Source: Obama to challenge Iran
March 7th, 2013
09:57 PM ET
Comments (14 comments)

Source: Obama to challenge Iran

Barack Obama said on Thursday that he will not engage in any "chest beating" over Iran's nuclear program, but plans to issue a "clear and direct" challenge to Tehran during his upcoming Middle East trip, according to sources familiar with his comments.

Obama said at a White House meeting with Jewish American leaders that he will still work toward a diplomatic resolution with Iran over its nuclear program, but that no options are off the table, including military ones, one of the sources said.

FULL STORY
Post by:
Filed under: Barack Obama • Iran • Politics
Walmart’s Burwell tapped as budget director
Burwell served under President Bill Clinton, including for a time as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.
March 3rd, 2013
09:55 PM ET
Comments (4 comments)

Walmart’s Burwell tapped as budget director

Sylvia Mathews Burwell will be nominated Monday by President Barack Obama to be the director of the Office of Management and Budget, a senior Obama administration official said.

The 47-year-old Burwell - who served under President Bill Clinton, including as deputy director of the OMB - is currently the head of the Walmart Foundation, the retail chain's charitable organization.

FULL STORY
Post by: ,
Filed under: Barack Obama • Politics
Lautenberg won't seek re-election in 2014
February 14th, 2013
04:18 PM ET
Comments (6 comments)

Lautenberg won't seek re-election in 2014

Frank Lautenberg, the New Jersey Democrat who has served five terms in the U.S. Senate since 1982, will not seek re-election next year when his term expires, the senator said in a statement Thursday.

Lautenberg, 89, returned to the Senate in mid-January after missing key votes over a weeks-long absence due to a cold which "turned into the flu, turned into a severe case of bronchitis with fluid in the chest," he said last month.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker formed a Senate campaign committee last month to explore a run for the seat while a Quinnipiac University poll released around the same time found Booker would lead Lautenberg 51% to 30% in a head-to-head matchup.

FULL STORY
Post by: ,
Filed under: New Jersey • Politics
January 30th, 2013
07:31 AM ET
Comments (29 comments)

NRA says it adds 500,000 members since Newtown

The National Rifle Association has gained about a half million members since the Newtown, Connecticut, shooting. The NRA now has more than 4.5 million members, Andrew Arulanandam with the NRA tells CNN.

Read the latest on the gun debate:

Profile: The face of the NRA

Why new laws could miss America's bigger gun problem

Violent mentally ill can buy guns

Masculinity, mental illness and guns: A lethal equation?

Want to know more? Do you think there can there be a solution to America's gun problems? Anderson Cooper looks at both sides of the debate in "Guns Under Fire: an AC360º Town Hall Special" Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on CNN.

 Post by:
Filed under: Gun Control
Solis resigns from cabinet; Holder, others to stay
January 9th, 2013
05:19 PM ET
Comments (3 comments)

Solis resigns from cabinet; Holder, others to stay

We're learning a bit more about who is - and isn't - going to be in President Barack Obama's second-term cabinet.

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis (pictured) has submitted her resignation, CNN learned Wednesday. She said in a letter to colleagues that she discussed the matter with her family over the holidays in California has "decided to begin a new future."

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, meanwhile, will remain in the cabinet for now, a White House official tells CNN. It's unclear how long Holder will stay into a second term, but the official said he and Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki are not expected to leave in the near future.

Obama's cabinet: Who's in, who's out?

FULL STORY
Post by: , , ,
Filed under: Politics
January 8th, 2013
01:15 PM ET
Comments (14 comments)

NRA sending representative to White House meetings on gun violence

The National Rifle Association will send a representative to the White House's meetings this week on gun violence, an NRA spokesman said Tuesday.

The group received an invitation late Friday, and "we are sending a rep to hear what they have to say," NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said.

Another major gun rights group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), will also participate in the meetings, which are slated for Wednesday and Thursday

Days after last month's shooting massacre at a Connecticut elementary school, President Barack Obama appointed Vice President Joe Biden to lead a task force that would give recommendations to prevent another mass shooting. The president gave the group a deadline of "no later than January."

FULL STORY
Post by: , ,
Filed under: Crime • Gun violence
October 31st, 2012
08:52 PM ET
Comments (594 comments)

Cuomo declares transportation emergency, free transit fares

Editor's note: Two days after Superstorm Sandy roared into the Northeast, ravaged cities are working on cleaning up from floods, wind and fire. Millions remain without power. The storm has left at least 122 dead from Haiti to Canada. Here is the full story and below is the latest news as we learn it.

Are you there? Send your stories and photos to CNN iReport but stay safe.

[Updated 1:40 a.m.] About 4.9 million customers remain without power in 15 states and the District of Columbia today, a CNN tally shows.  That number dropped by about 600,000 in six hours. FULL POST

 Post by: , , , , ,
Filed under: Flooding • Hurricanes • Superstorm Sandy • Tropical weather • Weather • Winter weather