Vladimir Putin must be called to account on surveillance just like Obama  —  I questioned the Russian president live on TV to get his answer on the record, not to whitewash him  —  On Thursday, I questioned Russia's involvement in mass surveillance on live television.

The Affordable Care Act comes in with better-than-expected numbers  —  OBAMACARE'S CRITICS have had a bad week.  On Thursday, President Obama announced that 8 million people have enrolled in new health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act's marketplaces, and a significant portion of them are young Americans.

Which states get screwed worst by the Electoral College?  —  The answer might surprise you  —  N  —  ew York state recently signed on to the National Popular Vote movement, an interstate compact designed to do an end run around the Electoral College, which as everybody knows …

NYT Columnist Insists That Chelsea Clinton's Baby Is A 2016 Game Changer (VIDEO)  —  The gang on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” is usually game to analyze (if not set) the latest political narrative, but as Andrew Ross Sorkin proved on Friday, even that show has limits.

Pentagon Moves to Block Russian Spy Plane in American Skies  —  Russian surveillance planes already fly over America, thanks to a long-standing treaty.  But a new, ultra-sophisticated spy plane has U.S. military and intelligence bosses spooked.  —  The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. military …

Dems' midterm strategy: Triage  —  House Democrats, battered by Koch brothers ads and facing a grim outlook for the midterms, are providing the clearest indication yet of how they plan to respond: By shoring up imperiled incumbents and only the most promising challengers …

What we know about the ‘grotesque’ leaflet handed out to Jews in Donetsk  —  A leaflet calling for Jews to register has reportedly been handed out in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk.  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has commented on the letter, saying that it is “not just intolerable; it's grotesque, is beyond unacceptable.”

Americans Think People Are Poor Because Of Bad Breaks, Not Because They're Losers: Poll  —  WASHINGTON — Conservatives often say the poor and jobless got that way because of their own personal failings, but Americans tend to blame the plain old free market.

Iran Gets an Unlikely Visitor, an American Plane, but No One Seems to Know Why  —  President Obama has warned that Iran is not open for business, even as the United States has loosened some of its punishing economic sanctions as part of an interim nuclear pact.

House Immigration bills still in the mix as Boehner promises at a fundraiser to take action this year.  —  Speaker John Boehner and other senior House Republicans are telling donors and industry groups that they aim to pass immigration legislation this year, despite the reluctance of many Republicans …

The United States of SWAT?  —  Regardless of how people feel about Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy's standoff with the federal Bureau of Land Management over his cattle's grazing rights, a lot of Americans were surprised to see TV images of an armed-to-the-teeth paramilitary wing of the BLM deployed around Bundy's ranch.

White House delusional? obsessed with Fox News Channel? thinks we are the only ones that spotted this BS?  —  Just a short time ago, Jay Carney said this:  —  Carney: there's never been a more transparent admin, .......creates headaches for us, ridiculous stories on Fox News .....

Clinton memoir gets a title: ‘Hard Choices’  —  Washington (CNN) - Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's much anticipated next memoir will be titled “Hard Choices,” the book's publisher announced Friday.  —  The memoir will be Clinton's “inside account of the crises, choices …

Mount Everest avalanche kills 12 guides, 4 missing  —  (April 18) Video provided by AP Newslook  —  An avalanche has left 12 dead and four missing in the worst-ever recorded disaster on Mount Everest.  —  With peak season just days away on the deadly mountain, Sherpas and guides …

Midterms may hinge on whether Obamacare losers outvote the winners  —  BARACK OBAMA OBAMACARE HARRY REID 2014 ELECTIONS CAMPAIGNS  —  When it comes to the politics of Obamacare, there's really only one question that matters: How many Americans are benefiting from the new health care system, and how many are hurting?

First on CNN: Amy Kremer resigns from Tea Party Express  —  (CNN) - Amy Kremer, the Tea Party Express chairman who's played a major role in elections for the past five years, is resigning.  —  “This has been a really difficult decision for me, but the time has come for me to leave Tea Party Express,” Kremer said Friday.

Gabriel García Márquez, Conjurer of Literary Magic, Dies at 87  —  Gabriel García Márquez, the Colombian novelist whose “One Hundred Years of Solitude” established him as a giant of 20th-century literature, died on Thursday at his home in Mexico City.  He was 87.