
NATIONAL STORIES:
CNN: No more missing: Rescue switches to recovery in Oklahoma
With everyone missing now accounted for from this week's deadly tornado, the long and difficult work of recovery can begin. "We are beginning the recovery operations," Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin told CNN's Piers Morgan late Wednesday. "There's a lot of debris removal going on throughout the public areas of the street," she said. "You see a lot of utility crews that are out here. There's a lot of construction trucks. You're seeing people walking down the street pulling some wagons, going back into their homes to get their prized possessions." At least 24 people, including 10 children, were killed in Monday's monster tornado. Another 353 people were injured.
CNN: Boy Scouts to vote on lifting its ban on gay youths
The eyes of the country will be upon Texas on Thursday. That's where 1,400 members of the Boy Scouts of America's national council are expected to vote on whether to end the 103-year-old group's outright ban on gay youths. The outcome, to be announced late afternoon, follows months of intense debate among interest groups and within the ranks of scouting itself. It comes down to a single sentence at the end of a resolution. "No youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone." If the policy change is approved, the BSA will maintain its ban on openly gay adult leaders.

Washington (CNN) - Advocates for comprehensive immigration reform won their first major legislative victory this week when the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-5 to approve the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" plan.
If enacted, the measure will create a 13-year path to citizenship for most of the country's 11 million undocumented immigrants.
FULL STORYWashington (CNN) - Counterterrorism drone strikes have killed four Americans overseas since 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder acknowledged on Wednesday.
In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, Holder said the United States specifically targeted and killed one U.S. citizen, al Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, and knew about three other Americans who had been killed in counter-terror drone strikes.
FULL STORYCNN's GUT CHECK | for May 22, 2013 | 5 p.m.
- n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle
TAKING THE FIFTH: IRS official says she has ‘not done anything wrong’… The Internal Revenue Service official who headed the division involved in targeting conservative groups invoked her constitutional right against self-incrimination Wednesday and refused to answer questions from a congressional committee. “I have not done anything wrong. I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules and regulations,” Lerner said. – Tom Cohen
OBAMA TO MOORE: President Barack Obama will travel to tornado ravaged Moore, Oklahoma on Sunday, the White House announced today.
(CNN) – One day after squaring off with reporters in an especially combative White House daily briefing, Press Secretary Jay Carney underwent a major shift in tone as he faced the same reporters Wednesday.
Gone were Tuesday's repeated expressions of frustration, stern demeanor, and the suggestion that questions about scandals relating to the IRS, Benghazi talking points, and investigations of media outlets had become as frivolous as those that were raised about President Obama's birth certificate.
FULL POST
(CNN) – When it comes to finding ways to reduce the federal debt, Sen. Ted Cruz is having a hard time finding anyone to trust.
Speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday, the Texas Republican responded to criticism from members of his party over how to move forward with budget negotiations, taking particular aim at Sen. John McCain.
FULL POST
(CNN) – After a war of words – and a subpoena – the co-chair of a review board that investigated last September's attack in Benghazi, Libya, has agreed to be interviewed privately by congressional investigators.
Thomas Pickering, a former ambassador, will voluntarily appear for a transcribed interview conducted by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the panel's chairman said Wednesday. It's the latest development in the dispute over how and where to examine the review board's report, which Republicans regard as inadequate.
FULL POST
Washington (CNN) - He is best known as the Viper car alarm voice that instructs would-be thieves to "Please step away from the vehicle."
But in political circles, Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is a man who, after years of sounding the alarm about perceived Obama administration misdeeds, has struck a chord that is shaking up Washington.
FULL STORY(CNN) - President Obama will travel to tornado-ravaged Oklahoma on Sunday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Wednesday


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