of being able to eventually strike the U.S. with a nuclear weapon.

• Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) is being treated for early stage prostate cancer but will stay on the job throughout his nearly four-week treatment, his office said Wednesday. His prognosis is said to be excellent.

• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the ongoing negotiations to avoid the fiscal cliff

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the travesty in Michigan with labor unions yesterday

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Humpdays With Hal

• President Obama and Rep. John Boehner spoke Tuesday after privately exchanging a new round of rival proposals for keeping the economy from tumbling off the “fiscal cliff.” The fresh discussion signaled a welcome bit of movement in negotiations that had appeared stalled for several days.

• Against a backdrop of raucous protests in the Michigan capitol, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law controversial right-to-work legislation after final passage in the GOP-led state legislature.

• A masked gunman who opened fire in the crowded Clackamas Town Center mall in suburban Portland, Ore., killing two and seriously injuring a third before killing himself, has been “tentatively” identified by police, though they have not yet released his name.

• North Korea successfully fired a long-range rocket on Wednesday, defying international warnings as the regime of Kim Jong Un took a big step forward in its quest to develop a nuclear missile.

• Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the fiscal cliff we are quickly approaching

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about John Boehner and the negotiations for avoiding the fiscal cliff

• Julie Bolcer, New York Correspondent for The Advocate Magazine, calls in at 11:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the Supreme Court taking up the Prop 8 and DOMA cases

• President Barack Obama traveled Monday to Michigan to tout a new investment in domestic auto jobs, while using the opportunity to assail the state’s Republican lawmakers for pursuing “right to work” legislation.

• Representatives from the White House and Speaker John Boehner’s office met Monday behind closed doors but no progress was reported on reaching a solution for avoiding the Fiscal Cliff, and President Barack Obama took his plan for avoiding the Fiscal Cliff on the road to Michigan.

• Republican Sen. John McCain has led the charge against potential secretary of state nominee Susan Rice—and now he wants a spot on the Senate committee that would question her if President Obama picks her to succeed Hillary Clinton.

• Former South African President Nelson Mandela, 94, has suffered a recurrence of a lung infection, according to a government statement Tuesday. He’s in the hospital but the government says there’s no cause for alarm.

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Kris Perry & Sandy Steir, the couple at the center of the Prop 8 case before the Supreme Court call in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the case and what it means to the future of marriage equality

• Actor and activist Rob Reiner calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the Supreme Court taking the up Marriage Equality cases

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the disgrace that the GOP brought upon itself last week

• For the first time in more than three weeks, President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner met face-to-face Sunday at the White House to talk about avoiding the fiscal cliff. The White House would offer no details saying only, “The lines of communication remain open.”

• Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) reiterated Sunday that he could support a rate increase on the top 2% as part of a larger deal but accused Dems of “lying to the American people” about the need for entitlement fixes.

• The Supreme Court announced that it will decide two major gay marriage cases next year that could have a sweeping effect on the rights of same-sex couples. The cases mark the first time the justices will consider arguments for and against same-sex marriage.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ) calls in at 11:05am ET / 8:05am PT to talk about the Fiscal Cliff negotiations

• With little to show after a month of posturing, the White House and Republicans in Congress dropped hints on Thursday that they had resumed low-level private talks on breaking the stalemate over the “fiscal cliff” but refused to divulge details.

• A month after the bitterly fought election, President Obama has his highest approval ratings since the killing of Osama bin Laden, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll, and more Americans say the nation is heading in the right direction now than at any time since the start of his first term.

• The 2012 presidential election broke the $2 billion milestone in its final weeks, becoming the most expensive in American political history, according to final federal finance reports released Thursday.

• A 7.3 magnitude quake centered off northeastern Japan shook buildings as far away as Tokyo on Friday and triggered a one-meter tsunami in an area devastated by last year’s Fukushima disaster, but there were no reports of deaths or serious damage.

• Karl Frisch, co-founder of Bullfight Strategies, calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the ongoing fiscal cliff negotiations

• Actor Ed Asner calls in to talk about his fundraiser for Autism Speaks that gives you the chance to buy custom recorded messages for your voicemail from celebrities like William Shatner and Betty White

• Americans prefer letting tax cuts expire for the country’s top earners, as President Barack Obama insists, while support has declined for cutting government services to curb budget deficits, an Associated Press-GfK poll shows.

• Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner yesterday afternoon said the Obama administration is “absolutely” prepared to go off the looming “fiscal cliff” if Republicans do not agree to raise tax rates on the wealthy.

• The Syrian military is prepared to use chemical weapons against its own people and is awaiting final orders from President Bashar Assad, U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday.

• At midnight this morning, marijuana officially became legal in Washington State, and hundreds of gay couples lined up outside the King County courthouse in Seattle to obtain marriage licenses as marriage equality officially became legal.

• Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his new album and holiday special, “It’s a SpongeBob Christmas”

• Rep. Tim Walz (D-MN) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the discharge petition on middle class tax cut he filed yesterday in the House

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Humpdays With Hal

• President Barack Obama held his ground on the “fiscal cliff” on Tuesday, insisting on higher tax rates for the wealthiest Americans, while Republicans showed increasing disarray over how far they should go to compromise with Obama’s demands.

• A bipartisan group of governors asked President Obama for assurance yesterday that any cuts in spending would not shift the financial burden onto states. They say they want flexibility from the federal government on programs to allow them to do more with less.

• New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the former New York senator Hillary Clinton she should consider running for his job as he prepares to leave office next year.

• Frail and in a wheelchair, former Sen. Bob Dole was a startling presence on the Senate floor as lawmakers voted on a treaty on disabilities to ensure that disabled American veterans are treated with dignity and respect.

• Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich), ranking member of the House Ways & Means Committee, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the fiscal cliff

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the fiscal cliff, and about what horrors the GOP has planned for our education system

• House Republicans on Monday unveiled a counterproposal to a Democratic plan to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff that includes $800 billion in new government revenue by eliminating write-offs in the tax code while extending current tax rates for all income levels.

• President Obama took to Twitter on Monday afternoon to personally answer questions on the “fiscal cliff.” His venture into social media came as Republicans and Democrats continued trading blame for the deadlocked fiscal negotiations in Washington.

• President Barack Obama issued a warning to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday not to use chemical weapons against Syrian opposition forces, saying there would be consequences if he were to do so.

• A U.S. Navy spokesman says no American drones are missing in the Middle East following Iranian claims it had captured an unmanned American surveillance aircraft.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the GOP’s stalling tactics in coming up with a solution to avoid the fiscal cliff

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters For America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• President Obama is urging Congress to extend tax breaks for the middle class, saying it’s “unacceptable for some Republicans in Congress to hold middle class tax cuts hostage simply because they refuse to let tax rates go up on the wealthiest Americans.”

• House Speaker John Boehner on Friday said that despite receiving a counterproposal from the White House as part of a deal to avoid a series of automatic tax increases and spending cuts, no progress had been made between Republicans and Democrats.

• House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will try to force a vote on the House floor to extend current tax rates for the middle class this week if Republicans do not act, the California Democrat announced on Friday

• Police say Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, 25, shot and killed his girlfriend Saturday morning before going to the team stadium and and committing suicide by shooting himself in the head as he was talking to coaches.

• Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the ongoing Fiscal Cliff negotiations

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• President Obama yesterday made a detailed opening bid to Congressional Republicans for averting the so-called fiscal cliff — the mix of tax hikes and deep spending cuts that risk plunging the economy into a new recession come 2013. Republicans flatly rejected the offer.

• President Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney met for lunch at the White House yesterday, their first face-to-face meeting since the bitter election campaign. A White House statement said they had discussed America’s global leadership role and agreed on their desire to stay in touch.

• Retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said yesterday that Congress should have “mercy” on UN ambassador Susan Rice, who has been heavily criticized for her public statements made immediately after attacks at U.S. posts overseas in September.

• The U.N. General Assembly approved an upgraded U.N. status to “non-member observer state” for the Palestinian Authority on Nov. 29, despite intense opposition from the United States and Israel.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for the hour to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about what needs to be done to avoid going over the fiscal cliff

• Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and senior White House aide Rob Nabors are visiting separately Thursday with the four leaders of the House and Senate to discuss how to avert a series of tax increases and spending cuts due to begin in January.

• House Speaker John Boehner (R), the man at the center of negotiations with President Obama, today rejected Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole’s suggestion to pass an extension of tax cuts for 98 percent of people, declare victory, and go home.

• President Obama yesterday defended United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice against criticism from Senate Republicans, saying she is “extraordinary.”

• Mitt Romney will finally make it to the White House today, but only for a 12:30 p.m. EST private — make that very private, no reporters — lunch with President Barack Obama.

• Aaron Hicklin, Out Magazine Editor in Chief, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the Out 100 Issue

• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about negotiations to avoid going over the Fiscal Cliff

• Magician and comedian Penn Jillette calls in at 10:50am ET / 7:50am PT to talk about his book “EVERY DAY IS AN ATHEIST HOLIDAY”

• Bill Press of Current TV’s “Full Court Press” calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to make a major joint announcement with Stephanie

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau in the third hour of the show for Humpdays With Hal

• President Obama on Tuesday launched a public relations push for his bid to raise taxes on wealthy Americans, but U.S. lawmakers remained deadlocked over dramatic, year-end tax increases and spending cuts known as the “fiscal cliff.”

• Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., says he is “more disturbed now than I was before” over U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice’s explanation of the September 11 attacks in Benghazi, he told reporters yesterday after meeting with the ambassador.

• Former Senate GOP Leader and presidential nominee Bob Dole has been hospitalized at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the hoards of GOPers in DC breaking their tax pledge to Grover Norquist

• Actor Steven Weber (Wings, Jeffrey, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau to talk about his new play, “Lips Together Teeth Apart”

• The White House is ramping up pressure on Republicans to make a deal that averts a trip over the “fiscal cliff.” The White House put out a report warning that Americans might pull back on spending in the face of a tax increase, threatening the economy.

• On the eve of a visit by Mexican President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto, the White House promised Monday that President Obama “will be pressing for action” in Congress on comprehensive immigration reform and regards that goal as “achievable.”

• UN Ambassador Susan Rice will be on Capitol Hill this week to meet with individual members of Congress to discuss the Benghazi attacks, aides on Capitol Hill confirm. She will come face-to-face with many Senators who have opposed her possible nomination to be the next Secretary of State.

• New York state and New Jersey need at least $71.3 billion to recover from the devastation wrought by Superstorm Sandy and prevent similar damage from future storms, according to their latest estimates.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Mitt Romney’s scar tissue, Marco Rubio’s creationism, and Bobby Jindal’s skeeviness

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Major George Hood of The Salvation Army calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to kick off the Online Red Kettle competition between Stephanie Miller and Bill Press for Current TV

• Republican opposition to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice as the next secretary of state began to crack Sunday as Sen. John McCain said she was “not the problem” in the White House’s handling of the Sept. 11 attack in Libya.

• U.S. lawmakers have made little progress in the past 10 days toward a compromise to avoid the harsh tax increases and government spending cuts scheduled for January 1, a senior Democratic senator said on Sunday.

• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Sunday “it’s fair to ask my party to put revenue on the table” as part of the solution to avoid the looming automatic tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts known as the “fiscal cliff.”

• U.S. shoppers hit stores and websites at record numbers over the Thanksgiving weekend, according to a survey released by the National Retail Federation on Sunday. A record 247 million shoppers visited stores and websites over the four-day weekend, up 9.2 percent of last year.

• Ruth Riley, WNBA star (Chicago Sky) and Olympic Gold Medalist, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about hunger in America, her personal story growing up on food stamps, and her work with No Kid Hungry

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Humpdays With Hal

• U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday pursued a Gaza truce, with Israel and Hamas still at odds over key terms, as Israeli air strikes shook the enclave and Palestinian rockets hit across the border.

• Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday urged Congress and the Obama administration to strike a budget deal to avert tax increases and spending cuts that could trigger a recession next year.

• House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich) did little to tamp down speculation that he’s under consideration to become the next CIA director, saying he could neither confirm nor deny conversations with the Obama administration about the vacant position.

• Firebrand Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., said Tuesday he had finally conceded in his bid for re-election to Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy.

• As a part of Current’s “Currently: Feeding The Need” hunger initiative, Daniel Karslake, Director of “Every 3 Seconds”, a documentary that looks at how everyday people are doing something to end the hunger problem in the world, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his project

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about why Paul Ryan isn’t going anywhere

• Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about what Congress needs to do to avoid going over the Fiscal Cliff

• President Barack Obama dispatched Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to the Middle East today as the U.S. urgently seeks to contain the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas.

• On a history-making trip, President Obama yesterday paid the first visit by an American leader to Myanmar and Cambodia, two Asian countries with troubled histories, one on the mend and the other still a cause of concern.

• A group of 97 House Republicans sent a letter to President Obama yesterday, saying that UN Amb. Susan Rice misled the nation about the attack on Benghazi, making her unfit to be a candidate to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about what sore losers the Republican Party is made up of

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the Benghazi investigations and unfair allegations about UN Ambassador Susan Rice

• Launching a landmark visit to long shunned Myanmar, President Barack Obama said today he comes to “extend the hand of friendship” to a nation moving from persecution to peace.

• International mediation efforts gathered steam Monday as Israel bombed dozens of suspected guerrilla sites in the densely populated Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in its campaign to quell militant rocket fire menacing nearly half of Israel’s population.

• Former CIA Director David Petraeus testified Friday before congressional intelligence panels telling members that he had believed from the outset that the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was an act of terrorists.

• Capitol Hill leaders emerged from their meeting Friday with President Barack Obama sounding optimistic about their ability to reach consensus on vexing tax and spending issues and avoid the impending “fiscal cliff.”

• Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT as a part of Current TV’s “Currently Feeding The Need” hunger initiative to talk about farm bills to control prices, provide nutritional programs and help small farming businesses provide jobs

• Comedian Lewis Black calls in at 10:20am ET / 7:20am PT to talk about his new 2013 Running On Empty tour, and about the news of the day

• President Barack Obama welcomes congressional leaders from both parties to the White House today for initial discussions as to how they might avert the looming “fiscal cliff.”

• House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) rejected the president’s plan for House GOP to quickly pass Senate legislation that would extend middle class tax cuts, and he alternatively called on the Senate to take up House-passed legislation to extend all of the current tax rates for one year.

• The CIA Inspector General has launched an investigation into the conduct of former Director David Petraeus. The investigation was ordered to ensure there was no wrongdoing and that no agency resources were expended improperly by Petraeus.

• Sen. John McCain is calling for more information on Benghazi, but he had a press conference yesterday instead of going to a closed briefing where Obama officials were giving more information.

• Eric Burns, co-founder of Bullfight Strategies, calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the fiscal cliff and the work that needs to be done in Congress

• President Barack Obama bluntly told Sen. John McCain and other GOP to lay off their attacks against U.N. Amb. Susan Rice over the Benghazi assault, telling lawmakers that if they go after her “then you have a problem with me.”

• Mitt Romney yesterday accused President Obama of doling out “gifts” to minority voters to curry their support for a second term. Romney pointed to that as the reason he lost the election.

• Gen. David Petraeus will testify about the attack on the American Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s closed hearings. The exact date of his testimony hasn’t yet been worked out.

• Jill Kelley, a key figure in the David Petraeus scandal, tried to negotiate a South Korean coal project deal earlier this year using her Petraeus ties, but the deal fell apart when she asked for an astronomical $80-million fee.

• Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) calls in as a part of Current TV’s “Currently: Feeding The Need” Hunger Initiative at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about farm bills to control prices, provide nutritional programs and help small farming businesses provide jobs

• Defense Secretary Leon Panetta cautioned against reaching early conclusions about allegations against the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, who is under investigation for what Pentagon officials have said may be “inappropriate” correspondence with a Florida woman linked to the David Petraeus sex scandal.

• Labor union leaders emerged from talks with President Obama on Tuesday vowing a side-by-side battle against Republicans to bring about higher taxes on the wealthy as part of an effort to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff.

• Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) spoke out for the first time following the Republican presidential ticket’s loss last Tuesday in an interview with his local Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper, saying he was shocked on Election Night.

• Newly elected and returning Democratic members of Congress said Tuesday as they returned to Washington DC that they won by focusing on protecting and expanding entitlements and by calling for higher taxes on upper-income people.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to bask in the afterglow of last week’s election

• Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos.com, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the election, the last safe haven for Conservatives in the world, and how his predictions were more accurate than Nate Silver’s

• The Pentagon said today that the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, is under investigation for alleged “inappropriate communications” with a woman who is said to have received threatening emails from Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom former CIA Director David Petraeus had an extramarital affair.

• Amid a global fright over DC’s political brinkmanship, lawmakers return to the capital today with a seven-week deadline to reach agreement on scheduled tax hikes and budget cuts that threaten to trigger another recession.

• President Obama opens a new campaign today to build pressure on Congress to cut the federal debt the way he sees fit, meeting with labor leaders who want lawmakers to raise taxes on the wealthy and guard against slashing health benefits for seniors.

• After a hard-fought race in a newly formed Arizona congressional district, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema was declared the winner yesterday, becoming the first openly bisexual member of Congress.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about President Obama’s big win last week and what that means for the GOP

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang of Current TV’s “So That Happened” joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT

• Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about what Congress is doing to help avoid going over the Fiscal Cliff

• Actress and activist Martha Plimpton calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about her “A Is For…” organization which helps with women’s health issues

• Members of Congress say they want to know more about an extramarital affair between ex-CIA Director David Petraeus and his biographer, questioning when the retired general popped up in the FBI inquiry, whether national security was compromised and why they weren’t told sooner.

• President Obama will meet business, labor and civic leaders this week ahead of negotiations with top lawmakers to avert sharp tax hikes and deep spending cuts that loom at the end of the year, a White House official said late on Sunday.

• Richard Carlbom, The Executive Director of Minnesota United For All Families, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about defeating efforts to write discrimination into the state’s constitution

• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) calls in at 10:30AM ET / 7:30am PT to talk about how Congress has a new mandate to protect working families

• Sexy Liberal host of Current TV’s “So That Happened” John Fugelsang joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT

• While ballots are still being counted in Florida, a senior adviser for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign told the Miami Herald on Thursday that they are effectively conceding the state and its 29 electoral votes to President Obama.

• Republicans’ efforts to undo President Barack Obama’s health care reform law appear to have come to an end, as House Speaker John Boehner described it Thursday as the “law of the land.”

• Newly re-elected President Obama will use a White House appearance today to set the tone for upcoming talks with congressional Republicans on avoiding the so-called fiscal cliff.

• New York City drivers woke up today to the first widespread gas rationing since the fuel crisis of the 1970s as a result of Sandy and a subsequent nor’easter.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about this week’s Election Day victories for the Dems

• Political strategist Dave “Mudcat” Saunders calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about what happened in Virginia on Election Day

• Actress Melissa Fitzgerald (The West Wing & Chasing The Hill) joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11:10am ET / 8:10am PT to talk about President Obama’s big win on Tuesday

• Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about this week’s big wins for marriage equality

• Vice President Biden says he and President Obama are anxious to move forward on a bipartisan solution to the looming “fiscal cliff” that could force tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts next year.

• House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) emerged after Tuesday’s presidential election to strike a conciliatory note, offering to work with President Obama on a grand bargain to avert the impact of the coming fiscal cliff.

• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about last night’s big victory for President Obama

• David Bender, Political Director for ProgressiveVoices.com, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to go over last night’s big wins for the Democrats

• Congressman-elect Alan Grayson (D-FL) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his win last night and his return to Congress

• President Barack Obama handily defeated Gov. Mitt Romney and won himself a second term on Tuesday after a bitter and historically expensive race. Obama beat Romney after nabbing almost every one of the 12 crucial battleground states.

• In an historic election night for the gay rights movement, voters in Maine and Maryland became the first in the country to approve same-sex marriage, breaking a 32-state losing streak.

• Democrats prevailed against Republicans Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock in two U.S. Senate races in which abortion and controversial remarks about rape played a pivotal role.

• Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren is the projected winner of the Massachusetts Senate seat once held by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, beating out GOP incumbent Scott Brown.

Actress Vivica A. Fox (“Kill Bill” “Independence Day”) calls in at 9:20am ET / 6:20am PT from The Obama Campaign HQ in Chicago to talk about the get out the vote game on Election Day

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about getting out the women’s vote and the importance of winning this election for Obama

Keshia Knight Pulliam (Rudy from The Cosby Show) calls in at 10:20am ET / 7:20am PT to talk about how she’s helped with the 2012 Campaign & her work with Planned Parenthood

Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT from Florida to tell us what he’s seeing in that battleground state this Election Day

John Cho (“Harold & Kumar” “Star Trek”) calls in at 10:50am ET / 7:50am PT to talk about the work he’s been doing to get out the college vote (most recently in Nevada)

Actor Jake Gyllenhaal (“Brokeback Mountain” “The Day After Tomorrow”) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the efforts to get out the vote and why he’s supporting Obama again in 2012

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker (“Sex And The City” “Mars Attacks”) calls in at 11:20am ET / 8:20am PT to talk about getting out the women’s vote to re-elect President Obama

Actor and director Rob Reiner calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk Election Day news and how we get 4 more years for Obama

Katherine Archuleta, Obama Campaign National Political Director, calls in at 11:50am ET / 8:50am PT to talk about the campaign’s final push for the win in 2012

• Ronnie Chatterji, former Senior Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisors, calls in at 9:20am ET / 6:20am PT to talk about Obama’s plan to fix the economy

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the closing arguments as to why President Obama should be re-elected

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Jesse Williams of Grays Anatomy calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about getting out the vote. He spent last weekend in Ohio going door to door canvassing for Obama

• Legendary Actress Blythe Danner (“Meet The Parents” “Will & Grace” and Gwyneth Paltrow’s mom) calls in at 10:50am ET / 7:50am PT to talk about getting out the vote

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau for the 11am ET / 8am PT hour

• Jim Graves, who is challenging Michelle Bachman for her seat in Congress, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the narrowing gap in the race

• President Obama and challenger Mitt Romney make a frenetic dash to a series of crucial swing states today, delivering their final arguments to voters on the last day of an extraordinarily close race for the White House.

Sexy Liberal Aisha Tyler calls in at 9:20am ET / 6:20am PT from on the Campaign Trail in Ohio to remind us why President Obama smells like Cookies and Freedom

Stephen Goldstein, author of the novel Atlas Drugged, a “sequel” to Atlas Shrugged calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about a world where Romney’s plans to privatize government becomes a reality

Actress Jurnee Smollett (Friday Night Lights) calls in at 11:20am ET / 8:20am PT to discuss the fight against HIV/AIDS and her support of President Obama’s 2012 reelection

Actress Kate Walsh (Private Practice & Gray’s Anatomy) calls in at 11:50am ET / 8:50am PT to talk about introducing President Obama at a campaign event in Iowa and the importance of women’s issues

President Obama and Mitt Romney effectively resumed the presidential campaign on Thursday after three days of little campaigning as the Eastern seaboard grappled with superstorm Sandy.

In parts of New York and New Jersey, drivers lined up Thursday for hours at gas stations that were struggling to stay supplied. The power outages and flooding caused by Superstorm Sandy have forced many gas stations to close.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed President Barack Obama on Thursday, invoking Hurricane Sandy and the president’s work to address climate change.

Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

Ben Jealous, President of the NAACP, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about voter fraud issues and attempts to suppress the vote

Rep. Gary Peters (D – MI) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the auto industry. His district includes Chrysler’s Headquarters and he worked very closely with President Obama to implement the auto rescue

Actor Ben McKenzie (The O.C., Southland) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Getting Out The Vote. He attended the University of Virginia and has campaigned for President Obama

Political Strategist Dave “Mudcat” Saunders calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the final week before Election Day, including what’s going on with the Powell/Cantor race in VA

Music legend David Crosby calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the importance of re-electing President Obama so he can finish what he started

President Obama inspected the devastation from Sandy on Wednesday, flying high over flooded neighborhoods, sand-strewn streets and a burning fire that charred homes along the New Jersey coastline.

According to new NBC/WSJ/Marist polls taken before Sandy, President Obama leads in Iowa, and is running neck and neck in New Hampshire and Wisconsin.

• Reggie Love, former personal assistant to President Obama, calls in at 9:40am ET / 6:40am PT to talk about why we should re-elect President Obama

• Elvira, Mistress Of The Dark (Cassandra Peterson) joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT for two hours of political Halloween fun

• Actor Mark Hamill (“Star Wars”) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk politics and tell us what he thinks of Disney buying LucasFilm

• Millions of people across the Northeast stricken by massive storm Sandy will attempt to resume normal lives on Wednesday as companies, markets and airports reopen, despite grim projections of power and mass transit outages lasting several more days.

• President Obama, locked in a fierce re-election bid, is emphasizing his incumbent’s role for a third straight day, skipping battleground states to visit victims of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey, a state he’s confident of winning.

• Mitt Romney’s “storm relief event” held at an Ohio athletic complex still had some of the trappings of a regular campaign rally, from the biographical Romney video to the woman in the crowd who wore a shirt that read, “Obama, You’re Fired.”

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the political implications of Hurricane Sandy

• As Superstorm Sandy marched slowly inland, millions along the East Coast awoke Tuesday without power or mass transit, with huge swaths of New York City unusually vacant and dark. President Obama declared a major disaster in the city and Long Island.

• A levee broke in northern New Jersey on Tuesday, flooding the towns of Moonachie, Little Ferry and Carlstadt with 4 to 5 feet of water in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, officials told Reuters.

• President Barack Obama urged Americans to heed local officials’ warnings about Hurricane Sandy on Monday as his re-election said it would determine the president’s campaign schedule on a “day-to-day basis.”

• Gasoline prices jumped as much as 11 cents a gallon on commodities markets as traders feared that power outages and flooding could leave refiners struggling to restore operations after Hurricane Sandy hit the United States.

• Former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden campaigned in Youngstown, Ohio, Monday in place of President Obama, who cancelled his campaign events to handle the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the GOP’s rape comments, Mitt Romney and racism, and the candidates’ foreign policy

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Cliff Chenfeld, co-CEO of Razor & Tie and Kidz Bop and founder of “The Message”, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to preview The Message’s new video, “Mitt Romney Tells NYC to ‘Occupy This’”

• An impending hurricane injected a new degree of uncertainty into the 2012 presidential campaign, impacting candidates’ schedules and early voting opportunities just nine days before Election Day.

• Ohio’s GOP governor said Sunday that private polls show Mitt Romney beating President Obama in the battleground state of Ohio just as auto industry politics assume a dominant role in the closing days of the campaign.

• From Washington to Boston, big cities and small towns were buttoned up Monday against the onslaught of a superstorm that threatened 50 million people in the most heavily populated corridor in the nation, with forecasters warning that the New York area could get the worst of it — an 11-foot wall of water.

• Actress and comedian Julie Brown joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT for two hours of fun and politics

• The legendary James Taylor calls in at 10:20am ET / 7:20am PT to tell us about a rally with the President and thousands of supporters in Nashua, NH at which he will play

• Ms. Valerie Jarrett, a close friend of the President and First Lady, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to discuss the President’s re-election campaign about the choice facing women

• Mitt Romney now has 50 percent support among likely voters vs. 47 percent for Barack Obama – Romney’s highest vote-preference result of the contest to date, according to a new ABC/Washington Post poll. The difference between the two is still within the margin of error.

• Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said he was the candidate of “big change” at the outset of three-event bus tour of battleground Ohio on Thursday.

• President Obama’s frenetic battleground-state blitz came to a close last night with a rally on a small airport tarmac in Cleveland, OH overlooking Lake Erie.

• Hurricane Sandy pounded the Bahamas with battering winds and rain on Friday after killing 21 people across the Caribbean, and is now posing a menacing threat to the U.S. East Coast.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the NYC Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• Actor turned White House Staffer Kal Penn calls in at 9:20am ET / 6:20am PT to talk about why he’s campaigning for Obama

• Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Bain and Romney from the swing state of Ohio

• Comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT for two hours of Coffee With Carlos!

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Political Strategist Dave “Mudcat” Saunders calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to update us on the Cantor/Powell race in Virginia

• President Obama weighed in on controversial comments about rape made by GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock of Indiana, calling it an example of why women should vote for him on Nov. 6 but stopping short of explicitly tying Mitt Romney to the same views.

• The FBI and U.S. Postal Service agents are investigating bogus official-looking letters sent to voters in at least 28 Florida counties questioning their citizenship and their eligibility to vote.

• Actress Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games, 30 Rock) calls in from the campaign trail at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT where she is making sure Obama beats Romney

• Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about a new settlement that insures proper care for seniors and people with chronic conditions

• Mass. State Rep. Hank Naughton (D) a veteran of the Iraq War and a Captain in the United States Army Reserve calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT with his thoughts on the foreign policy debate

• Comedian Rick Overton joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about his upcoming event “Laughing Liberally” a fundraiser for the Rape Crisis Center that is in response to the recent statements by Todd Akin and Paul Ryan

• Taking his campaign into car country, President Obama touted his from-the-start support of the auto industry bailout, contrasting it with what he said was Mitt Romney’s shifting position on the issue.

• Mitt Romney fired up supporters in Henderson, NV yesterday, telling them the presidential debates have “supercharged” his campaign, and saying that Obama doesn’t have an agenda for a second term.

• Donald Trump and Gloria Allred have teased major revelations about each presidential candidate. Announcements are expected shortly.