(CNN) –- Hollywood, shove over. Next weekend, it’s DC’s turn to sparkle.
Leading up to Barack Obama’s inauguration next Tuesday, the streets of the nation’s capital will be lined with red carpets to welcome hordes of stars in town to celebrate. Hot shots from the music industry and the silver screen will host events all over town in a four-day marathon of parties and special events.
Some celebrities coming to Washington were fixtures for Obama on the campaign trail, raising money and support for his successful presidential bid. Jay-Z is performing at a sold-out concert at the Warner Theatre on Monday night, while Oprah, one of Obama’s most powerful supporters, will tape her show from Washington inauguration week.
Bruce Springsteen, who appeared at several Obama campaign rallies, is rumored to be singing at a star-studded concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday night, along with other performers yet to be named. Mary J. Blige will be in Washington for the BET Honors on Saturday, and Nelly and Will.I.Am will perform at concerts sponsored by the Hip Hop Caucus. Pop stars Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers are reportedly headlining a free concert for children at the Verizon Center on Monday night.
(CNN) –- Talk about a power lunch. President Bush, President-elect Barack Obama and three living former presidents will meet in the Oval Office for a private gathering on Wednesday afternoon.
Former presidents Jimmy Carter, George Herbert Walker Bush and Bill Clinton will join Obama and Bush at the White House for lunch. Obama initially came up with the idea that all of the men get together after meeting with President Bush last month.
White House Spokeswoman Dana Perino said the current and former leaders will gather for a photo op in the Rose Garden, but that their conversation and meal will be private. She said she doesn’t know what they will talk about, but she said she’d love to be able to hear it.
“I'm sure all of us would love to be flies on the wall and listening to that conversation,” Perino said during Tuesday’s daily press briefing. “These are leaders who only understand what it's like to be in each others shoes and none of us can put ourselves in those shoes.”
Perino speculated that they will discuss what it’s like to raise children in the White House and how to protect them. She praised the Obamas for doing a good job with that so far and said they got their daughters to their first day of school on Monday “in good fashion.”
Perino said the last time all of the living presidents got together was in 1981, and called Wednesday’s meeting a “historic moment.”
(CNN) –- Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the Senate’s incoming Intelligence committee chair, slammed President-elect Barack Obama’s choice of Leon Panetta as director of the CIA Monday.
“I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta to be the CIA Director. I know nothing about this, other than what I’ve read,” Feinstein said in a statement. “My position has consistently been that I believe the Agency is best-served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time.”
A Feinstein spokesman told CNN’s Dana Bash that the California senator found out about Obama’s pick after her staff showed her a New York Times report.
"The President-elect will now have a chance to make his arguments,” the spokesman said. “Her next move is to listen."
Feinstein is the new chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. While Panetta’s political career - as a congressman, and as President Clinton’s chief of staff - spans three decades, he has little hands-on intelligence experience.
–CNN’s Pam Benson contributed to this report.
(CNN) – Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s former chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, will fill his seat in the Senate, Delaware Gov. Ruth Minner announced Monday.
“His political views are close to Senator Biden’s, and he doesn’t need any on-the-job training,” Minner said in a statement. “He’ll be an effective Senator for Delaware from day one.”
The announcement was made amid rumors that Biden’s son, Beau, would take his father’s place in the Senate. But the Delaware attorney general, who has deployed to Iraq as a captain in the National Guard, said last week that he wouldn’t take the appointment if offered.
(CNN) – President-elect Barack Obama formally announced the additions of key White House staff members on Wednesday, including the previously expected choice of David Axelrod as Senior Advisor to the President
"I am pleased to announce these new additions to our team, and I'll be relying on their broad and diverse experience in the months ahead as we work to strengthen our economy, reform Washington, and meet the great challenges of our time," Obama said.
Axelrod has been a fixture by Obama’s side for years, serving as the chief strategist for Obama’s campaign and as a top adviser during his run for the Senate in 2004.
Obama also announced Greg Craig as White House Counsel, Lisa Brown as Staff Secretary and Chris Lu as Cabinet Secretary.
(CNN) – Barack Obama won’t publicly weigh in on whether or not Sen. Joe Lieberman should keep his position as chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, the president-elect's transition office said.
According to Obama spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter, the president-elect doesn't “hold any grudges” against Lieberman and thinks the Connecticut lawmaker should remain a part of the Democratic caucus.
"We aren't going to referee decisions about who should or should not be a committee chair,” Cutter said. “President-elect Obama looks forward to working with anyone to move the country forward. We'd be happy to have Sen. Lieberman caucus with the Democrats. We don't hold any grudges."
Sources told CNN Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told Lieberman last week that he's considering revoking Lieberman's chairmanship on the powerful Homeland Security committee and instead giving him a chairmanship on another, less important, committee. Lieberman reportedly called that proposal "not acceptable."
The full Democratic caucus will likely vote on this issue when it reconvenes next Tuesday, a senior Democratic aide told CNN’s Dana Bash.
Lieberman, an independent, typically votes with the Democrats on a majority of issues, but was a fixture on the campaign trail for John McCain. Lieberman angered Democrats by attacking Obama throughout the campaign, most visibly in a primetime speech during the Republican National Convention when he called Obama inexperienced and said “eloquence is no substitute for a record.”
(CNN) – In his first press conference since winning the race to the White House, President-elect Barack Obama addressed a pressing question: who is going to be the first dog?
Obama told a group of reporters in Chicago on Friday that since his 10-year-old daughter, Malia, is allergic, the Obama family is looking for a hypoallergenic breed. But Obama also said the family wants to adopt one from a shelter.
Watch: Obama talks about the first dog
“There are a number of breeds that are hypoallergenic, but on the other hand our preference is to get a shelter dog, but obviously, a lot of the shelter dogs are mutts like me,” Obama said. “So, whether we are going to be able to balance those two things I think is a pressing issue on the Obama household.”
Obama is of mixed racial heritage: His mother was Caucasian and his father was African.
Obama announced in his victory speech on Election Day that his daughters had “earned” a puppy. Obama joked that this is a “major issue” and said that since Election Day, the family’s dog choice has created more interest than any other topic.
(CNN) – Barack Obama will start the final full day of the 22-month presidential campaign in the state that cost Democrats the White House eight years ago.
The Democratic nominee's day begins with a rally in Jacksonville, Florida, followed by an event in Charlotte, North Carolina. He holds his final rally of the day before a much-anticipated election night event in Manassas, Virginia.
Florida and North Carolina are up for grabs, according to CNN’s electoral map. Virginia, which has historically voted Republican, is leaning Obama.
Joe Biden and Michelle Obama will hit other crucial states on Monday. Biden will campaign across Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania, while Obama’s wife meets with voters in Nevada and Colorado.
(CNN) – He went from being an average plumber in small town Ohio to a talking point in a presidential debate. Now, a new group is asking “Joe the Plumber” to run for Congress.
With the slogan, “plunge the crap out of Washington,” Trevor Lair, chairman of the Massachusetts College Republicans, launched a website on Friday to try to get Joe Wurzelbacher to run for Congress. The Web site calls on visitors to sign a petition to show support for what Lair hopes will Wurzelbacher’s congressional bid.
"Washington, DC is broken and it needs to be fixed. Joe Wurzelbacher has a real-world perspective and the right attitude to clean up the mess on Capitol Hill,” Lair said.
Lair is aiming to get thousands of signatures to put Wurzelbacher on the ballot against Rep. Marcia Kaptur of Ohio, whom he called a “tax and spend liberal.” Lair praised Wurzelbacher for standing up to “big-government socialism” and said he would be the right candidate to fight for working class Americans.
Wurzelbacher received intense media attention after John McCain pointed to his encounter with Barack Obama in his home town of Holland, Ohio last weekend. His name was mentioned dozens of times during a presidential debate on Wednesday night.
(CNN) – During Wednesday night’s presidential debate, Barack Obama ducked a question on whether or not he thought Sarah Palin is qualified to be president.
“That's going to be up to the American people,” Obama said. “I think that obviously she's capable politician. She has, I think, excited the base in the Republican Party and I think it's very commendable, the work she's done on behalf of special needs.”
Watch: McCain, Obama critique VPs
John McCain said he thinks Joe Biden, Obama’s running mate, is qualified to lead the country, but that he has been “wrong” on a variety of foreign policy issues. McCain said Biden voted against the first Gulf War and that he wanted to divide Iraq into three separate countries.
“There are several issues in which frankly Joe Biden and I openly and honestly disagree on national security policy,” McCain said. “And he's been wrong on the major ones.”
From CNN Politics
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