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.

MSNBC launches the gun control conversation  —  In the wake of recent shootings, from Aurora to Kansas City, many have argued that it is not the time to talk about gun control.  —  But as the death toll from today's tragic shooting in Netwown, Conn., was rising, MSNBC and others in the media spurned that familiar refrain.

Obama: More Moderate Republican Than Socialist  —  President Barack Obama waves to reporters as they shout questions to him regarding the fiscal cliff as he walks across Pennsylvania Avenue back to the White House in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012.  Obama had dropped by a holiday party …

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.

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.

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call  —  View Photo Gallery — What you need to know about Susan Rice: The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has withdrawn from consideration for secretary of state  —  On Thursday I asked that President Obama no longer consider me for the job of secretary of state.

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.

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 …

Noonan: Republicans Need to Talk  —  In defeat, the party has an opportunity to air differences and flesh out new ideas.  —  Viewed a certain way, the 2012 election can be seen as a gift to Republicans wrapped in ugly paper.  The wrapping looked like a hostage note with a message scrawled in crayon: “We hate you.”

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 …