Sanford's tryst-list grows: New York too

Sanford: I "Crossed Lines" With Women
S.C. Gov. Admits Inappropriate Behavior, But Not Sex, with Other Women, Says He's Trying to Fall Back in Love with Wife
UPDATE: A Soldier Fights for Life
Martha Raddatz with an update from her earlier post about Lieutenant Colonel Tim Karcher who lost both his legs this week when his vehicle was bombed near Baghdad’s notorious Sadr City neighborhood: I just spoke to Alesia Karcher (she made...
Sanford's tryst-list grows: New York too

by Mark Silva and updated

Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina first met his South American mistress on a dance-floor in Punta del Este, Uruguay, and the two lovers had more rendez-vous than the Republican governor first admitted when publicly confessing last week that he had gone missing in Buenos Aires rather than hiking along the Appalachian Trail.

Sanford, attempting to salvage both his office and his marriage, allowed today in an interview with the Associated Press that he had met up with Maria Belen Chapur more times during the past year than he first admitted, and in more placesincluding New York.

They first met in 2001 at an open-air dance spot in Uruguay and met again for coffee in New York in 2004 during the Republican National Conventionthough he has maintained that they hadn't struck up a romantic relationship until last year. The lovers had corresponded by emails, the more recent correspondence finding its way into the public domain.

The two had met in Punta del Este, a sensual seaside resort favored among South Americans, in 2001 after Sanford's final term in Congress and before his first term as governor. He says he counseled her into the night about her own failing marriage. "There was some kind of connection from the very beginning," he told the .

During a state economic development trip to South America in 2008, a sexual affair blossomed. "Now I am frightened," he told the , describing his state of mind at the time. "It was before safe. But now it's not safe. We gotta put the genie back in the bottle."

The two met in New York two more times in 2008, Sanford says: two nights in Manhattan in September and three nights in the Hamptons in November. He claims he flew coach, paid for the trips himself, paid for the hotels in cash and told his staff he was reachable via cell phone. He has agreed to reimburse the state for the Argentine trade trip.

Sanford said he had "let his guard down'' with other women outside his marriage, but had not taken it all the way. "This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story," Sanford said of his Argentine affair. "A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day."

In early 2009, after wife Jenny Sanford discovered the affair by reading one of her husband's emails, the couple went into counseling. He says he wanted to end the affair in person and, with his wife's permission, went to New York with a "trusted spiritual adviser" serving as chaperone.

But the two met again in Argentina on June 18, with the governor's office explaining that he had gone hiking on the Appalachian Trail over the Father's Day weekend, a ruse that ended with the governor making a public admission of his affair with the Argentine. The State, of Columbia, S.C., the paper that broke the story of Sanford's travel to South America, says he should serve out his term. The South Carolina Democrats have something else to say about the matter -- see their video below:

(South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford today admitted more encounters with his Argentine mistress than he previously had disclosed, in an interview in the governor's office today. Photo by Mary Ann Chastain / )

'Clout List' Investigated at University of Illinois

The University of Illinois faces allegations that students with political clout were admitted to the school over other, more qualified applicants.

Video: Climate Policy Moves Forward

Video: Climate Policy Moves Forward
"CBS News Raw:" Pres. Obama showed confidence after his first victory on energy policy. Obama also announced new efficiency standards for lighting used in homes and businesses.
'Smoking Gun' Found in Cookie Dough E. Coli Scare
ABC's Brian Hartman from Washington: FDA investigators today found E. coli at the plant in Danville, VA where Nestle makes Toll House cookie dough. The bacteria, according to an FDA official, was found at the plant in an unopened package...
Beer rules: Public opinion on tap here

by Mark Silva

Sing along now:

"I like beer,
"It makes me a jolly good fellow...''

Four in ten of those surveyed prefer suds.

That's among the nearly two-thirds of Americans who say they are known to drink on occasion. On average, they've had 4.8 alcoholic drinks during the past week(right, it was that eight-tenths that did it.)

The annual drinking survey served up by the Gallup Poll, -finally, a poll that makes no mention of any partisan divide, or any Republican or Democratic opinion whatsoeverhas found that, among the 64 percent who say they drink some, 40 percent preferred beer, 34 percent wine, 21 percent liquor. (We assume the other 5 like gasoline.)

Now, drinkers have grown more refined through the years.

The recession has taken a certain toll, too.

On the eve of the Clinton administrationoops, we weren't going to talk about politicsbeer was the runaway favorite of drinking Americans: 47 percent said so in 1992. Wine had only a 27 percent share of the drinking public's allegiance. But beer does not go well with arugula.

Most men still prefer beer, while half of women choose winebut we're sorry, the Swamp does not recognize white Zinfandel as a bona fide drink of any category.

Beer is still biggest in the Midwest, a statistic which was borne out by our son's last visit to the Pierogi Festival in Whiting, Ind., and his pictures of the street crowd. You cannot wash down a 92-pound pierogi with a spritzer.

College graduates are more likely to name wine than beer.

We've got a couple of degrees under our own (38-inch) belt, however, and we're here to tell you that, despite an unquenchable taste for a good Cabernet or Barolo....

"This little refrain,
Will help me explain,
As a matter of fact, I like beer.''

Supreme Court Rules For 'New Haven 20'

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race. The 5-4 decision reverses Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's earlier ruling as an appeals court judge.

Video: Face The Nation, 06.28.09
Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Miss.) discusses the scandal surrounding Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) and the future of the Republican Party; Dr. Susan Rice addressed the current state of relations between the U.S. and Iran; Plus. Bob Schieffer on the death of Michael Jackson.
McConnell: 'Energy tax, gov't-run' health

by Mark Silva

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, calling the energy bill that cleared the House "a national energy tax,'' accuses the Democrats of driving up spending and taxes with everything from energy initiatives to their healthcare reforms.

"What they really have in mind... is to create a government-run plan after which there won't be any insurance companies,'' McConnell (R-Ky.) said of the Democratic healthcare reform agenda, in an appearance on FOX News Sunday.

"Right now we have a whole lot of private insurance companies and a whole lot of competition. That would eliminate that."

As for the energy bill that cleared the House narrowly -- with the help of eight Republicans in the House: "I don't think putting clamps on our economy when you know the Chinese and the Indians are not going to do it is a good idea.

"Why not develop technology to burn coal cleanly and build new nuclear power plants? The French, for example, produce 85 percent of their power from nuclear plants. They don't have a CO2 emission problem."

McConnell addressed these and other issues today:

On Republican plans for health care reform:

"Let's equalize tax treatment, target prevention and wellness, do something about medical malpractice junk lawsuits against doctors and hospitals that drive up the cost of health care. All of those things could be achieved on a broad bipartisan basis and not wreck the finest health care system in the world."

"It strikes us that a better way to go is to deal with the equalization in the tax code. For example, right now, a company that provides health care for its employees can deduct that -- those premiums on its corporate tax return, but if you're an individual buying health care, it's not deductible. That ought to be equalized. Prevention--we've all heard about what the Safeway company has done to target obesity, smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and lack of exercise. They have capped their insurance premiums by aggressively incentivizing wellness.

"These programs that are being kicked around on Capitol Hill would actually prevent that kind of thing. So there's much to be done, Bret, but not in the direction I think the administration's trying to take this.''

On a government-run health plan:

"What they really have in mind, Bret, is to create a government-run plan after which there won't be any insurance companies. Right now we have a whole lot of private insurance companies and a whole lot of competition. That would eliminate that."

"We have some problems with access and with cost, which can -- addressed without wrecking the best health care system in the world."

"So all of this in an effort to have a massive takeover of [one sixth] of our economy."

"I think there are a lot of Democrats who are uncomfortable with the government option, the government plan. We've had three or four Democrats who have spoken out against it. They're being hammered in their states by left-wing groups. I think it is making them even more resistant to this bad idea that the government should take over the insurance business. ''

On Democrat plans for the costs of health care:

And then when you get to the question of paying for it, it appears as if they want to pay for it on the backs of seniors through Medicare cuts and raising taxes."

"But the real question is, do you want to do something that is so comprehensive that requires this kind of cuts to Medicare and to seniors and to -- all of these tax increases?"

On the "national energy tax:"

"The president himself said last year you'd -- it will lead to skyrocketing electricity increases. Think of it as a light switch tax. I think the president's right. I think it's going to lead to significant increases in electricity across America in an effort to try to deal with a global problem...The way to get at it is to build more nuclear power plants which don't have a CO2 emission problem and to develop the kind of technology to burn coal cleanly."

"I don't think sending the cost of electricity up is a god idea. It's going to cost jobs. Obviously it will. It's going to increase the business of living in America. We all depend on electricity. Think of it every time you turn your light switch on."

"I don't think putting clamps on our economy when you know the Chinese and the Indians are not going to do it is a good idea. Why not develop technology to burn coal cleanly and build new nuclear power plants? The French, for example, produce 85 percent of their power from nuclear plants. They don't have a CO2 emission problem."

On the nomination of Judge Sotomayor:

"Well, you know, the Democrats filibustered, seven times, a Hispanic-American nominee named Miguel Estrada during the Bush administration. I think we ought to judge these nominees on their merits, not their ethnicity or gender.

"And with regard to Judge Sotomayor, I think the key is just to finish the job. For example, just a day or so ago, we discovered that there are 300 boxes of additional material that has just been discovered from her time working with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund.

"The committee needs to have access to that material and time to work through it so we don't -- so we know all the facts before we vote on a person who's up for a lifetime job."

On immigration:

"[W]e need to move forward on border security. I think we've made some progress in securing the border. But the war -- the drug lord war over on the Mexican border -- on the Mexican side of the border going along certainly complicates everything. We're open to looking at immigration reform. We've tried it in the past. It's very tough."

White House Weighs Exec Order On Detention

White House Weighs Exec Order On Detention
Washington Post: Move Would Reassert Power To Hold Terror Suspects Indefinitely
Lisa Marie: MJ Feared Dying Like Elvis
Lisa Marie Presley, Michael Jackson's first wife and the daughter of Elvis, posted a message on her MySpace page about the pop star's death. She says the two spoke of his death and that he feared he would end up...
Cap and trade roll-call: Republicans save

by Mark Silva

When a vote is close, any number of reasons can explain it.

But, for all the Republican Party's criticism of the far-reaching Obama administration energy and climate control bill that narrowly cleared the House on Fridayby a vote of 219-212Republicans are responsible for passing it.

Eight Republicansincluding Rep. Mark Kirk of Illinoisbucked their party's leadership to vote for the bill capping greenhouse gas emissions and enabling polluters to trade rights for emissions to one another. President Barack Obama says it will spur development of alternative energywind and solar-powerand create millions of new jobs in the bargain. Republicans call it a "national energy tax,'' and a "carbon tax.'

Just as three Republicans in the Senate helped save Obama's economic stimulus spending act when it passed the Senate, a handful of Republicans have saved his energy bill in the Housewhich leads to the question of which Republicans will help pass the president's healthcare reform act.

With 44 Democrats turning against the energy bill on the House floor, the majority needed all the help it could find from Republicans to save it. And they found that with a cast of eight, including a few from New Jersey, where they know something about pollution.

The Republicans who saved the energy bill: Reps. Mary Bono of California, Michael Castle of Delaware, Norman Dicks of Washington, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Lenoard Lance of New Jersey, Frank LoBiondo of New Jersey, David Reichert of Washington and Chris Smith of New Jersey.

While Republican leaders slam the Democratic majority for ramming through a 1,200-page bill that few, if any, have read, Kirk says he made a point of reading the whole thing.

You'll find the names of the 44 Democrats who voted against it at the House clerk's roll call on the American Clean Energy and Security Act.

House Narrowly Passes Climate Change Measure

The U.S. House voted 219-212 for a sweeping bill to combat global warming. It would put gradually stricter caps on the total national output of heat-trapping gases, based on a system of permits that can be bought and sold.

Michael Jackson: D.C. moment of silence

Jenny Sanford: I Learned Of Affair In Jan.
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Michael Jackson: D.C. moment of silence

by Mark Silva and Richard Simon

The United States House of Representatives marked a moment of silence today for Michael Jackson, the pop music icon who died in Los Angeles at the age of 50.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) told the House: "If there is a God, and I believe there is, and that God distributes grace and mercy and talent to all of his children, on Aug. 29, 1958, he visited Gary, Indiana, and touched a young man with an abundance of his blessings.

"With that gift that young man, Michael Jackson, would touch and change the world,'' Rep. Jackson said. "I come to the floor today on behalf of a generation to thank God for letting all of us live in his generation and his era.''

``A young man has left Earth, but now resides in the stars,'' said Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.) And the House stood silent.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, also issued a written statement later:

"Michael Jackson was an icon who inspired generations around the world through song and dance. His contributions to American music are innumerable and the genius of his talent will endure for years to come. Our thoughts and prayers are with Michael's family as we mourn and remember this incredible human being who touched the lives of millions."

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said later today that President Barack Obama saw Jackson as a spectacular performer and music icon whose life nonetheless had sad and tragic aspects. Obama sends his condolences to the late singer's family and fans, Gibbs said when asked, but the White House did not issue any formal statement.

Wife Of Mich. Congressman Pleads Guilty To Bribery

Detroit City Council member Monica Conyers, the wife of powerful Democratic congressman John Conyers, pleaded guilty Friday to accepting cash bribes in exchange for supporting a sludge contract with a Houston company.

Obama Presses For Climate Bill

Obama Presses For Climate Bill
In Rose Garden, President Says Legislation Will Create New Jobs, Says Opposition Is Due To "Misinformation"
A Look Back at the Career of America's Sweetheart
Charlie’s original angel has passed away. Farrah Fawcett’s role as Jill Munroe on the first season of the T.V. show Charlie’s Angels catapulted her into the spotlight where she remained for nearly four decades. Along with her Angels co-stars Kate...
Merkel: Climate right for climate action

by Mark Silva

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, among the European leaders who have pressed the United States hardest on the question of climate change, is arriving in Washington for a meeting with President Barack Obama as the House prepares to vote on the "Clean Energy and Security Act.''

This will be Merkel's fourth meeting with Obamawith the German leader planning to speak with her American counterpart about climate protection and the global economy. The two plan a joint press availability at the White House on Friday.

"I am very much looking forward to the visit," Merkel said before leaving Berlin today.

The timing may not be quite perfect, however.

"As the House heads toward a vote on landmark global warming legislation, Democratic leaders are still trying to shore up support from pockets of resistance in their own party,'' Congressional Quarterly reports. "House leaders are trying to secure a majority for passage in time for a floor vote on Friday.

But Agriculture Chairman Collin C. Peterson ( D-Minn.). who has been working with bill sponsors on specific details, said the vote could be delayed until Saturday.

(Climate activists of the pressure group Avaaz ("Voice") dressed as super heroes German chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and President Barack Obama, right, in front of Brandenburg gate in Berlin today calling on Merkel to return to her previous status as 'EU climate superhero.' Photo by Maya Hitij / )

Obama and Merkel will meet again several times this year: At the Group of Eight Summit in Italy early next month, at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh in September and at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December. They two met in July 2008, in Berlin, before Obama was elected and have met three times since his electionin Baden-Baden in April and in Dresden and Buchenwald in June.

Merkel also plans a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Pelosi) and other members of Congress, where Chancellor Merkel will also address climate protection.

The German government is praising the American Clean Energy and Security Act under debate now"The German government welcomes this debate on climate protection and would like to see the United States commit itself to binding reduction targets at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen,'' the government said in a statement today.

"There is currently much movement on this issue in the United States.... making it a good time to talk about how an agreement can be reached at the Copenhagen climate conference. However, there is still a great deal of work ahead.''

Why Is It OK To Say "That's So Gay?"

Name-calling on playgrounds is a common occurrence. Many kids are taught by their parents and teachers that racial and ethnic slurs are not okay. But calling someone "gay" is still fair game in some circles, and is broadly used by children — and adults — as an insult.

Palin Pays Alaska For First Family Travel

Palin Pays Alaska For First Family Travel
Alaska Governor Reimburses State For Trips Made With Her Children
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford: 'I've Been Unfaithful to My Wife'
Facing a explosion of skepticism, Gov. Mark Sanford is talking. At a press conference in the state capital, Sanford said, “One desperately needs a break from the bubble.” Though the press conference quickly changed gears. "But let me lay out...
Mark Sanford's affair: Argentina, amor

by Mark Silva and updated

Gov. Mark Sanford has come clean.

Not only was he not hiking on the Appalachian Trail -- but rather cruising around Argentina -- during his recent disappearing act.

The Republican governor of South Carolina also has been having an affair during the past year, he acknowledged today, just returned from his South American adventure. He said he had wanted something more "exotic'' than an Appalachian hike.

There goes another potential 2012 contendor

The Republican who had been viewed by some as a prospective candidate for president now is stepping down as head of the Republican Governors Association.

David Johnson, an Atlanta-based Republican pollster and strategist who campaigned for Bob Dole's presidential bid, says scandals such as Sanford's and Sen. John Ensign's recent admission of an affair mean that candidates such as Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee, "who were considered by some as boring and shopworn, may get another look for 2012,'' and could also draw more attention to Govs. Haley Barbour and Bobby Jindal, and Sen, John Thune.

Sanford, a married father of four, whose wife could not account for his whereabouts during the Father's Day weekend, emotionally apologized to his wife, staff and others after returning today from Argentina.

"I've let down a lot of people," Sanford said, "That's the bottom line. All I can say is I apologize."

Sanford told reporters that, for eight years, he and the Argentine woman had a "remarkable friendship" that turned into a romantic relationship during the past year. Sanford said his wife knew about the affair before his trip to Argentina and that they had been "working through this for the last five months."

The relationship "was selfishness on my part, and for that I am most apologetic," the governor said

His staff had said the Republican was hiking on the Appalachian Trai,l decompressing from a recent legislative session.

The former congressman had made news with his unsuccessful fight to reject federal stimulus spending for his state's schools.

Now he has another sort of headline going.

(South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and his wife, Jenny, pictured above, attended a White House dinner in February hosted by President Barack Obama. Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais / . Sanford, pictured with his family below, took the oath of office after reelection last year. file photo. )

First elected governor in 2002, the former real estate developer has more than year remaining in his second term but is barred by state law from running again.

Sanford's announcement came a week after another prominent Republican, Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, apologized to his Senate colleagues after revealing last week that he had an affair with a campaign staffer and was resigning from the GOP leadership. He forfeited his party's No. 4 post in the Senate.

Sanford was born May 28, 1960, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the eldest of four. He earned a bachelor's degree in business from Furman University in 1983 and a master's of business administration from the University of Virginia in 1988.

After working in the financial world in New York, he returned to South Carolina. He served in the U.S. House for three terms before honoring a term-limits pledge and leaving office in 2001.

In 2002, he defeated incumbent Democrat Jim Hodges by 4 percentage points to become governor and won re-election in 2006, defeating Democratic state Sen. Tommy Moore.

As governor, Sanford has had seemingly endless run-ins with the GOP-dominated Legislature, once bringing pigs to the House chamber to protest pork barrel spending. He also put a "spending clock" outside his office to show how quickly a proposed budget would spend state money.

The governor, his office this week, "has never been accused of being conventional.'' His office also had been unable to say where he was, before issuing a statement Monday night that he was hiking along the Appalachian Trail.

He returned yesterday via Atlanta, where he told a waiting reporter from The State newspaper of Columbia, S.C., that he had been in Argentina. He told the rest of the story at a news conference in the capital.

Wire stories contributed to this report.

Where In The World Is Gov. Mark Sanford?

Political junkie Ken Rudin takes on the week, including newly released audio of President Richard Nixon and "missing" Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC). Also, NPR White House correspondent Don Gonyea talks about accusations of "preferential treatment" at President Obama's press conference.

Michelle Obama: Health and French fries

Video: Washington Unplugged, 06.23.09
During his news conference, Pres. Obama addressed the crisis in Iran and his hopes for health care reform. Bob Schieffer was joined by CBS News Senior White House Correspondent Chip Reid and CBS News Pentagon Correspondent David Martin. Nancy Cordes also has the latest on the Metro train crash.
Eight Dollars for Sore Feet
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Michelle Obama: Health and French fries

by Mark Silva

This may sound familiar:

A first lady talking about healthcare.

"The country has moved to another point in time," First Lady Michelle Obama said of the president's push for healthcare reforma different plan, at a different time, from the one which former President Bill Clinton and then-First Lady Hillary Clinton pushed wiothout success in the 1990s.

"It's not going to be easy, but you have more people who are ready to try to figure it out,'' Michelle Obama said in an interview aired this morning on ABC News' Good Morning America. "And hopefully that will ultimately make the difference this time around. "

Success is possible now, she suggested, because "more and more people are ready for this kind of reform."

Yet the first lady, who has attracted a lof of attention to the cause of healthy eating with the planting of a White House garden, inviting Washington-area schoolchildren in to help out, allows that her own favorite food lies somewhere off the organic chart:

"I love French fries: my favorite food," she said.

But that doesn't rule out a healthy diet, according to a first lady hoping that she, by example at home and with a bully pulpit, is "ringing the bell'' about the need for good food and exercise.

That's part of what we try to teach our kids,'' she said.

"It's not about never, ever,'' she said of those favorite fries. "There are some people who make that choice. We're not one of those. I love food. It's really about balance and choices.... My hope is that if I play a role in sort of ringing the bell of prevention and wellness and exercise, if that changes somebody's life or it sets a new tone for the next generation, I think that can be helpful."

(Photo above of Michelle Obama gardening with schoolchildren at the White House last week, by Alex Brandon / )>

The first lady sat with "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts in the garden on the White House South Lawn.

"We try to do more meals as a family," Obama said. "Just sitting together and having dinner has made a huge difference in how we eat and enjoy food."

The girls are eating their vegetables.

"Sasha likes peas, and Malia is a pretty big broccoli fan," she said, acknowledging that it's difficult for families to promote healthy eating. "The truth is, people are busy and they're stressed and they're tired. hat I know. And far be it from me to be a part of adding any more stress to anyone's lives'because 'Michelle Obama did it; that means I have to do it.'

"I have a lot of help. I've got a mother here, I've got resources. I would be remiss in not acknowledging that. But I would also urge people to think about the small things that they can do within their control."

Her own passion for healthy eating stems from her own experience as a working mother before arriving at the White House, the attorney and former Chicago hospital executive said.

"Probably like most moms, working mothers, working parents, there is a period when you struggle to figure out with a busy schedule, how do you feed your kids and make sure that they are eating healthy?" she said, recalling a time when the family was eating take-out and "a lot of easy, fast foods, and I saw it starting to take a toll on my kids' health."

The family's pediatrician suggested they change Malia's and Sasha's eating habits, she said, and during the presidential campaign they started eliminating processed food and adding fruits and vegetables to their diet, cooking more, eating out less.

"I feel more energized," their mother said. "I feel more invigorated when I'm following a healthy routine. And if I feel that way, I can only imagine how my kids feel. So you know, this is something that we can take on in this country."

The nation finally is paying attention to childhood obesity, she noted. "I don't think we have to call it a crisis to make change. It is what it is," she said. "You can look in your own neighborhoods, in your own families, in your own lives and see the truth of that. So we don't need someone to label it to know that we can fix it.

"Government can't do it all," she said, emphasizing the importance of things like exercise. "These things will eliminate obesity and cut down on costs. I mean, we're spending about $120 billion additional a year on our health care system as a result of these sort of chronic illnesses that you see that are connected to obesity. We already know that."

Her own focus is on "talking with young people before these habits are ingrained about what it means to grow your own food, what it means to eat something that's grown locally, because what I found was that kids are very simple. They eat what tastes good and if a carrot tastes good, they'll eat it. And what we've found is that freshly grown food is -- it just tastes better.

"My hope is that if I play a role in sort of ringing the bell of prevention and wellness and exercise, if that changes somebody's life or it sets a new tone for the next generation,'' she said, "I think that can be helpful."

Obama Denounces Violence On Iran's Streets

President Obama on Tuesday used his strongest language to date to denounce the Iranian government's violence against election protesters, expressing outrage at the deadly crackdown. He also pushed his health care overhaul plan and addressed the economy during a White House news conference.

Mickelson Finishes Second...

Video: Washington Unplugged, 06.22.09
As criticism mounts, what's next for the White House and the continuing crisis in Iran. CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Chip Reid has the latest and John Dickerson spoke with CSIS Senior Advisor Arnaud De Borchgrave.
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Biden's lips zipped, canary swallowed?

by Mark Silva

Joe Scarborough was quick to pick up this morning on the fact that President Barack Obama suggested that the MSNBC Morning Joe host doesn't know when to stop talking.

Scarborough partner Mika Brezinski and the president have a lot in common, the president joked the other night at the Radio and TV Correspondents dinner.

They both have partners named Joe "who don't know when to stop talking.''

Obama had even taken note of Vice President Joe Biden's loquaciousness three years ago, when the then-senator from Illinois played stand-up comic at the Gridiron Club in Washington:

"Believe me, when you're the last guy to ask questions at every committee hearing, you have plenty of time to collect your thoughts,'' Obama said then. "Especially when Joe Biden's on the committee.''

So it appeared today, in that Rose Garden appearance for the signing of the tobacco regulation bill that Biden had gotten the message.

His lips were zipped.

No more talk of those problems flowing uphill.

It looked like he may have bitten his tongue. too.

Supreme Court Avoids Voting Rights Act Showdown

The Supreme Court surprised some court watchers Monday by declining to gut the 1965 Voting Rights Act. One legal observer suggests that recent racist incidents involving Southern Republicans may have influenced the court's decision.

Obama, Iran, North Korea and healthcare

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Times Reporter's Plight Well-Known to Foreign Correspondents
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Obama, Iran, North Korea and healthcare

by Mark Silva

A couple of old party soldiers -- former Sens. Sam Nunn, Democrat from Georgia, and Fred Thompson, Republican from Tennessee -- debated President Barack Obama's stances on Iran and North Korea and the prospects for healthcare reform.

Benjamian Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, also appeared on NBC News' Meet the Press this morning, a busy place, and said that he, for one, will not be second-guessing Obama's approach to Iran, where post-election protests in the streets have yielded more deaths at the hands of government forces.

There's a lot to hear here, and plenty of room for your own commentary below. This father's stepping out for a while.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Conservatives Push For Rival U.S. Anglican Church

Conservative Anglican leaders arrive in Bedford, Texas, this weekend to discuss creating a new Anglican province in the United States. Conservatives split off from the U.S. Episcopal Church, aligning themselves with bishops in other countries, after the ordination of an openly gay bishop.

Video: Obama's Message To Iran

Video: Obama's Message To Iran
CBS News Exclusive: Harry Smith speaks with U.S. President Barack Obama about the current series of massive protests in Iran. Mr. Obama also addresses criticisms over his alleged silence on this issue.
Nestle Cookie Dough Recall: What You Need to Know
Nestle voluntarily recalled its pre-packaged Toll House cookie dough products today amidst fears that it could be contaminated with a form of E. coli. Their recommendation? Don't eat the raw dough. More than 60 people in 28 states have become...
Obama's greatest: 'If I only had McCain'

by Mark Silva

Some jobs, people grow into.

But it appears that President Barack Obama was born to the role of comedian-in-chief. Never mind his 58 percent public job approval. He's been playing in the 90th percentile at the Washington comedy shows for some time now.

His routine last night at the Rado and TV Correspondents dinner -- with those jokes about Rahm Emanuel and the camel and Joe Biden's incessant talking, and that program that ABC is planning about the White House called "Dancing With the Czars'' -- got us to thinking about the night three years ago when Obama stepped out to make fun of -- none other than Biden, his future running mate, and John McCain, his future adversary in a bid for the White House.

Three years ago, with his debut at the head table of the white-tie Gridiron Club, Obama, then-junior senator from Illinois, showed that he not only had impeccaable timing and creative ghost writers, but also could sing.

""Men in tails. Women in gowns,'' Obama marveled that night in April 2007. "An orchestra playing, as folks reminisce about the good old days....

" Kind of like dinner at the Kerrys.''

Wielding a script for which Democratic political consultant David Axelrod bore a great deal of credit, Obama said: "The truth is, I'm terrified to be here... Not because you're such a tough audience, but because they're serving drinks. I'm standing about 30 yards from the vice president, and I'm a lawyer. The only thing that could make this more dangerous is if he considered me a friend...

"About that book,'' he said of his best-selling memoir in the days before The Audacity of Hope, "some folks thought it was a little presumptuous to write an autobiography at the age of 33... But people seemed to like it. So now I'm working on volume twothe Senate months. My remarkable journey from 99th in seniority to 98th.

"Believe me, when you're the last guy to ask questions at every committee hearing, you have plenty of time to collect your thoughts,'' he said, with a joke that bears a certain amount of added relevance today. "Especially when Joe Biden's on the committee.''

Then the band struck up a familiar refrain from The Wizard of Oz, and Obama proceeded to sing from the podium, with a steady, unflinching, and even in-tune delivery of a song about the senator from Arizona whom he would later face at the polls:

"I'm aspiring to greatness, but somehow I feel weightless.
A freshman's sad refrain.
I could be a great uniter, making ethics rules much tighter,
If I only had McCain...

"I could bring us all together, no storm we couldn't weather.
We'd feel each other's pain.
Red and blue wouldn't matter, party differences would shatter,
If I only had McCain.

"Oh why is it so hard, for honest men of good will to agree.
If we ever found a way to strike a deal, would we survive... politically?
"When a wide-eyed young idealist confronts a seasoned realist,
there's bound to be some strain.

"With the game barely started, I'd be feeling less downhearted,
If I only had McCain.
"Still I hope for the better, though I may rewrite my letter,
cause I gotta have McCain.''

Obama Maintains Measured Response On Iran

The Obama administration continues a measured response to the situation in Iran. Friday, President Obama said how Iran's leaders choose to "deal with people who are, through peaceful means, trying to be heard" will signal "what Iran is and is not." And the White House reacted favorably to a congressional resolution condemning Tehran's crackdown on demonstrators.

Obama Pushing Importance Of Being Good Dad

Obama Pushing Importance Of Being Good Dad
In Conjunction With Father's Day Weekend, President Blocks Out Afternoon To Promote Responsible Fatherhood
The White House’s Pesky Problem
On Tuesday, Barack Obama sat down for an interview to discuss financial regulatory reforms. In the middle of the interview, he was distracted -- by a fly -- which he slapped and killed. “I got it. I got the sucker,”...
Bo, first dog, sits for formal portrait

by Mark Silva

It's official, formal and suitable for framing.

The White House has released the official photographic portrait of the First...

Dog.

"Bo,'' the Portuguese water dog adopted by President Barack Obama, wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia -- a delivered campaign promise for the girls, actually -- is pictured in black, but no tie, on the South Lawn of the White House.

Also known in the registry of the American Kennel Club as Amigo's New Hope, for the kennel where he was born, the first pooch was a gift to the first family from Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.)

The White House photo by Chuck Kennedy comes with an appropriate depth of field in which the dog looms larger than the White House, which on many occasions Bo has.

The president actually has growled at this dog, as he showed off his pet's good training in a recent interview with NBC News' Brian Willaims -- "Grrrrr,'' said Obama, handed one of Bo's white paws and proclaiming: "That's what I'm talking about.''

And when they say, sit, Bo drops for the camera.

The White House notes that the first formal photo is not for commercial use -- the makers of Beanie Babies already have taken care of marketing the pooch's name with their Beanie Bo.

Can Health Care Reform Succeed This Time?

Health care reform officially began in Washington this week, and lawmakers have been hashing out the painful trade-offs of a bipartisan plan. Guest host Paul Raeburn talks with experts about the economic and medical realities of improving care and coverage at lower costs.

Ask Amy How To Handle "Mom, I Want A Tattoo"

Edwards Doesn't Rule Out Political Return
Washington Post: Former Presidential Hopeful Seeks Quiet Recovery As He Focuses On Family After Admitting Affair
Just How Far Does $27.5 Billion Go?
The U.S. is set to spend $27.5 billion to repair buildings and highways across the country. Sounds like a lot, right? In today's webcast, Robert Krulwich takes a closer look at how far that money will go (not as far...
Gates: U.S. ready to defend Hawaii

by Julian E. Barnes

Reacting to reports that North Korea may be preparing to test-fire a missile toward Hawaii, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today that he had concerns about such a launch and had ordered additional missile defense assets deployed to shore up defense of the islands.

Gates said he had ordered the deployment of a powerful sea-based radar that can help closely track the path of intercontinental ballistic missiles as well as terminal phase missile interceptors to Hawaii. Although Gates did not explicitly say that the U.S. would try to shoot down a missile test aimed in the direction of Hawaii, he noted that interceptor missiles in California and Alaska also were ready.

"The ground-based interceptors are clearly in a position to take action," Gates said. "So without telegraphing what we will do, I would just say, we are -- I think we are in a good position, should it become necessary to protect American territory."

Gates said the Defense Department was watching the North Korean situation and missile preparations closely.

"We're obviously watching the situation in the north, with respect to missile launches, very closely,'' Gates said. "And we do have some concerns, if they were to launch a missile to the west, in the direction of Hawaii.''

Theater missiles in the Pacific Ocean or the mid-course interceptors would be the most likely defenses able to shoot down a North Korean missile.

The THAAD missiles deployed to Hawaii are terminal phase defense, meant to shoot down missiles just minutes before they impact their target. They have not yet been tested on long-range missiles, but would be a final defense should mid-course interceptors fail to destroy their targets.

Ask Amy How To Handle "Mom, I Want A Tattoo"

There are a few discussions between parents and teenagers that are so common they've become iconic. One such conversation is the one that starts with "Mom, I want a tattoo." Has your son or daughter broached the subject? How did you handle it?

Conservatives Have 'Originalism'; Liberals Have Â…?

Video: Reforming Financial Regulations
President Obama proposed regulations for the U.S. financial system that would give new powers to the Fed as well as create a new consumer protection agency that would guard against the issues that contributed to the current economic crisis.
Journalism Goes Ga-Ga Over Twitter: A Little Perspective
ABC's Lara Setrakian reports from Dubai: Twitter @laraabcnews A few weeks back we reported on the use of high tech politics in Iran, from Mir Hossein Mousavi’s facebook page to the Supreme Leader’s tweets. That was before Friday’s election. Since...
Obama's fly-swat: 'Got the sucker'

by Mark Silva

Shoo, fly.

It's a big day at the White House.

President Barack Obama plans to roll out new regulatory recommendations for the nation's shaken financial markets this afterrnoon. Early this evening, in the Oval Office, he will present a presidential memorandum extending rights to gay federal workers.

But this morning, the slug on one dispatch is Obama-dead fly.

The president was sitting for a TV interview with CNBC's John Harwood at the Executive Mansion on Tuesday whenObama took matters into his own hands. Annoyed by a persistent fly, the president ordered the bug: "Get out of here."

When it didn't flee, the president waited for the fly to settle, put his hand up and smacked the insect dead in one executive swat. Without missing a beat, Obama asked Harwood: "Now, where were we?"

"Nice,'' Harwood said.

But the president was soliciting yet more applause from his staff, adding: "That was pretty impressive, wasn't it?... I got the sucker."

"Very good,'' said Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

See the whole show here:

 

Conservatives Have 'Originalism'; Liberals Have Â…?

Conservative Supreme Court nominees espouse originalism, the theory that the Constitution's meaning remains static. With Sotomayor's nomination, liberals are looking for a way to sell their own view that interpretation must reflect the changing norms of society.

U.S. Expands Human Trafficking Watchlist

U.S. Expands Human Trafficking Watchlist
State Department Adds Twelve More Countries To Annual Report For A Total Of 52
If Text Messaging is Cheap, Why Does it Cost So Much?
ABC's Tom Shine from DC: According to Joel Kelsey of Consumers Union, text messaging uses less data than almost any other service on a wireless network. "The text message is a free rider inside the so-called "control channel" or space...
Jefferson's cold cash: Safe keeping

by Mark Silva

For all those jokes about former Rep. William Jefferson's frozen assets, the Louisiana Democrat's lawyer maintains there is a simple explanation.

"The money in the freezer was not a bribe," attorney Robert Trout said of the $90,000 in cold cash that the former congressman had in his freezer. "He was looking to hide the cash so that it would not be found by his housekeeper" or an intruder.

Jefferson, 62, is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and unlawfully using his office to promote business deals to benefit his family. He faces up to 20 years in prison on each of 16 counts including soliciting bribes, racketeering, money laundering and obstructing justice. His trial in federal court in Alexandria, Va., opened today, more than three years after he was charged and almost four years after investigators reported finding a lot of money on ice in the congressman's home.

Jefferson's lawyer claims that he was the victim of an elaborate FBI sting, and the fact that he never gave the cash to a Nigerian official, as the government contends he planned to do, is evidence of his innocence.

"With a lot of time, and a lot of wine, they set out to bag a congressman," Trout said. "William Jefferson did not take a bribe, did not solicit a bribe, did not conspire to take a bribe. He is not guilty of any of the charges, period."

Prosecutors told a different tale in opening arguments today: Jefferson was more than $60,000 in debt during the time that he is accused of concocting a series of bribery schemes. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Lytle suggested that Jefferson's debts may have motivated him to seek bribes. In addition to $62,000 in credit card debt, Lytle said Jefferson and his wife had about $40,000 in bounced check fees and other penalties on their bank accounts.

The trial is set to last a month.

Muslims Face Risk In Giving To Charities

After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the government suspected that some Muslim charities were funneling donations to terrorist groups like al-Qaida. Anyone who donated to those charities could be accused of giving material support to terrorists. As a result, many Muslims abandoned their religious commitments to charity, one of the five pillars of Islam.

Protests Turn Violent in Tehran

Homeowners Not Receiving Promised Help
California imposed a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures. The development is good news for those stonewalled at the bank despite the Obama administration's plan to help homeowners rewrite their mortgages. CBS News heard one family's story.
Protests Turn Violent in Tehran
Tens of thousands of protestors filled the streets of Tehran today to rally against the presidential election results, which many claim were rigged. Earlier today, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei made a surprising move when he ordered an investigation into...
GOP 'umpire' blows call on Sotomayor

by Andrew Zajac

One of the more curiousand flawedlines of attack by Republicans against the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is to raise doubts about whether she would be a fair "umpire" of legal disputes.

Jurist-as-umpire is an attractive metaphor, conjuring up Norman Rockwellesque imagery of a somber, unassailably honest arbiter calling balls and strikes without fear or favor.

But examine it carefully and that image actually undercuts the message Republicans are trying to convey.

In a recent story, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, wondered if she "sees her role as something more than that of an impartial umpire."

'Republicans have seized on speeches in which Sotomayor said she hoped a wise woman or Latina "with the richness of her experiences" would make better, more compassionate decisions in court than a white man,' the reported.

'"Do I want a judge that allows his or her social, political or religious views to impact the outcome, or do I want a judge that objectively applies the law to the facts?"' Sessions asked in the story.

If Sessions is looking for Sotomayor to handle cases like an umpire, the answer may be closer to the former than the latter.

For many years, umpires in the American League were widely believed to call balls and strikes differently than their National League counterparts.

This probably had to do with the American League umps' use of a bulky, rigid chest protector which made it harder to squat as low as NL umps, who wore smaller, flexible chest protectors, similar to a catcher's, inside their jackets.

The AL eventually got rid of the outside chest protector and in 2000, Major League Baseball merged umpiring staffs, which led to this observation from Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn in an story from April of that year:
"It will be difficult at first to adjust," Gwynn said. "There's a big difference between what the NL and AL umpires call. I'm not going into specifics, but there's a big difference," Gwynn said.

For years, people have talked about varying strike zonesthe NL umps supposedly called a lower strike,' the reported.

So for the first 124 or so of the major leagues, petitioners, er, batters, received at least two different kinds of justice depending on which league they played in.

In the same story, umpire John Hirschbeck downplayed the difference in strike-calling between the two leagues, but acknowledged something pitchers and hitters have long known: each umpire calls balls and strikes a little bit differently.

Said Hirschbeck:
"Some guys have a tighter strike zone, but if the ball is over the plate at the right height, that's a strike no matter who you are," Hirschbeck said. "Up and down, the same thing. Some guys are a little tighter. They want that ball, in their minds, to be right on the plate. 'Other guys say that if it nicks the corner, that's good enough for me..."

That means that even with an staff of umpires blended from both leagues, individual differences would remain.

Even if an umpire is "impartial", to use Sessions' word, a subtle collection of factors in his background including where he went to umpiring school, where he began his career and even his temperament, could lead him to call a game differently than his colleagues. Impartially, but differently.

Arguably this is the case with Chief Justice John Roberts, who compared himself to an umpire during his own confirmation hearings four years ago.

As pointed out in Jeffrey Toobin's recent New Yorker profile of Roberts, "in every major case since he became the nation's seventeenth Chief Justice, Roberts has sided with the prosecution over the defendant, the state over the condemned, the executive branch over the legislative, and the corporate defendant over the individual plaintiff."

This, argues Toobin, "reflects a view that the Court should almost always defer to the existing power relationships in society."

Is that because Roberts was reading the law more precisely, more 'impartially', than other justices who reached different conclusions?

Or can it be that Roberts' upbringing in a prosperous, insular Indiana company town, and his service as a young aide in a conservative Reagan Justice Department made him more comfortable with the status quo, more leery of change than someone from a different background?

'Umpire' Sotomayor had a different set of formative experiences, including growing up as a minority in modest circumstances and beginning her working life as a prosecutor.
Would that influence her thinking on affirmative action and criminal law?

Maybe. But from the standpoint of her suitability to serve on the court why should that matter any more than Roberts' country club background might curb his appetite for questioning social and legal orthodoxy?

Following In Your Father's Footsteps

On Father's Day, many celebrate their fathers. But some children pay tribute to their dads daily by earning a living following in their footsteps. Did you take up your father's profession? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

Obama's 'czars:' Halls of fame

by Mike Dorning

Kenneth Feinberg, the latest Obama administration official the news media have anointed "czar," hardly has the kind of power that would impress Ivan the Terrible or Peter the Great.

Feinberg, widely described as the White House's "pay czar," will have real control over compensation of executives at exactly seven companies that have been large recipients of government bailout money. And he has discretion over only the top five executives and 20 most highly paid employees in those companies. At most, that's 175 people.

But czars are proliferating in Washington with a White House that has demonstrated a clear inclination to concentrate broad authority in its top officials by crossing traditional bureaucratic boundaries and a 24-hour cable news culture that has discovered that the appointment of a czar is more exciting than, say, an adviser on urban issues.

There's health reform czar, a drug czar, a border czar, a regulatory czar, an info-tech czar -- everything, it sometimes seems, but a Russian czar.

In fact, Republican Sen. John McCain has joked that President Barack Obama has "more czars than the Romanovs," the dynasty of czars that ruled Russia for three centuries.

Since czar isn't an official job title, the number is somewhat in the eye of the beholder. The magazine Foreign Policy's blog back in April counted 18, though the author included diplomatic "special envoys," which have been used by previous presidents and have not widely been called czars before. Either way, Feinberg didn't make the cut.

Reuters this month counted "as many as 21" czars but didn't provide a list.

It's too many czars, grumble some members of the Senate. They might fear that the real power will flow toward czars, most of whom are not subject to Senate confirmation. It's a matter of accountability, they say.

An argument, perhaps, for expanding the jurisdiction of the accountability czar, Earl Devaney, now charged with monitoring spending under the economic stimulus program.

See the hall of Obama czars below, here in the Swamp:

Executive pay (appointed Wednesday): Kenneth Feinberg

Regulatory czar: Cass Sunstein

Health-care reform: Nancy-Ann DeParle

Efficiency: Jeffrey Zients

Southwest border czar: Alan Bersin

Energy: Carol Browner

Urban affairs: Adolfo Carrion

Economics: Paul Volcker AND/OR??? Lawrence Summers

Government performance: Unfilled

Drug: Gil Kerlikowske

Car czar: Steve Rattner

Bank bailout: Herb Allison

Iran: Dennis Ross

Mideast: George Mitchell

Afghanistan/Pakistan: Richard Holbrooke

Cyber security: To be named.

Distressed auto communities: Ed Montgomery

Climate change: Todd Stern

A Check Up For The Health Care Bill

Host Liane Hansen speaks with NPR's Julie Rovner about the healthcare reform bill making its way through a Senate committee this week. They also look ahead to alternate bills that could have more bipartisan support.

Obama: Save $1T By Cutting Fed Med Costs
The critics said it couldn't be done, but President Barack Obama said he's come up with almost a trillion dollars in savings to provide for 45 million uninsured Americans, reports CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier.
University of Chicago: Class of 2009

by Mark Silva

"Obama eats here,'' read the printed words on the backs of the T-shirts at the University Market on South 57th Street in Chicago, home of the Arrabiata, capocolla, pepperoni, soppressata and provolone on a roll that will make the forehead sweat.

When's the last time the president of the United States actually ate here? "I believe it's when he was five,'' jokes the sandwich maker behind the counter in the back of the market.

An exaggeration, certainly, for here in Hyde Park, next door to the Medici Bakery and around the corner from the University of Chicago lab school where Obama's girls started, the president has had plenty to eat on the leafy streets that ring the university. His house is just up the street.

But we are not here today for Obama.

We are here for a commencement. The 498th Convocation of the University of Chicago is playing out this weekend.

We already have sat through part of it, on Friday, when our son, Dylan Michael Silva, walked for his Master of Arts degree in International Relations. It was sunny in the quadrangle, and we got burned a little. But we aren't complaining. This morning, it is raining, and we will return to the quadrangle to see our son walk for his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. That's right, two in four years. So let it rain. We're sitting in the clouds.

The commencement speaker, a noted research biologist who has found a link between genetics and breast cancer and received a MacArthur Foundation genius grant for her work, is telling these graduates this weekend about the importance of service to one's community. She also is dispensing a joke here and there, such as the one about this being the neighborhood of "one of the most dangerous domestic terrorists.'' We assume that would be Bill Ayers, neighbor of Obama and radical Weatherman from the 1960s turned professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The joke rolls off her lips, and across the ears of a crowd that is hearing really only one thing today: The name of the son or the daughter crossing the stage at the 498th Convocation of one of the greatest universities in the world.

Ours is walking twiceso you'll forgive us if we haven't been posting much in these e-pages or slow in moving comments about all that controversy about the president and his rivals, the weatherman and all other matters political. Today, we aren't complaining.. We don't need a weatherman to know which we our flag is flying.

Some Guantanamo Detainees Headed For Palau

The tiny island nation of Palau (pop. 21,000) has agreed to take in Uighur detainees from Guantanamo. The Uighurs, Muslim separatists from western China, have been judged not to be enemy combatants — i.e., they are not a threat to the United States — but Congress won't allow them to settle here and most other countries won't accept them for fear of angering China, which regards them as terrorists and demands their repatriation for trial. NPR's Michael Sullivan talks with NPR's Scott Simon about what awaits the Uighurs in Palau.

Summers on the Economy: "Free-Fall" is Over

U.S. Moves To Dismiss Gay Marriage Case
The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to have dismissed the first gay marriage case filed in federal court, saying it is not the right venue to tackle legal questions raised by a same-sex couple already married in California.
Summers on the Economy: "Free-Fall" is Over
ABC's Zunaira Zaki reports: Speaking at a Council of Foreign Relations conference on economic policy today, Larry Summers director of the White House National Economic Council, said the worst is behind us and that now is the time to work...
Tobacco regulation: 'It's the smoke'

by Mark Silva

It's been said -- though we'd never suggest such a thing -- that the debate on Capitol Hill sometimes begs the question of what these guys are smoking.

This morning, the answer appears to be lettuce.

The House, debating a tobacco-regulation bill that the Senate has adopted, is poised to give the government the power to regulate tobacco like the drug that it is. President Barack Obama is ready to sign it into law.

But Rep. Steve Buyer, a Republican from Indiana, told his colleagues on the floor this morning that it's not tobacco which is to blame for millions of Americans dying, but rather the smoke they inhale at the filter end of their smokes. (See the argument above, courtesy of C-SPAN.)

""Too often we should be careful about being cute here on the House floor,'' Byyer said today. "So cute means the reference with regard to lettuce. So I'll follow your logic.

"Do you realize if you were to take that lettuce, dry it, and roll it, and smoke it. And you go ahead and you smoke your lettuce. Do you realize that you are going to end up with similar problems than if you were smoking tobaccco. It's not the nicotine that kills. It's the smoke that kills. So It's the inhalation of the smoke.

:That's what causes and is responsible for the pandemic of cancers, of heart disease, respiratory disease, and other disease. It's the smoke."

Justices May Strike Down Part Of Voting Rights Act

The law has been credited with breaking down barriers to minority voting, but some say its policies are unfair and outdated. According to sources, a team of Justice Department lawyers has been strategizing for weeks on a speedy response in case part of the act is invalidated.

Obama may relent on some Utah drilling

Senate Passes Landmark Anti-Smoking Bill
The Senate has voted to give the government extensive new powers to decide how tobacco companies will make and market their products. Supporters say that could spare millions from smoking addiction and premature death.
President Obama Writes Note to Excuse Fourth Grader from School
Barack Obama surprised everyone when he wrote a note to excuse a girl from school today. John Corpus brought his daughter with him to attend a town hall meeting to hear Obama speak in person. When Corpus stood up to...
Obama may relent on some Utah drilling

By Jim Tankersley

Under intense pressure from Republicans on Capitol Hill, the Obama administration may reinstate more than a third of the 77 controversial oil and gas drilling leases, issued under President George W. Bush, that it blocked near national parks in the Mountain West.

In a report set to be released this morning, Obama's Interior Department sharply criticizes the process by which those leases, included tracts near Arches and Canyonlands national parks in Utah, were auctioned in the waning days of the Bush administration.

The auction "deviated in important respects from the normal leasing process," the report declares, including the Bureau of Land Management's failure to notify the National Park Service about tracts that were a late addition to the sale, and the Bureau's refusal to adequately consider the air quality impacts of the leases.

But the report, which stemmed in part from negotiations that cleared the way for Senate confirmation of the Interior Department's top deputy, also opens the door for the Department to reinstate or re-auction 30 leases on parcels that either lie in existing oil and gas development areas or "not near particularly sensitive landscapes". It instructs the BLM to conduct a more thorough review of those parcels to see if leasing them would be appropriate.

"The BLM team should do its work expeditiously," the report concludes. "Companies who successfully bid on specific parcels should receive timely feedback on whether they will be able to develop those parcels."

The report is not likely to win approval from environmentalists, who have challenged the lease auction in court.

The auction was held in December, barely a month before the Obama administration took office. Conservation groups protested, and incoming Interior Secretary Ken Salazar quickly ordered the 77 most controversial lease sales vacated while a special review could be conducted.

Western Republicans in the Senate, led by Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah, retaliated by stalling the confirmation of David Hayes, Salazar's choice to be his chief deputy. The Republicans relented after Hayes promised to personally conduct an expedited review of the leases, a process that included a tongue-lashing from oil and gas workers at a field hearing in Vernal, Utah.

"This report helps us unwind the problems that landed these 77 parcels in court with a temporary injunction," Salazar said in a press release this morning. "It is clear that in the rush to sell the leases, the previous Administration bypassed normal reviews and consultations with the National Park Service. Only when the light of public scrutiny was shed on the situation did they reconsider some of the most problematic leases, but many of the 77 parcels that were auctioned off are close to National Park units and even closer to other sensitive, world-class landscapes including Desolation Canyon and Nine Mile Canyon."

Fame: A Cautionary Tale

Many people dream about their 15 minutes of fame. But sometimes, worldwide celebrity comes at a cost. Case in point: Susan Boyle, the contestant from Britain's Got Talent, became a household name. She later wound up in the hospital, reportedly for nervous exhaustion.

Sometimes It Pays To Skip The Detour

GOP: Growing Debt Obama's Achilles' Heel
Politico: Republicans on Capitol Hill think they"ve finally found Barack Obama's Achilles' heel: rising public concern about government spending and the federal deficit.
Some Israelis Irked by Obama Photo
ABC's Kirit Radia reports from Washington: Several Israeli media outlets have been insulted by a White House photo released Monday showing President Obama on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, with whom the US has sparred publicly in recent...
Contessa Brewer v. John Ziegler: Mic cut

by Mark Silva

It could have been filmmaker and radio host John Ziegler's description of MSNBC as "Barack Obama's official network.''

It could have been Ziegler's objection to the David Letterman bit poking fun at Sarah Pain: No 1 highlight of Palin's trip to New York: "Not appearing on Letterman.'' No. 2: That 'sllutty flight attendant look.''

It could have been Contessa Brewer's notice of the Gallup Poll survey that found few Republicans identifying any one as a strong spokesman for the GOP -- Palin least among the better-known party faces.

L.A.'s Ziegler -- producer of Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected -- handed MSNBC some of the blame for that public perception of the GOP: "You find this surprising or shocking that because you and the media portray Republicans as old white men, that the public perceives Republicans as old white men?"

Whatever it was, Brewer asked to cut his mic.

Read more about the battle of Contessa Brewer and John Ziegler and see thagt battle in the video above, courtesy of MSNBC.

Sometimes It Pays To Skip The Detour

With "shovel ready" construction projects ramping up across the U.S., drivers are more likely to run into backups and detours. Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic, explains the how and why of work zones, and some innovations that have shortened drivers' creep times.

Ten Million Dollar Picasso Sketchbook Goes Missing

Sotomayor Hearings To Start July 13
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor will convene on July 13.
Ten Million Dollar Picasso Sketchbook Goes Missing
ABC's Maeva Bambuck from London: A Picasso sketchbook worth over ten million dollars has gone missing from the Musée Picasso in Paris, the French Ministry of Culture announced on Tuesday. The disappearance was discovered Tuesday morning at 11.40am during a...
Bush's big jump: 85 and counting

by Mark Silva and updated

The big news from Kennebunkport today is about Former President George H.W. Bush''s next big jump -- a tandem parachute drop Friday to celebrate his 85th birthday.

Bush, who keeps a summer home on Walker's Point, will jump with a member of the Army Golden Knights parachute team, landing at a church in Kennebunkport, Me.

Robin Meade, anchor of Morning Express on HLN, will take part in a tandem jump with the Bush team. "It's not every day one gets the chance to tandem jump alongside a former president, with the Army's Golden Knights -- it is both a thrill and an honor," said Meade -- which, of course means that CNN, HLN and CNN.com will be covering the sky-diving. Meade will get an interview before the jump.

Bush has celebrated his 75th and 80th birthdays this way, and also jumped in November 2007 at the reopening of his presidential library at Texas A&M University in College Station.

He also jumped in the Navy, when his plane was shot down over the Pacific Ocean during World War II.

Doctors Decide Whether To Perform Abortions

For most doctors, the decision whether or not to perform abortions is deeply personal, and often conflicted. Two doctors, one who chose to perform abortions and one who decided against it, share how they made their decisions and how those decisions have shaped their lives.

Charlie Gibson on the Biggest Perk of the Job

Capital One Seeks To Reinvent Itself
Washington Post: New government restrictions on credit card issuers may force Capital One, which revolutionized the credit card industry through customized marketing and granular data research, to reinvent itself for a new age of regulation.
Charlie Gibson on the Biggest Perk of the Job
Charlie Gibson traveled to Fenway stadium in Boston today where he stopped to take a few moments and answer the question: "What's the biggest perk of your job?"
Sotomayor hoping, hopping for support

by Michael Muskal

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor found something she could really lean on today as she met with more senators who will consider her nomination.

Sotomayor was forced to rely on crutches as she moved from from meeting to meeting, her ankle in a cast, after she broke it this morning. According to the White House, the federal appellate judge tripped at New York's LaGuardia Airport before boarding a flight to Washington and sustained a small fracture to her right ankle.

The injury may have slowed her down, but didn't politically hobble her as she hopped, er, hoped, to talk to about one-third of the Senate by evening. Today was her fourth day of talks with senators.

Sotomayor even stopped.at the White House after her arrival in Washington -- before heading to the hospital for an X-ray. The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates treated and released her, according to a White House statement.

With thanks to Top of the Ticket for the medical report on Sotomayor.

Should HIV Be Criminalized?

Johnson Aziga is a Canadian man who was diagnosed with HIV. He had unprotected sex without telling his partners he was HIV positive. In April, a court found Aziga guilty of murder for transmitting the disease to two female partners who later died.

The Justice Dept's Torture Debate

The Justice Dept's Torture Debate
Senior Justice Department lawyers in 2005 sought to limit tough interrogation tactics against terror suspects, but were overruled.
Bumpy Road to Bankruptcy
ABC's Aaron Katersky reports from New York: Chrysler’s road to bankruptcy has hit another road block. Three state funds from Indiana have filed emergency papers this weekend asking the U-S Supreme Court to delay a deal to sell most of...
Barack Obama's German ancestors

by Andrew Malcolm and Johanna Neuman

As President Barack Obama did Dresden with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday, a genealogical study in Utah reported that the first black president in U.S. history is actually German.

Well, partly.

Provo, Utah-based Ancestry.com has found that Obama's lineageon his mother's sidecan be traced to Germany. Using online sources and microfilm from the Family History Library owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, genealogists found a document that went back to Obama's eighth great-grandfather, Conrad Wolflin, who served as mayor of Orsingen, Germany, for 30 years.

"One of the things that I love about this find is it really illustrates what you can find out about your family history," Anastasia Tyler, lead genealogist on the project, told The Salt Lake Tribune. "World history is our history."

Obama's great-grandfather, Johann Conrad Wolflin, was born on Jan. 29, 1729, in Besigheim, Wuerttemberg, Germany, and in 1750 resettled in Pennsylvania, changing his name to Wolfley.

See the rest of the report on Herr President Obama from our colleagues at the Los Angeles Times' Top of the Ticket:

Told of the Obama connection, current officials in Besigheimtourist dollars dancing in their headsjumped for joy.

Besigheim Deputy Mayor Klaus Schremps told The Associated Press Television Network that he tracked down a copy of the parish record and located Wolflin's name. "If this turns out really to be the case," he said, "we will extend an invitation to Mr. Obama, and if he would come and visit at some stage, it would be a great joy for the city and for the people."

This of course is through Obama's mother side, she of Irish and Kansas roots. His father was Kenyan.

If that were not enough to make the president feel welcome, relatives of survivors of Buchenwald concentration camp are also calling Obama family.

It seems the president's great-uncle (also on his mother's side), Charlie Payne, 84, helped liberate a sub-camp there when he was an infantryman fighting in World War II.

"The survivors see President Obama almost like a grandson of theirs," Volker Knigge, director of the Buchenwald memorial, told CNN. "The president is related to one of the brave men who came here and saw the Nazi horror firsthand."

Obama's Coming Back, And Boy, His Inbox Is Full

The president has said that his top priority for June and July is the health care legislation moving in the House and Senate, but many others are competing for his time.

Obama: "Time To Deliver" On Health Care

Obama: "Time To Deliver" On Health Care
President Barack Obama issued a strong plea for action on his health care agenda, using his weekly radio and Internet address to focus on his top domestic priority even while traveling overseas.
Clem's Chronicles: JOBS/OBAMA TRIP/CUBAN SPIES
Happy Friday night folks-here's what's happening in the world.... JOBS-Good news/bad news. The bad news first-payroll reductions(AKA job losses) continued for a 17th straight month. The good news-Bureau of Labor stats show a net job loss of 345 thousand during...
Barack Obama: America's 'first tourist'

by Mark Silva

Our friends and colleagues traveling with President Barack Obama this week have an interesting take on "America's first tourist''all eyes as he entered the Great Pyramid, all ears as he joked about how much an image inside a vault looked like him.

Ed Chen and Julianna Goldman of Bloomberg News, in writing about the president's odyssey from Saudia Arabia to Egypt and from Buchenwald and Dresden to Paris and Normandy, paint a picture of an American tourist-in-chief wearing white slacks, Navy blue polo shirt and walking shoes as he gazes at the Great Pyramid in Giza and walking down a long slope toward the Great Sphinx"Pretty neat, huh?''

Were it not for the entourage attached to the president's visit, Obama said, "I'd get on a camel.''

As Obama concludes his fourth trip abroad as presidenttraveling around Europe and Turkey a while back, going to Mexico and to Canada and now Cairo for his address to the Muslim worldhe has quickly amassed a portfolio of sightseeingserving as a contrast to his predecessor, who tended to be all-business on most of these trips (though we did get to see Bethlehem with President George W. Bush on one of our journeys to Israel with him.)

"Barack Obama is both America's first tourist and an universal ambassador," Allan Lichtman, a political history professor at American University in Washington, tells Bloomberg. He's "a persuader who is attempting to restore a foreign policy of diplomacy, positive example, and the speaking of the truth."

'"Obama, a self-described "student of history," was particularly enthusiastic about visiting the pyramids,'' they write. "While inside a small underground tomb at Giza, he pointed to a figure on a wall covered with hieroglyphics and said:

"Hey that looks like me. Look at those ears!"

"By paying homage to his host nation's cultural shrines and institutionssuch as Obama's visit... to the Sultan Hassan mosque in Cairo, one of the largest in the Muslim world, or the refurbished Church of Our Lady in Dresden, Germany, yesterdaythe president shows he is attuned to others' national sensibilities,'' Chen and Goldman write.

"Obama's excursions reinforce a key message: the importance of acknowledging and respecting cultural diversity and local history," says Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, tells them.

See their report on Obama, America's first tourist.

Proposition 8 Foes Make Odd Couple

David Boies and Theodore Olson might be one of those couples that make outsiders do a double-take. The two top attorneys were on opposite sides in the Bush vs. Gore case, which decided the 2000 presidential election. Now they've joined forces to challenge the validity of Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure passed by California voters that prohibits same-sex marriages in the state.