New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno is expected to "categorically deny" allegations Monday that she gave Hoboken's Mayor an ultimatum to support a redevelopment plan backed by Gov. Chris Christie in order to receive Hurricane Sandy recovery aid, a source said.
Guadagno's remarks will be the first time a senior Christie official has addressed the charges Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer first made Saturday on MSNBC.
Zimmer went even further Sunday, implicating Christie directly in an interview on CNN.
FULL STORYThis may turn into much more than just a political scandal.
It may have seemed like a teenage prank at the time, but the blockage of bridge traffic as a possible act of partisan political revenge has put New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in the middle of a serious legal stew.
And the fire underneath it is just beginning to heat up for the Republican presidential hopeful, as the state assembly plans to post online 907 pages of documents related to the case Friday.
FULL STORYThis isn't the first time critics have called New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie a bully. But now the man many consider a Republican presidential frontrunner is on the defensive, scrambling to distance himself from an erupting political scandal that threatens to tarnish his image well before the 2016 elections.
E-mails that surfaced Wednesday suggest top Christie appointees orchestrated traffic jams on the George Washington Bridge as part of a political vendetta to punish a local mayor who wouldn't support him at the polls. Lane closures around approaches to the country's busiest bridge snarled traffic for days in September in Fort Lee, New Jersey - a problem the governor and his administration had originally blamed on a mishandled traffic study.
In response to the e-mail firestorm, Christie said Wednesday that he was misled by staff. He called the conduct outrageous and said he knew nothing about it.
FULL STORYMaria Alyokhina, a member of Russian punk band Pussy Riot who was serving a two-year jail term for her part in a performance critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been released from prison.
Alyokhina's release from a prison in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia was confirmed by Pyotr Verzilov, the husband of fellow band member, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova.
Tolokonnikova, who is also imprisoned, is expected to be released later Monday, Verzilov said.
A giant cross that has stood on a Southern California mountain for decades must be removed because it violates the constitutional separation of church and state, a judge ordered this week.
The order Thursday by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns continues a long legal battle about the 43-foot cross atop Mt. Soledad in San Diego.
Burns ordered that the cross would have to be removed within 90 days. But the cross may be able to stay if the case is appealed, the judge ordered.
FULL STORYPhillip Steel, a resident of Deer Trail, Colorado, is ready to fight for Old West values he feels are being threatened by drones.
Asked what exactly he's proposing to do when he sees an unmanned aircraft, Steel points his weapon to the sky.
"I am proposing to shoot it down," he said.
Deer Trail - population 598 - will vote Tuesday on a measure that would allow its residents to hunt for federal drones and shoot them down.
FULL STORYThey want her fired and the health care reforms she champions dismantled, and now Republicans will finally get their chance to question Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
She will appear before a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday called to examine the rocky rollout of the Obamacare website.
In an advance copy of her testimony, Sebelius says it's frustrating and unacceptable that the site has not lived up to its expectations.
However, she said Obamacare has delivered on its central promise to provide affordable healthcare.
FULL STORYChallenges continue to mount for Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
Public criticism persists as she prepares to testify Wednesday before a Congressional committee demanding answers about ongoing problems with the Obama administration's health care enrollment website.
Public ridicule reached prime-time - or late-night - when "Saturday Night Live" parodied Sebelius and the HealthCare.gov debacle that has rocked the online rollout of President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement.
FULL STORYMarsha Shapiro and Louise Walpin married each other for the third time early Monday. But this time, it was especially memorable: They were among the first to tie the knot after same-sex marriage became legal in New Jersey.
A rabbi first "married" the couple in 1992 in a Jewish ceremony. They married a second time in New York in August 2012 after same-sex marriage became legal there.
The third time was just after midnight Thursday in the Garden State. The couple helped pave the way there through a 2011 lawsuit that brought about the change. New Jersey now becomes the 14th state to recognize gay marriages.
FULL STORYOK, so Congress passed a bill, the President signed it into law and the government's finally back in business.
But with all the last-minute press conferencing, speechifying, and endless partisan tweeting, the one thing that wasn't extensively discussed was the actual details of the bill. Since it evolved constantly and was pushed through at the 11th hour, things got a tad confusing.
Here's are the key points you need to know about the bill that saved the government:
FULL STORYSo much for a "clean" bill. The measure passed by Congress to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling also contains some goodies and gifts tucked into the 35-page bill.
There's more money - a lot more - for a dam project on the Ohio River and millions of cash for Colorado flooding repair projects. And the wealthy widow of a late U.S. senator will receive a year's pay as a death benefit.
You have to hand it to a Congress that finds no bill is off limits for pork.
"These people are like alcoholics. They can't resist taking a drink. It's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous," said Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona to the Daily Beast, referring to the dam project. "It shows that there are people in this body who are willing to use any occasion to get an outrageous pork-barrel project done at the cost of millions and millions of dollars. It's disgusting."
Here are five most surprising provisions to the bill:
FULL STORYU.S. Navy SEAL Team Six pulled out during a raid in Somalia to capture suspected Al-Shabaab leader Ikrima when it became clear that he couldn't be taken alive, a senior U.S. official told CNN.
"Their mission was to capture him. Once it became clear we were not going to (be) able to take him, the Navy commander made the decision to withdraw," said the official, who has direct knowledge of the entire Somalia operation but declined to be identified publicly.
The official said the SEALs faced heavy opposition and an intense firefight broke out, leading to the withdrawal.
FULL STORYTuesday marks the eighth day of the partial shutdown of the federal government, and there's no end in sight.
President Barack Obama continues to refuse to negotiate with Republicans. They continue to insist that any government funding bill must somehow delay, defund or otherwise disrupt his signature health reform law.
What's more, the issue of funding the government has now fused with the issue of raising the nation's debt ceiling.
FULL STORYU.S. foreign policy takes the latest hit as the government shutdown enters its fourth day.
With his focus on the brewing domestic crisis, the White House canceled President Barack Obama's trip to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bali, Indonesia.
"The president made this decision based on the difficulty in moving forward with foreign travel in the face of a shutdown, and his determination to continue pressing his case that Republicans should immediately allow a vote to reopen the government," a statement from the White House said.
Secretary of State John Kerry will lead the U.S. delegation in Asia.
FULL STORYBy Jaqueline Hurtado and Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN
Los Angeles - It was a moment Jose Diaz knew he didn't want to miss.
The day laborer and undocumented immigrant waited for more than 10 years to see it.
"I missed work today," he said, "but I felt like I had to be here."
Diaz was in the crowd cheering after California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law Thursday that will allow undocumented immigrants to get driver's licenses in his state.
"This is only the first step," Brown said from the steps of Los Angeles City Hall, adding that he hopes other states will follow California's example.
"When a million people without their documents drive legally and with respect in the state of California, the rest of this country will have to stand up and take notice," he said. "No longer are undocumented people in the shadows. They are alive and well and respected in the state of California."
The new measure, known as Assembly Bill 60, requires the California Department of Motor Vehicle issue driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants who can prove their identities, have established California residency and pass driving exams. The law goes into effect no later than January 1, 2015.
Details about how the new licenses will look and the exact process for obtaining them are still in the works. But even so, supporters of the measure cheered the signing of the law.
"To have a license is not a luxury. It is a necessity, because in cars we go to work, to school and shopping and without a license really we are limited in many things," said Frida Hinojosa, an undocumented immigrant.
For more than a year, driver's licenses and other state benefits have been at the heart of a battle in the nationwide immigration debate.
Supporters of licenses for undocumented immigrants argue that it's safer to have more drivers trained and insured, and opponents argue that such systems are rife with fraud.
The rules vary from state to state.
In January, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez said she would push to repeal the state law allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. That same month, the governor of Illinois signed a new law that would allow undocumented immigrants to get temporary licenses.
In at least 45 states, officials have said recipients of deferred action - the Obama administration's program for young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children - are eligible for driver's licenses, according to the National Immigration Law Center. But in some states, like Arizona and Nebraska, officials have stepped up efforts to stop licenses from being issued, the law center said.
President Barack Obama went on a rhetorical offensive against House Republicans on the third day of the federal government shutdown, telling a crowd in Maryland Thursday that there's only one party at fault and one remedy.
"There are enough Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives today that if the speaker of the House, John Boehner, simply let the bill get on the floor for an up or down vote, every congressman could vote their conscience, the shutdown would end today," Obama said in a speech in Rockville, Maryland.
"The only thing that is keeping the government shut down, the only thing preventing people from going back to work, and basic research starting back up, and farmers and small business owners, getting their loans - the only thing that's preventing all that from happening right now today, in the next five minutes, is that Speaker John Boehner won't even let the bill get a yes or no vote because he doesn't want to anger the extremists in his party."
FULL STORY
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