
Washington (CNN) – For all the unanswered questions about the Benghazi attack and the Obama administration crisis management in the hours and days after, this much is certain: The GOP-led investigations will carry over from spring into summer and likely beyond.
Five separate House committees are investigating facets of the attack and its aftermath, and the five chairmen compared notes on Thursday at a meeting organized by House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
FULL STORY(CNN) - Mark Sanford knows first hand the experience of picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and trying again.
Just like what Candice Glover–the newly minted "American Idol"–faced as she failed to make it far in the singing contest the first two times she auditioned.
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Washington (CNN) – Directly mentioning the Newtown, Connecticut shootings for the first time in a campaign ad, Democratic Massachusetts Senate candidate Ed Markey criticized his Republican opponent Gabriel Gomez for opposing gun-control legislation.
"Gomez is against battling assault weapons," the ad says. "And Gomez is against banning high-capacity magazines like the ones used in the Newtown school shooting."
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CNN's GUT CHECK | for May 17, 2013 | 5 p.m.
- n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle
NOT AN ACT OF PARTISANSHIP: IRS official denies intentional political targeting, lying to Congress… A huge increase in workload, rather than deliberate targeting, led to "foolish mistakes" and the political discrimination in the Internal Revenue Service cited by an inspector general's report, the agency's outgoing commissioner said Friday. – Tom Cohen
STATE POLITICS: First on CNN: Gun battle in states heats up as NRA steps in to recall Colo. Senate president… The national battle over guns is headed to the states in a major way. Already groups supporting more gun restrictions have been active on the local level. And now for the first time in almost two decades, the National Rifle Association is attempting to coordinate the recall of a top state legislator for having successfully passed further gun restrictions in his state, CNN has learned. – Jake Tapper
Washington (CNN) – Speaking at the historically black Bowie State University commencement Friday, first lady Michelle Obama called out African American youth for not challenging themselves to excel in school while instead fantasizing about being a "baller or a rapper."
"Today, more than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, more than 50 years after the end of Separate But Equal, when it comes to getting an education too many of our young people just can't be bothered," Obama said. "Today instead of walking miles every day to school they're sitting on couches for hours playing video games, watching TV instead of dreaming of being a teacher or lawyer or business leader they're fantasizing about being a baller or a rapper."
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(CNN) – The ongoing dispute over how and where to debate the independent review of last September's attack in Benghazi continued Friday with the subpoena of the review board's co-chair to be deposed by congressional investigators.
Thomas Pickering, a former ambassador, has said he would prefer to testify in a public hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform rather than submit to a private interview, but the panel's chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, wants the meeting behind closed doors before any open session.
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Washington (CNN) – The national battle over guns is headed to the states in a major way.
Already groups supporting more gun restrictions have been active on the local level. And now for the first time in almost two decades, the National Rifle Association is attempting to coordinate the recall of a top state legislator for having successfully passed further gun restrictions in his state, CNN has learned.
FULL STORYNew York (CNNMoney) - The debt ceiling clock is about to start running again. The U.S. Treasury on Friday began using "extraordinary measures" to keep the country from defaulting on its obligations.
As part of a budget compromise in February, lawmakers suspended the country's legal borrowing limit at $16.394 trillion, and let Treasury keep borrowing to pay all the country's bills. But on Sunday the debt ceiling will automatically reset to a higher level reflecting the amount borrowed during the suspension period.
FULL STORYBaltimore (CNN) – After a week where the Obama administration appeared knocked off course by a number of controversies, President Barack Obama sought to get back on track Friday by focusing on his jobs agenda.
"I know it can seem frustrating sometimes when it seems like Washington's priorities aren't the same as your priorities…Others may get distracted by chasing every fleeting issue that passes by, but the middle class will always be my number one focus. Period," he said during a campaign-style stop at a dredge manufacturing company in Baltimore, the second leg of what the White House has dubbed his "Middle Class Jobs and Opportunity Tour."
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(CNN) - A federal judge on Friday ordered a preliminary injunction blocking an Arkansas law that would ban abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, a court official told CNN on Friday.
The official spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.
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