Christie, Letterman trade fat jokes
Updated: 12:21 p.m. ET
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie doesn't put up with much guff from reporters, but the famously brash Republican governor showed his laid back side last night in an interview with CBS' "The Late Show," laughing off host David Letterman's repeated questions about his weight, and answering them with fat jokes of his own.
"I love you, Dave," Christie told Letterman, shortly before taking out and snacking on what appeared to be a jelly donut. "A deep and abiding love."
Christie, who has brushed off past suggestions that his weight might impact his abilities as a politician - either in his current station as governor or, potentially, a higher office - told Letterman his health is "startlingly good" and that he has normal blood sugar and cholesterol both.
"I'm basically the healthiest fat guy you've ever seen in your life," he said.
Continue »
Menendez blasts "absolutely false" prostitution "smears"
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., right.
/ AP Photo/J. Scott ApplewhiteAllegations that Sen. Robert Menendez engaged with prostitutes in the Dominican Republic while visiting a donor are "smears" being pushed by "right-wing blogs," and are "totally unsubstantiated," the embattled New Jersey Democrat told reporters today.
"It's amazing to me that anonymous, nameless, faceless, individuals on a website can drive that type of story into the mainstream, but that's what they have done successfully," Menendez, who is being investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee, said. "Now, nobody can find them, no one ever met them, no one ever talked to them, but that's where we are at. So, the bottom line is all of those smears are absolutely false, and that's the bottom line."
Days before the November election, conservative news site The Daily Caller published an article alleging that Menendez had flown to the Dominican Republic and slept with prostitutes at a resort where Dr. Salomon Melgen, an eye doctor who has made large donations to Menendez, had a home.
Continue »
Tagg Romney not running for Senate
Tagg Romney, son of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney
/ Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesNo, there will not be a Senator Romney anytime soon.
Looking to quiet chatter that he's considering running in the special election to fill newly-minted Secretary of State John Kerry's Massachusetts Senate seat, Mitt Romney's eldest son Tagg issued a statement today breaking the news to supporters: "The timing is not right."
"I have been humbled by the outreach I received this weekend encouraging me to become a candidate for the U.S. Senate," he said. "I love my home state and admit it would be an honor to represent the citizens of our great Commonwealth. However, I am currently committed to my business and to spending as much time as I can with my wife and children.
"The timing is not right for me," the statement continued, "but I am hopeful that the people of Massachusetts will select someone of integrity, vision, and compassion as our next U.S. Senator."
Continue »
Biden hails France's "decisive action" in Mali
Biden hails France's "decisive action" in Mali
As he continues his three-nation European tour, Vice President Joe Biden today praised France's military intervention in Mali to combat Islamic extremists who had largely taken control of the African nation.
During a press conference with French President Francois Hollande, Biden, speaking "on behalf of the president" and "the people of the United States," lauded France's "decisiveness - and, I might add, the incredible competence and capability of your French military forces.
"...Your decisive action is not only in the interest of France, but quite frankly the United States, and everyone," he continued.
Continue »
McCain calls Iran's president a monkey
It's not a lot to ask - Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., just wants everyone to "lighten up" and enjoy his joke about Iran's president being a monkey.
Responding to reports that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is ready and willing to suit up his astronaut gear to help his country reach its goal of achieving a manned space flight, the notoriously candid McCain wrote on Twitter this morning:
"@SenJohnMcCain So Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space - wasn't he just there last week? 'Iran launches monkey into space' http://news.yahoo.com/iran-launches-monkey-space-showing-missile-progress-003037176.html"
Continue »
Kerry: "I have big heels to fill" as secretary of state
Kicking off his first day as the head of the State Department today, newly-minted Secretary of State John Kerry marked the beginning of his tenure with a short address to his new team, briefly outlining his top priorities for the department while thanking both the president and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for their commitment to him as well as their advocacy for American values on the world stage.
Kerry's first day as Secretary of State: "I have big heels to fill"
Kerry, whose remarks were relatively brief and informal, particularly thanked Clinton and her team for having "tirelessly advocated the values of our country," and wondered, quippily, "can a man actually run the State Department? I don't know."
"The nation is grateful, the world is grateful. Thank you Hillary Clinton, and thank you, her team," Kerry said. "As the saying goes, I have big heels to fill."
Relaying a few anecdotes from his personal history - including the use of his first diplomatic passport, which he said showcased an 11-year-old, 4'3'' John Kerry, to ride his bike into East Berlin - the former senator said that as much as the Senate was "in his blood," the Foreign Service "is in my genes."
Continue »
Obama: "Yes," Boy Scouts should allow gays
President Obama responded with a simple "Yes" when he was asked on Sunday by CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley whether the Boy Scouts of America should open their organization to openly gay members.
His reason? "My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does, in every institution and walk of life."
"The Scouts are a great institution that are promoting young people and exposing them to opportunities and leadership that will serve people for the rest of their lives," Mr. Obama continued, "And I think nobody should be barred from that."
Continue »
Obama: "No doubt" more revenue still needed
One month after signing into law a "fiscal cliff" deal upping taxes on American families making more than $450,000 a year, President Obama said today there's "no doubt" additional revenue is needed to bring down the U.S. deficit, but believes lawmakers can do it "without raising taxes again."
"I don't think the issue right now is raising rates," the president said in an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley. "There's no doubt we need additional revenue, coupled with smart, spending reductions in order to bring down our deficit. And we can do it in a gradual way so that it doesn't have a huge impact."
Rather than raising taxes, the president proposed gutting government waste, reforming health care - "we spend a lot more on health care than any other country does, and we don't get better outcomes," he said - and closing loopholes that he suggested allow wealthy Americans to manipulate their tax rates.
Continue »
Secretary of State John Kerry gets to work
WASHINGTON, D.C. New Secretary of State John Kerry had a busy first weekend on the job, calling Palestinian, Israeli, Turkish, Canadian, Japanese, Korean and Mexican officials.
In his conversation Sunday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Kerry said President Barack Obama "is very interested in the peace process and aware of the economic hardships of the Palestinian people," Abbas spokesman Nabel Abu Rdeneh said.
Continue »
NRA CEO: "I don't think you can trust" W.H.
Closing the federal loophole that allows Americans to buy guns in private transactions without having gone through a background check would be a slippery slope, National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre said today, suggesting that President Obama and his administration would insist on taking it a step further.
With a so-called "universal background check," LaPierre said on "Fox News Sunday," "I think that they'll do is they'll turn this universal check on the law-abiding into a universal registry on law-abiding people. 'Obamacare' wasn't a tax until they needed it to be a tax. I don't think you can trust these people."
LaPierre said he's "been in this fight for 20 years," with the NRA having initially proposed a comprehensive background check. But unable to surmount federal laws restricting access to someone's mental health records that could signify whether that person poses a threat, he said, he changed his mind on the issue. Additionally, he argued, "the criminals are never going to comply with it; they could care less. ...It's a fraud to call it universal."
Continue »
Panetta: Enhanced interrogation not necessary
Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Sunday that "We could have gotten bin Laden without" enhanced interrogation techniques, despite the implication in the film "Zero Dark Thirty" that the techniques, called torture by opponents, played a pivotal role in finding bin Laden.
"First of all, it's a movie," Panetta said on NBC's "Meet the Press". "Let's remember that."
Saying he "lived the real story," Panetta added that "in order to put the puzzle of intelligence together that led us to bin Laden, there was a lot of intelligence. There were a lot of pieces out there that were part of that puzzle."
Continue »
NRA scoffs at Obama skeet shooting photo
When President Obama said in a recent interview that he goes skeet shooting "all the time" at Camp David, the skeptical questions began almost immediately. At a White House press briefing, one reporter asked how often the president shoots skeet and why he's never discussed it before.
To silence the skeptics, the White House released a photo of the president firing a rifle at a clay target at Camp David on August 4, 2012 - Mr. Obama's birthday.
But if the White House hoped to win friends among gun-rights supporters by releasing the photo, they may want to reconsider their approach.
The National Rifle Association, which has rejected Mr. Obama's gun control proposals, scoffed at the photo.
"One picture does not erase a lifetime of supporting every gun ban and every gun-control scheme imaginable," said Andrew Arulanandam, the organization's spokesman.
Continue »
Perry: Boy Scouts shouldn't reverse ban on gay members
AUSTIN, Texas Texas Gov. Rick Perry said emphatically Saturday that the Boy Scouts of America shouldn't soften its strict no-gays membership policy, and dismissed the idea of bending the organization to the whims of "popular culture."
Perry is an Eagle Scout and in 2008 he authored the book "On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For." It detailed the governor's deep love for the organization and explained why it should continue to embrace traditional, conservative values - including excluding openly gay members and Scout leaders.
America's longest-serving governor addressed the Texas Scouts' 64th annual Report to State, where hundreds of Scouts from around Texas filled the state House of Representatives to announce their delegation's recent accomplishments.
Continue »
Nebraska Lt. Gov. resigns after phone scandal
Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy, R-Neb., resigned Saturday after the disclosure of thousands of "late night telephone calls" Sheehy placed to four women, none of whom were his wife, during the last four years.
His resignation was announced at a morning press conference by Gov. Dave Heinemann, also a Republican, who said that Sheehy had broken "the public trust."
"As public officials, we are rightly held to a higher standard," Heinema said. "I had trusted him, and that trust was broken."
Continue »