Obama calls Lincoln his "homeboy"
To use President Obama's words, Abraham Lincoln was "in the house" at a campaign event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday.
Mr. Obama singled out an audience member dressed as Lincoln as "my homeboy from Illinois." He also called the former president's stand-in, "an outstanding Republican endorsee."
The two shook hands on a ropeline afterwards.
In the same speech, Mr. Obama said 2012 will be his last political campaign, "no matter what."
"I've got nothing else to run for," he told supporters.
Boehner: Rip health care out by roots
House Speaker John Boehner said Friday that Congress needs to "rip" President Obama's health care law "out by its roots."
Republicans approve of some of the provisions in the law, but Boehner says he wants to repeal the entire bill and restart a "commonsense debate."
"We need to start over, one step at a time," Boehner said in an interview with CBS News chief White House correspondent Norah O'Donnell to air this Sunday on "Face the Nation."
"This is government taking over the entire health insurance industry," he added. "The American people do not want to go down this path. They do not want the government telling them what kind of insurance policy they have to buy, and how much they have to pay for it, and if you don't like it we're going to take you."
In his first interview since the Supreme Court upheld the controversial individual mandate in President Obama's Affordable Care Act, Boehner called on Congress to "start over."
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Obama saw incorrect report of Supreme Court decision on TV
President Obama had a brief scare this morning.
When he first heard the Supreme Court's decision on Thursday, he thought his landmark health care legislation had been struck down.
Watching cable news coverage just outside the Oval Office, advisors said he had a quizzical look on his face reading TV captions that said the individual mandate had been invalidated.
Mr. Obama quickly got the correct report on the 5-4 ruling to uphold the mandate from his White House Counsel. Kathy Ruemmler gave the president two thumbs up and told him- that despite cable news reports- his landmark legislation had been upheld.
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Hillary Clinton most-traveled secretary of state in U.S. history
(AP Photo / Haraz N. Ghanbari Pool)
(CBS News) Thursday, Hillary Clinton visits Latvia, her 100th nation as secretary of state, and is the most traveled secretary of state in U.S. history.
She breaks the record of 96 trips, previously held by her husband's secretary of state from 1997 to 2001, Madeleine Albright, one of only two women to hold the position before Clinton. Condoleezza Rice visited 85 countries in four years as the head of George W. Bush's State Department.
Though appointed by her 2008 Democratic primary opponent to a position she had once said to staff she wouldn't consider, "not in a million years," Clinton has embraced the role of secretary of state.
"She did it very early on," said former CBS News State Department reporter Charlie Wolfson.
Clinton's first international trip as secretary was less than a month after President Obama took office, when she went to Asia in February 2009. She went on to visit 42 other countries that year.
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Romney campaign buys "superfan" new truck
(CBS News / Sarah Boxer)
A Republican from Virginia, Jim Wilson, 70, has been following Mitt Romney around the country in a pickup truck bedecked with campaign signage-- that is, until the car caught on fire last week in Pennsylvania.
The campaign announced Wednesday that it'd be footing the cost of Wilson's new wheels, ensuring he'll continue with them on the trail. Romney will present Wilson with a $13,900 2003 Chevy Silverado at an event in Sterling, Va. Wednesday evening.
"Jim Wilson is not only a dedicated supporter, but a friend of the governor and the entire campaign staff," Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said in a statement on Wednesday.
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Rielle Hunter and John Edwards split
Gerry Broome,AP Photo/Jim R. Bounds
(CBS News) Rielle Hunter says she and John Edwards are no longer in a relationship.
"We are a family, but as of the end of last week, John Edwards and I are no longer a couple," Hunter said on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, the same day her tell-all book was released.
Hunter is the mother of Edwards' 4-year-old daughter Frances Quinn Hunter. Last month, a trial over charges of campaign finance corruption related to the affair ended in a hung jury on most of the felony counts. Federal prosecutors then dropped the remaining charges against Edwards.
The end of Hunter's controversial relationship with Edwards coincides with the release of her tell-all book, "What Really Happened: John Edwards, Our Daughter and Me."
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Obama surprises diner, orders chili dogs
(CBS News) President Obama surprised customers and employees at the historic Varsity Diner in Atlanta on Tuesday, treating his staff to a lunch that healthy eating promoter Michelle Obama may not approve of.
The president's order included five chili dogs, four hot dogs, one cheeseburger and five "Varsity orange" drinks for his spokesman Jay Carney, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and others, according to White House pool reports. Mr. Obama paid with cash.
Mr. Obama took a group photo with Varsity cashiers and cooks, who were overly eager to take his order and ask for autographs.
While greeting customers, Mr. Obama met Air Force ROTC cadet Michael Evans and his parents. According to pool reports, Evans stopped in the Varsity right after returning from Maxwell Air Force Base where he just graduated from field training.
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Video: Politics week-in-review
(CBS News) Obama trips: President Obama was so "fired up and ready to go," he almost didn't make it to the podium at a campaign event in Florida on Friday. The clumsy Commander-in-Chief laughed it off though, telling the crowd, he "couldn't wait to get out here."
Reid's "clown question, bro": Senate Majority Harry Reid took a page out of baseball's Bryce Harper's book on media relations, telling a Capitol Hill reporter asking about immigration, "that's a clown question, bro."
The 19-year-old Washington Nationals star had dropped that line when a reporter in Canada asked him what his favorite beer is.
Reid clearly got a kick out of himself, tweeting "I quoted a great Nevadan in a press conference today," with a link to the video.
Romney grandson keeps pressure on: GOP presumptive nominee Mitt Romney and his wife Ann visited the press corps in the back of a campaign plane earlier this week. The proud grandfather of 16 told reporters his four year old grandson keeps asking, "have you beat Barack Obama yet?"
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Mary Cheney marries longtime partner
(CBS News) Mary Cheney and longtime partner Heather Poe were married Friday in Washington, D.C., CBS News has confirmed.
"Mary and Heather have been in a committed relationship for many years, and we are delighted that they were able to take advantage of the opportunity to have that relationship recognized," Mary's parents, former vice president Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne, said in a statement.
The newlyweds have two children - a 5 year old son Samuel and a 2 year old daughter Sarah- and live together in Virginia.
"Mary and Heather and their children are very important and much loved members of our family and we wish them every happiness," the Cheneys' statement reads.
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Biden teams up with Lin, Manning, Torre against dating violence
President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have teamed up with Jeremy Lin, Eli Manning, David Beckham and other sports stars on a public service announcement for the prevention of dating violence and sexual assault against women.
The PSA is part of Biden's "1is2Many" (One is Too Many) initiative and is directed at young men because, according to the White House, women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience the highest rates of relationship violence.
"We thought the best way to get the truth out was to make sure young men hear from other men they respect," the White House said.
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Rubio may not introduce his immigration legislation after Obama announcement
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., may now refrain from introducing his much-anticipated version of the DREAM Act following Friday's administration announcement of a deportation deferral process for young, undocumented citizens in the U.S.
A Rubio spokesman told CBS News chief White House correspondent Norah O'Donnell, "Obama's move kicks the can down the road for two years." He added that both Rubio's version of the DREAM Act and the president's announcement today achieve similar policy goals.
Rubio said in a written statement released earlier Friday: "There is broad support for the idea that we should figure out a way to help kids who are undocumented through no fault of their own, but there is also broad consensus that it should be done in a way that does not encourage illegal immigration in the future. This is a difficult balance to strike, one that this new policy, imposed by executive order, will make harder to achieve in the long run."
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WH defends contraception plan in response to Dolan
(CBS News) The White House responded on Tuesday to accusations by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan that the Obama administration was "handcuffing" the Catholic church and religious institutions with its policies on health care coverage for contraception.
Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and one of the nation's most prominent Catholic leaders, said on "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday that the administration's compromise on the issue announced earlier this year is not sufficient because the exemptions made for churches are too restrictive.
On Monday, more than 40 Catholic organizations sued the Obama administration over a requirement that most employers provide birth control coverage as part of their employee health plans.
"They tell us if you're really going be considered a church, if you're going to be really exempt from these demands of the government, well, you have to propagate your Catholic faith and everything you do, you can serve only Catholics and employ only Catholics," Dolan said. "We're like, wait a minute, when did the government get in the business of defining for us the extent of our ministry."
When asked about Dolan's comments, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said President Obama's health care policy "respects religious liberty" and ensures women have access to "important preventative services, including contraception."
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Obama: Agents involved in scandal "knuckleheads"
President Obama said Tuesday that the Secret Service agents involved in the prostitution scandal in Colombia are "knuckleheads" whose behavior is not characteristic of the Secret Service.
In an interview on the "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," the president said that "99.9 percent" of Secret Service agents put their lives "on the line" every day, according to White House press pool reports.
"They do a great job," Mr. Obama said. "So a couple of knuckleheads shouldn't detract from what they do, but what these guys were thinking, I don't know. That's why they're not there any more."
"The Secret Service - these guys are incredible," he added. "They protect me. They protect Michelle. They protect our girls."
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Cheney: Here's what matters in Romney's VP pick
Former Vice President Dick Cheney offered advice to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on how to choose his running mate on Monday.
In his second speaking engagement since heart transplant surgery last month, Cheney stressed the importance of the pick. He called it "the first presidential level decision the public" will see Romney make, and suggested the candidate will be judged on the choice.
"The single most important criteria has to be the capacity to be president - that's why you pick him," Cheney said. Cheney led the vice presidential search team for President George W. Bush before he was tapped as Mr. Bush's running mate.
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Hotsheet Live: What will matter in November?
(CBS News) CBS News political director John Dickerson was joined on 'Hotsheet Live" on Friday by USA Today's Susan Page, The New York Times' Jeff Zeleny and Scott Conroy of CBS News and Real Clear Politics to break down recent CBS News/New York Times poll that shows the race is a dead heat between President Obama and Mitt Romney.
"This [election] is about the economy," Zeleny said. "We get wrapped up in issues of contraception - this election is not about that, it's not about that."
Page said that the idea of Republicans being a divided party is a non-story.
"[The polls] show nine out of ten Republicans supporting Mitt Romney," Page said. "Whatever they think of Mitt Romney, they know what they think of Barack Obama, that is a huge uniting force for the Republicans."
Conroy reiterated that the election will come down to the economy. "It's important to just keep your eye on the big picture," he said.
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