GOP lawmaker offers to help W.H. on Syria, hears back nearly week later
(CNN) - Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an Iraq war veteran and Republican supporter of the president's request for authorization to strike at Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, reached out to the White House on September 2 to offer to help the president and didn't hear back until he noted the lack of a response during a Sunday morning TV appearance.
Kinzinger, R-Illinois, tells CNN his chief of staff sent an email Monday to his White House contact in the office of Legislative Affairs, informing the White House that the congressman would be supporting the authorization in the media and on the floor of the House. Kinzinger would also be willing to help "whip" - or drum up support for - the authorization, the email noted.
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Obama's former political arm votes 'present' on Syria action
(CNN) - The awkward position in which progressive allies of President Barack Obama find themselves can be seen clearly in the actions of his former political arm, now called Organizing for Action, which despite the need for activists to lobby Congress to support the president's call for military strikes, is essentially voting "present."
Capitol Hill is all but singularly focused on Obama’s push for congressional authorization to use force in Syria, and the president has canceled a trip to California next week to devote his time and energy to lobbying lawmakers.
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Christie accuses Democratic rival of mocking his weight
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday called it “unfortunate” that Democratic gubernatorial nominee Barbara Buono seemed to take a jab at his weight at a recent political event.
"For me and for other folks across New Jersey, many folks who are challenged by their weight, the fact that someone running for governor would make derisively comments about someone’s physical appearance I think is really beneath the office that she’s seeking and I’m disappointed that she’s done it," Christie said at a press conference in Newark. "But she’s playing out of the Corzine Playbook in that way.”
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Source: Why Obama decided to talk about Egypt
(CNN) - President Barack Obama spoke out against violence in Egypt Thursday, saying the United States "deplored" violence against civilians.
The speech was a call for calm on both sides.
A senior White House official told CNN's Jake Tapper that Obama was briefed on the situation in Egypt by National Security Adviser Susan Rice Wednesday.
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Senior administration official: Moscow summit was probably going to be canceled anyway
(CNN) - President Barack Obama's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow that the U.S. called off Wednesday was probably going to be canceled anyway, a senior administration official told CNN.
"We just hadn't gotten any traction" on issues that the summit would have addressed, including missile-defense and a reduction in nuclear missiles, the senior administration official said. Attempts to find common ground on economic and trade agreements also were problematic.
FULL STORYSecond Medal of Honor for fierce Afghan battle
Editor's note: Jake Tapper is an anchor and chief Washington correspondent for CNN. He is author of the best-selling book about Afghanistan, "The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor."
It was a devastating Taliban attack, launched on an eastern Afghanistan outpost positioned so poorly it was nearly indefensible. Combat Outpost Keating was tucked in a valley surrounded by towering mountains.
On October 3, 2009, 300 insurgents used the high ground to stage an overwhelming assault on just 53 U.S. troops.
“Just every kind of weapon they could get their hands on they were throwing at us, and we hadn't seen that before,” said Spc. Tom Rasmussen.
Eight men died, but there were heart stopping heroics to defend the base.
Staff Sgt. Clint Romesha was already awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest honor for his bravery in the face of overwhelming odds during the battle.
Read An American hero: The uncommon valor of Clint Romesha
Now there will be a second White House ceremony, this time to award the Medal of Honor to Sergeant Ty Carter, a member of Black Knight Troop, in the 3rd platoon nicknamed the Bastards.
FULL STORYState Department admits Kerry was on yacht day of Egypt coup
(CNN) - After the emergence of photographs showing Secretary of State John Kerry on his 76-foot yacht “Isabel” on Nantucket Sound on Thursday, the State Department issued an embarrassing correction Friday morning, back-tracking and acknowledging that the Secretary was in fact on the yacht on Wednesday, the day the Egyptian military staged a coup against democratically-elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy.
Originally, State Department officials were quick to deny a Wednesday tweet from CBS News’ Mosheh Oinounou that: “A @CBSThisMorning producer just spotted Secretary of State Kerry on yacht in the Nantucket Boat Basin. No response when she shouted ‘Morsi.’”
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Obama chose his words on Egypt carefully - for a reason
Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama's statement about the Egyptian military's seizure of power is as telling for what he doesn't say as for what he does: he doesn't mention the word "coup."
He doesn't call upon the military to restore power to "the democratically elected civilian government," but rather to "a democratically elected civilian government."
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Dept. of Homeland Security Inspector General accused of various misdeeds
(CNN) - Inspectors general are the internal watchdogs in government, the independent officers upon whom the public relies.
But what happens when the inspectors general themselves are accused of wrongdoing? Who watches the watchmen?
FULL STORYIRS controversy turns personal, nasty
(CNN) - An unusually harsh and personal war of words erupted on Sunday, even for the current hyper-partisan atmosphere in Washington, DC, with one of President Obama's top advisers bringing up the 40-year-old criminal record of the Republican congressman leading the investigation into alleged IRS abuses.
"Strong words from Mr Grand Theft Auto and suspected arsonist/insurance swindler," tweeted David Plouffe, the political guru (and unofficial adviser) for President Obama, referring to the chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
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