President Barack Obama Talks to Bret Baier About Health Care Reform Bill  —  This is a rush transcript of “Special Report With Bret Baier” from March 17, 2010.  This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.  —  BRET BAIER, “SPECIAL REPORT” HOST: Welcome to Washington.

The Kucinich Switch And The Whip Count  —  Dennis Kucinich's reversal and decision to support the health care bill changes the dynamic around the vote, but the ultimate question of whether or not the bill will pass was always going to be decided by the right flank of the caucus.

Rahm, vindicated?  —  Greg Sargent notes a new poll today indicating that liberal voters are totally unified behind passing the health care plan.  A mere three percent oppose it.  That's a public sentiment that makes it a whole lot easier for even Dennis Kucinich to come along.

Al-Qaeda crippled as leaders stay in hiding, CIA chief says  —  Relentless attacks against al-Qaeda in the Pakistan tribal region appear to have driven Osama bin Laden and other top leaders deeper into hiding, leaving the organization rudderless and incapable of planning sophisticated operations …

Walgreens: no new Medicaid patients as of April 16  —  Effective April 16, Walgreens drugstores across the state won't take any new Medicaid patients, saying that filling their prescriptions is a money-losing proposition — the latest development in an ongoing dispute over Medicaid reimbursement.

UPDATED EXCLUSIVE: New England Journal of Medicine says it didn't publish or produce health care “survey”  —  Right-wing media have seized on a dubious, three-month old email “survey” that purports to show that physicians are concerned about health care reform and that 46 percent …

Guilty of Practicing Good Government  —  It's Wednesday morning.  House leaders have indicated they want to vote on both the Senate health care bill and amendments to it by Saturday night.  But, as you may have noticed, they still haven't said precisely what the wording of those amendments will be.

Insurer targeted HIV patients to drop coverage  —  (Reuters) - In May, 2002, Jerome Mitchell, a 17-year old college freshman from rural South Carolina, learned he had contracted HIV.  The news, of course, was devastating, but Mitchell believed that he had one thing going for him …

Israel and the Crisis With Obama  —  Benjamin Netanyahu made the mistake of believing the president is serious about stopping a nuclear Iran.  —  Benjamin Netanyahu's first term as Israeli prime minister collapsed in 1999 in part because he had an unhappy relationship with President Bill Clinton.

No CBO score Wednesday night; Saturday healthcare vote unlikely  —  House Democratic leaders on Wednesday night said the long-awaited Congressional Budget Office score of the reconciliation bill will not come out until Thursday, forcing an acknowledgement that a Saturday healthcare vote is likely off the table.

Rock Bottom  —  Take a good look around, Democrats, this is likely to be as bad as it's going to get.  As Kate Pickert and I note in a story out today on time.com, the 24-hour cable net cycle has been stuck on ugly process maneuverings in the vacuum of no score from the Congressional Budget Office and no bill.

ABC and Amanpour Close to Deal for ‘This Week’  —  ABC News is close to concluding a deal to install the longtime CNN foreign correspondent Christiane Amanpour as the new host of its Sunday political discussion show “This Week.”  —  The network's interest in Ms. Amanpour …

Feinstein Insurance Reform Kicked Out Of Health Care Bill  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  The Senate parliamentarian told Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Wednesday afternoon that her proposal to create a National Insurance Rate Authority runs afoul of reconciliation rules, Feinstein told HuffPost after the conversation.

Rep. Mike Pence: What Dems Are Doing Is Unconstitutional; I Did It Too  —  Indiana Congressman Mike Pence, the number 3 Republican in terms of leadership in the House, told The Daily Caller he thinks the self-executing rule is unconstitutional, and then admits he used it himself three times (via Steve Benen)

Historians blast proposed Texas social studies curriculum  —  Historians criticized proposed revisions to the Texas social studies curriculum Tuesday, saying that many of the changes are historically inaccurate and that they would affect textbooks and classrooms far beyond the state's borders.

Purported al-Awlaki message calls for jihad against U.S.  —  London, England (CNN) — American-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki is calling for jihad against America, claiming “America is evil” in a new audio message obtained exclusively by CNN.  —  “With the American invasion of Iraq …

New Poll Finds Americans Really, Really Do Not Want ObamaCare (PJM Exclusive)  —  A national poll, conducted by the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest Advance with PJM, shows massive opposition to the bill during its final week.  (Click here for poll results.)

Attackers kill 12 in latest Nigeria fighting  —  LAGOS, Nigeria - Attackers killed 12 people Wednesday morning in a small Christian village in central Nigeria, officials said, cutting out most of the victims' tongues in the latest violence in a region where religious fighting already has killed hundreds this year.

Dodd 2.0: Maybe we need to reboot  —  OMG!  I'm turning into Mitch McConnell! :  Wading through the 1,336-page “chairman's mark” of the Senate's financial regulatory reform bill, my initial reaction was the same as the Senate Republican leader's response to any Democratic initiative: Put this sucker aside and start over.

Excise tax questions re-emerging  —  AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is headed into a meeting with President Obama this afternoon after the White House and Congressional leaders have begun to discuss a higher-than-expected excise tax on some health care plans, in order to maintain their claim …