• Democratic Strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the politics of Ebola

• Syndicated columnist Tina Dupuy calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the politicization of Ebola

• Journalist May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of Whore Fridays

• Members of Congress questioned government and hospital officials about their response to the Ebola crisis Thursday, seeking to identify any mistakes made in containing the virus in the United States. They also pushed for more aggressive measures to prevent it from spreading further.

• The first nurse to be diagnosed with Ebola after treating an infected Liberian man at a Dallas hospital has arrived in Maryland for treatment at a specialized isolation unit. Nina Pham will be treated at a National Institutes of Health center in Bethesda, Maryland.

• President Obama said he is open to appointing what would essentially be an Ebola Czar to deal with the ongoing situation with the deadly disease in the U.S.

• Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden was discharged from the Navy in February after testing positive for cocaine, a person familiar with the case confirmed. The person said Biden had failed a urinalysis test administered in June 2013 before he was discharged from the Navy.

• Democratic strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the politics of the Ebola reactions

• Dean Obeidallah, columnist for “The Daily Beast”, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the problem of businesses named ISIS

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

• A Dallas nurse who treated an Ebola patient contacted federal health officials before boarding a passenger flight Monday due to a slightly elevated temperature, but was allowed to board the flight because she was not exhibiting additional symptoms of Ebola.

• A top official at the Texas hospital where Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan died and two nurses contracted the deadly virus is apologizing to Congress for his facility’s “mistakes” in handling the highly contagious disease.

• A growing chorus of lawmakers is calling on President Obama to impose travel restrictions on passengers coming to the U.S. from West African countries stricken by Ebola. House Speaker John Boehner has become the highest-ranking GOP lawmaker to ask for a travel ban.

• U.S.-led air strikes have killed several hundred Islamic State fighters around the Syrian town of Kobani, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, but it cautioned that the town near Turkey’s border could still fall to the Sunni militant group.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about how the Democrats are once again being cowards

• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the close race to defeat Sen. Mitch McConnell in Kentucky

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

• A second worker at the Texas hospital where a Liberian man died of Ebola has tested positive for the disease, the C.D.C. said early Wednesday morning. Officials have confirmed that the health worker did provide care to Thomas Eric Duncan, who died at Presbyterian on Oct. 8.

• Co-workers of a Dallas nurse who contracted Ebola from a sick patient say they worked for days without proper protective gear – and that the hospital’s Ebola protocols and procedures were unclear and inadequate.

• President Obama wet with military commanders from more than 20 countries on Tuesday to discuss how to fight ISIS. The terror group is gaining more ground in Syria and Iraq, even after weeks of airstrikes by the U.S. and other countries.

• The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked key parts of a 2013 law in Texas that had closed all but eight facilities providing abortions in America’s second most-populous state.

• Syndicated columnist Tina Dupuy calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the non-storm over marriage equality

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

• Bob Cesca of “The Daily Banter” calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the media’s Ebola hysteria

• Federal health officials on Monday urged U.S. hospitals to “think Ebola” and launched a review of procedures for treating infected patients, while the World Health Organization called the outbreak “the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times.”

• Nina Pham, the Texas nurse who contracted Ebola while caring for a dying Liberian man, repeatedly visited his room from the day he was admitted to the intensive care unit until the day before he died, medical records show.

• Baghdad is close to being encircled by ISIS. Much of Anbar province to the west and part of Diyala to the northeast have fallen. The U.S. is hitting ISIS from the air, but it’s up to the Iraqis to win on the ground.

• Pounding rain didn’t deter hundreds of protesters yesterday outside Ferguson police headquarters, where they stayed for almost 4 hours to mark how long 18-year-old Michael Brown’s body was left in a street after he was fatally shot by police.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the quiet competence of President Obama

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Fox News’ silence on marriage equality

• A nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who provided care for the Ebola patient who was hospitalized and later died there has tested positive for the disease, despite taking apparent and prescribed safety precautions like wearing protective gear.

• A federal judge has struck down Alaska’s first-in-the-nation ban on gay marriages, saying the ban violates the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights. The state intends to appeal the ruling but chances of it winning in the 9th Circuit Court are slim considering previous rulings in ID and NV.

• Turkey will let U.S. and coalition forces use its bases, including a key installation within 100 miles of the Syrian border, for operations against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants, American defense officials said Sunday.

• Seventeen people were arrested during weekend protests, St. Louis police said Sunday, and more demonstrations were planned over the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in suburban Ferguson this summer.

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

• Journalist May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Whore Fridays

• Six U.S. military planes arrived in the Ebola hot zone Thursday with more Marines, as West Africa’s leaders pleaded for the world’s help in dealing with “a tragedy unforeseen in modern times.” Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, said he was reminded of the start of the AIDS epidemic.

• U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday that the key military assistance the United States would like to get from Turkey would be access to the Turkish air base at Incirlik and an agreement to help train and equip the moderate Syrian forces.

• A federal judge on Thursday likened Texas’ tough voter ID law to a poll tax meant to suppress minority voters and blocked Texas from enforcing it just weeks ahead of next month’s election, knocking down a measure the U.S. Justice Department condemned in court as deliberately discriminatory.

• Marriage equality came to West Virginia on Thursday, following a decision by the state’s attorney general to stop defending the state’s ban on same-sex couples’ marriages. Casie McGee and Sarah Adkins of Cabell County became the first gay couple married there yesterday.

• Democratic strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the marriage equality earthquake this week

• Ian Millhiser, Editor of ThinkProgress Justice, calls in at 6:30am to talk about the legal justifications for the Supreme Court’s marriage inaction

• Dean Obeidallah, columnist for “The Daily Beast”, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about what he calls Bill Maher’s Muslim problem

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

• President Obama calls it a “belt and suspenders” approach — an extra level of screening at five major U.S. airports to try to catch any travelers from Ebola-ravaged countries who may be carrying the disease. About 150 travelers a day will have their temperatures checked using no-touch thermometers.

• The body of Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to die of Ebola in the U.S., will be cremated, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Centers said yesterday. Duncan’s body will be enclosed in two bags and the bags will then be disinfected, the hospital said in a statement today.

• A judge in northeast Kansas has ordered a county to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples following actions earlier this week by the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Michael Tomasky of “The Daily Beast” calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Bill Maher’s spat with Ben Affleck over Islam

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

• Officials in Baghdad say that militants with ISIS have downed an Iraqi military helicopter near the refinery town of Beiji, killing the two pilots on board. This is the second Iraqi military helicopter shot down over Beiji by ISIS militants in one week.

• Four men were arrested Tuesday in London on suspicion of planning an act of terrorism, one that the city’s police commissioner described as “quite a serious case.” Islamic terrorism was “the clear reason” for the plot, according to a source.

• Bureaucracy and red tape are slowing the budding Ebola aid effort in West Africa, aid groups complain. The U.S. government now says 4,000 troops will be deployed in Liberia alone to help distribute supplies. The response from aid organizations: Hurry up.

• A federal appeals court declared gay marriage legal in Idaho and Nevada on Tuesday, setting the stage for couples to marry in Las Vegas, the self-proclaimed wedding capital of the world.

• Matt Breen, Editor in Chief of “The Advocate”, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about The Supreme Court and marriage equality

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the bad news for Mitch McConnell

• Bob Cesca of “The Daily Banter” calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about Liberals and religion

• President Obama reiterated again Monday that the chances of an Ebola outbreak in the United States are “extremely low,” but that the case of a Liberian man who began exhibiting symptoms of disease after arriving in Dallas shows how vigilant U.S. health workers must be.

• Thomas Eric Duncan, the Ebola patient in isolation at a Texas hospital, has begun treatment with an experimental drug that was just authorized by the federal government for certain patients, the hospital said.

• An Illinois teenager was arrested Saturday at Chicago’s O’Hare airport as authorities say he was attempting to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS. Mohammed Hamzah Khan, age 19, appeared in court to face charges for allegedly attempting to provide material support for a terrorist organization.

• The Supreme Court cleared the way for marriage equality in five states yesterday, and Tony London and Tim Bostic of Norfolk, VA was just one of the couples who received a marriage license in Virginia yesterday.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about why it’s time to build a fence around Texas

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP pumping up Ebola hysteria

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Maximum Mookage Mondays

• The U.S. journalist who tested positive for Ebola while working in Liberia is scheduled to arrive at the Nebraska Medical Center today. Ashoka Mukpo, who was working as a freelance cameraman for NBC, left Liberia in a specially equipped plane Sunday.

• The first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States was downgraded to critical condition and is fighting for his life at a Dallas hospital on Sunday He appeared to be receiving none of the experimental medicines for the virus, a top U.S. health official said.

• Militants from the Islamic State group on Sunday publicly killed six Iraqi soldiers captured in an embattled western province where the extremists continue to advance despite an expanding U.S.-led campaign of airstrikes, residents said.

• Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters remained encamped on the streets as dawn broke on Monday, just hours before a government deadline to clear key thoroughfares they have blockaded for more than a week.

• Comedian and actor John Fugelsang calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT for “Fridays With Fugelsang”

• Journalist May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of “Whore Fridays”

• An American cameraman helping to cover the Ebola outbreak in Liberia for NBC News has tested positive for the virus and will be flown back to the United States for treatment. NBC News identifies him as Ashoka Mukpo, 33. He is the fifth American to contract the virus.

• The Dallas hospital treating a patient with Ebola blamed a flaw in its electronic health records as the reason he was first released despite telling a nurse he had come from West Africa. Thomas Eric Duncan is currently confined to an isolation unit at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.

• Speaking in Chicago yesterday, President Obama suggested that if voters elect Democrats in this November’s midterm elections, it could “set the stage for America’s greatness” in the decades to come. Obama argued that the US is poised for greatness because of the foundation he’s laid.

• With frustration mounting, President Obama sought Thursday to quell doubts he’ll use his presidential powers to act on immigration, telling Hispanics and immigration activists it’s “not a question of if, but when.”

• Democratic Strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the Secret Service failures and their hearings

• Dean Obeidallah, columnist for “The Daily Beast”, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about solutions for the ISIS crisis

• Comedy legend Jo Anne Worley calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about a benefit for Actors and Others for Animals

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

• A team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was in Dallas Wednesday investigating why a hospital sent an Ebola patient home, potentially exposing others to the deadly virus. This is the first Ebola case diagnosed in the U.S.

• Secret Service Director Julia Pierson, who has been skewered by critics over the Sept. 19 White House security breach, has resigned, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Joseph Clancy, formerly special agent in charge of the Presidential Protective Division of the Secret Service, has been named interim acting director.

• Prosecutors are investigating possible grand jury misconduct with a Twitter post claiming that those hearing evidence in the police shooting of an unarmed black 18-year-old near St. Louis haven’t seen enough evidence to justify prosecuting the officer.

• Country music star Chely Wright calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about her latest project

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

• Secret Service Director Julia Pierson said Tuesday that she takes “full responsibility” for several high-profile security failures at the White House in testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

• An armed security contractor convicted three times for charges of assault and battery was allowed on an elevator with President Obama earlier this month, adding another tally mark to a score of headaches that have recently besieged the United States Secret Service.

• For the first time, a patient in an American hospital has been diagnosed with Ebola. The unidentified man, who is being treated at a Dallas hospital, didn’t show symptoms until after four or five days of arriving in the United States from Liberia.

• Tracy Morgan is speaking out after Walmart faulted the comedian for not wearing his seat belt in connection with injuries he sustained in June from a six-car crash on the New Jersey Turnpike. “I can’t believe Walmart is blaming me for an accident that they caused. My friends and I were doing nothing wrong,” the comedian said in a statement.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the religious right’s slow-motion suicide

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

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Maximum Mookage

• The man who scaled the White House fence and was able to run through the front doors made it farther into the building than was previously reported. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson is scheduled to answer questions about the incident this morning on Capitol Hill.

• ISIS is tightening its grip on the Syria-Turkey border. Kobane, in Syria, is a Kurdish city and it is nearly surrounded. Tens of thousands of residents have fled across the border, and the Kurdish defenders left behind seem both outgunned and outmanned.

• A divided Supreme Court has put off the start of early voting in Ohio, which had been set to begin Tuesday. The justices’ order by a 5-4 vote Monday granted a request from GOP state officials to wipe out a week in Ohio when people could both register to vote and cast ballots.

• Walmart says Tracy Morgan wasn’t wearing his seatbelt during a New Jersey wreck with its truck that left the former “30 Rock” star with serious injuries.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about whether sex toys can save Kansas

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about how the DC press portrays women

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Maximum Mookage Mondays

• President Barack Obama admitted Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes” that the United States underestimated the threat posed by Islamic State fighters in Syria, as US-led coalition warplanes pounded the oil sites that fund the jihadist group.

• At least a dozen people were arrested Sunday night in Ferguson, Missouri as a large crowd gathered in front of the city’s police headquarters, St. Louis County Police report. Officers said bottles and rocks were thrown at Ferguson officers.

• A man accused of beheading a woman in Oklahoma will be charged with first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon, authorities said. Alton Nolen, a recent convert to Islam, allegedly attacked a woman Thursday at a Vaughan Foods processing plant, soon after he learned he’d lost his job there.

• Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton say they are “blessed, grateful, and so happy” to become grandparents. Their daughter Chelsea gave birth to a daughter Friday night.

• Actor and comedian John Fugelsang joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for 3 hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Journalist May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang with us for the hour

• Dubbing six years at the helm of the Justice Department “a pretty good run,” President Obama on Thursday announced that Attorney General Eric Holder will be stepping down – a “bittersweet” moment, the president noted, in the career of one of just three remaining members of his original cabinet.

• Iraq’s prime minister said Thursday that captive militants for ISIS told his intelligence agents of an alleged plot to attack subways in the United States and Paris. FBI Director James Comey told reporters Thursday afternoon that he was unaware of any threat directed at U.S. subways.

• An Afghan official said Friday that Taliban insurgents had beheaded 12 civilians and torched some 60 homes in an assault on security forces in the eastern Ghazni province.

• Derek Jeter capped his Yankee Stadium farewell with a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning, the latest – and perhaps last – storybook moment in his charmed and illustrious career, to give New York a 6-5 victory Thursday night over the Baltimore Orioles.

• Comedian and actor John Fugelsang joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours

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

• U.S. warplanes have again bombed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) positions in Syria, the Pentagon confirmed late Wednesday afternoon. The strikes were against a dozen ISIS targets with five of the strikes being carried out by the U.S. and seven by Arab allies.

• The threat from Khorasan, whose targets were hit by U.S. airstrikes on Monday, began building as Syria’s civil war was expanding in 2012. That’s when U.S. and foreign intelligence first tracked a small number of senior al Qaeda terrorists as they moved from Afghanistan and Pakistan into Syria.

• President Obama told the United Nations Wednesday that “America will not base our entire foreign policy on reacting to terrorism,” even as he works to dismantle a “network of death” established by Islamic extremists in the Middle East.

• Police in London arrested nine men today as part of ongoing investigations into “Islamist related terrorism,” the city’s Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement. The men – ranging in age from 22 to 51 – are accused of being members of a banned group and encouraging terrorism.

• Comedian and actor John Fugelsang joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to hang for the rest of the show

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

• President Obama will speak today at the U.N. General Assembly to defend his decision to bomb terror groups inside Syria without approval from the U.N. Security Council, Congress or an invitation from Syria. He is set to address the overall unease in the world given the new dangers posed by groups like ISIS and Khorasan.

• U.S. military forces carried out two more airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria overnight and another in Iraq, the U.S. Central Command said. The airstrikes took out two ISIS armed vehicles near the eastern city of Dayr az Zawr. The military said the vehicles were considered “targets of opportunity.”

• A US-led air attack against jihadists in Syria targeted Al-Qaeda’s Khorasan group because it was on the verge of carrying out “major attacks” against the West, the US military said Tuesday.

• Angry protesters took to the streets of Ferguson, Missouri late Tuesday after a memorial to Michael Brown was destroyed in a fire, renewing tensions in the St. Louis suburb. Many at the site blamed police for the blaze.

• Syndicated columnist Tina Dupuy calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the battle between religion and science

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

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about dismal new changes at “Meet The Press”

• The U.S. military has launched airstrikes against ISIS in Syria. The U.S. military said five Arab nations had roles in the attacks, which focused on ISIS’ heartland around the Syrian province of Raqqa. Reuters quoted a group that tracks the war as saying at least 20 ISIS fighters were killed in the strikes.

• When President Obama addresses the United Nations climate summit on Tuesday, he’ll call on world leaders to follow his lead and develop plans to cut carbon pollution.

• Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti criticized a report that suggests he and other team officials tried to persuade the NFL to be lenient on Ray Rice after the running back was arrested for knocking out his then-fiancee in an Atlantic City elevator.

• President Obama was “obviously concerned,” a White House spokesman said Monday, that a man wielding a knife managed to jump the White House fence on Friday night and actually get inside before being apprehended. Obama says he still has “complete confidence” in the Secret Service.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Kentuckians’ strange love/hate with Obamacare

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the media’s schizophrenia with Hillary Clinton

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Maximum Mookage Mondays

• Islamic State (ISIS) has urged its followers to attack citizens of the United States, France and other allies who have joined a coalition to fight the militant group, the SITE monitoring website said on Monday.

• The man accused of scaling a security fence and getting into the White House with a knife is scheduled to have his initial appearance today in federal court. Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, is facing charges of unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon.

• More than 300,000 people turned out today for the People’s Climate March in New York City, making it the largest recorded demonstration calling for a response to climate change. The marchers just hope someone was paying attention.

• Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, said it would be a “huge mistake” for the NFL to allow its players to continue to play if they are convicted of violent felonies.

• Comedian John Fugelsang calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT for another edition of “Fridays With Fugelsang”

• Jen Palmieri, White House Chief of Communications, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about their new “It’s On Us” program to help prevent campus sexual assault.

• Journalist May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang with us for the hour

• Scottish voters have rejected independence, deciding to remain part of the United Kingdom in a historic referendum that shook the country to its core, bringing a huge sigh of relief to the British political establishment.

• The White House Thursday sternly told the NFL that “it’s important that the league get a handle” on players who commit child abuse and domestic violence ” and that the league must “have a zero tolerance” regarding those issues.

• With a bipartisan vote, the Senate on Thursday approved a request from President Obama to arm and train Syrian rebels in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, also known as ISIL), sending a bill to Mr. Obama for a final signature.

• Australia ordered federal police to take over security at the house of parliament Friday, a day after police conducted one of the nation’s largest counter-terrorism operations in Sydney amid chatter of potential terror threats.

• Democratic strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about Code Pink’s appearance at the ISIS hearings yesterday

• Author Naomi Klein calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about her new book, “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate”

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

• Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer was arrested Wednesday on charges of aggravated assault, criminal damage and preventing someone from calling 911, Phoenix police said. The alleged victims were a 27-year-old woman and an 18-month-old child.

• The House voted Wednesday to give President Obama the authority to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The vote was bipartisan, passing with 273 votes in favor and 156 votes against.

• A day after his top military leader said he would advise sending combat troops into Iraq if it becomes necessary, President Obama doubled down on his pledge not to pursue another ground war in the country during efforts to decimate ISIS.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about our plans to take on ISIS

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

• After a day of public pressure from angry fans and concerned sponsors, the Minnesota Vikings have reversed course and placed star running back Adrian Peterson on the exempt-commissioner’s permission list, which means he will have to stay away from the team while he addresses child abuse charges in Texas.

• Gen. Martin Dempsey, the nation’s top military leader, told Congress Tuesday that he will recommend President Obama consider using ground troops to combat ISIS if the expanded military campaign to the president laid out last week fails.

• President Obama on Tuesday announced a major expansion of U.S. aid in the fight against the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, warning that the virus is spiraling out of control and could become a threat to global security if left unchecked.

• Broadening its push to improve police relations with minorities, the Justice Department has enlisted a team of criminal justice researchers to study racial bias in law enforcement in five American cities and recommend strategies to address the problem nationally, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Rand Paul’s shifting views

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the ugly side of the NFL

• U.S. officials said Monday the United States has taken the first step in its planned expanded fight against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants, conducting airstrikes to aid of Iraqi security forces near Baghdad who were being attacked by enemy fighters.

• The Obama administration will assign 3,000 U.S. military personnel to West Africa “to combat and contain” what senior administration officials call an “extraordinarily serious epidemic” with the Ebola outbreak.

• Minnesota Vikings player Adrian Peterson has issued a statement after being charged with child abuse and says he is “sorry about the hurt I have brought to my child.” Peterson was charged last weekend after he struck his 4-year-old son with a tree branch as a form of discipline earlier this summer.

• Hurricane Odile snapped palm trees like twigs, washed out roads and left tourists trapped in Mexican resorts Monday. Even as it weakened into a Category 1 hurricane, the storm threatened to bring torrential rains and flooding as it moved over Baja California and closer to the American Southwest, forecasters said.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about why he won’t be mocking the big Palin fight in Anchorage

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the loss of proper Beltway analysis in the media

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Maximum Mookage Mondays

• After the beheading of another Western captive by ISIS, an international conference is convening today in Paris to talk about how to tackle the threat posed by the Islamic extremist group. The conference is being hosted by French President Francois Hollande and his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Masum.

• The eyes of the political world turned to Iowa on Sunday as Hillary Clinton took the stage at the 37th-and-final Harkin Steak Fry, a Democratic fundraiser spearheaded by longtime Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. Clinton began her speech with an ebullient, “I’m baaaack!”

• Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) added his voice to the growing debate surrounding NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s fate, saying that Goodell “should go” if he lied about the NFL not having seen the violent video of former Baltimore Ravens star Ray Rice knocking his then fiancé unconscious.

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• Comedian John Fugelsang calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT for another edition of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Journalist May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang with us for the hour

• The United States signed up 10 Arab allies on Thursday to a “coordinated military campaign” against Islamic State fighters, a major step in building regional support for President Barack Obama’s plan to strike both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi frontier.

• The U.S. military flew two air strikes today, knocking out ISIS machine guns near the Mosul Dam as it geared up for more aggressive attacks. Once the new campaign begins, all ISIS forces across Northern and Western Iraq, including their leaders, will become potential targets.

• The NFL needs a “zero-tolerance” policy for players who commit violent acts against women, 16 female U.S. senators told NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a letter Thursday.

• Oscar Pistorius sat down in a South African court Friday and within an hour, he heard the verdict for which he and much of the world have waited more than a year. The judge declared Pistorius guilty on the charge of culpable homicide, the equivalent of manslaughter in the U.S. legal system.

• Democratic strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the president’s ISIS speech last night

• Michael Tomasky, columnist for The Daily Beast, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the president’s speech on ISIS

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

• President Obama on Wednesday announced a comprehensive strategy to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, or ISIL) that will broaden the U.S. military role to include airstrikes in Syria but not put any American combat troops on the ground in the region.

• Rep. Nancy Pelosi praised Obama’s “concrete and forceful strategy” against IS and highlighted his pledges to act “with a broad coalition of partners and without using U.S. combat forces on the ground.” Rep. John Boehner crowed that Obama had “recanted his earlier dismissals” of the threat posed by ISIS.

• Former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III will conduct a probe into how the NFL handled evidence as it investigated domestic violence claims against former Ravens running back Ray Rice. A law enforcement official said that he sent a tape of Rice striking his then-fiancee at a casino to an NFL executive in April.

• Dean Obeidallah, columnist for The Daily Beast, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Dems and the midterm elections

• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the situation with ISIS, Iraq, and Syria

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

• In his first visit to the warzone since the launch of U.S. airstrikes, Secretary of State John Kerry helicoptered into Baghdad today to meet new Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi, whose government is a cornerstone in the Obama administration’s plan to combat ISIS.

• In an address to the nation tonight, President Obama will outline an expanded military and political effort to combat militants in Syria and Iraq, and urge Congress to quickly give him authority to arm moderate Syrian opposition forces fighting President Bashar Assad.

• Baltimore Ravens owner Stephen Bisciotti wrote a letter to the team’s fans and sponsors Tuesday, addressing the team’s handling of the Ray Rice situation and stating that the Ravens could have handled things differently.

• Apple on Tuesday introduced two new iPhones, its long-awaited Apple Watch and a mobile payment system as part of a marketing blitz aimed at drumming up consumer excitement.

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the new face of Meet The Press

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Fox News laughing at the Ray Rice assault

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Maximum Mookage

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about Rand Paul’s newest flip-flop on ISIS

• As President Obama prepares to speak to the nation about his plans to confront Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria, the White House is offering little detail about what new strategy he might share. Mr. Obama said that he will tell the nation about his plans to “hunt down” ISIS in a speech tomorrow.

• The Baltimore Ravens cut star running back Ray Rice from their roster Monday afternoon after video emerged earlier in the day appearing to show him punching and knocking out his then-fiancee and now-wife Janay Palmer.

• President Obama said Sunday that his decision to postpone any executive action on immigration until after November’s midterm elections was not driven by politics. But lawmakers from both parties spied politics in the president’s decision, and they almost unanimously disagreed with it.

Today’s vacation Best-Of show features, by overwhelming listener request, journalist May Lee in Hours 1 and 3, with Hour 2 featuring John Fugelsang in studio along with our final talk with comedy legend Joan Rivers from this past June. Listen from 9am to Noon ET / 6am to 9am PT on SiriusXM Radio Progress 127, on the Progressive Voices channel on the TuneIn smartphone app, on fine Progressive Talk stations around the country like The Mic 92.1in Madison, 880 the Revolution in Asheville NC, KTNF-AM in The Twin Cities, 1480 KPHX (Official) – The Valley’s Progressive Talk – Phoenix, AZ Phoenix, or KPTR 1450 AM in Palm Springs.

Today’s vacation Best-Of Steph show featuring women’s sports pioneer Debbie Millbern Powers, actor Tim Robbins, and Prop 8 attorney Ted Olson is posted! Grab it on iTunes, Stitcher, or at the Stephcast page on this site if you’re a subscriber! If you’re not a subscriber, do so by also going to the Stephcast page (only $4.95 a month if you buy a year in advance *gling*).

We have a great vacation Best-Of today… Hour 1 features Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter, as well as Simpson’s creator Sam Simon, who has the most inspirational story you’ve ever heard. Hour 2 features comedian Michael McDonald in studio with us, and Hour 3 features Prop 8 plaintiffs Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo in studio with us. Enjoy!

Vacation Best-Of today! Hour 1 has former Vikings kicker Chris Kluwe, Hour 2 has Steph’s actor nephew Paul Fitzgerald talking about bisexuality, and Hour 3 has former president Jimmy Carter!

Happy Labor Day, everyone! We’ve got a great Best-Of Show lined up for you. Kathleen Madigan from February will grace us in Hour 1, Georgia school shooting hero Antoinette Tuff is in Hour 2, and our Earthquake Show from March is in Hour 3! Listen from 9am to Noon ET / 6am to 9am PT on SiriusXM Radio Progress 127, on the Progressive Voices channel on the TuneIn App, on fine Progressive Talk stations around the country like The Mic 92.1 in Madison, WCPT AM & FM – Chicago’s Progressive Talk Radio, 880 the Revolution in Asheville NC, KTNF-AM in The Twin Cities, 1480 KPHX (Official) – The Valley’s Progressive Talk – Phoenix, AZ in Phoenix, or KPTR 1450 AM in Palm Springs. You can also watch the show on the Free Speech TV channel on your Roku or at www.stephaniemiller.com.

• Syndicated Columnist Tina Dupuy calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about LGBT civil rights around the world

• Journalist May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang with us for the hour

• President Obama admitted that his administration does not yet have a strategy to combat the militant Islamic group ISIS that has seized large chunks of Iraq and Syria. When the president was asked if he would seek Congressional approval for U.S. attacks on ISIS targets in Syria, he responded, “I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. We don’t have a strategy yet.”

• Ukraine’s president today declared that a “Russian invasion” of his country was underway and the United Nations’ Security Council called an emergency session to discuss the latest crisis involving allegations of Russia’s overt support for Ukrainian rebels.

• Hillary Clinton, speaking in San Francisco yesterday, addressed the situation in Ferguson, applauding President Obama for his response to the protests and calling for a nationwide effort to improve racial inequalities that she said still persist in the American justice system.

• Joan Rivers is “resting comfortably” after she was hospitalized Thursday, her daughter said. “I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming love and support for my mother,” Melissa Rivers said in a statement released by Mount Sinai Hospital. “She is with our family.”

• Democratic Strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the GOP’s expensive lawyers to sue President Obama

• Filmmmaker CC Goldwater calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the political news of the day

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

• A second American from the Minneapolis area has been killed while fighting for the Islamic State of of Iraq and Syria, according to family and friends. The death follows that of Douglas McCain, an American who grew up in Minnesota, who was killed while fighting for ISIS in Syria over the weekend.

• Shirley Sotloff, the mother of an American writer being held hostage by ISIS, pleaded directly with the leader of the Iraqi terror group in a new video, begging him to “please, release my child.”

• President Obama has yet to decide whether to authorize air strikes against ISIS targets in Syria, the White House insists. More and more, though, the signals and nuance from the administration and the military suggest such a campaign could be coming.

• The death toll of the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues to accelerate with 1,552 now dead, according to the World Health Organization.

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

• U.S. officials say an American has died fighting with ISIS terrorists in Syria. The death of Douglas McAuthur McCain was confirmed Tuesday by National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden. McCain, using the Twitter name “Duale Khalid,” had often praised ISIS and defended Jihad.

• A Boston journalist who was held hostage in Syria is back home. Peter Theo Curtis was reunited with his family last night. The 45-year-old, who wrote under the name Theo Padnos, had been held captive in Syria for almost two years before being released this past weekend.

• An open-ended cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip was holding Wednesday, as many people on both sides of the conflict wondered what was gained during 50 days of fighting.

• Burger King announced that it has reached a deal to buy Canadian doughnut chain Tim Hortons and base itself in Canada, a controversial transaction that raises questions about business taxes and corporate patriotism.

• The FBI has questioned a man who says he recorded audio of gunfire at the time Brown was shot by Ferguson, Missouri, police on August 9. In the recording, a quick series of shots can be heard, followed by a pause and then another quick succession of shots.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about failed efforts to bash Hillary Clinton

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about Sarah Palin’s ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

• Syria said today it’s willing to cooperate with the United States to put down the Sunni Muslim terrorist group known as ISIS. But the foreign minister warned against any attacks against ISIS targets in Syria — without Syrian permission. The US Military has said it will be ready for anything.

• Michael Brown’s relatives said goodbye Monday to the 18-year-old who was shot and killed by a police officer, remembering him as a “gentle soul” with a deep and growing faith in Christianity and ambitions that one day “the world would know his name.”

• The earthquake that jarred Napa caused $1 billion in damage, officials estimated Monday as business owners mopped up high-end vintages that spilled from barrels and bottles and swept away broken glass in the rush to get the tourist hotspot back in shape for the summer’s final holiday weekend.

• “Breaking Bad” and “Modern Family” won the Emmys for best drama series and best comedy series at last night’s Emmys 2014 awards hosted by Seth Meyers.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the GOP and race in Ferguson

• Dean Obeidallah, columnist for The Daily Beast, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Rick Perry possibly doing time

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Maximum Mookage Mondays

• The father of Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old shot to death by a white police officer in Ferguson more than two weeks ago, pleaded yesterday for a “day of silence” as he lays his son to rest today.

• The U.S. government says an American journalist held hostage for about two years by an al Qaeda-linked group in Syria has been released. The Obama administration and the hostage’s family identified the man as Peter Theo Curtis of Massachusetts.

• The San Francisco Bay Area’s strongest earthquake in 25 years struck the heart of California’s wine country early Sunday, igniting gas-fed fires, damaging some of the region’s famed wineries and historic buildings, and sending dozens of people to hospitals.

• Sir Richard Attenborough, actor in such movies as “Miracle on 34th Street” and “Jurassic Park” and Oscar-winning director of “Ghandi”, died yesterday at age 90.

• Comedian John Fugelsang calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT for another edition of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Journalist May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang with us for the hour

• Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday defended the failed U.S. attempt to rescue James Foley, but warned that the Islamic extremists who executed the American journalist are “beyond just a terrorist group” and “beyond anything that we’ve seen.”

• Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, American aid workers who were infected with the deadly Ebola virus in Africa, have recovered and have been discharged from an Atlanta hospital, officials announced Thursday. Brantly called it a “miraculous day.”

• An AP reporter has seen the first trucks in a Russian aid convoy crossing into eastern Ukraine after more than a week’s delay amid suspicions the mission was being used as a cover for an invasion by Moscow. The Red Cross says that no personnel from the organization were accompanying the convoy.

• Gay and lesbian rights advocates continued their undefeated run Thursday when a federal judge ruled Florida’s same-sex marriage ban to be unconstitutional — though he didn’t go so far to allow such marriages as to take place right away.

• Democratic Strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the GOP’s reaction to Ferguson

• Filmmaker CC Goldwater calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the events in Ferguson

• Civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the legal issues going on in Ferguson

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

• Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, who has been in charge of security in Ferguson for nearly a week, told reporters early Thursday there were six arrests last night, compared to 47 the previous night, and called it “a very good night.”

• President Barack Obama sent special operations troops to Syria this summer on a secret mission to rescue American hostages, including journalist James Foley, held by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, but they did not find them, the Obama administration said Wednesday.

• The Atlanta hospital where two American aid workers were brought after getting infected with the Ebola virus in Liberia have scheduled a news conference for this morning to discuss the recovery and release of Dr. Kent Brantly.

• Former Vikings kicker Chris Kluwe calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his settlement with the team over their alleged anti-gay behavior

• Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president-elect of the National Education Association, joins us in studio at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT

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

• Police and protesters in Ferguson were finally able to share the streets again at night, putting aside for at least a few hours some of the hostility that had filled that time on previous nights. Tensions did rise briefly. But the overall scene was more subdued than on the past five nights.

• The Islamic extremist group that has overrun parts of Syria and Iraq released a video Tuesday that apparently shows the beheading of American journalist James Foley. The militant group also threatened to kill another U.S. journalist if the U.S. does not halt its airstrikes in Iraq.

• Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, turned himself in Tuesday afternoon to be booked and have his mug shot taken at the Travis County Justice Center. The governor was indicted last Friday on two felony counts of abuse of power, which he called “baseless political charges.”

• Crews rescued residents and motorists after a monsoon surge that brought extensive flooding to Arizona, trapped residents in their homes and closed a major freeway in Phoenix.

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

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Sarah Palin Channel

• Protesters filled the streets of Ferguson, Missouri again after nightfall Monday, and officers trying to enforce tighter restrictions at times used bullhorns to order them to disperse. Police deployed noisemakers and armored vehicles to push demonstrators back. Officers fired tear gas and flash grenades.

• Amid ongoing tension in Ferguson, President Obama announced on Monday that he’s sending Attorney General Eric Holder there on Wednesday to work with community leaders through the issues dredged up by the shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown.

• Iraqi and Kurdish forces recaptured Iraq’s largest dam from Islamic militants Monday following dozens of U.S. airstrikes, President Barack Obama said, in the first major defeat for the extremists since they swept across the country this summer.

• Don Pardo, the durable television and radio announcer whose booming baritone on shows like “Saturday Night Live” and “Jeopardy” became as much a part of the cultural landscape as the shows and products he touted, died Monday in Arizona. He was 96.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the events in Ferguson, Missouri

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Texas governor Rick Perry’s indictment

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for Maximum Mookage Mondays

• Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has called out the National Guard after another night of trouble in Ferguson, Missouri. Police used tear gas to clear protesters off the streets late Sunday, a week after demonstrations over the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer filled the St. Louis suburb with angry, defiant crowds.

• Iraqi state television reported Monday that Iraqi national and Kurdish “peshmerga” forces had retaken the key Mosul dam from Sunni militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), but the fighting didn’t appear to be over.

• Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Sunday defended the veto that led a grand jury to indict him on two felony counts of abuse of power, noting that even some Democrats have questioned the move by prosecutors.

• Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Egypt-mediated Gaza truce talks have hardened their positions today ahead of the expiration of a five-day cease-fire.

• Actor Tony Hale (VEEP, Arrested Development) calls in at 9:50am ET / 6:50am PT to talk about his new children’s book, “Archibald’s Next Big Thing”

• Journalist May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang with us for the hour

• County police in riot gear and armored tanks gave way to state troopers walking side-by-side with thousands of protesters as the St. Louis suburb where an unarmed black teen was shot by a city police officer overwhelmingly avoided violence Thursday after nearly a week of unrest and mounting public tension.

• Robin Williams faced the early stages of Parkinson’s disease and was sober at the time of his death, his wife revealed in a statement on Thursday. News of Williams’ battle with early stages of Parkinson’s disease sheds some light on his last days as fans, family and friends grapple with the loss.

• Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq’s prime minister for the past eight years, relinquished the post to his nominated replacement late Thursday, ending a political deadlock that has plunged the country into uncertainty as it fights a Sunni militant insurgency.

• Ukraine said its customs and border service officials on Friday began inspecting a Russian aid convoy parked just beyond its border, a sign that the two countries were taking steps to ease mounting tensions over the shipment.

• Democratic Strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the loss of two great Progressives in Hollywood this week

• Filmmaker CC Goldwater calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the Dems’ changing chances for the 2014 elections

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

• Police used tear gas and smoke bombs to repel crowds they say threw Molotov cocktails during another violent night on the streets of a St. Louis suburb in the wake of the weekend shooting of the unarmed 18-year old Michael Brown.

• Israel and Hamas agreed to extend a temporary cease-fire for five days, Egyptian and Palestinian officials said Wednesday, potentially averting renewed violence and permitting the sides to continue to negotiate a substantive deal to end the war in Gaza.

• An American team flew to Iraq’s Mount Sinjar on Wednesday to consider possible ways to rescue stranded refugees, but the Pentagon said later it was “far less likely” that the U.S. would try to evacuate the refugees.

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about whining among the GOP about Obama’s vacation

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about why Liberals should back the Iraq intervention

• Comedian and actor Rick Overton joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang with us for the hour

• Robin Williams committed suicide by hanging himself with a belt Monday at his California home, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday during a press conference. The actor also had superficial cuts on his wrist and a pocketknife was found nearby.

• Police in St. Louis County, Missouri say an officer shot and critically wounded a suspect early Wednesday near Ferguson, the suburb of the city of St. Louis where a fatal weekend police shooting sparked two nights of violent protests.

• The Obama administration is sending 130 U.S. military personnel into northern Iraq to assess the scope of the humanitarian mission and develop additional humanitarian assistance options there

• Lauren Bacall, the model-turned-actress who starred with husband Humphrey Bogart in classic movies such as “Key Largo” and “To Have and Have Not,” has died at age 89.

• Comedian Kathleen Madigan joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am PT / 6am PT to hang with us all three hours

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the debts the Bush Family left America

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about Dems’ ability to stay “fact-based”

• The actor and comedian Robin Williams was found dead Monday at his home in Tiburon, Calif. Police say it appears to have been a suicide. Williams was 63 years old. Officials say the cause of death is suspected to be asphyxiation, but a forensic exam and toxicology tests will be conducted.

• President Obama said Monday that the incoming Iraqi leadership “has a difficult task” ahead as it works to form a new government and battle the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), but pledged his support as long as the new government works to govern inclusively.

• The Red Cross will lead an international humanitarian aid operation into Ukraine’s conflict-stricken province of Luhansk with assistance from Russia, the European Union and the United States, Ukraine said Monday.

• The United Nations on Monday named experts to an international commission of inquiry into possible human rights violations and war crimes committed by both sides during Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Israel has dismissed the inquiry as a “kangaroo court”.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about President Obama’s acknowledgement of torture

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

• Israel said a new cease-fire with the militant Hamas group was holding in the Gaza Strip Monday morning, a day after the two sides agreed to resume talks in Cairo for a long-term truce to end a month of heavy fighting in Gaza that has killed More than 1,900 Palestinians and 67 Israelis.

• Iraq’s embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in a surprise speech late Sunday, resisted calls for his resignation and accused the country’s new president of violating the constitution, plunging the government into a political crisis.

• President Obama said Saturday that airstrikes against Islamic militants in Iraq “successfully destroyed arms and equipment” used by fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). He also suggested the U.S. military campaign could persist for several months.

• People smashed car windows and carried away armloads of looted goods from stores Sunday night after thousands of people packed a suburban St. Louis area at a vigil for an unarmed black man who was shot and killed by a police officer.

• An investigation into what happened at a NASCAR race in upstate New York is under way after a 20-year-old driver named Kevin Ward Jr. was killed when he got out of his vehicle. He was run over by three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart.

• Comedian John Fugelsang calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT for an hour of “Fridays With Fugelsang”

• Journalist May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang with us for the hour

• President Obama authorized airstrikes “if necessary” against Islamic militants if they move toward Erbil in northern Iraq where American military, diplomats and civilians are stationed.

• Gaza militants renewed rocket fire on Israel after a three-day truce expired Friday and negotiations in Cairo on a new border deal for the coastal strip hit a deadlock. Israel, in turn, fired rockets at missile sites across the Gaza Strip.

• The World Health Organization on Friday declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa to be an international public health emergency that requires an extraordinary response to stop its spread. WHO declared similar emergencies for the swine flu pandemic in 2009 and for polio in May.

• U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday opened a second day of talks in Afghanistan aimed at preventing the fragile country from collapsing into political chaos after disputed elections.

• The National Weather Service has downgraded Iselle, barreling toward the Big Island of Hawaii to a tropical storm from a hurricane. Residents are still urged to take precautions.

• Democratic strategist Karl Frisch calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the GOP’s continuing calls for impeachment of President Obama

• Filmmaker CC Goldwater calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the politics of the 2012 mid-term elections

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

• An Israeli Cabinet minister warned Thursday that Israel will respond if Hamas resumes fire after a temporary truce expires in the Gaza Strip. The statement, along with Hamas’ earlier threats, signals that both sides are digging in their positions as negotiations continue in Cairo on a lasting truce.

• Russia on Thursday banned most food imports from the West in retaliation for sanctions over Ukraine — a sweeping move that will cost Western farmers billions of dollars but could also lead to empty shelves in Russian cities.

• The worst outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in history could actually be much worse than the official death toll reflects. Already, the World Health Organization says 887 people have died, but a top doctor working at the heart of the outbreak in West Africa says many cases are going unreported.

· Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the GOP taking money in dubious ways

· Voice actor and comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for “Coffee With Carlos”

· A cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that ended a month of war was holding for a second day Wednesday, ahead of negotiations in Cairo on a long-term truce and a broader deal for the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

· A U.S. general was killed and more than a dozen people including a German general were wounded in Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday, in the latest insider attack by a man believed to be an Afghan soldier, U.S., German and Afghan officials said.

· The 6th US Circuit Court Of Appeals in Cincinnati today is set to hear arguments in six gay marriage fights from four states — Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee — in the biggest such session on the issue so far.

· Sen. Pat Roberts fended off an aggressive challenger Tuesday in the Kansas Republican primary, dealing another blow to a national tea party movement that has targeted longtime Washington incumbents.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about George Will’s stupidity

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at11am ET / 8am PT for Maximum Mookage

• The second American missionary to contract Ebola in West Africa left Liberia early Tuesday en route to the United States, authorities said. Nancy Writebol, 59, from Charlotte, N.C., will be treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

• A man who visited West Africa last month and is at a New York City hospital being tested for possible Ebola likely doesn’t have it, doctors said Monday.

• A cease-fire between Israel and Hamas meant to last at least three days and end nearly a month of fighting went into effect in the Gaza Strip Tuesday. The truce came ahead of talks in Cairo aimed at brokering a deal that would prevent future cross-border violence.

• The government said Monday it will soon close three emergency shelters it established at U.S. military bases to temporarily house children caught crossing the Mexican border alone. It said fewer children were being caught and other shelters will be adequate.

• James Brady, the spokesman for former President Ronald Reagan who was shot during a 1981 assassination attempt on Reagan, has died at the age of 73, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence confirmed.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the awesomeness of Dems fundraising off impeachment threats

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about how impeachment has tied the Far Right into knots

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau for the 11am ET / 8am PT hour

• Israel has been drawing down its ground operation in the Gaza Strip since the weekend but has kept up its aerial, offshore and artillery bombardments. The Gaza war, now in its fourth week, has left more than 1,800 Palestinians and more than 60 Israelis dead.

• A forthcoming Senate report on the controversial interrogation techniques employed by the CIA in the wake ofSeptember 11 is expected to clearly label those techniques torture and conclude that they did not yield much in the way of actionable intelligence.

• A second American suffering from Ebola is expected to arrive in Atlanta on Tuesday from Liberia, where she contracted the deadly virus. The first evacuee, Dr. Kent Brantly, is making progress since he arrived in Atlanta from Liberia on Saturday.

• New tests Sunday showed some toxins still contaminating Lake Erie, leaving Toledo, OH water supplies off limits and some 400,000 residents in parts of Ohio and Michigan headed into a third day of scrambling to stock up on drinking, cooking and bathing water.

• Anthony Wright, Executive Director for Health Access California, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT with good news for ObamaCare

• Journalist May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang out and talk about the news

• A Palestinian official says Israeli shelling has killed at least 27 Palestinians in southern Gaza as an Israel-Hamas truce unraveled less hours after coming into effect. The Israeli military says Gaza militants have fired eight rockets at Israel since the cease-fire began, one of which was intercepted.

• A bill to reform the beleaguered Veterans Affairs health care system cleared the Senate by a wide bipartisan vote on Thursday evening. The law now heads to President Obama’s desk just before lawmakers depart for their August recess.

• After a last-minute search for ways to address the flood of unaccompanied immigrant children coming across the southern border, the House Republican leadership was forced to cancel a vote on an emergency funding bill that would allocate $659 million to bolster the cash-strapped agencies dealing with the crisis.

• Two American medical missionaries working with Ebola patients in Liberia have been diagnosed with the virus. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who worked at a medical center operated by a charity, were listed in stable but grave condition, according to a statement from the organization.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the Far Right’s version of Facebook… ReaganBook!

• Filmmaker CC Goldwater calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP’s threats of impeachment of President Obama

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

• The House has approved a compromise bill to refurbish the Veterans Affairs Department and improve veterans’ health care. The 420-5 vote Wednesday sends the bill to the Senate, where approval is expected by the end of the week.

• HealthCare.gov, the federal health-exchange website plagued with glitches at its launch, has already cost $840 million to build, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review of two task orders and one contract related to building the system.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he will not accept any truce that won’t allow Israel to complete its mission of destroying the sophisticated tunnel network, which has been used to carry out deadly attacks inside Israel.

• The historic outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa continues to spread. Two nations have declared public health emergencies, and Liberia is pleading for help trying to bring the virus under control.

• Tim Bostic & Tony London, plaintiffs in the Virginia marriage equality case, call in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the case

• Dean Obeidallah of The Daily Beast calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the new Sarah Palin Channel

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

• President Obama announced Tuesday that the U.S. is once again moving to impose fresh sanctions on Russia as a consequence for its continued support of separatists in eastern Ukraine. The new sanctions target the defense, energy and financial sectors of the Russian economy.

• House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, slammed Democrats on Tuesday for saying House Republicans want to impeach President Obama, calling it “a scam started by Democrats at the White House.”

• Israeli tank shells slammed into a crowded U.N. school sheltering Gaza war refugees Wednesday, killing 15 Palestinians and wounding 90 after tearing through two classroom walls, a health official and a spokesman for a U.N. aid agency said.

• A broken water main near the UCLA campus sent a geyser of water some 30 feet into the air Tuesday, trapping people in underground parking garages and covering the school’s basketball arena with water.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about how the unserious people will kill us all

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about our exploding world

• Israeli tank shells hit a fuel tank of the Gaza Strip’s only power plant on Tuesday, forcing the plant to shut down, a spokesman for Gaza’s electricity distribution company said. A huge cloud of black smoke rose over the coastal city.

• With a fresh compromise in hand to address long wait times and other deficiencies at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) , the chairmen of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs committees are now working quickly to send the bill to President Obama before Congress leaves town Friday for its five-week summer break.

• White House officials are making plans to act before the midterm elections to grant work permits to millions of immigrants in this country illegally. The move could scramble election-year politics and lead some conservative GOP-ers to push for impeachment proceedings against President Obama.

• A judge ruled against Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling on Monday in his attempt to block the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Sterling’s lawyer says he hopes a higher court will allow him to appeal the decision.

• Syndicated columnist Tina Dupuy calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the Central American kids at the border

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP’s dreams of taking over the Senate

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in studio at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang with us for the hour

• The Israeli military says it has carried out three airstrikes on Gaza, targeting Hamas rocket launchers and infrastructure in the strip. The strikes broke a relative lull in the fighting at the start of a major Muslim holiday.

• The House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs committee chairmen have reached a deal on legislation that will address problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL) are expected to outline the deal at a news conference today.

• A new CBS News/New York Times poll finds the GOP positioned to take the Senate this year, with a likely 51-49 seat edge if the November election were held right now. The 2 percent margin of error means Dems still have a real possibility to keep the chamber.

• Lightning struck 14 people, killing one, as rare summer thunderstorms swept through Southern California on Sunday, authorities said.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Journalist May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang for the hour

• Israeli aircraft struck 30 houses in the Gaza Strip early Friday, killing a leader of the militant group Islamic Jihad and two of his sons, while ground troops and Hamas gunmen fought intense battles in the north and center of the territory, Palestinian officials said.

• The wreckage of an Air Algerie plane with 116 people on board that disappeared from radar during a rainstorm has been found in Mali, a top official from Burkino Faso and Malian state television said Thursday.

• The Obama administration is weighing giving refugee status to young people from Honduras as part of a plan to slow the influx of unaccompanied minors arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, White House officials said Thursday.

• Arizona officials assured a judge during the nearly two-hour execution of inmate Joseph Rudolph Wood that he was comatose and not feeling pain at any point, according to a transcript of an emergency court hearing.

• Sen. Ted Cruz vowed Thursday to continue blocking confirmation of a series of ambassadorial and other diplomatic nominees despite the Federal Aviation Administration lifting a ban on U.S. airline flights to Israel.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about President Obama’s executive order to protect LGBT workers

• CC Goldwater, director of “Mr. Conservative: Goldwater On Goldwater”, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about continuing fights between the GOP and Dems

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

• A Dutch military aircraft carrying remains of victims from the Malaysian plane disaster departed for the Netherlands Thursday and a second prepared to go, while Australia’s government dispatched 50 police officers to London to prepare to join a proposed U.N. team to secure the scattered wreckage.

• Israeli tanks and warplanes were pummeling the Gaza Strip Thursday as U.S. and other diplomats pushed for a cease-fire with Hamas militants. Gaza police say an infant boy was among those killed when Israeli fighter jets struck the Jabaliya refugee camp.

• A condemned Arizona inmate gasped and snorted for more than an hour and a half during his execution Wednesday before he died in an episode sure to add to the scrutiny surrounding the death penalty in the U.S. Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) has called for a review of the state’s execution process.

Ted Olson, attorney for the plaintiffs in the Prop. 8 case, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his new book, “Redeeming The Dream: The Case For Marriage Equality”

Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about yesterday’s court decisions on ObamaCare

Actor and comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8amPT for Coffee With Carlos

Ukraine held a departure ceremony Wednesday for the bodies of many Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 passengers and crew who became victims of fighting raging far below them on the plains of eastern Ukraine.

Secretary of State John Kerry defied an FAA ban and flew into Israel’s main airport Wednesday in a sign of sheer will to achieve a cease-fire agreement in Gaza Strip despite little evidence of progress in ongoing negotiations aimed at halting fighting that’s left at least 31 Israelis and 650 Palestinians dead.

A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit court of appeals ruled Tuesday against a key component of ObamaCare — the federal subsidies for millions of people who signed up for health coverage. A few hours later, all three judges on a 4th Circuit panel in Virginia decided the opposite by declaring the subsidies legal and proper.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the creepy GOP market for dead Reagan memorabilia

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about Bill O’Reilly’s awful ideas for securing the border

• The train carrying the remains of most of the victims of downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 reached the Ukrainian government-controlled city of Kharkiv on Tuesday, a final stop before they were to be flown back to the Netherlands where their ill-fated journey began.

• President Obama on Monday bluntly accused pro-Moscow separatist fighters in Ukraine of stealing evidence and improperly removing bodies from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and pressed Russia to compel the rebels to stop blocking an international investigation.

• Israel bombed five mosques, a sports stadium and the home of the late Hamas military chief in strikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, a Gaza police official said, as the U.N. chief and the Secretary of State John Kerry launched a high-level effort to end two weeks of deadly fighting.

• Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, announced Monday that he is activating up to 1,000 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border as he accuses the federal government of offering “lip service” on border security.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about what’s happening in Gaza, and on our southern border

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Fox News’ debasing rhetoric about immigrant kids

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT

• Actor / director Tim Robbins calls in at 11:20am ET / 8:20am PT to talk about his latest project at The Actors Gang

• Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that there is an “enormous amount of evidence” that Russia provided separatists in Eastern Ukraine with the weapons used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 last week, resulting in the deaths of nearly 300 people.

• International investigators were still waiting Monday for full access to the 42-square-mile area where the shattered pieces of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 and its passengers and crew fell to the ground in eastern Ukraine. Russian separatists were guarding the area, the same separatists who are also the prime suspects in downing the plane.

• The death toll among Palestinians from the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip reached 512 on Monday, Gaza health officials said, as the two sides counted their dead following the bloodiest day of fighting so far in the two-week campaign. The officials said some 3,150 Palestinians had been wounded. 20 Israelis have also died.

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

• Journalist May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to debut her new jingle

• Emergency workers, police officers and even off-duty coal miners — dressed in overalls and covered in soot — searched Friday through wreckage and bodies scattered over a vast stretch of farmland after a Malaysian Airlines jet flying over eastern Ukraine was shot from the sky, killing 298 people.

• Separatist rebels who control the area in Ukraine where the Malaysian Airlines plane went down said Friday they had recovered “most” of the plane’s black boxes and were considering what to do with them.

• Both the Ukrainian government and the pro-Russia separatists who have been fighting in the region denied any responsibility for downing the Malaysian Airlines plane.

• Malaysian Airlines initially said there were 295 people on board the Boeing 777, 280 passengers and 15 crew members. Early Friday, the airline increased the death toll to 298, saying there were three infants on board. Several prominent AIDS researchers were also on board. They were traveling to Melbourne for the 20th International AIDS Conference.

• Israel on Friday announced its first casualty since the start of its ground operation in Gaza — a soldier killed following a night of heavy fighting in the Hamas-ruled enclave.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the ever-expanding Hobby Lobby ruling

• CC Goldwater, Barry Goldwater’s granddaughter, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the news of the day

• Comedian and actor Rick Overton joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT

• With House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., shooting down a bipartisan bill to address the crisis of unaccompanied children crossing the southern border Wednesday, it looks increasingly likely Congress might wind up at an impasse just before their five-week summer recess.

• President Obama announced Wednesday that the U.S. is levying deeper sanctions on Russia as the West grapples for a way to quell an insurgency in eastern Ukraine widely believed to be backed by Moscow.

• Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a bill aimed at restoring free contraception for women who get their health insurance from companies with religious objections, a legislative setback for Democrats that they hope will be a political winner in November’s elections.

• Israel thwarted an attack by more than a dozen militants who sneaked in from Gaza through a tunnel on Thursday, the military said, just hours before Israel and Hamas were to observe a five-hour humanitarian pause in fighting.

• Daily Beast columnist Dean Obeidallah calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to explain why Sarah Palin would be perfect for “The View”

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

• Israel on Wednesday intensified air attacks on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip following a failed Egyptian cease-fire effort, targeting the homes of four senior leaders of the Islamic militant movement and ordering tens of thousands of residents to evacuate border areas.

• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday a bipartisan proposal to address the flood of Central American children coming across the southern border of the United States was “too broad” and he wouldn’t support it.

• Despite little bipartisan appetite for spending on Capitol Hill these days, President Obama implored Congress to “just do something” to improve the nation’s infrastructure. The Highway Trust Fund runs out of money at the end of the summer if Congress doesn’t act.

• Hillary Clinton gave Jon Stewart no hints about whether she will run for president, but acknowledged during Tuesday’s taping of “The Daily Show” that the speculation surrounding her possible candidacy has become “a cottage industry.”

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the GOP’s lack of urgency with climate change

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the war between Bill Kristol and Sarah Palin

• Hamas rejected an Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel that was to take effect Tuesday, saying Cairo did not consult the group over the deal. Israel accepted the truce plan, but warned it would strike Gaza hard if Hamas didn’t abide by it.

• Two Texas lawmakers — a Republican and a Democrat who have both been critical of President Obama’s response to the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border — have teamed up to write a bill to respond to the influx of unaccompanied minors arriving at the border.

• Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will work a “desk job” now that he has completed his reintegration process and returned to regular duties as an Army soldier, the Army said today. The former Taliban prisoner will be assigned to the headquarters of U.S. Army North at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.

• Germany’s World Cup-winning team returned home to share the country’s fourth title with huge crowds of cheering fans on Tuesday. The team’s plane touched down at Berlin’s Tegel Airport midmorning after flying low over the “fan mile” in front of the landmark Brandenburg Gate.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Hobby Lobby, science, and you

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about more troubles for Chris Christie

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angles Bureau to hang out for the 11am ET / 8am PT hour

• As Congress reconvenes this week focused on dealing with President Obama’s $3.7 billion request to handle the influx of unaccompanied children streaming across the U.S.-Mexico border, Republican lawmakers are already signaling they won’t just write a “blank check”.

• Rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel Monday, officials said, marking the second time in recent days that missiles have been fired from the neighboring country. The Israel Defense Forces said it “immediately responded with artillery fire towards the source of fire.” There were no reports of injuries.

• President Barack Obama will be making a major push this week to urge Congress to continue funding the Highway Trust Fund and avoid a transportation crisis.

• A quarter of a million German soccer fans reacted with unbridled joy, mixed with shock Sunday when Mario Goetze struck late in extra-time for Germany to win the World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Argentina.

• Lanny Davis, columnist for Purple Nation, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the attacks on Hillary Clinton

• Journalist May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang out for the hour

• The Homeland Security agency responsible for removing immigrants who are in the country illegally will run out of money by the middle of next month unless Congress approves President Obama’s emergency request for $3.7 billion to help deal with a flood of child immigrants crossing the border illegally without their parents.

• House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on Thursday said that by the end of this month the House should pass legislation to address the influx of unaccompanied minors illegally crossing into the United States. However, he said, “We’re not giving the president a blank check.”

• House Speaker John Boehner announced Thursday the GOP-led lawsuit against President Obama will focus on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and the White House decision to delay the employer mandate.

• The estranged wife of alleged Houston killer Ron Lee Haskell had taken out a protective order against him, well before police say he sought her out and, after failing to find her, killed four children and two adults.

• Gaza rocket fire struck a gas station and set it ablaze Friday in southern Israel, seriously wounding one person as rocket fire also came from Lebanon for the first time in the four-day offensive.

• Dean Obeidallah calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about how President Obama could counter Boehner’s lawsuit

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT for the hour

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

• President Obama says Congress has the ability to act immediately to address the wave of unaccompanied minors coming over the border from Mexico into the U.S. Obama spoke in Dallas after meeting with Gov. Rick Perry about unaccompanied minors entering the country by the thousands.

• A father opened fire at a suburban Houston home Wednesday, killing four of his children as well as two adults who were with them, and critically wounding his 15-year-old daughter, authorities said.

• Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Mark Udall fought back today against the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling with plans for legislation intended to restore the contraceptive coverage requirement under the Affordable Care Act.

• A raging Donald Sterling denounced his wife, called her a “pig,” and denounced her lawyers and the NBA from the witness stand Wednesday, saying he would never sell the Los Angeles Clippers and vowing a lifetime of lawsuits against the league.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the jobs that President Obama has created

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for some fun and frolic

• The Obama administration on Tuesday announced it is asking Congress for $3.7 billion to handle the influx of undocumented children crossing into the U.S. from Mexico. It would help ramp up proper care of undocumented migrants, speed up their court cases, and improve foreign cooperation to address the root causes of the migration.

• Sarah Palin called for President Barack Obama’s impeachment Tuesday over his handling of a growing immigration crisis, becoming the most prominent right-wing US politician to make the provocative demand.

• As rockets and missiles fly back and forth between Gaza and Israel, the Israeli military — saying it doesn’t expect the crisis to resolve itself soon — is preparing for a ground incursion.

• Sen. Robert Menendez, who has been dogged by a federal corruption probe, suggests he was the target of a Cuban intelligence smear plot over allegations — which the FBI has discounted — that he had sex with underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic.

• Germany obliterated Brazil 7 to 1 in yesterday’s semifinal World Cup match, eliminating the host team from the tournament.

• Syndicated columnist Tina Dupuy calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about her new column on the Hobby Lobby case

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Sarah Palin begging for a job on “The View”

• Bob Cesca of “The Daily Banter” calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about more damage that Edward Snowden has done

• The White House said Monday that most unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border are unlikely to qualify for humanitarian relief that would prevent them from being sent back to their home countries.

• President Obama brought forward a new administration effort Monday to place quality teachers in schools that need them the most. Obama said that students who would benefit the most from having skilled or experienced teachers in their classrooms are least likely to get them.

• The spree of shootings in Chicago during the long holiday weekend reached 82 incidents and included 14 deaths, according to police reports. “It all comes down to these guns: there’s too many guns coming in and too little punishment going out,” Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the meaning of the Hobby Lobby case

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP’s utter lack of ideas

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

• The political battle escalated Sunday over the recent flood of undocumented children at the U.S.-Mexico border, with the GOP blaming President Obama’s “failure” to secure the border, and members of both parties faulting the GOP-led blockade of an immigration reform bill that would strengthen border security.

• Sixty-three women and girls kidnapped by Boko Haram last month in Nigeria escaped from their captors and have returned to their burnt village, a security source and a local vigilante fighting the militant group said.

• Video of Oscar Pistorius re-enacting how he says he killed his girlfriend was illegally obtained by the Australian television network that aired it Sunday, a lawyer for the former Olympian said. The network says that isn’t so.

• Israel launched a series of air strikes on Gaza early on Monday to quell Hamas rocket fire, and the Islamist group’s armed wing said seven of its gunmen were killed, making it the deadliest day for Hamas since a 2012 cross-border war with the Jewish state.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Comedian Whitney Cummings calls in at 9:50am ET / 6:50am PT to talk about her new Comedy Central stand-up special tomorrow night

• The legendary Joan Rivers calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about her new book, “Diary of a Mad Diva”

• Journalist May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang out for an hour

• President Obama is asking Congress for $500 million to train and arm vetted members of the Syrian opposition, as the U.S. grapples for a way to stem a civil war that has also fueled the al Qaeda inspired insurgency in neighboring Iraq.

• The Supreme Court on Wednesday limited the president’s power to fill high-level vacancies with temporary appointments, ruling in favor of Senate Republicans in their partisan clash with President Obama.

• Boston will deploy extra police around the city’s abortion clinics starting on today to prevent potential unrest after the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday knocked down the state’s “buffer law” keeping protesters back 35 feet.

• President Obama says tens of thousands of Central American children flooding into the U.S. along the southern border have created a “humanitarian crisis,” and he appealed to parents to stop sending kids north.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the marriage equality rulings in Indiana and Utah

• Daily Beast columnist Dean Obeidallah calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about racism and homophobia in the GOP

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

• House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, announced Wednesday that he’s pushing the House of Representatives to sue President Obama “in an effort to compel the president to follow his oath of office and faithfully execute the laws of our country.”

• Mississippi Senate candidate Chris McDaniel, who lost a runoff election to Sen. Thad Cochran in the Republican primary Tuesday night, said his team will be examining “irregularities” in the voting data to determine whether to challenge the results.

• Syrian warplanes bombed Sunni militants’ positions inside Iraq, deepening the concerns that the extremist insurgency that spans the two neighboring countries could morph into an even wider regional conflict. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned against the threat and said other nations should stay out.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours today

• Political strategist David Bender joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the Tea Party’s effect on this year’s elections

• Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that President Obama is fully prepared to use American military might to help the Iraqi government push back Sunni Islamic militants sweeping across the country’s west, but not “in a vacuum” of Iraqi political power.

• In Mississippi, six-term U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran held off tea party-backed challenger Chris McDaniel, in an ugly race marred by name-calling, mudslinging, allegations of cheating and a break-in at the nursing home where Cochran’s bedridden wife lives.

• In New York, U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel claimed victory in what he says is his last race, looking like he’ll survive a second straight narrow victory against the same opponent he faced two years ago. But Rangel’s challenger, state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, wasn’t conceding early Wednesday.

• President Obama and his administration “haven’t done a damn thing to help” the investigations into the inappropriate way the IRS targeted certain political groups, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, complained on Tuesday.

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

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about someone on Fox News who’s even crazier than O’Reilly and Hannity

• Secretary of State John Kerry returned to Iraq on Tuesday for the second day in a row, again trying to convince one of its political leaders that overhaul of the Shiite-led government is the best way to deflate a raging Sunni insurgency that is pushing the country toward civil war.

• IRS Commissioner John Koskinen brushed aside GOP accusations Monday that the agency has obstructed investigations into the targeting of tea party and other political groups, even as Republican lawmakers questioned his credibility.

• President Obama said Monday that the United States should join the rest of the industrialized world and offer paid leave for mothers of newborns. The president is touting paid maternity in the midst of a midterm election campaign focused on women voters.

• Ukraine’s pro-Russian insurgents have agreed to a temporary ceasefire and talks with the new Western-backed president, as President Obama warned Russia it risks fresh sanctions over its support for the separatists.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Dick Cheney’s continuing Iraq press tour

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the media’s treatment of Hillary Clinton

• Comedian and actor Rick Overton joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang with us for the hour

• Confronting the threat of civil war in Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Baghdad on Monday to personally urge the Shiite-led government to give more power to political opponents before a Sunni insurgency seizes more control across the country and sweeps away hopes for lasting peace.

• President Obama, as part of efforts to make the U.S. workplace more accommodating for employees with families, will today direct federal agencies to step up efforts give workers more leeway in determining their schedules.

• Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) offered some bipartisan backup to President Obama of Iraq Sunday, saying many critics who blame the president for the ferocious Islamist insurgency there, like former Vice President Dick Cheney, should take a look in the mirror.

• The U.S. and Portugal World Cup game last night ended in a 2-2 tie, delivering the U.S. hope for a spot in the second round.

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

• Anti-war Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the President sending military help to Iraq

• Steph’s former Oxygen co-host May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang and talk about the news

• President Obama said Thursday that the United States will not send troops back into combat in Iraq, but said he and his national security team are preparing to take further action, including targeted and precise military action if necessary.

• The Labor Department on Friday will move to clarify that, under the Family and Medical Leave Act, a federal employee is eligible for leave to care for a same-sex spouse regardless of where he or she lives, according to a White House official.

• House Republicans on Thursday elected Kevin McCarthy as majority leader, succeeding Eric Cantor, who is relinquishing the job after losing his primary election in an upset. McCarthy mainly will focus on using his political skills to help shape the GOP message and strategy.

• Leading Republicans on Thursday insisted that America’s leaders must do more to defend Christian values at home and abroad, blaming President Obama for attacks on religious freedom.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about Obama’s executive action to ban LGBT discrimination

• Kris Perry & Sandy Stier, plaintiffs in the Prop. 8 case, call in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the HBO documentary “The Case Against 8”

• Becky Bond, VP and Political Director at CREDO, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Dick Cheney’s op-ed on Iraq

• Health care reform expert Jacki Schechner joins us at 11am ET / 8am PT for another edition of Jacki’s Healthcare Corner

• Iraqi government forces battled Sunni rebels for control of the country’s biggest refinery on Thursday as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki waited for a U.S. response to an appeal for air strikes to beat back the threat to Baghdad.

• Former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz penned an acerbic op-ed on Tuesday accusing President Obama of “abandoning” Iraq and putting Americans at greater risk of terrorist attacks from al Qaeda.

• Emotions ran high Wednesday at a hearing on Capitol Hill to examine the circumstances surrounding Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s capture by the Taliban in 2009 and the deal that led to his release in late May. Bergdahl’s former roommate said that there was no doubt that he deserted.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the bottomless sinkhole that is Iraq

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

• The U.S. government has captured who it’s calling “a key figure” in the attacks two years ago on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, which killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. He’s expected to be questioned by a special team of US investigators within hours.

• President Barack Obama on Tuesday asked congressional leaders to meet with him Wednesday as he considers his options in Iraq. Administration officials tell us the president will make the case for sending a limited number of special forces troops to Iraq.

• Republicans on Tuesday charged that the IRS has lost emails of a half dozen of its employees involved in the tea party targeting controversy, including a top aide to the now-fired acting IRS commissioner.

• Rep. Lou Barletta says the House “probably” has the votes to impeach President Barack Obama. “He’s just absolutely ignoring the Constitution, and ignoring the laws and ignoring the checks and balances,” the Pennsylvania Republican said of Obama on the Gary Sutton radio show on Monday.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the Sunday shows using the failed architects of the Iraq War as “experts”

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT

• Nearly 300 armed American forces are being positioned in and around Iraq to help secure U.S. assets as President Barack Obama nears a decision on an array of options for combating fast-moving Islamic insurgents, including airstrikes or a contingent of special forces.

• A divided Supreme Court sided with gun control groups and the Obama administration Monday, ruling that the federal ban on “straw” purchases of guns can be enforced even if the ultimate buyer is legally allowed to own a gun.

• After years of pressure from gay rights groups, President Barack Obama plans to sign an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against employees on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, the White House said Monday.

• General Motors says recall about 3.4 million cars because it needs to change or replace the keys which could cause the ignition switch to move out of position if they’re carrying too much weight.

• After 90 brutal minutes of end-to-end action, the Americans emerged with a thrilling 2-1 win over Ghana in the first round of the World Cup.

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the media’s treatment of Hillary Clinton

• Comedian Carol Leifer joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about her new book, “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Crying”

• The Islamic militants who overran cities and towns in Iraq last week posted graphic photos that appeared to show their gunmen massacring scores of captured Iraqi soldiers, while the prime minister vowed Sunday to “liberate every inch” of captured territory.

• Acknowledging that hard-won American gains in Iraq are at risk, President Barack Obama said on Friday that he won’t be sending U.S. ground troops back there to battle al-Qaida-inspired extremists but warned he could soon unleash military strikes there.

• House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said Sunday he has “no regrets” and will “remain focused on the mission that I’m about” after a stunning re-election upset this week at the hands of a primary challenger.

• The San Antonio Spurs finished off a dominant run to their fifth NBA championship Sunday night, ending the Heat’s two-year title reign with a 104-87 victory that wrapped up the series in five games.

• Radio pioneer Casey Kasem, who rose to fame with the music countown show “American Top 40” has died at 82.

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

• Republican strategist Rich Galen calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the stunning defeat of Eric Cantor

• Entertainment legend Donny Osmond calls in at 10:50am ET / 7:50am PT to talk about his new smartphone app and his new album

• Steph’s former Oxygen co-host May Lee joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang for an hour

• Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who spent five years as a Taliban prisoner of war before being released on May 31, has arrived at an Army medical center in Texas where he will receive further treatment, the Pentagon said on Friday.

• The government of Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki remained in paralysis Friday, unable to form a coherent response after al-Qaida-inspired militants blitzed and captured entire chunks of the nation’s Sunni heartland this week, including major cities, towns, military and police bases as Iraqi forces melted away or fled.

• Hillary Rodham Clinton tersely defended her initial opposition to gay marriage, denying in a radio interview that political reasons were behind her shift last year to supporting same-sex marriage. She accused the host of the show of “playing with my words.”

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the stunning loss by Eric Cantor

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP’s hypocrisy when it comes to prisoner swaps

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

• Vowing not to give up on an overhaul of immigration, President Obama said Wednesday that he “fundamentally rejects” the notion that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s stunning primary election defeat means that tackling immigration legislation is now out of reach.

• Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delivered an aggressive defense of the secret prisoner exchange of five Taliban detainees for a U.S. soldier, telling Congress that the risks were too great and the situation too uncertain for the administration to tell lawmakers about the plan.

• Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked legislation aimed at letting people refinance their student loans at lower rates, a pre-ordained outcome that gave Democrats a fresh election-year talking point against the GOP.

• The Al-Qaida-inspired group that led the charge in capturing two key Sunni-dominated cities in Iraq this week vowed yesterday to march on to Baghdad.

• Rebecca Coffey, conversion therapy researcher, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the Texas GOP calling for mandated gay conversion therapy

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

• In an upset for the ages, Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, the second-most powerful man in the House, was dethroned Tuesday by a little-known, tea party-backed Republican primary challenger carried to victory on a wave of public anger over calls for looser immigration laws.

• A gunman walked into an Oregon high school gym with a rifle and shot a student to death on Tuesday before he was found dead in a bathroom stall, in the third outbreak of gun violence to shake a U.S. high school or college campus in less than three weeks.

• Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will be front and center at the first public hearing on the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap when he goes before the House Armed Services Committee this morning.

• Islamic militants overran parts of Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul on Tuesday, driving security forces from their posts and seizing the provincial government headquarters, security bases and other key buildings. Gunmen cruised through neighborhoods, waving black banners while residents fled.

• Mornay Walters, CEO of Seecrypt Group, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Snowden and keeping your private conversations private

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

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Far Right’s abysmal treatment of POW’s

• A Las Vegas couple who gunned down two police officers and a civilian before killing themselves apparently looked at law enforcement as oppressors, officials said Monday. Among the clues: a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag the couple placed on one of the police officers they ambushed Sunday.

• Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is withdrawing his support for the sale of his team and is asking his lawyer to go ahead with a $1 billion lawsuit against the NBA.

• A political storm over the trade of five Taliban inmates for a captured American soldier intensified on Monday when Obama administration officials told U.S. lawmakers that up to 90 people within the administration – but no members of Congress – were told in advance about the swap.

• Five NATO service members were killed in an apparent friendly fire incident in southern Afghanistan, the international coalition said on Tuesday.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Time Magazine wondering of rescuing Bergdahl was worth it

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Fox News’ disgusting coverage of Sgt. Bergdahl

• Mornay Walters, CEO of Seecrypt Group, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about how to protect yourself from NSA spying

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in studio at 11am ET / 8am PT

• U.S. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has told people treating him at an American military medical facility in Germany that he was tortured, beaten and held in a cage by his Taliban captors in Afghanistan after he tried to escape, a senior U.S. official said Sunday.

• Two police officers were “simply having lunch” at a strip mall pizza buffet in Las Vegas when a man and a woman fatally shot them in point-blank ambush, then fled to a nearby Walmart where they killed a third person and then themselves in an apparent suicide pact, authorities said.

• President Obama is prepping new executive steps to help Americans struggling to pay off their student debt, and throwing his support behind Senate Democratic legislation with a similar goal but potentially a much more profound impact.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the GOP’s attacks on Bowe Bergdahl

• David Webb of SiriusXM calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his special broadcast from Normandy on today’s 70th anniversary of D-Day

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

• Actor John Leguizamo calls in at 11:20am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his new movie “Chef”

• A lone gunman armed with a shotgun and knife opened fire Thursday in a building at Seattle Pacific University, fatally wounding one person before a student subdued him with pepper spray as he tried to reload, police said.

• While Bowe Bergdahl was still in captivity, the United States knew he had tried to escape twice and that after each try his captors increased security around him. Now, Defense Department officials debriefing him in Germany about his five years in captivity are finding out the conditions were harsher than they thought.

• A bipartisan pair of senators, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. John McCain, announced a deal to reform the embattled Veterans Affairs health care system on Thursday, marking the most significant sign of congressional action on a scandal that has roiled Washington in recent weeks.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the Far Right’s obsession with bashing Bowe Bergdahl

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

• The legendary Lily Tomlin calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about her work with the Los Angeles LGBT Center

• Bowe Bergdahl remained in a U.S. military hospital in Germany Wednesday night. In the meantime, we’ve learned that an internal military investigation conducted after his 2009 disappearance found that he had wandered off post without permission at least once before.

• Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has agreed to sign off on selling the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for what would be a record $2 billion and will drop his $1 billion against the league, his lawyer said Wednesday.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin waded into US politics Wednesday describing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — and possible 2016 presidential candidate — as “weak” in some sarcastic comments about women.

• 1 in 4 Americans who signed up for insurance through HealthCare.gov could be at risk of losing their coverage or be forced to repay part of all of their subsidy because of discrepancies with their applications.

• Daily Beast columnist Dean Obeidallah calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Colbert viewers being smarter than normal news viewers

• Author Lance Simmens calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about his new book, “Evolution of a Revolution”

• Actorvist Melissa Fitzgerald joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about veterans issues including Bowe Bergdahl

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

• The Army will conduct “a comprehensive, coordinated” review into the case of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl — the recently freed soldier whom some have deemed a hero, others a deserter — the military branch’s civilian leader announced Tuesday.

• President Obama on Tuesday defended his decision to release five Afghan detainees from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for freeing an American soldier, saying his administration had consulted with Congress about that possibility “for some time.”

• President Barack Obama called on Congress Tuesday to back a $1 billion effort to boost the U.S. military presence across Europe, as he sought to ease anxiety among NATO allies who are wary of Russia’s threatening moves in Ukraine.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the Far Right’s freakout over new EPA standards

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about Edward Snowden’s worsening credibility problem

• A Pentagon investigation concluded in 2010 that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl walked away from his unit, and after an initial flurry of searching the military decided not to exert extraordinary efforts to rescue him, according to a former senior defense official who was involved in the matter.

• President Obama arrived in Poland Tuesday for a four-day, three-country European tour in which the Ukraine crisis will be the main topic of conversation. The visit comes at a time of violent unrest in parts of Southern and Eastern Ukraine as a new western-backed government prepares to take office in Kiev.

• The Seattle City Council unanimously passed a $15 minimum wage ordinance Monday that gives the city the highest minimum wage in the nation. Some critics said the plan doesn’t go far enough, while others said it would lead to layoffs and higher prices for consumers.

• Sloan Gibson, the acting secretary of Veterans Affairs, vowed to act decisively against the mismanagement that led to the agency’s scandal over delays in treatment and cover-ups at VA hospitals across the country.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about whether God is pissed off that it’s LGBT Pride Month

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP’s criticism of the POW release

• Voice Deity Jim Ward joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT

• Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan, has been freed by the Taliban in exchange for the release of five Afghan detainees from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Obama administration officials said Saturday.

• Two Republican lawmakers on Saturday accused President Barack Obama of breaking the law by approving the release of five Afghan detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in exchange for a U.S. soldier believed held by Islamist insurgents for five years.

• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will propose today a new rule for existing coal-fired power plants across the country that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent by 2030, sources close to the matter have confirmed.

• Ann B. Davis, best known for being the wise-cracking maid Alice on TV’s “The Brady Bunch,” has died. Davis was 88 and lived in San Antonio, Texas. She died after falling, her friend, Bishop William Frey, has confirmed.

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

• CC Goldwater, granddaughter of Barry Goldwater, joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT

• Even as more and more politicians call for the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, the White House on Thursday insisted President Obama will wait to see Shinseki’s internal review of the VA before determining what steps should be taken to ensure there’s accountability at the agency.

• One day after the bombshell interim Inspector General report showing “secret waiting lists” as a Phoenix veterans hospital, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki met with leading veteran service organizations. The meeting included 15 organization leaders and focused on the interim report and how to fix the problem.

• Shelly Sterling has reached an agreement to sell the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion. The sale must be approved by the NBA before it can go forward and would have required Donald Sterling’s signature but Donald Sterling had been ruled mentally incapacitated, making his wife sole trustee.

• Edward Snowden says he repeatedly raised constitutional concerns about National Security Agency surveillance internally, but an NSA search turned up a single email in which Snowden gently asks for “clarification” on a technical legal question about training materials, agency officials said Thursday.

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• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the Santa Barbara massacre and HBO’s “The Normal Heart”

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

• One day after President Obama laid out the end game for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, he talked about America’s role in the world after the war. Delivering the commencement at West Point on Wednesday, he said isolation is not an option but not every problem has a military solution.

• National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden says he would like to go home. The former NSA contract systems analyst is living in Russia on a temporary grant of asylum after leaking a massive volume of NSA documents to the media. Snowden said he had taken action in the belief that he was serving his country.

• An interim report released Wednesday by the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General concluded that patients experienced “significant delays” in treatment at a VA health care facility in Phoenix, providing the administration’s first official confirmation of problems that have been widely reported in recent weeks.

• Just when it appeared the battle over the Los Angeles Clippers was nearing its end, it isn’t. Owner Donald Sterling, who was banned for life for making racist comments, gave his wife permission last week to sell the team; now, Sterling has decided to fight to keep it.

• Comedian Brent Morin of NBC’s “Undateable” calls in at 10:20am ET / 7:20am PT to talk about his new sitcom

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

• President Obama announced Tuesday that the U.S. plans to remove all troops from Afghanistan by 2016, starting with reducing the troop presence in the country to just 9,800 and an end to the U.S. combat mission at the close of 2014.

• Thousands mourned the deaths of their classmates at UC Santa Barbara, California lawmakers proposed ways to prevent the next round of deaths, and the rampant presence of guns were at the forefront of both discussions as a rampage that left seven dead reverberated across the state.

• A response filed with the NBA Tuesday by embattled Clippers owner Donald Sterling claims that the league’s use of an “illegally recorded” conversation that took place during a “lovers’ quarrel” cannot be used to strip him of his ownership, CBS Los Angeles said.

• US fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden “trained as a spy” for intelligence agencies, he told NBC News in aired excerpts from an interview. “I was trained as a spy in sort of the traditional sense of the word in that I lived and worked undercover overseas,” he said.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the latest mass shooting in Santa Barbara

• Elliot Rodger, 22, stabbed to death three people in his apartment, shot two women to death outside a sorority house and killed another man inside a deli with gunfire before killing himself near the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, on Friday, investigators said.

• Senator Richard Blumenthal said on Sunday he wanted to revive gun control legislation rejected by Congress in the wake of the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, school massacre, saying it could have helped prevent this weekend’s deadly California shooting spree.

• Almost six weeks after nearly 300 girls were kidnapped by the terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria, the Nigerian defense chief believes the girls have been located. Despite this breakthrough, the Nigerian government seems reluctant to use military force to free the girls.

• The Malaysian government on Tuesday released 45 pages of raw satellite data it used to determine that the missing jetliner crashed into the southern Indian Ocean, responding to demands for greater transparency by relatives of some of the 239 people on board.

• The Ukrainian city of Donetsk was in turmoil Tuesday after a day of heavy fighting in which government forces used combat jets to stop pro-Russia separatists from taking over the airport. The mayor said 40 people were killed.

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

• Debbie Powers, author of “Meeting Her Match,” joins us in studio at 11am ET / 8am PT to promote sports participation among women

• Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has no imminent intention of stepping down, he indicated Thursday, flouting a growing chorus of lawmakers and veterans’ groups calling for him to do so amid widespread allegations of fraud and abuse at VA medical centers across the country.

• President Barack Obama on Thursday urged Democrats to vote in November elections, saying the chance to pass immigration reform is at risk if Republicans gain control of both houses of Congress.

• The U.N. Security Council committee on al Qaeda sanctions blacklisted Nigeria’s Islamist militant group Boko Haram on Thursday after the insurgents kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls, diplomats said.

• Seven confirmed and three likely cases of E. coli infection linked to raw clover sprouts have been reported, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The patients are all in either Idaho or Washington. Half the people who have fallen ill have been hospitalized.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about marriage equality victories in Pennsylvania and Oregon

• Arianna Huffington calls in at 10:50am ET / 7:50am PT to talk about her new book, “Thrive”

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

• President Barack Obama promised accountability, but he made clear Wednesday he won’t fire Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki — yet — over excessive and sometimes deadly waiting times faced by veterans seeking government health care.

• Democrats will participate in the Republican-led House Select Committee investigation of the deadly Benghazi terror attack. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has named five lawmakers to the 12-member panel looking into the 2012 armed assault on the U.S. diplomatic compound in eastern Libya.

• A defiant Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday shrugged off a mounting budget crisis and blamed Democrats for economic problems in New Jersey that threaten to further taint his presidential ambitions.

• Hundreds of firefighters poured into northern Arizona to battle a fire between Sedona and Flagstaff, and by Wednesday afternoon, the fire grew to an estimated 7 square miles.

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

• Mitch McConnell, the five-term senator from Kentucky — who’s the top Republican in the chamber — defeated tea party-backed challenger Matt Bevin in Tuesday’s primary. He goes on to run against Alison Lundergan Grimes in the Fall.

• A 30-page NBA document detailing the charges against Donald Sterling accuses the longtime owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of trying to persuade V. Stiviano to tell a league investigator she altered a recording and it wasn’t Sterling making racist remarks on the audio, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

• Same-sex couples in Pennsylvania clamored for marriage licenses after a judge ruled to allow the state to join the rest of the Northeast in legalizing gay weddings, with Philadelphia offices staying open late to handle a rush of applications.

• An administration official says that the Department of Justice will not appeal a court’s order requiring the US government to disclose secret memos detailing the legal justification for drone strikes on U.S. citizens suspected of being involved terrorism overseas.

• A group of retired NFL players says in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that the league, thirsty for profits, illegally supplied them with risky narcotics and other painkillers that numbed their injuries for games and led to medical complications down the road.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about why Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is pissed

• Actor and activist Kal Penn calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about his work with Michelle Obama to promote arts in education

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Far Right trying to debunk his Benghazi article and failing

• China summoned the U.S. ambassador and the Defense Ministry warned Tuesday of “serious damage” to military relations after the United States charged five Chinese army officers with hacking into U.S. companies to steal vital trade secrets.

• Voters in six states will choose candidates today for some of November’s top congressional election races, including another round of crucial U.S. Senate primaries between the Republican establishment and Tea Party favorites in Kentucky, Georgia and Oregon.

• President Barack Obama is to speak out this week about reports of healthcare delays and deaths at the Veterans Administration in an effort to underscore his determination to fix any flaws in the system.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about calling Ann Coulter a bad word

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP questioning Hillary Clinton’s age

• Daily Beast columnist Dean Obeidallah calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about bigotry’s return 60 years after Brown vs. Board of Education

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered troops deployed in regions near Ukraine to return to their home bases, the Kremlin said Monday. Putin has previously said he has ordered troops to return from the area near the Ukraine border, but the United States and NATO have said they see no sign of a pullout.

• White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough says President Obama is “madder than hell” about reports of treatment delays at veterans’ hospitals across the country and is demanding that Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki “continue to fix these things until they’re functioning the way that our veterans believe they should.”

• Hillary Clinton’s age and health are valid campaign issues if the 66-year-old Democrat makes another run for president in 2016, the RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said on Sunday. “I think that health and age is fair game,” Priebus said. “It was fair game for Ronald Reagan. It was fair game for John McCain.”

• Director Robert Greenwald calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about his new documentary, “Koch Brothers: Exposed”

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

• Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has sent a letter to the National Basketball Association telling the league he won’t pay his $2.5 million fine and rejecting his lifetime ban, according to multiple media reports.

• Under withering criticism, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki told a Senate committee on Thursday that he was “mad as hell” about allegations of deadly waiting times and coverup at VA hospitals but he doesn’t plan to resign.

• It is a rare, strange day when Senate Republicans vote to block billions in tax cuts. But that’s what happened Thursday when they chose to freeze the EXPIRE Act, which would extend $85 billion in tax credits, in order to protest how Democrats are running the chamber.

• Temperatures and winds across scorched areas of southern California are starting to subside, but Unruly wildfires keep barreling from one community to another, destroying homes and spawning “firenadoes” — funnels of flames that look like tornadoes. 10,000 acres in San Diego county have burned, and one person is dead.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the flood of marriage equality rulings in the last week

• SiriusXM POTUS host Michael Smerconish calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about his new book, “Talk: A Novel”

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

• Nine wildfires covering more than 14 square miles scorched San Diego County on Wednesday, forcing thousands to flee their homes and prompting the closures of a college campus and Legoland California. No major injuries were reported.

• Nigeria’s president has rejected an offer from Islamist rebel group Boko Haram to exchange schoolgirls it abducted for imprisoned militants, but the government is open to broader talks with the rebels, a visiting British minister said.

• Nigeria’s president has rejected an offer from Islamist rebel group Boko Haram to exchange schoolgirls it abducted for imprisoned militants, but the government is open to broader talks with the rebels, a visiting British minister said.

• The daughter of missing radio legend Casey Kasem has received confirmation that her father has been found in Washington state, her publicist said.

• Heather “Digby” Parton, contributing writer to Salon, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the Tea Party vs. the GOP Establishment

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

• Magic Johnson has some advice for Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling: Sell the team, take the money and enjoy the rest of your life. A day after Sterling appeared on CNN slamming the NBA legend’s character, his battle with HIV and his community outreach efforts, Johnson said Tuesday that he feels sorry for the 80-year-old billionaire.

• Shelly Sterling reasserted on the TODAY show Tuesday her contention that she is not connected to her estranged husband’s statements and should be allowed to retain ownership of the L.A. Clippers no matter what happens to him.

• Hillary Clinton’s team has slammed Karl Rove for his allegations about Clinton’s health, calling his accusations “a form of sickness,” and saying the GOP is “scared of what she has achieved and what she has to offer.”

• A federal magistrate judge has ruled that Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. She says Idaho’s laws wrongly stigmatize gay and lesbian couples and relegate their families to second-class status without sufficient reason. Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has already said he intends to appeal the case.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Ann Coulter getting her Twitter ass handed to her

• Melissa Fitzgerald joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the upcoming Justice For Vets fundraising concert

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Far Right’s aversion to what they call ‘hashtag activism’

• A Nigerian government official said “all options are open” in the search for missing schoolgirls that’s now being actively supported by U.S. surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. Boko Haram, the militant group that kidnapped the girls, says that the girls will only be freed after the government releases jailed militants.

• Clay Aiken’s opponent in the Democratic primary for North Carolina’s Second Congressional District seat, Keith Crisco, died yesterday, according to the company he owned. Aiken said he is suspending all campaign activities in the race that was still too close to call after last week’s election.

• A judge on Monday ordered an investigation into the whereabouts of Casey Kasem after an attorney for the ailing radio personality’s wife said the former “Top 40” host had been removed from Los Angeles without his children’s knowledge.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to take pity on the “Bullied White, Straight, Conservative Christian”

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about whether Dems should boycott the Benghazi panel

• In his first public comments since being banned for life from the NBA, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling apologized for racist comments captured on tape, saying they were a “terrible mistake” but that he was “baited” into making them.

• Shelly Sterling says she doesn’t think Donald Sterling is a racist, but she believes her estranged husband is in the “onset of dementia.” Sterling told Barbara Walters her husband said, “I don’t remember saying that. I don’t remember ever saying those things.”

• A video distributed Monday shows the leader of the Nigerian Islamic extremist group Boko Haram saying he is willing to trade more than 200 kidnapped teenage girls for imprisoned members of his group, and offered the first evidence that most of the girls are still alive.

• President Obama congratulated Michael Sam yesterday, after he made history as the first openly gay player drafted into the NFL when he was picked by the St. Louis Rams, the White House said.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to urge Dems to boycott these latest Benghazi hearings

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

• A new recording of Los Angeles Clipper owner Donald Sterling reacting to the scandal that enveloped him has been posted online, with Sterling yelling “You know I’m not a racist!” to an unidentified listener.

• Embattled Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki is directing his agency to complete a nationwide review of clinics at VA Medical Centers across the country to assess veterans’ access to care. Shinseki has come under fire in the wake of reports that at least 40 veterans died while waiting for care at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care system.

• An American team is on the ground in Nigeria to help in the search for more than 200 teenage girls kidnapped from their school in a remote village. The Islamic terror group Boko Haram has threatened to sell them into slavery.

• House Republicans on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a resolution to establish a new committee to investigate the deadly attack in Benghazi, a move panned by Democrats as an election-year distraction aimed to motivate the GOP ahead of November’s midterm contests.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about his experiences at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

• Daily Beast columnist Dean Obeidallah calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about why Conservatives can’t take a joke

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

• The U.S. is sending technical experts to aid Nigeria’s search for nearly 300 teenage girls who were kidnapped from their school in mid-April, the White House said Tuesday. The mass abduction has sparked international outrage and mounting demands for Nigeria do more to free the girls.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin told rebels in Ukraine to halt plans for independence votes and said his troops have pulled back from the border, but his apparent change of heart received short shrift from Kiev and Washington.

• The House of Representatives voted Wednesday evening to find former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress and adopted a resolution calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special counsel to investigate the IRS targeting scandal.

• The NBA’s strategy for forcing the sale of the L.A. Clippers by Donald Sterling hinges on a morality clause in a document the owner signed when he bought the team in 1981 that lays out reasons ownership could be terminated, a source familiar with the situation said Wednesday.

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

• Climate change’s assorted harms “are expected to become increasingly disruptive across the nation throughout this century and beyond,” the National Climate Assessment concluded Tuesday. The report emphasizes how warming and its all-too-wild weather are changing daily lives.

• President Obama said Tuesday that the U.S. would do everything possible to help Nigeria find nearly 300 teenage girls missing since they were kidnapped from school three weeks ago by an Islamic extremist group that has threatened to sell them.

• Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., will go after every single document and witness in that could shed light on the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi in his role as chairman of a special committee House Republicans are creating to continue their investigation.

• After 10 years of silence — a decade of dodging questions about the infamous stain on her blue dress and the jokes about the president’s cigar — Bill Clinton’s mistress, Monica Lewinsky, spoke out in Vanity Fair. The 40-year-old, who says she’s still recognized everywhere she goes, has had enough of “tiptoeing around my past — and other people’s futures.”

• In a race more dramatic in its last moments than an “American Idol” finale, Clay Aiken is locked in a race too close to call in the Democratic primary in North Carolina’s 2nd congressional district.

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• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about what the GOP should be paying attention to rather than Benghazi

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

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the GOP’s lopsided response to Benghazi

• The Obama administration will release an updated report today showing how climate change touches every part of the country, as the administration seeks to convince the American public on the need for a crackdown on carbon pollution.

• Speaker of the House John Boehner has ordered the establishment of a new special committee to investigate the 2012 attacks on Americans in Benghazi — but some Democrats don’t want anyone from their party to take part in the hearings.

• The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a town in New York that begins its public board meetings with a prayer. The decision was a loss for two women, Linda Stephens and Susan Galloway, an atheist and a Jew, who filed suit against Greece, N.Y., arguing that they felt coerced to participate in prayers

• Authorities trying to determine what caused a support frame to collapse during an aerial hair-hanging stunt during a circus performance focused on a broken clip holding the apparatus.

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the Far Right’s continuing obsession with Benghazi

• Paul Katami & Jeff Zarrillo, two of the plaintiffs in the Prop 8 case, join us in studio at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about their upcoming wedding

• Forgoing the largely self-deprecating front he’s donned the past several years, President Obama during his prepared roast Saturday to the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner instead opted to go after some members of the Washington, D.C., cast who’ve complicated his five-and-a-half-year tenure in the Oval Office.

• V. Stiviano sat for a bizarre interview with Barbara Walters Friday afternoon, in which she proclaimed the Clippers owner is NOT a racist and that she was not his girlfriend, but his right hand man.

• Authorities are trying to determine what caused a support frame to collapse during an aerial hair-hanging stunt during a circus performance in Rhode Island yesterday, sending eight acrobats crashing to the ground.

• The Oscar Pistorius murder trial resumed Monday after a two-week recess, with the defense team calling its fourth witness in an attempt to bolster the double-amputee athlete’s case that he killed his girlfriend by mistake last year.

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

• Daily Beast columnist Dean Obeidallah calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about President Obama’s use of comedy

• Political consultant Bob Shrum calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about who is to blame for Donald Sterling and Cliven Bundy

• Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is battling cancer, sources have confirmed to ESPN as first reported by the New York Post. The Post, citing sources, reported that the 80-year-old Sterling has been battling prostate cancer for an extended period of time.

• Leon Jenkins, the president of the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP, has resigned following outrage over a decision he later reversed to give Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling an award for promoting civil rights.

• Senior officials from Malaysia, Australia and China will meet early next week to decide on the next step in the search for the Malaysia Airlines jet, while expressing confidence Friday that the hunt was on the right track despite no wreckage being found so far.

• New documents obtained by conservative watchdog Judicial Watch reinforce that the White House strongly argued that an anti-Muslim video was the reason for the deadly 2012 terror attacks on U.S. compounds in Benghazi.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about the ramifications of the NBA’s Donald Sterling situation

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about what the GOP would do if they took over the Senate

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

• Democratic legislation to raise the federal minimum wage hit a road block Wednesday when Republicans blocked the bill in the Senate, setting up an election-year battle over which party can best grow the economy and help struggling Americans.

• Some NBA owners are prepared to tell Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling that he must sell the team in response to racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he would call on the owners to vote to force Sterling to sell the team.

• An apparent natural gas explosion at a jail in the Florida Panhandle killed two inmates and injured as many as 150 inmates and corrections officers, officials say.

• Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will take a leave of absence to seek help for substance abuse, his lawyer said Wednesday, as a national Canadian newspaper reported viewing of a new video of the embattled politician smoking what was described as crack.

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

• Hours after owner Donald Sterling was banned from the NBA for life, the Los Angeles Clippers returned to an energized Staples Center and beat the Golden State Warriors 113-103 on Tuesday night to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round playoff series.

• A botched execution that used a new drug combination left an Oklahoma inmate writhing and clenching his teeth on the gurney Tuesday, leading prison officials to halt the proceedings before the inmate’s eventual death from a heart attack.

• The United States has proof that the Russian government in Moscow is running a network of spies inside Eastern Ukraine because the U.S. government has recordings of their conversations, Secretary of State John Kerry said in a closed-door meeting.

• House Speaker John Boehner on Tuesday reassured fellow Republican lawmakers that he will not push them to pass immigration reform and said he was just teasing last week when he criticized his caucus’s reluctance on the issue.

• At least 34 people across six states were killed in tornadoes unleashed by a ferocious storm system that razed neighborhoods and threatened more destruction in heavily populated parts of the South on Tuesday.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Cliven Bundy and Donald Sterling’s racism

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about Sarah Palin’s unbelievable speech to the NRA last weekend

• Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., has been indicted by the Justice Department for mail, wire and health care fraud and perjury, among other charges. The Republican congressman, who has maintained his innocence, was booked at the New York FBI office in lower Manhattan Monday morning.

• The sponsor backlash against Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling is in full swing. At least 12 sponsors said Monday they were dropping or suspending sponsorships with the team following allegations of racist comments by team owner Donald Sterling.

• The European Union named another 15 people Tuesday who will face sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine; among them, a number of high-ranking Russian officials. The sanctions, which go into immediate effect, include asset freezes and travel bans.

• Communities across the South were on high alert Tuesday as a devastating storm system that left at least 27 people dead threatened to pack a one-two punch on the hardest-hit areas of Alabama and Mississippi.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Cliven Bundy, Donald Sterling, and the tenacity of racism

• Comedian Lewis Black calls in at 9:50am ET / 6:50am PT to talk about his special “Old Yeller” on Epix

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Conservatives jumping on and off the Bundy Bandwagon

• An audio recording said to be of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling making racist comments to his girlfriend is genuine, the woman’s lawyer said Sunday, although he insisted his client was not the one who leaked the tape to the media.

• The storm of condemnation around Sterling intensified as the Clippers staged a silent protest at a playoff game, wearing their shirts inside out to hide the team’s logo, and everyone from President Barack Obama to NBA legends Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan expressed disgust at the comments.

• A broad tornado sliced through the Little Rock vicinity Sunday, killing at least 16 people and leaving behind a miles-long path of destruction as a powerful system provided a violent kick-start to the nation’s tornado season.

• During a speech at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention on Saturday, Sarah Palin criticized President Obama’s administration for treating suspected terrorists too gingerly.

• Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about ObamaCare scare tactics in red states

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

• After previously sympathizing with Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who refuses to pay the more than $1 million in fees he owes the federal government, Republicans including Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV) are denouncing Bundy’s most recent, racist comments.

• Secretary of State John Kerry accused Russia on Thursday of failing to live up to commitments it made to ease the crisis in Ukraine. In unusually blunt language, Kerry said that unless Moscow takes immediate steps to de-escalate the situation, Washington will have no choice but to impose additional sanctions.

• Divers searching the wreck of a sunken ferry in the Yellow Sea are finding cabins overfilled with people, but they are encountering major obstacles in recovering bodies, South Korean officials said Friday. Divers found 48 girls wearing life jackets in a cabin with a capacity of 30, indicating many ran into the same room when ship tilted.

• President Obama praised the spirit of the Japanese people at a state dinner held in his honor at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Thursday. Obama thanked his hosts for their “gracious hospitality” at the end of a day that had seen him visit a religious shrine and play soccer with a robot.

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

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about his appearance on MSNBC’s Hardball last night

• Health care reform expert Jacki Schechner calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT for “Jacki’s Healthcare Corner”

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the dangers of Justice Antonin Scalia

• Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law a wide-ranging bill allowing licensed gun owners to take concealed weapons to more places than ever before, like churches and bars. The new law, however, limits what police can do.

• President Obama warned that the U.S. has prepared a fresh round of sanctions against Russia as a consequence for Moscow’s refusal to condemn destabilizing violence in eastern Ukraine. But, he said, there is still time for Russian President Vladimir Putin to change course.

• An Afghan police officer on duty as a guard at a Kabul hospital opened fire Thursday morning on a long-serving American doctor at the facility, killing him and two other U.S. nationals in the attack.

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

• The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled by a 6-2 vote that Michigan voters had a right to ban affirmative action in their state via a ballot initiative. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that “the majority of Michigan voters changed the rules in the middle of the game, reconfiguring the existing political process in Michigan in a manner that burdened racial minorities.”

• As the crisis in Ukraine shows no signs of easing, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden promised support for Ukraine and stressed that the United States won’t recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea. “Ukraine is and must remain one country,” he said in Kiev on Tuesday at a news conference.

• As officials leading the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet prepared to focus their efforts deeper into the Indian Ocean, it emerged Wednesday that possible debris from an airplane had been spotted on the southwest Australian coast — 1,000 miles from the center of the search area.

• As officials leading the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet prepared to focus their efforts deeper into the Indian Ocean, it emerged Wednesday that possible debris from an airplane had been spotted on the southwest Australian coast — 1,000 miles from the center of the search area.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to introduce the new GOP Royal Regent of Crazy People

• Legendary “Laugh In” creator George Schlatter joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to tell us about his career

• South Korean officials say their earlier conclusion that the ferry that sank last week, leaving more than 300 people dead or missing, had made a sharp turn shortly before the disaster was incorrect, and that the vessel made a less severe turn than initially reported.

• A 16-year-old boy scrambled over an airport fence, crossed a tarmac and climbed into a jetliner’s wheel well, then flew for five freezing hours to Hawaii – a misadventure that forced authorities to take a hard look at the security system that protects the nation’s airline fleet.

• Vice President Joe Biden told Ukrainian political leaders in Kiev Tuesday that the United States stands with them against “humiliating threats” and encouraged them to root out corruption as they rebuild their government.

• An air search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet was suspended for a day due to stormy weather on Tuesday as the painstakingly slow sonar scanning of a targeted patch of seabed continued.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the Far Right’s rude way of trying to re-criminalize marijuana

• Daily Beast columnist Dean Obeidallah calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about how Sen. Ted Cruz raised money off the government shutdown

• South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday likened the actions of the captain and some crew members of the sunken ferry Sewol to murder, as police made more four arrests and divers continued searching the submerged vessel.

• A robotic submarine continued scouring a desolate patch of silt-covered seafloor in the Indian Ocean for any trace of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane. The unmanned sub has spent nearly a week searching for the plane’s black boxes and has covered about two-thirds of its focused search area.

• The Russian government said today it is “outraged” by a shootout over the weekend near Slovyansk that left at least three dead, saying the attack was carried out by a Ukrainian right-wing nationalist group.

• Guarded by extra police officers and monitored by more security cameras, 36,000 runners will step off in the town of Hopkinton this morning and make their way to the same Boston Marathon finish line where two bombs went off within seconds last year.

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

• Actor and comedian Michael McDonald joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to tell us where he can be seen this weekend

• About 8 million Americans signed up for private insurance on the new Obamacare marketplaces, President Obama announced Thursday. “This thing is working,” Mr. Obama said from the White House briefing room, scolding the Republican Party for keeping up its call to repeal the law.

• President Barack Obama conveyed skepticism Thursday about Russian promises to deescalate a volatile situation in Ukraine, and said the United States and its allies are ready to impose fresh sanctions if Moscow doesn’t make good on its commitments.

• An underwater drone dipped into the ocean Friday for its fifth trip to search for traces of the missing Malaysian plane as relatives of those aboard maintained their demand for answers. Authorities said the vessel has scanned a total of 42.5 square miles without making any “contacts of interest.”

• Chelsea Clinton announced Thursday that she is expecting her first child. The only daughter of former President Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton made the announcement while sharing the stage with her mother at a women’s event in New York.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about ObamaCare and his appendicitis

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

• Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Thursday dismissed claims that Russian special forces are fomenting unrest in eastern Ukraine as “nonsense,” but expressed hope for success of four-way talks on settling the crisis.

• The man arrested near the Boston Marathon finish line carrying a backpack containing a rice cooker was sent to a state psychiatric facility for an evaluation Wednesday after an initial court appearance. Kevin “Kayvon” Edson, 25, was sent to Bridgewater State Hospital and ordered held on $100,000 bail.

• The law firm that wrote the Chris Christie-sponsored report clearing the governor of any wrongdoing in the New Jersey bridge scandal made a sizable donation to the Republican Governors Association, which Christie heads, days before the report’s release.

• Search crews in the Indian Ocean are awaiting data analysis following a scan by the underwater drone, which completed its first full mission Thursday. Bluefin-21 has now searched a total of 90 square kilometers (34.7 square miles) in its first three trips to the ocean floor.

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

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

• A man was charged Tuesday with possession of a hoax device, disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace after two suspicious bags were found near the finish line of the Boston Marathon amid stepped-up security on the anniversary of the bombings that shook the city a year ago.

• Ukraine’s military launched an offensive today to quell pro-Russian violence that has swept eastern Ukraine, as Russia’s prime minister tweeted an ominous message. “There is foreboding of a civil war in #Ukraine,” Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev posted yesterday.

• A robotic submarine searching for any sign of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet resurfaced early for the second time in two days on Wednesday. Officials blamed a “technical issue” for Bluefin-21’s premature return from the deep off Australia’s west coast.

• The suspect in the killing of three people at two Jewish facilities near Kansas City over the weekend could face the death penalty on state murder charges filed Tuesday, prosecutors said.

• A Nevada rancher said Monday he’s trying to determine if federal agents damaged his cattle when the animals were rounded up then released in a showdown with angry protesters over a decades-long dispute about rangeland rights.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Boehner’s Benghazi blues in the rudest way possible

• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the futile efforts of the Koch Brothers

• The man accused of killing three people Sunday in attacks at a Jewish community center and Jewish retirement community near Kansas City is a well-known white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan leader who was once the subject of a nationwide manhunt.

• A judge temporarily adjourned the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius Monday after the athlete again started to sob while testifying about the moments before he killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his home last year.

• Search crews will send a robotic submarine deep into the Indian Ocean on Monday for the first time to try to determine whether underwater signals detected by sound-locating equipment are from the missing Malaysian plane’s black boxes, the leader of the search effort said.

• The majority of Ukrainians would back keeping Ukraine in one piece if a referendum is held along with elections set for next month, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said on Monday, hours after a deadline passed for pro-Russian protesters to disarm and end their occupation of state buildings.

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

• President Barack Obama’s embattled Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is resigning as the White House seeks to move past the election-year political damage inflicted by the rocky rollout of Obama’s signature health care law.

• Hopes that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 might soon be found rose and then stalled within minutes Friday. The most recent acoustic signal detected by an Australian aircraft Thursday is “unlikely to be related to the aircraft black boxes,” Australian chief search coordinator Angus Houston said Friday.

• Oscar Pistorius faced another day of relentless cross-examination Friday as the prosecution challenged his account in the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel has accused the athlete of hiding the truth about the death of Steenkamp, whom he shot last year through a closed toilet door in his home.

• The attorney for 16-year-old Pennsylvania stabbing suspect Alex Hribal raised the specter that his client may have been bullied, telling WTAE in Pittsburgh on Thursday that it looks like some kind of “bullying event” may have played a role.

• A woman hurled a shoe at Hillary Clinton on Thursday during a speech in Las Vegas. She ducked and it missed her, joking afterward about the incident that occurred during an appearance before a recycling trade group.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about outlandish Far Right arguments against marriage equality

• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about how ObamaCare is working in Kentucky

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

• A 16-year-old boy described as quiet and shy flailed away with two knives in the crowded halls of his suburban Pittsburgh high school Wednesday, stabbing and slashing 21 students and a school police officer before an assistant principal tackled him, authorities said.

• The chief prosecutor in Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial on Wednesday urged the athlete to “take responsibility” for fatally shooting his girlfriend, telling him to look at a police photograph of Reeva Steenkamp’s bloodied head with gruesome wounds.

• A Navy warship carrying a family whose sailboat broke down in the Pacific Ocean with a sick toddler arrived on Wednesday in San Diego. The family did not wish to speak publicly. They want to tend to their daughter first and get some rest, a family spokesman said.

• The House Ways and Means Committee voted along partisan lines on Wednesday to officially urge Attorney General Eric Holder to consider criminal charges against former IRS official Lois Lerner.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to cast aspersions on Rep. Louie Gohmert’s asparagus

• Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about running ON ObamaCare, rather than running FROM it

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

• A ship searching for the missing Malaysian Airlines jet has detected two more underwater signals that may be emanating from the aircraft’s black boxes, and the Australian official in charge of the search expressed hope Wednesday that the plane’s wreckage will soon be found.

• Oscar Pistorius testified for a third day Wednesday at his murder trial, returning to the witness stand after breaking down in sobs and wailing a day earlier while describing the moments he said he realized he had fatally shot his girlfriend by mistake.

• President Obama prodded Republicans to support paycheck fairness legislation in the Senate Tuesday, following his own executive orders that he says will help reduce the pay gap between men and women.

• The war of words between Attorney General Eric Holder and Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert, a tea party lawmaker from Texas, escalated once again on Tuesday during a House Judiciary Committee hearing, with Holder telling Gohmert, “Good luck with your asparagus.”

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about SCOTUS removing Watergate-era campaign finance protections

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about swirling misinformation about ObamaCare

• Search crews hunting for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet have failed to relocate faint sounds heard deep below the southern Indian Ocean that officials said were consistent with a plane’s black boxes since they were first heard over the weekend, the head of the search operation said Tuesday.

• The Senate officially passed legislation to extend unemployment insurance benefits Monday afternoon, leaving their bill in the hands of a House that is not just divided between Democrats and Republicans, but among members of the GOP on how to proceed.

• Oscar Pistorius told the court at his trial in South Africa Tuesday that he was “more into” the girlfriend he’s accused of murdering, Reeva Steenkamp, than she was into him. Steenkamp’s mother, June, was again present in court Tuesday but betrayed no reaction as she listened to hear his testimony.

• The aunt of a 1-year-old girl rescued at sea by the U.S. Navy says the baby’s fever is gone, and she is responding well to medication after showing salmonella-like symptoms before her family’s sailboat broke down.

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow for Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about media coverage of the ObamaCare comeback

• Actor and comedian Michael McDonald joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to tell us what he’s up to lately

• U.S. Navy equipment has picked up signals consistent with the pings from aircraft black boxes, an Australian search official said Monday, describing the discovery as “a most promising lead” in the month-long hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.

• Spc. Ivan Lopez vented about a range of subjects on Facebook before his shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas, including his outrage at Adam Lanza’s mass school shooting in Connecticut. He wrote of experiencing overpowering fear after an insurgent attack in Iraq and the hatred that consumed him after getting “robbed.”

• A 1-year-old girl who became seriously ill on a sailboat hundreds of miles off Mexico was on a U.S. Navy frigate Sunday and in stable condition, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Her parents thanked those who played a part in their rescue and defended themselves against critics who question their decision to sail around the world with children that young.

• Legendary actor Mickey Rooney died Sunday. He was 93. He put on a show for nearly nine decades as an entertainer.

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

• Actress and singer Lynda Carter calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to tell us about her upcoming cabaret dates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York

• Sam Simon, one of the creators of “The Simpsons”, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his remarkable activism

• The man who gunned down three fellow soldiers at Fort Hood in Texas and wounded several others before killing himself suffered from mental illness and may have argued with other soldiers before the rampage, the base’s commander said Thursday.

• Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich is stepping down as CEO following protests over his support of a gay marriage ban in California. The Mountain View, California-based nonprofit maker of the Firefox browser infuriated many employees and users last week by promoting Eich.

• A bill to extend unemployment insurance benefits cleared a final test vote in the Senate by the thinnest of margins Thursday and his headed for a vote on final passage Monday. It is not expected to pass the House.

• David Letterman announced Thursday that he’s retiring from CBS’ “Late Show” sometime next year. He made that announcement during the taping of his program Thursday afternoon at New York’s Ed Sullivan Theater.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about SCOTUS’ assault on our democracy

• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the damage the SCOTUS campaign finance ruling will inflict

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

• A soldier being treated for mental health issues opened fire Wednesday with a semiautomatic weapon at Fort Hood, TX, killing three people and wounding several others before taking his own life as a military policewoman confronted him, officials said.

• The Supreme Court has struck down limits in federal law on the overall campaign contributions the biggest individual donors may make to candidates, political parties and political action committees.

• A powerful 7.6-magnitude aftershock hit Chile’s far-northern coast late Wednesday night, shaking the same area where a magnitude-8.2 earthquake hit just a day before and caused some damage and six deaths.

• The FBI has completed of review of the in-home flight simulator that belonged to the captain of the missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet and found “nothing suspicious whatsoever.”

• Daily Beast columnist Dean Obeidallah calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Chris Christies comments to Sheldon Adelson

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

• President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that 7.1 million people had signed up on federal or state exchanges for coverage under the health care law now often known as Obamacare. Obama claimed victory at a White House ceremony, saying the program approved by Congress in 2010 has been a force for good.

• After declaring at least a temporary victory in the ongoing battle of the Affordable Care Act Tuesday afternoon, President Obama heads to Michigan Wednesday to renew a push to increase the minimum wage.

• Authorities kept hundreds of thousands of people out of their beds early Wednesday after a magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck off Chile’s northern coast. Five people were crushed to death or suffered fatal heart attacks, a remarkably low toll for such a powerful shift in the Earth’s crust.

• Charles H. Keating Jr., the notorious financier who served prison time, was disgraced for his role in the costliest savings and loan failure of the 1980s, and tarnished the reputations of five senators (including John McCain) known as the “Keating Five”, has died. He was 90.

• Today is April Fool’s Day

• President Jimmy Carter calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his new book, “A Call To Action”

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

• Race car driver and environmental activist Leilani Munter calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about running cars on electricity

• Bob Cesca of The Daily Banter calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his problems with discourse on Twitter

• Open enrollment on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces closed on Monday. The Associated Press, citing government officials, reported that the health care overhaul was on track to beat expectations, with more than 7 million Americans signing up for health insurance by the deadline.

• The Malaysian government said late Monday that the final words received by ground controllers from the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 on March 8 were “Good night Malaysian three-seven-zero,” not the previously stated and slightly unusual, “all right, good night.”

• Authorities said Monday they now believe 22 people remain missing in the aftermath of a massive mudslide that covered a northwestern Washington town with muck and debris, killing at least 24 people.

• 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.