Story highlights  —  Jake Tapper is anchor of CNN's “The Lead With Jake Tapper” and chief Washington correspondent.  —  Paris (CNN)"Thank you," said the man.  I was standing outside of the offices of Charlie Hebdo covering the aftermath of the terrorist attacks for CNN.

Paul Ryan Won't Run for President in 2016  —  In an interview with NBC News, the former VP nominee says he can make a “huge difference” as House Ways and Means Committee chairman instead.

HISTORY WILL BE VERY KIND  —  And if it's not, it will be for a highly ironic reason.  —  Photograph courtesy of the White House  —  Ten and a half years ago, at the Democratic convention in Boston, Barack Hussein Obama was introduced to America as a youthful, magnetic man who had burst suddenly …

Democrats, in a stark shift in messaging, to make big tax-break pitch for middle class  —  Senior Democrats, dissatisfied with the party's tepid prescriptions for combating income inequality, are drafting an “action plan” that calls for a massive transfer of wealth from the super-rich …

Not a Single Person Has Donated to Dick Morris's Anti-Hillary Super PAC  —  Sixteen months ago, to some fanfare, Dick Morris re-entered the anti-Clinton fray with a new PAC.  He launched Dick Morris's Just Say No to Hillary PAC, registering it from Tampa.  From time to time …

Hollande asked Netanyahu not to attend Paris memorial march  —  Absence sought as part of attempt to keep Israeli-Palestinian conflict out of European show of unity; After Netanyahu insisted on coming, French made it clear Abbas would be invited as well.  —  French President Francois Hollande conveyed …

Ben Carson's Troubling Connection  —  In March of last year, Dr. Ben Carson, the conservative star considered a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, appeared in a video for Mannatech, Inc., a Texas-based medical supplement maker.  Smiling into the camera, he extolled the benefits of the company's “glyconutrient” products:

Pentagon hacked  —  WE ARE COMING, WATCH YOUR BACK.  ISIS.  #CyberCaliphate  —  In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the CyberCaliphate under the auspices of ISIS continues its CyberJihad.  While the US and its satellites kill our brothers in Syria …

I read the French far-right party's platform, and it gets one big thing absolutely right  —  In the wake of the massacre at Charlie Hebdo and a related attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris, it's natural to turn attention to Marine Le Pen and her National Front political party …

Central Command's Twitter account hacked  —  The Twitter account for U.S. Central Command was hacked Monday while President Barack Obama was delivering an address about cybersecurity at the Federal Trade Commission.  —  The hack, by an individual or group claiming to be aligned with the Islamic State …

Charlie Hebdo's Wednesday edition to include Prophet Mohammed cartoons  —  Wednesday's edition of Charlie Hebdo will ‘naturally’ contain cartoons of Prophet Mohammed, the magazine's lawyer has announced  —  The next edition of Charlie Hebdo, out on Wednesday with a million-copy print run …

Court denies one same-sex marriage case (UPDATED)  —  UPDATED 11:21 a.m. The four same-sex marriage cases challenging the Sixth Circuit's ruling that upheld four states' bans have now been set for consideration by the Justices at their Conference on Friday of this week.  The post below has been expanded.

It's always better to be candid than coy.  While I am humbled by the widespread encouragement of so many and hold in the highest esteem those who serve us in federal office, I know that my head and my heart, my young family's future, and our unfinished work all remain firmly in the State …