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TOPICS: Sarah Palin, Al Gore, Joe Biden, Dick Cheney, Joe Lieberman, John Edwards

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Vice President Joe Biden said it's time for Afghan President Hamid Karzi to 'step up to the ball'.

(CNN) - Echoing major points in President Obama's prime speech Tuesday, Vice President Biden emphasized that the biggest threat to the U.S. remains Al Qaeda, and called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to "step up to the ball."

"The existential threat to the United States remains in the mountains in Pakistan," Biden said during an interview with the CBS 'Early Show.' "That's where we have to keep our focus."

Biden also charged that "Karzai and his government … up until now has been unwilling to step up to the ball.

"Fellas, you've got to step up to the ball," Biden said of the Afghan president and government.

The vice president added: "Number one priority: Al Qaeda. Number two: Pakistan. Number three: [G]iving the Karzai government a fighting chance to be able to sustain itself."

Biden appeared on all three of the major networks Wednesday morning.

– CNN's Emily Sherman contributed to this report.

Vice President Joe Biden will speak Saturday night at the annual Jefferson Jackson dinner in Iowa.

WASHINGTON (CNN)– Vice President Joe Biden will be in Iowa Saturday as a special guest at the Iowa Democratic Party's annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner.

Joining Biden will be Gov. Chet Culver, Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, and Reps. Bruce Braley and Leonard Boswell. According to the Iowa Democratic Party, Sen. Tom Harkin is also expected to speak, but may miss the event if he's delayed by the Senate health care vote Saturday.

The annual dinner is one of the biggest Democratic fundraising events of the year, usually kicking off the presidential primary season. In 2007, then-candidate Barack Obama's speech at the dinner has been credited to launching his path to the Democratic nomination. Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson and Biden also spoke in 2007. Speakers in past years include former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore.

The event is being held at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines.

UPDATE: According to the Iowa Democratic Party, Sen. Tom Harkin will not be able to attend the dinner Saturday night, but has filmed a message to be played at the event.

Sen. John McCain is holding a rally with Bob McDonnell on Saturday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – As one of only two statewide campaigns in the 2009 election cycle, the Virginia governor's race has seen a parade of national political stars make the trip to the Old Dominion.

Late Friday, Creigh Deeds' campaign announced that President Obama would join the Democratic candidate on the trail at the end of the month. Obama's 2008 presidential rival will get there first: On Saturday, Sen. John McCain will make his second trip to Virginia on behalf of Republican candidate Bob McDonnell. McCain, a decorated Navy hero, will help McDonnell make a closing pitch to veterans at a rally in Hampton Roads, a region of the state with a heavy military population.

McCain isn't the only high-profile Republican who has stumped for the former Virginia Attorney General: Two other former presidential candidates - former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee - have twice visited the state twice to campaign. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani also raised money for McDonnell.

Along with Romney and Huckabee, McDonnell has welcomed a number of top Republicans who may run for president in 2012. That list includes Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele campaigned with McDonnell in May.

Creigh Deeds, who spent the first half of the year in a three-way fight for the Democratic nomination, hasn't had an army of national figures campaign with him. But several prominent Democrats have chipped in to help.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden predicted Thursday Congress will have a resolution on the health care bill "before Thanksgiving."

"I think the most important thing he did, he also debunked a lot of the myths out there, the idea of death panels, that we were going to insure undocumented aliens," Biden told the "Today Show," commending Obama for his emphasis that doing nothing is not an option.

"I believe we will have a bill," Biden said. "I've been in the Congress for a long long time, been there for eight presidents. I think we will have a bill before Thanksgiving."

The vice president also said the way Republicans "stepped away" from Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst Wednesday evening is proof Congress is not as divided as it may seem.

Wilson said Thursday that he had been instructed by GOP leadership to call the president to apologize, and Sen. John McCain called the congressman's behavior "totally disrespectful" in an interview on CNN's Larry King Live.

"I saw unity in the Congress in terms of the response to Joe Wilson's demeaning comment, not only to the president but to an institution I love," Biden said.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation polled Americans on the eve of Obama's second 100 days in the White House.

TOPICS: Obama, Congress, economy, race relations, unemployment, Afghanistan, health care, Michael Jackson, Joe Biden, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Sarah Palin, John McCain, George W. Bush, Democratic Party, Republican Party, Sonia Sotomayor, Henry Louis Gates

Full results (pdf)

RELATED STORIES:
- Obama receives a C+
- Obama receives a C+ on foreign affairs
- Obama receives a C- on health care
- Obama receives a C on the economy
- Clinton receives a B-
- Biden receives a C
- Senators receive a C+
- Congress receives a C-
- GOP congressional leaders receive a C-
- Media receives a C

Vice President Biden joked while speaking at a Democratic fundraiser.

(CNN) - Vice President Biden decided Tuesday to mess with Texas.

"You Texas guys are ugly as hell, but your women are beautiful," Biden joked while speaking at a Democratic fundraiser in Austin. "In southern Delaware, they would say y'all married up."

Biden, in Austin to visit the city's National Domestic Violence Hotline, poked more fun at the state as he accused Texas of being "the only place I know that turns a river into a lake," a reference to the Colorado River and the dams that have been built to protect the city from flooding.

(CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday the Obama administration is working "around the clock" on the pirate situation off the Somali coast.

Asked at the end of a stimulus funds meeting what the United States was going to do regarding the capture of a U.S. container ship captain by Somali pirates, Biden began to speak when an aide shouted, "This way guys, out that door."

"We're not going to settle that here," Biden cut-in adding, "This is being worked on around the clock since this happened. I'm not in a position right now (to comment)."

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs gives details Thursday about the government's help with ship hijacking by pirates.

President Obama was also questioned by a reporter about the hostage situation following a meeting with U.S. homeowners about refinancing mortgages, but declined to comment publicly.

"Guys, we're talking about housing right now," the president responded when asked at the close of the event about the standoff.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs responded to news of the attacks Wednesday saying the Obama administration is "closely monitoring" the piracy crisis and "assessing a course of action to resolve this situation."

"Our top priority is the personal safety of the crew members on board," Gibbs said.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden brushed aside recent criticism by his predecessor Dick Cheney that moves by the Obama administration had put the United States at risk, telling CNN Tuesday that the former vice president was "dead wrong" and that the Bush White House had left the country in its weakest condition since the Second World War.

"I don't think [Cheney] is out of line, but he is dead wrong," he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "This administration - the last administration left us in a weaker posture than we've been any time since World War II: less regarded in the world, stretched more thinly than we ever have been in the past, two wars under way, virtually no respect in entire parts of the world.

Watch the full interview during the 6 pm ET hour of The Situation Room.

"...I guarantee you we are safer today, our interests are more secure today than they were any time during the eight years" of the Bush administration.

In an interview with CNN's John King last month, Cheney said President Obama had been "making some choices that in my mind will raise the risk to the American people of another attack."

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The vice president lobbed a high ball to catcher Chad Moeller to kick off the O's season.

(CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden took the mound Monday, throwing the ceremonial first pitch at the Baltimore Orioles' home opener against the New York Yankees.

The vice president lobbed a high ball to catcher Chad Moeller to kick off the O's season.

And Biden had some help with the pitch. Eight youth from the Baltimore Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities League, a program founded by Major League Baseball and sponsored by the Baltimore Orioles Charitable Foundation, accompanied the vice president onto the mound at Camden Yards.

What do you want to ask the vide president?

On Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden will be in The Situation Room - and we want you to be a part of the interview. What question do you have for the vice president? Submit your videos to www.ireport.com/situationroom. Then watch The Situation Room Tuesday to see your questions answered.

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Biden made two stops in North Carolina on Wednesday.

(CNN) – During a Wednesday swing through North Carolina to promote the administration's economic recovery package, Vice President Joe Biden couldn't quite bring himself to endorse the University of North Carolina's bid to win the NCAA basketball championship.

Speaking to a crowd in the town of Pikeville, just 90 miles from Chapel Hill, the vice president announced: "Go Tar Heels - unless they're playing Villanova."

Biden pointed out that his wife Jill graduated from Villanova (she earned a Master's degree there in 1987). "I got to tell you, I know it's politically incorrect to come to North Carolina and say you're for another team," he said, according to a White House transcript. "If Villanova is out of it this round, no problem, I'm for North Carolina."

Biden said he would put money on the Tar Heels to beat 'Nova in their Final Four match-up on Saturday, if he were betting. But, he said, "I can't bet against Villanova for a simple reason: I'll be sleeping alone. My wife graduated from Villanova. So you all are important, but I like sleeping with my wife."

With the crowd chuckling, Biden wrapped up his remarks with an equivocation. "Good luck," he said. "Unless it is Villanova."

Biden announced that seniors will receive their stimulus check in May.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – An estimated 50 million Social Security recipients will receive their one-time $250 economic stimulus check in May - several weeks ahead of schedule, Vice President Joe Biden announced Thursday.

Biden also announced the distribution of $3.2 billion in new funding for state and local energy efficiency programs from the Department of Energy.

The checks to Social Security recipients, worth a total of $13 billion, "will make a big difference in the lives of older Americans and people with disabilities – many of whom have been hit especially hard by the economic crisis that has swept across the country," Biden said in a written statement.

The energy efficiency funds will come in the form of "formula grants for projects that reduce total energy use and fossil fuel emissions," according to a separate White House statement.

"Local leaders will have the flexibility in how they put these (energy efficiency) resources to work – but we will hold them accountable for making the investments quickly and wisely to spur the local economy and cut energy use," Biden said.

Biden, who made the announcement at a meeting with several cabinet and other senior White House officials, is the administration's point man in overseeing the distribution of the $787 billion stimulus plan. He is being assisted by former Interior Department Inspector General Earl Devaney, who has been tapped to head a new Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board.

Biden lent his voice for a radio ad for Democrat Scott Murphy.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The day after President Obama sent an e-mail declaring his support for Scott Murphy's congressional bid, the Democrat released a radio ad featuring Vice President Joe Biden.

In the ad, which started running on Thursday in New York's 20th congressional district, Biden referenced his local roots.

"As a graduate of Syracuse Law School, I not only root for the Orange, I root for Upstate New York as well," Biden said in the ad. "That's why this special election you'll be holding next Tuesday, March 31st is so important to me. I'm supporting Scott Murphy for Congress, and so is President Obama."

Murphy is running against Republican New York assemblyman Jim Tedisco in a highly competitive race to fill Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's vacant congressional seat.

The ad was funded by Murphy's campaign, but both national parties and some independent fundraising groups have poured money into advertising and sent star power to stump in the district in advance of the special election.

Vice President Joe Biden convened the first of what is expected to be a series of weekly stimulus plan implementation meetings.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden convened the first of what is expected to be a series of weekly stimulus plan implementation meetings Wednesday, saying it's critical to ensure that "the money that is spent is spent well."

The $787 billion package "is about creating and saving jobs now," Biden said. "We've got to make sure we hold as many people as possible accountable. (We need to) follow the money to make sure it's getting out there and is working."

Biden, who has been tasked with overseeing the distribution of stimulus funds, announced several fund disbursements, including $15 billion in Medicaid assistance and $10 billion to help make public housing more energy efficient.

Several Cabinet members attended the conference at the White House, including Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

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 The Ocean's Eleven star met with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden Monday night to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

(CNN) – Hollywood A-lister George Clooney said Monday that the Obama administration is planning to appoint an envoy to Darfur.

The Ocean's Eleven star met with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden Monday night to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. "I urged them to make the tragedy in Darfur one of their top priorities in foreign policy,” Clooney told reporters outside the White House Monday night. "I've asked them to appoint a high-profile, full-time envoy reporting directly to the president." 

During the campaign, Obama promised to appoint a special envoy to deal with the Darfur issue and to implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended the decades-long civil war between the North and South.

Clooney said Monday that "before they can send an envoy, they have to have a full foreign policy, but they said that they would appoint a full-time, high-level envoy that would report directly to the White House."

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Vice President to host dinner tonight for new Senators.

(CNN)– Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill will host a cocktail reception at the U.S. Naval Observatory this evening for new members of the U.S. Senate as well as their families. Tonight’s guests will include lawmakers who filled the replacements for seats vacated by President Obama, Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Senators Roland Burris of Illinois, Ted Kaufman of Delaware and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York will join several other new senators at the gathering.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Obama plans Friday to reverse an executive order allowing unionized companies to post signs alerting employees that they are allowed to leave unions.

Critics of the order said that while unionized shops were allowed to let workers know they could de-unionize, non-unionized shops were not required to post information telling employees they could unionize.

Two senior administration officials confirmed this and three other orders to be issued by the president.

Another order would require service contractors at federal buildings to offer jobs to qualified current employees when contracts change. A third would require federal vendors with more than $100,000 in contracts to post workers' rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

Another order would prevent federal contractors from being reimbursed for expenses that were intended to influence workers' decisions to form unions or engage in collective bargaining.

Obama also will also issue a presidential memorandum creating the Middle Class Task Force, to be led by Vice President Joe Biden, a panel of advisers and four Cabinet members. The Task Force will try to assess the status of the middle class - whether it is growing or shrinking and how well off it is.

– CNN's Suzanne Malveaux contributed to this report

(CNN) - As is customary with the change in administration, on Wednesday the Pentagon hoisted the new photograph of President Obama at the entrance where official visitors and heads of state are brought in.

But his second-in-command will have to wait. Instead of a picture of Vice President Joe Biden, there is just a hook to hold the photo. It turns out the Washington Headquarters Services had not yet received the official photo of the vice president, so there was no photo to hang.

Biden is not the only number two without pictorial representation. There’s another blank space on the wall for the new Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn, who has been nominated but not confirmed.