CNN

Ken Salazar announced his decision Friday to retain a Bush-era regulation limiting the protection of polar bears under the Endangered Species Act.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Alaska officials Sarah Palin and Mark Begich are speaking out Friday about Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's decision to retain a Bush-era regulation limiting the protection of polar bears under the Endangered Species Act.

"This is a clear victory for Alaska," Gov. Palin said in a statement released Friday. "We all want to preserve and protect the polar bear using the best possible tools, but there is absolutely no need to change the 4(d) rule to accomplish this purpose. I want to thank Secretary Salazar for his careful review of the science and the administrative record that led to this decision."

Begich agreed with the Alaska governor, lauding the Interior Secretary's decision to keep the existing rule.

"I commend Secretary Salazar for protecting the polar bear while also recognizing it is not appropriate to use a federal law like the ESA to try to regulate greenhouse gas emissions," Begich said Friday. "I support Secretary Salazar's belief that we need a comprehensive energy and climate strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the ESA should not be used as a back-door regulatory tool to achieve this goal."

But Democratic California Sen. Barbara Boxer, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, slammed the department's decision to monitor the situation saying it's not enough to protect the polar bear.

The remarks follow Salazar's announcement that he will retain the special rule promulgated under the Bush administration in December, but left the door open to implement future measures that would protect the polar bear and its habitat.

'The world suddenly did not become safer on January 20, 2009,' House Republican Leader John Boehner said at a press conference Thursday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The GOP is sending a strong message to the Obama administration: Don't bring former Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States.

House Republicans introduced legislation Thursday aimed at stopping the release or transfer of terrorists at GITMO from being imported to the United States.

"The world suddenly did not become safer on January 20, 2009," House Republican Leader John Boehner said at a press conference Thursday. "We ought to make clear that none of these detainees should be brought to the United States until such time as the President has had a conversation with the American people, which is the essence of the bill that we are bringing forward."

The Keep Terrorists out of America Act opposes transfer of any detainee to the United States, but requires that governors and state legislatures pre-approve the import of terrorists from the prison camps to their respective states, if such a process should occur.

"Guantanamo was chosen for a specific reason. It is isolated," Texas Rep. Lamar Smith said Thursday. "That all fundamentally changes when you take them off of an island, away from Gitmo, and plunk them down in the middle of Michigan, in the middle of Kansas, in the middle of Virginia, or in the middle of New York."

No time frames or announcements have been made by the White House concerning what to do with some 240 detainees. The review that President Obama ordered at the beginning of his administration continues.

(CNN) - What's the highlight of Mrs. Obama's time in the White House? Hanging out with Elmo, of course.

The first lady stopped by Sesame Street Tuesday, chatting with the furry red monster and making a public service announcement along the way.

"If you want your child to have healthy habits, practice healthy habits too because you're your child's best role model," Michelle Obama advocated in her appearance for Sesame Workshop's Healthy Habits for Life Initiative.

The First Lady told employees at the United Nations in New York Tuesday that it's probably the best thing she's done so far since she and her husband moved into the executive mansion. Mrs. Obama appears to be emerging as a champion of healthy exercise and eating habits, taking up her platform by planting an organic kitchen garden on the White House grounds.

Former first ladies Barbara and Laura Bush also dropped by Sesame Street set during their husbands' terms in office, advocating children's literacy by reading kids' books to Big Bird.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Democrat Al Franken and his wife dropped by the White House Wednesday to update Vice President Biden on the state of Minnesota's hotly-contested Senate seat.

Franken discussed the Obama administration's agenda and how it would impact the people of Minnesota, according to a statement from Franken's office.

"Minnesotans are eager to see Congress make progress on the administration's agenda – and I'm eager to do my part in that effort," Franken said. "From investments in alternative energy to the expansion of high-speed rail to the Twin Cities, we have a lot to do to help Minnesota's working families, and I was pleased to discuss these important issues with the vice president."

The vice president maintained it's time for the state to have a second senator, insisting that Minnesota's election and recount process was transparent and organized, and applauding the "meticulous" work of Minnesota officials.

"Minnesotans deserve their full representation," Biden said in a statement following the meeting. "Once the Minnesota Supreme Court has issued its final ruling in this case, the president and I look forward to working with Mr. Franken on building an economy for the 21st century.

The Pennsylvania senator said he 'misspoke' in an interview with the New York Times Tuesday when he voiced his support for GOP Sen. Norm Coleman.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. Arlen Specter's recent switch from Republican to Democrat appears to have caused him some confusion over party loyalty.

The Pennsylvania senator said he "misspoke" in an interview with the New York Times Tuesday when he voiced his support for GOP Sen. Norm Coleman, who is locked in a recount battle with Democratic challenger Al Franken in Minnesota.

"In the swirl of moving from one caucus to another, I have to get used to my new teammates," Specter told CQ Politics. "I'm ordinarily pretty correct in what I say. I've made a career of being precise. I conclusively misspoke."

Questioned about who he's supporting in elections Specter responded, "I'm looking for Democratic members. Nothing personal."

Specter's comments came after an interview with the Times in which the Pennsylvania senator declared he is rooting for a Coleman win in the hotly-contested Senate race. "There is still time for the Minnesota court to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner," he told the magazine.

Don't expect to see a Supreme Court nominee in the next few days.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Don't expect to see a Supreme Court nominee in the next few days, the White House advised Tuesday.

Just one day after Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch told reporters he wouldn't be surprised if a Supreme Court justice nominee announcement was imminent, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters, "It's not going to happen this week."

"The president is…working with the team to get a look at the people that he thinks are best qualified for this position," Gibbs said at Tuesday's press briefing. "And obviously we want to move this process along in a timely fashion."

The press secretary repeated his previous statements that President Obama wants a justice seated before the court's term resumes in October.

Sen. Claire McCaskill was trapped in a Senate subway car Tuesday morning in Washington along with three other senators, according to her Twitter page.

(CNN) - Four senators were trapped in a Senate subway car Tuesday morning in Washington, according to tweets from Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.

"Stuck in a tram from Capitol to Hart. Broken. Not moving. Lieberman and Alexander in next car. And Voiniitch.[sic] Wonder how long we'll be here?" Sen. Claire McCaskill wrote on her Twitter page.

Lawmakers often use the Senate subway to commute between the Capitol and their offices.

According to recent tweets, McCaskill and her colleagues have since been rescued. The Democratic senator from Missouri is poised to return to the Capitol for a vote - but as for riding the subway back, McCaskill says: "Takes longer, but I think I'll walk."

(CNN) - Former Florida Republican House Speaker Marco Rubio announced Tuesday he will run for Senate in 2010.

In a video released on his campaign website Tuesday, the attorney from Miami declared his candidacy, maintaing his run for Mel Martinez's vacant Senate seat will not "be a campaign against anyone, nor will it be a campaign against anything."

"This is a campaign for the kind of ideas that will change our country for the better," Rubio says citing tax reform and a balanced budget amendment. "Let's be frank, neither Republicans nor Democrats have been able to control runaway government spending."

Florida Republican Gov. Charlie Crist is considering a bid, and Rep. Kendrick Meek and state Sen. Dan Gelber, both Democrats from the Miami-Dade area, have announced their candidacy. Rubio acknowledges the potential competition in his video.

"I know that there are people who are more famous than I who may enter this race and I know that the President of the United States himself will travel to Florida to campaign and raise money against me," the Florida lawyer says. "But nothing in life worth doing is easy and I believe that this is worth doing."

Florida Sen. Mel Martinez announced in December he will not seek reelection in 2010.

Vice President Joe Biden said Friday he holds summer parties at his home for Amtrak train conductors.

(CNN) - Joe Biden didn't heed his own advice.

On Friday, just one day after he warned his family to avoid "confined places" like subways and aircrafts, the vice president took the train from Washington, DC to Wilmington, Delaware. Now he plans to ride the train back to the District Monday evening.

Biden, a long-time Amtrak supporter and veteran rider, attended the kickoff of a $32 million renovation and restoration of Wilmington train station in Delaware Monday morning, telling onlookers, "The people who work at the Wilmington train station, the conductors, the ticket collectors - they are a part of my family. And, for our family, this station is home."

"I am so proud to see Recovery Act funds taking care of critical needs here at the station and putting people to work," the vice president told the crowd.

During his long tenure in the US Senate, Biden was a daily train commuter, traveling to and from his home in Delaware to Washington.

What do you think of the two senators who represent your state?

(CNN) – The Capitol is revamping its energy supply.

The Capitol power plant will use natural gas as the primary fuel source for steam used at the compound to heat buildings and water, terminating its coal usage unless needed for emergency backup, according to a statement released by Democratic leaders of the House and Senate Friday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid claim the switch will improve DC air quality and reduce Congress's carbon pollution impact, serving as an example for cleaner fuel usage across the United States.

"The Congress of the United States should not only be a model for the nation, but also a good neighbor," said Pelosi. Senate Majority Leader Reid echoed the speaker's statement saying the "switch to cleaner burning natural gas shows that the House and Senate are leading by example in reducing our emissions."

The Capitol architect in charge of the switch cited that the complex will revert back to coal usage in "abnormally cold conditions" or in the case of equipment outages.

CNN=Politics Daily is The Best Political Podcast from The Best Political Team.

(CNN) - President Obama will pick his first Supreme Court Justice, after breaking into a White House press briefing and confirming Associate Justice David Souter's retirement after 29 years on the bench. In the latest installment of CNN=Politics Daily, CNN's Jill Dougherty takes a look at the president's options as he looks to name Souter's replacement.

Plus: The GOP is bracing for a battle over the Supreme Court Justice's surrogate. CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash looks at conservatives' plans to fight the president every step of the way.

Also: CNN Senior Political Analyst Gloria Borger has Republican-turned- Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter's take on the president's decision.

Finally: Cuban-Americans are taking advantage of their new freedom to return to their homeland by celebrating May Day in Havana. But former Cuban President Fidel Castro is making a provocative claim that the United States wants Cubans to "return to the fold of slaves." CNN's Jim Acosta reports on the situation from the island nation.

Click here to subscribe to CNN=Politics Daily.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Jill Biden is set to give the commencement address at Brooklyn's Kingsborough Community College graduation ceremony in June, according to a statement released by the White House Friday.

Biden has been an educator for 28 years, and currently serves as an adjunct English professor at Northern Virginia Community College in the DC area.

President Obama acknowledged the responsibility of journalists Friday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Obama expressed "alarm about the growing number of journalists silenced" in a statement released Friday, maintaining that he was especially concerned over the recent detention of U.S. journalists Roxana Saberi in Iran and Euna Lee and Laura Ling in North Korea.

"Even as the world recognizes the central and indisputable importance of press freedom, journalists find themselves in frequent peril," the president said in a White House release. "I lend my voice of support and admiration to all those brave men and women of the press who labor to expose truth and enhance accountability around the world."

President Obama also acknowledged the responsibility of journalists while recognizing World Press Freedom Day, celebrated May 3.

"It is a day in which we celebrate the indispensable role played by journalists in exposing abuses of power, while we sound the alarm about the growing number of journalists silenced by death or jail as they attempt to bring daily news to the public," the president said.

Michael Steele said Thursday he agreed with conservative talk show radio host Rush Limbaugh that former Republican turned Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter was a party dead weight.

(CNN) - Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who once found himself in a war of words with Rush Limbaugh, said in an interview Thursday he agreed with the conservative talk show radio host that former Republican turned Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter was a party dead weight.

When questioned on CBS' "Early Show" about which Republican reaction to the Specter exit he most identifies with: Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe's mourning of the loss or Rush Limbaugh's declaration of good riddance, the Republican National Committee Chairman replied, "Rush. I'm sorry I'm not weeping here. I'm sorry."

As to the future of the GOP, Steele wasn't overly optimistic, maintaining that the outlook of his party isn't great as of now.

"Well the future lies down the road a bit. I mean, look, I'm not going to sit here with, you know, pie-in-the-sky talking about, you know, how wonderful things are. They're not," he said.

But like his Republican colleague, Olympia Snowe, Steele insisted there is room for moderates in Republican Party, saying the notion that the party is exclusive "is just crazy."

Gibbs made it clear he viewed the 100 day marker as an artificial one.

(CNN) – How long did it take President Obama to decide to endorse Sen. Arlen Specter's candidacy in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary?

"My sense is it probably took him less than about seven seconds," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One. "The President offered his support to Senator Specter and it's a commitment he'll keep. [Specter's] made a decision of how to best represent the people he represents in Pennsylvania and we're happy that he did so."

Gibbs also made it clear he viewed the 100 day marker as an artificial one.

"We're playing along with the game," Gibbs told the press about the administration's acknowledgement of the 100th day. "You guys create the wave and we'll try to surf it a little bit."

"I don't think he waits for some specific milestone in days to reflect on what he's faced or the decisions that he's made or what lies ahead. I think he does that on a fairly regular basis," the press secretary told reporters. "I think he's happy with what we have started to achieve, understanding that we have a long way to go, that the American people are more concerned with what we're doing each and every day, not simply what we're doing on the 100th day or the 101st."

President Obama participated in a town hall meeting Wednesday in Missouri and is set to hold a press conference later tonight.

Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe likened moderate Republicans to participants on a reality television show known for isolating its members and picking them off one-by-one.

(CNN) - Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe called fellow colleague Sen. Arlen Specter's party defection disconcerning Wednesday, and likened moderate Republicans to participants on a reality television show known for isolating its members and picking them off one-by-one.

"Being a Republican moderate sometimes feels like being a cast member of "Survivor" - you are presented with multiple challenges, and you often get the distinct feeling that you're no longer welcome in the tribe," Snowe wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times.

The remarks follow Pennsylvania veteran Sen. Arlen Specter's unexpected defection to the Democratic Party on the eve of President Obama's 100th day in office. A member of the Republican Party since 1966, Specter announced his change of political affiliation to Democrat, citing the GOP has shifted too far to the right of his views and that his chance of winning the state Republican primary next year was bleak.

"It is truly a dangerous signal that a Republican senator of nearly three decades no longer felt able to remain in the party," Snowe says. "It didn't have to be this way."

The moderate Republican senator from Maine blamed the GOP emphasis on conservative social values over the party's core fiscal principles as the reason for Republican voter losses.

"Ideological purity is not the ticket back to the promised land of governing majorities – indeed, it was when we began to emphasize social issues to the detriment of some of our basic tenets as a party that we encountered an electoral backlash," she writes. "We should view an expansion of diversity within the party as a triumph that will broaden our appeal."

"We cannot prevail as a party without conservatives. But it is equally certain we cannot prevail in the future without moderates," Snowe warns.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Obama honored the nation's top teacher Tuesday at the White House.

In the first official Rose Garden ceremony of his presidency, Obama named Anthony Mullens, an educator from Greenwich, Connecticut, Teacher of the Year and acknowledged under-recognized educators across the United States.

"In a global economy where the greatest job qualification isn't what you can do, but what you know, our teachers are the key to our nation's success, to whether America will lead the world in the discoveries and the innovations and economic prosperity of this new century," Obama said. "That's why, as president, I am committed to doing everything I can to support the work of teachers."

The president also gave a nod to Arne Duncan, saying he's confident his Education Secretary will be written up as "one of the greatest Secretaries of Education we've ever had."

The Senate could vote as early as Tuesday to confirm Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as the department's new leader.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Service Employees International Union launched an online movement Monday attacking Republican senators for blocking the confirmation of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for Health and Human Services Secretary in the wake of the recent swine flu pandemic.

The SEIU accuses GOP senators of holding up the vote "to curry favor with extremist roots," and invokes Hurricane Katrina to urge visitors of the Web site to sign the petition.

"This disease is spreading as we speak, but right now, a Bush-appointed accountant is running the department," the union says on its website. "We need an HHS Secretary NOW. Sign the petition telling the Senate to vote immediately to confirm Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. If we don't act, the swine flu might just turn into another Hurricane Katrina."

The Senate could vote as early as Tuesday to confirm Sebelius as the department's new leader.

Photo credit: Getty Images

(CNN) – It must be 'great to be a Florida Gator.'

The University of Florida football team, winner of the 2009 BCS National Championship, met with President Obama Thursday at the White House. Led by coach Urban Meyer, the boys from old Florida posed for photos with the president after presenting him with a personalized "Obama 1" jersey and "Barack Obama" national championship football.

The president shook hands with Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow as cameras flashed telling the group that the quarterback's leadership is what "you want to see from all our young people – taking responsibility, challenging yourself and others, and rising to the moment."

Last week, Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson announced the team's upcoming White House visit during halftime at the Gators' traditional "Orange and Blue" game.

By tradition, the winner of the national championship is eligible for a visit to the executive mansion. The Florida football team traveled to Washington most recently in 2006 and 1996 after winning the national title.

McCain, who himself experienced torture tactics as a POW in Vietnam, has been a vocal critic of controversial interrogation techniques used by the Bush administration.

(CNN) - Arizona Sen. John McCain warned Thursday if President Obama prosecuted Bush administration officials who authorized harsh interrogation tactics on terrorist suspects, the process could "turn into a witch hunt."

"If you criminalize legal advice, which is basically what they're going to do, then it has a terribly chilling effect on any kind of advice and counsel that the president might receive," McCain said during an interview on CBS's "Early Show."

"To go back on a witch hunt that could last for a year or so frankly is going to be bad for the country," he said.

McCain, who himself experienced torture tactics as a POW in Vietnam, has been a vocal critic of controversial interrogation techniques used by the Bush administration. Earlier this year, the former 2008 Republican presidential nominee applauded President Obama's decision to end the use of waterboarding as a form of examination.

McCain, along with GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham and Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman sent a letter to the president Wednesday strongly urging him not to press charges on previous administration officials who provided legal analysis in regard to detainee interrogation, writing they "do not support the idea of a commission that would focus on the mistakes of the past."