All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Rapper and actor Chris "Ludacris" Bridges was in Washington this week to present Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) with an award from his charity the Ludacris Foundation – but first he stopped by CBS News' Washington bureau and the set of "Washington Unplugged."

Ludacris told moderator John Dickerson he works to "give a hand up, not a handout."

"I like helping kids who want to help themselves," he said. The Ludacris Foundation helps expand the arts to middle school and high school children.

"They need more individuals stepping up to the plate," the rapper said of children his foundation helps.

On giving the Congressional Leadership award to Congresswoman Waters, Ludacris said "I just think she is a great woman and a great individual." He suggested the relationship between the two bridged the generation gap.

In a later interview, Waters praised the rapper for reaching out to her generation. "For more mature people like me to be recognized by younger people is really important," she said.

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A longtime member of Congress is under investigation for assisting a bank to which she had personal connections get federal bailout money, a congressional ethics panel said this week.

The House ethics panel is investigating Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) after she arranged in 2008 for a meeting between OneUnited Bank executives and Treasury officials, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Waters' husband, Sidney Williams, was a member of the bank's board until last year, the newspaper reports, and had investments in the bank worth at least $350,000.

The bank received $12 million from the federal government's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Waters, who serves on the House Financial Services Committee, has defended her request for the meeting as part of her efforts to advocate for minority-owned businesses, the Los Angeles Times reports. She reportedly said that she disclosed her husband's ties to the bank and that her influence had nothing to do with the bailout.

The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), however, claims Waters did not disclose her financial ties to OneUnited Bank when she contacted the Treasury Department to arrange the meetings. The group says Treasury officials claimed they only arranged the meeting after hearing from Waters, even though the bank had requested meetings before.

The investigation has landed Waters on CREW's "15 most corrupt members of Congress" list.

By CBS News Capitol Hill correspondent Bob Fuss

No one is saying bottled water is bad for you, but Congress was told today it is not regulated as strictly as tap water and most Americans who buy it are under the mistaken impression that it is cleaner or healthier than the water that flows from their kitchen faucet.

The hearing of a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee received a report from Congressional investigators at the GAO indicating that the EPA rules for tap water are more rigorous and require far more disclosure than the FDA rules that govern bottled water. For example, municipal water supplies have to be tested by a certified outside laboratory while bottled water companies do their own tests for purity.

John Stephenson of the GAO told the committee Americans spend more than $11 billion a year on bottled water and buy some 200 bottles a year for every "man, woman and child" but the safety and consumer protection are "less stringent" than they are for tap water, with no rules at all for a potentially dangerous chemical used in plastics, DEHP, that could leach from the bottles.

Jane Houlihan of the Environmental Working Group said her organization surveyed 188 brands of bottled water and found only two of them actually tell consumers the source of their water, how it is treated and whether there are any contaminants. Public water suppliers have to report that every year.

Displaying a bottle of the popular brand of bottled water Dasani, she noted the label says it is "pure and crisp and has a fresh taste" but gives no indication of the source of the water.

Joseph Doss, President of the International Bottled Water Association, insisted bottled water is a "safe, healthy convenient food product that is comprehensively regulated" and suggested consumers who want to know where the water comes from can just call the manufacturer.

But Houlihan said consumers should find that information on the label and have a "right to know where their bottled water comes from, how or if its treated and the pollutants it contains."

And perhaps to think about why they are spending the extra money to get their water in a plastic bottle.

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A sound technician knocked over a glass of water on the president's desk in the oval office while entering for Obama's photo op with Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Obama heard something untoward as the press entered the room.

"Uh oh," he said. "What'd you all get there," he inquired.

"A water glass," came the reply from several in the press.

"Alright," he said with unmistakable dismay in his voice, adding sarcastically, "It's the Resolution Desk. It's only like a hundred years old."

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Representative Corrine Brown of Florida and Rep. Maxine Waters of California took to YouTube over the weekend for a little trash talk concerning the NBA Finals.

The championship series pits Brown's Orlando Magic against Waters' Los Angeles Lakers, whose victory last night gave them a 2-0 advantage in the best-of-seven series.

"The only reason I'm here with you this evening, Corrine, is to bring my condolences," Waters said in the awkward-but-endearing video, prompting a laugh from Brown.

The Florida congresswoman, in turn, vowed that "there will be no sweep."

"Both teams are great, but in the end it will be the Magic," she said.

"Who have you got?" Waters retorted, showing off her Lakers jersey. "I've got Kobe [Bryant]…you don't have anybody to match that."

Brown responded, "we have a whole a team. You've just got one player." That prompted Waters to talk approvingly about center Pau Gasol ("he is bad") and the rest of the Lakers' squad.

Watch the video – which was posted between games one and two – below:

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CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller takes a comical look at what an interview with the new White House puppy could look like.

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Bo, the new White House puppy, stayed indoors today, since there were thousands of people on the South Lawn for the Easter Egg Roll.

He’s still getting acclimated to his new home, and agreed to take a few questions in the family quarters of the White House.

Q. Let me start by asking you about your breeding, just what is a Portuguese Water Dog.

A. I’m not really sure.

Q. Well, do you like the water?

A. Not crazy about it, no.

Q. Are there American water dogs?

A. Actually, I consider myself more American than Portuguese.

Q. So how did you come to be picked by the First Family. Was there much of a vetting process?

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Alice Waters, the culinary impresario from Berkeley, California's Chez Panisse, must be a very happy woman. She's done what few chefs before her have managed: influenced the president of the United States.

Waters, a cheerleader for the organic food movement, has been pushing the Obamas for months to embrace locally grown fruits and vegetables. In fact, she urged the first family to think very locally.

In an open letter, Waters wrote, "I cannot forget the vision I have had since 1993 of a beautiful vegetable garden on the White House lawn. It would demonstrate to the nation and to the world our priority of stewardship of the land—a true victory garden!"

Today, Waters' vision becomes a reality. White House grounds crew and kitchen staff will clear a 1,100-square-foot patch of land on the South Lawn to grow goodies like Thai basil, hot peppers, collard greens, spinach, and berries, The New York Times reports. There will even be space for two bee hives, which will be used to make honey.

White House staff will have help breaking ground for the garden: Fifth graders from Mount Pleasant's Bancroft Elementary School have been enlisted to lend a hand with the digging. And the first family will do gardening stints. Michelle Obama promised the Times that being "leader of the free world" won't excuse her husband from weeding.

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