CBS News: 27 Dead, Including 18 Children, In Elementary School Shooting  —  NEWTOWN, Conn. (CBS Connecticut/AP) — CBS News is reporting that at least 27 people are dead, including 18 students, after a mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.  The gunman is among the dead.

Marijuana Not High Obama Priority  —  President Obama says recreational users of marijuana in states that have legalized the substance should not be a “top priority” of federal law enforcement officials prosecuting the war on drugs.  —  “We've got bigger fish to fry,” Obama said of pot users …

The End of Birth-Control Politics  —  Over-the-counter sales of oral contraceptives will cut off a disingenuous attack line.  —  The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists announced its support last month for selling oral contraceptives over the counter without a prescription in the United States.

House GOP Secretly Authorized $500,000 To Defend Unconstitutional Anti-Gay Law  —  It has come to light that House Administration Committee Chairman Dan Lungren (R-CA) secretly approved a $500,000 increase to a contract with a private law firm to defend the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in federal court.

Why I made the right call  —  View Photo Gallery — What you need to know about Susan Rice: The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has withdrawn from consideration for secretary of state  —  On Thursday I asked that President Obama no longer consider me for the job of secretary of state.

The G.O.P.'s Existential Crisis  —  We are not having a debt crisis.  —  It's important to make this point, because I keep seeing articles about the “fiscal cliff” that do, in fact, describe it — often in the headline — as a debt crisis.  But it isn't.  The U.S. government is having no trouble borrowing to cover its deficit.

The Hagel Haters  —  Why Israel's supporters can't stand the man who might be the next secretary of defense.  Eli Lake reports.  —  Chuck Hagel, who is reportedly the frontrunner to be the next Pentagon chief, has made a lot of friends in the U.S. foreign-policy establishment and at the top levels of Obama's inner circle.

News Outlets Battle Romney Campaign Over Expenses  —  $812 for one meal?  Media organizations are telling their credit card companies not to pay until they see a price breakdown.  —  Reporters wait to disembark the campaign plane of Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts …

White House: “Today Is Not The Day” To Debate Gun Control  —  Won't say when the time will be right.  —  Image by Alex Wong / Getty Images  —  WASHINGTON — As news filtered in Friday from the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said …

Man in Apparent Mitt Romney Mask Robs Sterling Bank  —  Robber took cash from all five tellers  —  A man who appeared to be wearing a Mitt Romney mask held up a bank in Sterling, Va., Thursday morning, and that's not all that had the FBI calling the robbery “unusual.”  News4's Pat Collins reports.

Democrats Declare Checkmate in Fiscal Cliff Debate  —  In the ongoing fiscal cliff chess match playing out on Capitol Hill, Democrats have a message for Republicans: checkmate.  —  Democrats look at the political landscape and see a win whether a deal gets cut now or after the country goes over the cliff.

Karl Rove's Dark Money Group Promised IRS It Would Spend ‘Limited’ Money on Elections  —  In a confidential 2010 filing, Crossroads GPS — the dark money group that spent more than $70 million from anonymous donors on the 2012 election — told the Internal Revenue Service that its efforts …

First Lady Michelle Obama Talks to the TJMS  —  PLAY AUDIO  —  If you thought that the re-election of President Barack Obama marked a time of rest, think again.  First Lady Michelle Obama is prepared to challenge anyone thinking along those lines.  The first lady talked to Tom and Sybil today …