CNN

CNN

Newt Gingrich says Nancy Pelosi is a 'trivial politician, viciously using partisanship for the narrowest of purposes.'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is engaging in a "despicable, dishonest and vicious political effort" to withhold what she knew about the CIA's harsh interrogation techniques, former Speaker Newt Gingrich said Friday.

Gingrich said Pelosi "lied to the House" when she earlier claimed that the CIA had never briefed her about the Bush administration's use of interrogation methods like waterboarding, which is considered torture by the current administration.

"I think that the House has an absolute obligation to open an inquiry, and I hope there will be a resolution to investigate her. And I think this is a big deal. I don't think the speaker of the House can lie to the country on national security matters," the Republican leader said in an interview with ABC Radio.

Pelosi has been under fire from critics who say she was fully briefed on the techniques in 2002 and 2003. On Thursday, the California Democrat accused CIA officials of misleading her, reiterating a claim that she was briefed on such techniques only once - in September 2002 - and that she was told at the time that the techniques were not being used.

Read more... or listen to the interview here.

CNN's David McKenzie reports on Somalian piracy off the coast of Africa in 2008.

President Obama talks to Anderson about the war on terrorism and Anderson conducts a lightning round of questions: from his new car, to the dog search to his smoking habit...

Watch this video for Part Two of Anderson's interview with President Obama. In this clip he talks about the stimulus plan and how he will be judged by history.

The first part of Anderson's interview with President Obama. The President gave his thoughts on Tom Daschle's withdrawal and more.

Eric Marrapodi and Jim Spellman
CNN

A prominent evangelical pastor who was fired amid allegations that he used drugs and patronized a male prostitute in 2006 is embroiled in a fresh controversy involving allegations of a second inappropriate relationship.

The Rev. Ted Haggard had a sexual relationship with a second man - a 20-year-old volunteer at his megachurch - and the church agreed to pay the man in exchange for his pledges not to talk publicly about the relationship, the Rev. Brady Boyd told CNN on Monday.

The young man's lawyer and the church's insurance company negotiated a settlement that provided the man money to pay his college tuition, moving expenses and counseling, Boyd said.

"This was compassionate assistance. It was to help him move forward, not a settlement to keep him quiet," said Boyd, senior pastor at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Haggard founded New Life in his basement in 1984 and oversaw its growth to an influential megachurch with roughly 15,000 members.

Haggard is the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals, a group that says it represents millions of people in 45,000 church congregations nationwide. He and other evangelical leaders participated in weekly conference calls with senior White House aides during the Bush administration.

In November 2006, allegations surfaced that Haggard had a three-year relationship with Mike Jones, a male escort, involving drugs and sex for money.

After those allegations became public, New Life fired Haggard and he resigned as president of the national organization.

Now new allegations have opened old wounds.

On Friday, New Life Church announced in a letter to the congregation that Haggard had another inappropriate sexual relationship with a 20-year-old volunteer at the church.

In the last three weeks, Boyd said, the young man told him that he was considering going public with his story because Ted Haggard was portraying himself as a victim in an upcoming HBO documentary called "The Trial of Ted Haggard," which is scheduled to air Thursday.

"I counseled him it wasn't going to help him or the church's healing. Plus it was in violation of the agreement we signed with them," Boyd said.

An interview with the former volunteer is scheduled to air Monday evening on KRDO-TV of Colorado Springs, Colo. Haggard is scheduled to appear on CNN's Larry King Live on Thursday night.

Controversy involving Haggard erupted in November 2006, when a former prostitute, Jones, said the pastor had paid him for sex over three years and had used methamphetamine in his presence. Haggard admitted in interviews that he received a massage from Jones but denied having sex with him. He also said he bought methamphetamine, but threw it away instead of using it.

The assertions received widespread news coverage and sparked charges of hypocrisy, particularly because Haggard had condemned homosexual sex in a documentary called "Friends of God."

In a settlement with New Life, the church and Haggard agreed that he would retain his six -figure salary for a year, leave the Colorado Springs area, receive counseling, and not speak publicly about what had happened for one year, according to a church staff member with knowledge of the settlement but who was not authorized to speak on the record.

Jones told CNN on Monday that he has spoken with the former church volunteer who apparently also had a relationship with the former pastor.

"My anger is so much at the church," he said. "They tried to keep this quiet when all along I've taken a beating feeling like I was the only one when clearly there were others."

Despite the fresh scandal, Boyd said he is hopeful for the future.

"We've added 1,500 people in the last 18 months," he said. "We're trying

to adopt 100 orphans into families in the church.

"We had a leader with flawed character and we're trying to clean up from

the residue of the past. This will not always define us I can promise you that

in the days ahead, we won't be identified with scandal but helping the widows

and orphans."

The wife of the pilot who crash-landed a jet in the Hudson River says she was stunned to hear about the incident.

Editor's Note: Tune in to hear more from Dr. Saltz on today's plane crash tonight on AC360° at 10pm ET.

iReporter Julie Pukelis put a camera in front of a telescope to get this view of the scene in the river.

Dr. Gail Saltz
Psychiatrist and AC360° Contributor

Most people have some apprehension about flying. Despite the fact that many more people die in car crashes, people are far more afraid of flying…which is related to heights, something we are almost hardwired to fear.

This means that people involved in the US Air crash as well as others who are learning of or viewing the crash are potentially going to have psychological aftermath. There will be those who fare well, who feel in fact elated to have come out of such a tragedy and won’t be afraid to fly. There will however, be those who felt terrified, thought they may die and they are going to need attention and follow up because they are more likely to develop post traumatic stress disorder.

People who have had previous trauma, depression, addiction or lack social support are more likely to develop symptoms of PTSD which include sadness, anxiety, irritability, nightmares, flashbacks and avoidance of in this case planes. There will also likely be people who in their panic behaved poorly, perhaps they pushed or shoved others and they will likely struggle with guilt. It is the people coming off the plane who are most panicked and even out of it who are most likely to suffer symptoms later.

Treatments for PTSD and fear of flying are effective and intervention by a trained professional helps. Some symptoms benefit from talk, but never force someone who has been traumatized to talk. Medication may help with symptoms of depression, anxiety and sleeplessness. Flying phobias are treated with cognitive behavioral therapy by desensitizing the person to their fear and changing specific fearful thoughts regarding flying. New virtual reality therapy for phobia also is extremely effective in as little as 10 sessions, where flight is simulated while treatment goes on. Even people who were not there but watched may experience an increase in their fear of flying, and can benefit from treatment.

The plane entered the water Thursday afternoon following a failed takeoff, the FAA says.

Matt Sloane
CNN Medical News Producer

I just spoke with Dr. Charles Raison, Director of the Mind/Body Institute at Emory University, and a Psychiatrist. Here are some quick notes from our conversation:

Dr. Raison said that the psychological impact of an event like this is likely to be overwhelming. He added that humans have an inherent fear of heights, and this is their worst fear come true. He also said that more people die in cars than in planes, but most of us don’t fear driving. Everyone has a healthy dose of apprehension about flying.

Dr. Raison said data show that the people who are “hysterical” now, are likely to the ones with long-term psychological complications. It'ss largely a myth that the ones who are taking it in stride now will “feel it later.”

He said some people will walk away from this experience feeling like heroes, regaining faith in the human condition. Others will look back at how they acted – pushing and shoving – and feel guilty for not helping others. Others will be a complete psychological mess.

See full notes below:

Dr. Charles Raison

Clincal Director, Mind/Body Progam Emory University

- In a stressor like this, some ppl will behave like heroes, come out of it feeling empowered, touched about the human condition.

- Other people may have pushed and shoved acted crazy, and will feel guilty about it.

- Some people will become terrified and will develop PTSD.

- 6 months from now, rates of psych troubles is going to be much higher in this group than normal people.

- Nightmares, fears, terror of flying, may not ever fly again...

- Humans fears are hard wired – hardly anybody scared of driving, but many Americans die that way

- We have an instinctive fear of heights, and even tho people rarely die in plane crashes, we're wired to have a heightened fear response.

- What he'd be looking for if he were counseling these people: immediate predictors of PTSD – a lot of data, people that freak out at time of accident, are most likely to have long term troubles.

- It's an urban legend that people who are "cool under pressure" fall apart later – largely untrue

- People who are really spaced out/dissociated – classic early symptoms of a large trauma – disconnected from reality – strong predictor of nightmares, flashbacks, sadness, PTSD

- He'd be looking for: people extremely upset by it, spaced out by it – at much higher risk of long-term troubles.

- On avg, people who've had a lot of stress before/depression, abuse, addiction – those people are going to have a harder time – those things "prime the pump" – predisposition

- Most people have a fear of flying – and to have your worst nightmare come true, is just an over-the-top stressor.

These photographs were taken from the west side of Manhattan.

Taken from an office window on the 11th floor of 601 West 26th Street in Manhattan.

Taken from the inside of a car sitting in traffic on Manhattan's West Side Highway as the plane was going down.

A photograph taken from a terrace overlooking the Hudson River.

Another view of the plane from a terrace on the west side of Manhattan.

Click here to see more photos from iReporters.

Passenger Alberto Panero heard a 'loud bang' before the U.S. Airways airliner made a crash landing in the Hudson river.

Bird Strike Committee USA

Bird Strike Committee USA is a volunteer organization directed by a 10- to 15-person steering committee consisting of 2-3 members each from the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, aviation industry/airlines, and airports.

Some Stats: Did you know that?

- Over 219 people have been killed worldwide as a result of bird strikes since 1988.

- Bird and other wildlife strikes cost USA civil aviation over $620 million/year, 1990-2007.

- Over 5,000 bird strikes were reported by the U.S. Air Force in 2007.

- Over 7,600 bird and other wildlife strikes were reported for USA civil aircraft in 2007.

- Studies indicate only about 20% of bird strikes to civil aircraft at Part 139-certificated (passenger service) airports in USA are reported. Less than 5% of bird strikes at General Aviation airports are reported.

- From 1990-2004, USA airlines reported 31 incidents in which pilots had to dump fuel to lighten load during a precautionary or emergency landing after striking birds on takeoff or climb. An average of 11,600 gallons of jet fuel was released in each of these dumps.

- Waterfowl (31%), gulls (26%), and raptors (18%) represented 75% of the reported bird strikes causing damage to USA civil aircraft, 1990-2007.

- Over 760 civil aircraft collisions with deer and 250 collisions with coyotes were reported in the USA, 1990-2007.

Read More...

A US Airways plane has crashed in the Hudson river in New York.

If there were any question about whether the Democratic presidential candidates have been hurting each other's chances to become president, it would seem harder to argue that case now, right?

...now that Clinton is questioning Obama's character, as well as his comment that some Pennsylvania voters are "bitter."

...and now that Obama is saying, "Shame on her... (for) an insult to sportsmen... (and) talking like she's Annie Oakley."

Do you think they're undercutting each other's credibility, or their own... or will voters forgive and forget all this, and focus on what's said during the general election?

Do you think John McCain is benefiting from the Dems' infighting, even enjoying it?

We'd like to hear. Thank you for your thoughts.

–Barclay Palmer, 360 Senior ProducerComments to the 360° blog are moderated. What does that mean?

Morning folks...It is Friday....Thank GOD!!!  Grab your coffee and take a look at today's headlines, but first today is the 4oth Anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr...

Remembering King
The other side of the mountaintop...
Near the end of his life, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. felt cornered and under siege. His opposition to the Vietnam War was widely criticized, even by friends. He was being pressured both to repudiate the black power movement and to embrace it. Some of his lieutenants were urging him to jettison his urgent new campaign to uplift the poor, believing that King had taken on too much and was compromising support for the civil rights struggle.

Top Stories
Tornado hits Arkansas...
At least one tornado ripped through central Arkansas Thursday evening, savaging a mobile home park and sending National Weather Service forecasters into a bunker as the storm roared overhead.

Iraq PM warns of more offensives...
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki vowed Thursday after last week's battle in the southern port of Basra to carry out more offensives around Iraq, mentioning as targets neighborhoods in Baghdad associated with Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.

1000 Iraqi soldiers refused to fight...
More than 1,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen either refused to fight or simply abandoned their posts during the inconclusive assault against Shiite militias in Basra last week, a senior Iraqi government official said Thursday. Iraqi military officials said the group included dozens of officers, including at least two senior field commanders in the battle.

U.S. on the wrong track?
More than 80 percent of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, the highest such number since the early 1990s, according to a new survey.

Australian PM comes under fire...
Australia's prime minister came under fire at home Friday over a playful salute he gave President Bush at a NATO summit, which critics said seemed to suggest Australian subservience to Washington.

Border complicates Afghan fight...
As a cold darkness enveloped the tiny US Military camp just inside Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, word spread that Taliban fighters were on the move nearby, planning an attack.

Raw Politics
Is the country ready for a Black or a woman President?
The number of Americans who believe that the country is ready for a black president is rising, a poll released Thursday suggested.

Super delegate trouble for Clinton...
Nearly three weeks remain before the next Democratic primary, but the results are rolling in from another part of the presidential contest - and they signify trouble for Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Obama out raises Clinton...
Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama continued to display his unrivaled prowess for fundraising by collecting more than $40 million in March, about double the amount raised by Sen. Hillary Clinton, to bring the overall take for his White House bid to more than $200 million, aides said Thursday

Cindy McCain beer fortune...
On a spring day at a speedway in North Carolina, John McCain posed with his wife, Cindy, and racing star Dale Earnhardt Jr., highlighting the couple's political and business interests in a single snapshot.

Program NOTE: Erica Hill profiles John McCain tonight on AC360

John Edwards says NO to VP...
Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said on Thursday he would not accept the nomination for U.S. vice president as he did four years ago.

Crime & Punishment
Man threatens "tech" like killings...
A 20-year-old with a weapons cache that included four AK-47s was arrested after threatening over the Internet to undertake a Virginia Tech-style massacre, authorities said Thursday.

4 indicted in Tenn football player murder...
Four men accused of killing a University of Memphis football player during a botched robbery have been indicted on first-degree murder charges.

Stripper-turned-soccer mom convicted...
A former stripper-turned-soccer mom convicted of plotting to kill her former fiance 12 years ago was sentenced Wednesday to 99 years in prison.

Keeping Them Honest
Inspectors say FAA ignored violations...
The Federal Aviation Administration may know considerably less about the state of airline safety than it claims, a parade of witnesses and lawmakers said at a Congressional hearing on Thursday.

What YOU will be talking about TODAY
1864 Lincoln letter...
A rare Lincoln manuscript sold for $3.4 million on Thursday at Sotheby's auction house. The 1864 letter in which Abraham Lincoln replies to the abolitionist pleas of 195 young boys and girls was bought by a private American collector over the phone.

Morning folks....Happy Monday!!

Fifteen minutes before Treasury Secretary Paulson unveils a new economic plan, HUD Secretary Jackson will allegedly resign...check out Top Stories.  In Raw Politics new poll numbers out showing Obama with a ten point lead, but Hillary is stayin' in the race... AND the NCAA final four is set, it is the first time EVER all FOUR number 1 seeds will play in the FINAL FOUR... OK, OK, if you're not a college hoop fan, there is plenty of other stories to chew over... So grab your coffee and let's go...

Top Stories
HUD secretary to resign...
Housing Secretary Alphonso R. Jackson is expected to resign Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday night.

Paulson's plan...
A sweeping overhaul of financial regulation that Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. will propose today started out last year as an effort to streamline and deregulate oversight of global markets, but the administration was forced to add elements addressing the mortgage crisis as it escalated this year.

Body found of Ohio soldier...
After nearly four years of hoping, waiting and praying, an Ohio family learned Sunday their missing son died in Iraq.

Al-Sadr calls of fighting in Iraq...
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on followers to stop shooting and cooperate with Iraqi security forces Sunday, a move Iraq's government praised as a step toward ending six days of fighting that has left hundreds dead.

Raw Politics
New POLL: Obama 10 pt lead...
Barack Obama has extended his lead over Hillary Clinton among Democrats nationally to 52% to 42%, the third consecutive Gallup Poll Daily tracking report in which he has held a statistically significant lead, and Obama's largest lead of the year so far.

Obama: Clinton should stay...
Barack Obama refused Saturday to go along with other Democrats who are calling for Hillary Rodham Clinton to step away from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Bill Clinton tells superdelegates to "chill"
Former President Clinton urged Democratic Party superdelegates and activists Sunday to be patient in selecting a presidential nominee and let the primary election process play out over the coming months.

Hillary appeals to blue collar...
Hillary Clinton kicked off her North Carolina primary campaign last week at a technical school that bills itself "College for the Real World." After some pleasantries and a stab at a basketball reference, she began to outline what she called "the problems that we face" as a nation

Obama tries to reach PA votes...
 Barack Obama hit the bowling lanes and walked the factory floor, hoisted the local brew and even nursed a calf as he introduced himself over the weekend to the working-class residents of hardscrabble towns in the valleys and mountains of southern Pennsylvania.

Obama, McCain forge alliance...
A year into his tenure on Capital Hill, Sen Barack Obama (D-Ill.) approached John McCain on the Senate floor to propose the two work together on a lobbying and ethics reform bill. The four-term Arizona Republican, 25 years Obama's senior, quickly saw a willing apprentice to help shake up the way business was done on Capitol Hill.

McCain faces test in wooing elite donors...
With attention focused on the Democrats’ infighting for the presidential nomination, Senator John McCain is pressing ahead to the general election but has yet to sign up one critical constituency: the big-money people who powered the Bush fund-raising machine.

Keeping them Honest
Popular cholesterol drug fails...
Leading doctors urged a return to older, tried-and-true treatments for high cholesterol after hearing full results Sunday of a failed trial of Vytorin.

Crime & Punishment
No evidence of murder in Princess death...
The coroner heading the inquest into the death of Princess Diana  says there is no evidence that Prince Philip, the Secret Intelligence Service or any other government agency was involved in her death in 1997.

What YOU will be talking about TODAY
Islam has overtaken Catholicism...
Islam has overtaken Roman Catholicism as the biggest single religious denomination in the world, the Vatican said on Sunday.

NCAA basketball: ALL four #1 in final four...
Stephen Curry darted this way, faked that way. Nothing open, and the bright red numbers on the clock getting close to zero.

Morning folks...It is Friday!! Thank GOD!!! In honor of it being Friday, I won't bore you with the details of today's headlines...Soooo grab your coffee and let's go...

Top Stories
U.S. joins offensive...
U.S. forces in armored vehicles battled Mahdi Army fighters Thursday in Sadr City, the vast Shiite stronghold in eastern Baghdad, as an offensive to quell party-backed militias entered its third day. Iraqi army and police units appeared to be largely holding to the outskirts of the area as American troops took the lead in the fighting.

U.S. suspends Afghan arms dealer...
U.S. investigators are looking into accusations that a company hired by the U.S. military supplied corroded and decades-old Chinese ammunition to the Afghan Army and police

Puerto Rico Governor indicted...
Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila and 12 associates, including his former administrative director in Washington, have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy, fraud and tax crimes during three recent political campaigns.

Tibet tension lingers...
From behind bars, the young man fidgeted. His eyes flickered over to a policeman standing nearby as he debated how to answer a very sensitive question.

New Central Command Chief...
One of the Army's most Iraq-savvy generals is taking charge, at least temporarily, of arguably the most important command in the U.S. Military, with responsibility for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Raw Politics
Dodd says STOP...
Q: As I mentioned earlier, you were the General Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Now, you know that a lot of Democrats feel that this increasingly bitter race between Obama and Clinton is hurting the party. First of all, do you think that is true, and secondly, if you were in charge, what would you do? Dodd: Well, I think it is hurting

Obama would have left church...
White House hopeful Barack Obama suggests he would have left his Chicago church had his longtime pastor, whose fiery anti-American comments about U.S. foreign policy and race relations threatened Obama's campaign, not stepped down.

Three candidates, three proposals for the economy...
The deteriorating economy took center stage in the presidential election Thursday as Democrat Barack Obama called for tighter regulation of financial markets and rival Hillary Rodham Clinton proposed more retraining for displaced workers, creating a sharp contrast with Republican John McCain over how much the government should intervene.

Clinton details health plan...
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said in an interview on Wednesday that if elected president she would push for a universal health care plan that would limit what Americans pay for health insurance to no more than 10 percent of their income, a significant reduction for some families.

Obama bus tour...
When he steps aboard a campaign bus in Pittsburgh on Friday, Senator Barack Obama begins a six-day journey across Pennsylvania and its complex political landscape, one that is largely favorable to his rival, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Obama-Bloomberg ticket?
It was only hours after Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg finally made it clear that he was not running for president that his chief political guru, Kevin Sheekey, suggested that he would be the perfect running mate for Senator Barack Obama.

Obama rewriting rules for online contributions...
When Christen Braun decided it was time to learn more about the presidential candidates, the 28-year-old high school teacher from suburban Pittsburgh turned to Google - right where Sen. Barack Obama's campaign was waiting for her. 

Crime & Punishment
Learn english or go to jail...
A judge known for creative sentencing has ordered three Spanish-speaking men to learn English or go to jail

Keeping Them Honest
Hundreds of flights canceled or grounded, why?
Hundreds of flights were canceled Thursday as mechanics for American Airlines and Delta Airlines inspected wiring in aircraft to ensure the planes met federal safety rules.

Tapes destroyed...
When officers from the Central Intelligence Agency destroyed hundreds of hours of videotapes documenting harsh interrogations in 2005, they may have believed they were freeing the government and themselves from potentially serious legal trouble.

What YOU will be talking about TODAY
Parents pick pray over treatment...
Police are investigating an 11-year-old girl's death from an undiagnosed, treatable form of diabetes after her parents chose to pray for her rather than take her to a doctor.

Good morning folks....Floods, planes being grounded and yes, according to the Generals on the ground in Iraq "the troops are feeling the strain" - really? Surprise, surprise!!! In Raw Politics the Democratic infighting continues, while John McCain lays out his foreign policy plans...AND check out the latest in the death of Carol Gotbaum in Crime & Punishment...her family has filed an 8 million dollar wrongful death suit, the police responded immediately by saying "if she was so sick, why was she traveling alone?" AND greeting cards for inmate? What will Hallmark think of next? There are lots of headlines to chew over this morning...Sooo grab your coffee and lets get this headline party started...

Top Stories
Arkansas braces for more flooding...
Arkansans sandbagged their front doors and pumped out their flooded basements Wednesday as a historic crest on the White River moved downstream, and a flooding expert said the state will have to deal with high water for weeks.

U.S. planes grounded...
The nation's aging airline fleets, already struggling with high fuel costs and growing passenger demand, delivered another blow to travelers Wednesday as American Airlines and Delta Air Lines canceled hundreds of flights while planes were reinspected for compliance with federal maintenance rules. More disruptions are expected

Florida apologizes for slavery...
The Florida Legislature formally apologized Wednesday for the state’s "shameful" history of slavery, joining five other states that have expressed public regret for what Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, recently called America’s “original sin.”

Saddam paid for US congressional delegation...
Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency footed the bill for a U.S. congressional delegation's trip during a buildup to the Iraq war, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday in the case of an Iraqi-born U.S. citizen charged with spying for the Iraqi government.

Troop strain...
Behind the Pentagon's closed doors, U.S. military leaders told President Bush they are worried about the Iraq war's mounting strain on troops and their families. But they indicated they'd go along with a brief halt in pulling out troops this summer.

U.S steps up strikes in Pakistan...
The United States has escalated its unilateral strikes against Al-Qaeda members and fighters operating in Pakistan's tribal areas, partly because of anxieties that Pakistan's new leaders will insist on scaling back military operations in that country, according to U.S. officials.

Raw Politics
McCain outlines foreign policy...
Sen. John McCain, carefully distancing himself from President Bush and seeking to sound a moderate tone, called Wednesday for stronger ties with allies and cautioned that American power "does not mean we can do whatever we want, whenever we want."

New poll: Clinton takes a hit...
As expected, one of the two major Democratic candidates saw a downturn in the latest NBC/WSJ poll, but it's not the candidate that you think. Hillary Clinton is sporting the lowest personal ratings of the campaign. Moreover, her 37 percent positive rating is the lowest the NBC/WSJ poll has recorded since March 2001, two months after she was elected to the U.S. Senate from New York.

Clinton backers send letter to Pelosi...
Top fundraisers for Sen Hillary Clinton's campaign upbraided House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) yesterday for suggesting that Democratic superdelegates should back the candidate with the most pledged delegates and urged her to respect the right of those delegates to back whomever they choose at the end of the primary season.

Obama warns of "you're on your own society..."
Presidential candidate Barack Obama, largely ignoring his Democratic rival for now, ridiculed likely Republican nominee John McCain on Wednesday for offering "not one single idea" to help hard-pressed homeowners facing foreclosure.

Dem party divide runs deep...
Political tension between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton is inflaming Democrats' emotions as it spills over into the electorate with more voters threatening to defect from the party should their candidate lose the presidential nomination.

Finding political news online...
Senator Barack Obama's videotaped response to President Bush’s final State of the Union address — almost five minutes of Mr. Obama’s talking directly to the camera — elicited little attention from newspaper and television reporters in January.

McCain's daughter view of her dad...
"McCain Blogette" seems an oxymoron: a senior citizen and his presidential campaign chronicled by the Facebook generation.

Keeping them Honest
GPO profits go to bonuses and trips...
When the government's main printing agency booked $100 million in unexpected profit it went on a spending spree: large bonuses to top managers, trips to Paris and Las Vegas, and an official photo of the boss that cost $10,000.

U.S. unconcerned about erroneous shipment...
After Taiwanese officials reported in early 2007 that four packages they had received from the U.S. military did not contain the helicopter batteries they had expected, U.S. officials suggested that Taiwan simply dispose of the incorrect items - which turned out to be parts for U.S. nuclear missiles.

Crime & Punishment
Family seeks $8 million...
The family of a woman who died last year while in police custody at Phoenix, Arizona's, Sky Harbor International Airport filed an $8 million claim Wednesday against the city of Phoenix and its police department, the first step in filing a wrongful death suit.

Peterson search will continue...
Assured early on by authorities that her sister, Stacy Peterson, did not leave home by choice, Cassandra Cales is more determined than ever to know what happened to the young Bolingbrook mom who vanished five months ago.

What YOU will be talking about TODAY
Greeting cards for inmates?
Ever find yourself struggling to craft the perfect sentence for a loved one who's, um, serving a sentence? Now, you have a friend in the greeting card business.

Good morning folks....There are only a few headlines to chew over in Top Stories today. So grab your coffee and head right to Raw Politics... But definitely scroll down to What YOU will be talking about TODAY  and read about an outrageous story about a Walmart employee involved in a traffic accident and who is now being sued by Walmart for medical bills...Randi Kaye will have that story tonight on AC360.  

Top Stories
Floods in Arkansas...
Volunteers armed with sandbags held back water springing up from under a rural levee Tuesday as the White River continued its highest surge in a quarter-century through eastern Arkansas.

Iraq PM gives deadline...
Iraq's prime minister on Wednesday gave gunmen in the southern oil port of Basra a three-day deadline to surrender their weapons and renounce violence as clashes between Shiite militia fighters and Iraqi security forces erupted for a second day.

Pilot suspended after gun fires in cockpit...
A US Airways pilot who accidentally discharged his handgun in the cockpit during a flight has been suspended from the federal program that permits pilots to carry firearms and has been removed from flight duty pending the outcome of an investigation, the Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday.

Raw Politics
Clinton seeks to soften impact on Bosnia statement...
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton tried Tuesday to put a softening spin on her misstatement that she ran from sniper fire at an airport in Bosnia as first lady, saying the comment was a mistake that “proves I’m human.”

Presidential hopefuls mum on social security & medicare...
With the presidential campaign going full tilt, a new government report on a big national problem is usually followed by volleys of rhetoric from the candidates. But on Tuesday, when the annual report on the precarious state of Medicare and Social Security came out, the reaction was not exactly deafening.

Obama posts tax returns...
The 2000-through-2006 tax returns for Sen. Barack Obama and his wife were posted on his campaign Web site Tuesday, part of an ongoing effort to paint Sen. Hillary Clinton as a secretive politician who has failed to disclose key information.

McCain: Life experience shapes views...
On Sept. 28, 1983, a freshman Republican took to the House floor and did something unexpected: He opposed President Ronald Reagan's plan to keep U.S. troops in war-torn Lebanon.

Meghan McCain offers her own straight talk...
Meghan McCain, who blogs about life inside her dad's presidential campaign, is not terribly interested in matters of policy, but she is acutely attuned to matters of footwear.

Obama and the "L" word...
Sen. Barack Obama offers himself as a post-partisan uniter who will solve the country's problems by reaching across the aisle and beyond the framework of liberal and conservative labels he rejects as useless and outdated.

Obama foreign-policy views draw criticism...
Barack Obama is drawing fresh fire for pledging to hold direct talks with foreign adversaries, an approach both Hillary Clinton and John McCain say they will hit hard.

Chelsea: "I do not think that is any of your business"
Chelsea Clinton had a quick retort Tuesday when asked whether her mother's credibility had been hurt during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Keeping Them Honest
250 sick in Colorado...
Crews started pumping chlorine through this southern Colorado city's water system Tuesday to rid it of salmonella bacteria that has sickened nearly 250 people.

Cigarette company paid for cancer study...
In October 2006, Dr. Claudia Henschke of Weill Cornell Medical College jolted the cancer world with a study saying that 80 percent of lung cancer deaths could be prevented through widespread use of CT scans.

Crime & Punishment
Parachute from D.B. Cooper found?
The FBI is analyzing a torn, tangled parachute found buried by children in southwest Washington to determine whether it might have been used by famed plane hijacker D.B. Cooper, the agency said.

What YOU will be talking about TODAY
Walmart sues employee  involved in traffic accident...
Shank suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident nearly eight years ago that robbed her of much of her short-term memory and left her in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home.It was the beginning of a series of battles - both personal and legal - that loomed for Shank and her family. One of their biggest was with Wal-Mart...

Program NOTE: Randi Kaye has this report tonight on AC360 

Family ties..Obama related to Pitt? Clinton to Jolie?
Perhaps, now the candidates will play nice.For all their insistence on how unlike they are from one another, the three U.S. presidential candidates share some noteworthy family connections, the New England Historic Genealogical Society has found.