CNN's GUT CHECK | for January 31, 2013 | 5 p.m.
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BRUISED: WANNABE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ON THE DEFENSIVE… Several senators tell CNN’s Dana Bash that Chuck Hagel’s poor performance today is all the buzz. Hagel is “all the talk – I mean all the talk,” says one undecided senator, who noted that his colleagues are “shocked” by how ill-prepared he seems for basic questions about past controversial comments. Hagel is even struggling among those who support him; one Democrat on the Armed Services Committee shook his head in disbelief over Hagel and told Bash that he is surprised the former Nebraska senator is not being more forceful in his answers, especially since he has been on the other side of the dais and knows how this works.

A TASTE OF THE QUESTIONS: REPUBLICAN SEN. JOHN MCCAIN AT HAGEL’S HEARING... “I think history has already made a judgment about the surge, sir, and you're on the wrong side of it and your refusal to answer whether you were right or wrong about it, it's going have an impact on my judgment as to whether to vote for your confirmation or not. I hope you will reconsider the fact that you refused to answer a fundamental question about an issue that took the lives of thousands of young Americans.”
REPUBLICAN SEN. JAMES INHOFE AT HAGEL’S HEARING: “The question I’d like to ask you, and you can answer for the record if you’d like, why do you think the Iranian foreign ministry so strongly supports your nomination to be the Secretary of Defense?”

GUNS: TUNE IN… Anderson Cooper brings all of the critical voices in the national gun debate together in a special town hall airing tonight at 8 p.m. & 10 p.m. ET. Check out What Caught Our Eye below for a preview of what to expect.

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CNN's GUT CHECK | for January 30, 2013 | 5 p.m.
- n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

HISTORY MAKING: Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick added another page to the nation’s history book Wednesday by naming William “Mo” Cowan to temporarily fill Sen. John Kerry’s seat until Bay State voters choose a successor in June. Cowan, a Democrat, will be the eighth African-American to serve in the Senate. This will also be the first time two African-Americans have served together in the chamber – Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, was appointed earlier this year to fill the remainder of Sen. Jim DeMint’s term.

Massachusetts Special Election: On the Democratic side: Rep. Ed Markey is in and Rep. Stephen Lynch is expected to announce his candidacy tomorrow. As for a Republican candidate, we wait to hear what former Sen. Scott Brown decides. A source close to Brown tells Gut Check: “He is still undecided. But he knows that he has got to make a decision quickly.”

GOING VIRAL: GUN DEBATE HITTING GRASSROOTS… On one side, a note and a surprise visit from former Rep. Gaby Giffords at Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on guns. Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association tells CNN that the organization has gained about a half million members since the Newtown, CT shooting. The NRA now has more than 4.5 million members nationwide – a record for the association.

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CNN's GUT CHECK | for January 28, 2013 | 5 p.m.
- n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

DEVELOPING: POSSIBLE COMPROMISE ON IMMIGRATION REFORM TAKES SHAPE… Undocumented immigrants would be able to seek legal status without first going home under a compromise framework floated Monday by a bipartisan group of senators, according to a source familiar with the plan. The outline for a possible immigration reform bill reflects a mainstream Republican willingness to compromise on what President Barack Obama calls a top priority of his second term. However, conservatives immediately voiced their opposition to providing undocumented immigrants a path to legal status, especially in the Republican-led House. – Dana Bash and Tom Cohen

INTRIGUING: THE PRESIDENT GOES SKEET SHOOTING… In an interview with the New Republic, President Obama said he goes shooting ‘all the time.’ OBAMA: “Up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time. I have a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that trace back in this country for generations. And I think those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake. Part of being able to move this forward is understanding the reality of guns in urban areas are very different from the realities of guns in rural areas.”

… BUT YOU CAN’T SEE IT: The White House says it will not release a photo of Obama skeet shooting. CNN’s Jessica Yellin asked Press Secretary Jay Carney why there are no photos during Monday’s White House briefing:

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CNN's GUT CHECK | for January 25, 2013 | 5 p.m.
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NEW CHIEF IN THE WHITE HOUSE: OBAMA NAMES MCDONOUGH AS CHIEF OF STAFF… President Barack Obama named one of his closest and most trusted advisers as his chief of staff Friday, the fifth man to hold the job since Obama first took office in 2009. Denis McDonough, who served as Obama's deputy national security adviser since 2010, was announced to the post at a White House event Friday. Obama told a packed East Room that McDonough is a "great friend to me and to everyone who works here in the White House.” “Nobody outworks Denis McDonough,” Obama said later – an important trait for the person responsible for a White House staff of hundreds and for controlling access to the president. – Lesa Jansen and Kevin Liptak

MORE STAFF SHAKE UPS: In addition to McDonough, Obama announced these new jobs on Friday...
Rob Nabors – Assistant to the President and Deputy White House Chief of Staff for Policy
Lisa Monaco – Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and Deputy National Security Advisor
Jennifer Palmieri – Assistant to the President and Communications Director
Dan Pfeiffer – Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor

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CNN's GUT CHECK | for January 24, 2013 | 5 p.m.
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JUST IN: REPUBLICANS AIM TO COURT MINORITY VOTERS… A GOP task force charged with identifying winning strategies and broadening the party’s appeal with minority voters will deliver its recommendations to the Republican National Committee in March, Mississippi National Committeeman Henry Barbour said Thursday afternoon. “We have real challenges and we did get whipped,” in the 2012 election, Barbour told reporters at the RNC’s Winter Meeting in Charlotte. “That is not something we take lightly.” There was a somber acknowledgment from the five member task force that the GOP needs to do a much better job cultivating minority voters and selling Republican ideals and policies in those communities. Barbour described the report as a “campaign plan” in which parts of it would be made public, while other portions would remain confidential. “It will give direction of where we go,” Barbour said. – Mark Preston

DIFI GOES FOR THE GUNS: 'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,' FEINSTEIN SAYS IN PROPOSING NEW GUN BAN... On one side were pegboard panels mounted with various assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons - including a Bushmaster similar to the one used in last month's Newtown school massacre. Behind the stage stood police officers supporting a renewed ban on such firepower. One by one, victims of gun violence told their brief stories and expressed support for a new federal ban being proposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein on some assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons. Almost six weeks after the Connecticut shooting rampage that killed 20 first graders, Feinstein introduced her measure Thursday, with Reps. Carolyn McCarthy of New York and Ed Perlmutter of Colorado doing the same in the House. – Dana Bash and Tom Cohen

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CNN's GUT CHECK | for January 23, 2013 | 5 p.m.
- n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

BREAKING: MILITARY TO OPEN COMBAT JOBS TO WOMEN… The U.S. military is ending its policy of excluding women from combat, and will open combat jobs and direct combat units to female troops. Multiple officials confirm to CNN that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will make the announcement tomorrow, and notify Congress of the planned change in policy. – Chris Lawrence

RED MEAT: BOEHNER SAYS OBAMA’S SECOND TERM GOAL IS TO ‘ANNIHILATE’ GOP – Deirdre Walsh

DEVELOPING: CLINTON TAKES ON BENGHAZI CRITICS, WARNS OF MORE SECURITY THREATS… At times angry and choked with emotion, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday took on Republican critics of her department's handling of the September terrorist attack in Libya that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, but repeatedly distanced herself from a direct role in specific situations. – Jill Dougherty and Tom Cohen

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CNN's GUT CHECK | for January 22, 2013 | 5 p.m.
- n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

DEVELOPING: WHITE HOUSE ‘WOULD NOT OPPOSE’ HOUSE REPUBLICANS DEBT LIMIT PROPOSAL… OFFICIAL STATEMENT: “The administration supports a long-term increase in the debt limit that would increase certainty and economic stability. Although H.R. 325 is a short-term measure and introduces unnecessary complications, needlessly perpetuating uncertainty in the nation's fiscal system, the administration is encouraged that H.R. 325 lifts the immediate threat of default and indicates that congressional Republicans have backed off an insistence on holding the nation's economy hostage to extract drastic cuts in Medicare, education, and other programs that middle-class families depend on. For these reasons, the Administration would not oppose a short-term solution to the debt limit and looks forward to continuing to work with both the House and the Senate to increase certainty and stability for the economy.”

WHAT CLINTON SHOULD EXPECT: STATE DEPARTMENT ANTICIPATES POINTED QUESTIONING ON CAPITOL HILL… The presence on the House Foreign Relations Committee of several new members and on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of at least two possible GOP presidential hopefuls – Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky – has some State Department officials anticipating some aggressive questions to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday about whether recent events involving Islamic extremists in Mali and Algeria are in any way related to decisions by the Obama administration to keep U.S. combat troops - “boots on the ground” - out of Libya. Most of the questioning is expected to re-visit well-worn lines of inquiry about why requests by officials on the ground in Libya for additional security personnel were not heeded, and faulty talking points about whether an anti-Islam video played a role in the September 11, 2012, attack. But sources tell CNN that congressional staffers have also been shown new State Department e-mails and cables indicating that in November 2011, Ambassador Stevens, concerned about the safety of the compound in Benghazi, proposed two options to the State Department: in one, the compound would be moved back into a hotel. In the other, the compound would be moved to an unoccupied villa adjacent the CIA Annex. CIA officials agreed with U.S. diplomatic personnel on the ground that the latter option would be safer – not to mention less expensive than the compound. But Foggy Bottom rejected the idea. – Jake Tapper

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CNN's GUT CHECK | for January 21, 2013 | 5 p.m.
- n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

FOUR MORE YEARS: IN INAUGURAL SPEECH, OBAMA SEEKS TO TIE CURRENT ISSUES TO FOUNDING PRINCIPLES… President Barack Obama sought to link the past and future on Monday in his second inaugural address, tying the nation’s founding principles to the challenges confronting his second term in a call for Americans to fulfill the responsibility of citizenship. Obama cited the accomplishments of the past four years while laying out a progressive agenda for the next four that would tackle thorny issues such as gun control, climate change and immigration reform. – Tom Cohen

SAVORING THE MOMENT: As he was leaving the West front of the Captiol after his speech, Obama stopped, turned around, and paused to take one final look out at the sea of supporters who braved the cold temperature to watch his Inauguration speech: “I want to take a look one more time. I'm not going to see this again.”

Gut Check Full Service: Obama’s Second Inaugural Address…
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