The ACN Morning Report Thursday March 28, 2013

James Holmes To Plead Guilty -- Ashley Judd's Senate Outlook -- Microsoft Looks Past Windows 8 -- Casualties In Joint Nato-Afghan Operation -- Pakistani Girl Seals Book Deal -- Newtown Investigation Details Coming -- Loughner Details Released -- SCOTUS's Reluctance On Gay Marriage -- N. Korea Cuts Communications With South -- Obama Charm Offensive

JAMES HOLMES OFFERS TO PLEAD NOT GUILTY IN COLORADO MASSACRE

Pool Photo

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — James E. Holmes, accused of unleashing the Aurora movie theater massacre in July, has offered to plead guilty to killing 12 people and injuring 70 if prosecutors do not seek the death penalty.

In an unusual court filing, defense lawyers revealed Wednesday that they had made the standing offer weeks ago for Holmes to serve life in prison without possibility of parole for the July 20 mass shooting.

So far the prosecution has declined the offer, the document said.

Dist. Atty. George Brauchler of Colorado's 18th Judicial District is to announce Monday whether he will seek the death penalty. Capital punishment is rare in Colorado, with only three people on death row.

ASHLEY JUDD DECLINES KENTUCKY SENATE BID

Getty Images

ABC News’ Michael Falcone and Shushannah Walshe report:

After months of flirtation, actress Ashley Judd announced on Wednesday that she will not pursue a Senate bid against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

She made the announcement in a series of tweets late Wednesday afternoon:

“After serious and thorough contemplation, I realize that my responsibilities & energy at this time need to be focused on my family. Regretfully, I am currently unable to consider a campaign for the Senate. I have spoken to so many Kentuckians over these last few months who expressed their desire for a fighter for the people & new leader. While that won’t be me at this time, I will continue to work  as hard as I can to ensure the needs of Kentucky families are met by returning this Senate seat to whom it rightfully belongs: the people & their needs, dreams, and great potential. Thanks for even considering me as that person & know how much I love our Commonwealth. Thank you!”

A source familiar with Judd’s decision-making process said the news that Kentucky Secretary of State Allison Lundergan Grimes has also been considering a Senate run “gave her the space to really make a decision and decide what was best for her.”

MICROSOFT PREPARES WINDOWS BLUE

Microsoft has finally broken its silence about Blue, a code name that not only refers to a Windows 8 operating system update, but also encompasses a large swath of the software giant's product and services portfolio.

Apart from some fleeting job ads or casual mentions like the ones in a TechFest 2013 presentation featuring an upcoming version of the Fresh Paint app, Microsoft has largely remained mum on the topic of Blue. Lately, however, the company has been opening up a little.

After recounting some recent company milestones and accomplishments in a blog post, Microsoft's vice president of corporate communications, Frank X. Shaw, made one of the first official mentions of Blue. Just don't expect the code name to survive the journey to a commercial launch, he warned.

CIVILIANS KILLED IN JOINT NATO-AFGHAN EXERCISE

PAKISTANI GIRL SHOT BY TALIBAN SEALS BOOK DEAL

AP PHOTO

Malala Yousufzai will not go quietly.

The 15-year-old Pakistani activist was shot in the head at point-blank range by the Taliban for advocating girls' education. After a miraculous recovery, she returned to school in Britain last week, and today it was announced she will publish her life story in the memoir, I Am Malala.

The Guardian reported the deal was inked for around $3 million, though a spokesman for the publisher, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, would not confirm reports about the value of the deal.

SEARCH WARRANTS TO BE RELEASED FOR NEWTOWN INVESTIGATION

AP

NEW HAVEN, Conn. –  Search warrants used in the investigation of the Newtown school shooting are being released along with a statement from prosecutors about their work to unravel the motives of the 20-year-old gunman.

The warrants, which were to be released on Thursday, are related to searches of gunman Adam Lanza's home and car. They have been sealed under an order that expired Wednesday, and prosecutors have made few details available, despite pressure to do so.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has expressed concern about leaked information appearing in the news, and state lawmakers have requested a more complete accounting of the case as they address gun control and other issues raised by the shooting.

REPORTS DETAIL JARED LOUGHNER'S BEHAVIOR BEFORE SHOOTING

Pima County Sheriff's Department

TUCSON — In hindsight, the red flags seem to be everywhere.

By the time Jared Lee Loughner shot and killed six people, wounding 13 — including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — his parents had already taken away his shotgun, tested him for drugs and forbade him from using the family vehicle after dusk. Months earlier, officials at his community college had refused to allow him to return to campus until he passed a mental evaluation. Hours before he went on a shooting rampage, a Wal-Mart clerk had declined to sell him ammunition.

These details emerged Wednesday when authorities released nearly 3,000 pages of investigative reports, painting a picture of a man who had become unhinged and the people who had tried to intervene, worried he was a danger to himself and others.

JUSTICES SHOW RELUCTANCE ON BROAD GAY MARRIAGE RULING

WASHINGTON—Two days of arguments on same-sex marriage revealed a Supreme Court uneasy about making sweeping moves on gay rights and holding doubts about whether the cases belonged before the justices at all.

The arguments also brought to life more familiar fissures between the court's liberal and conservative wings. On Wednesday, liberal justices suggested that a 1996 federal law denying benefits to lawfully married same-sex couples was motivated by animus against gays, while Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative, challenged assertions that gays and lesbians need judicial protection from repressive majorities.

NORTH KOREA SAYS IT IS CUTTING TIES WITH SOUTH KOREA

CNN

The Obama administration on Wednesday slammed North Korea's pugnacious rants toward South Korea and the West and a U.S. intelligence official called the strident remarks worrisome.

"The ratcheting up of rhetoric is of concern to us," the official said.

The question is whether this is "just rhetoric," he said. Or, "are things happening behind the scenes indicating the blustering has something to it."

Another U.S. official said there is a lot of uncertainty about North Korea's intentions.

"North Korea is not a paper tiger so it wouldn't be smart to dismiss its provocative behavior as pure bluster," that official said.

OBAMA, SENATE REPUBLICANS PLAN SECOND DINNER

Getty Images

Senate Republicans and President Obama plan a second dinner next month to talk about such legislative items as the budget, immigration and gun control, officials said.

An aide to Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said Obama called Isakson this month and asked him to line up another dozen or so GOP senators who were not able to attend a similar dinner on March 6.

The purpose of the get-together now scheduled for April 10 is "to build on the first dinner," said Joan Kirchner, Isakson's deputy chief of staff.

The Colbert Bump: Colbert Busch Wins South Carolina Democratic Primary

It's official: Elizabeth Colbert Busch is the Democratic nominee for South Carolina's open House seat.

Colbert Busch, a businesswoman and the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert, defeated token opposition on Tuesday to win the nomination. The Associated Press has called the race.

She faces an uphill race in the GOP-leaning district, though former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's (R) personal troubles give Democrats an opening to pick up the seat and House special elections are notoriously hard to predict. Sanford advanced to a runoff in the GOP primary, though his second-round opponent has not yet been decided.

Both parties were quick to comment, though who her opponent will be is still an open question.

"Congratulations to Elizabeth Colbert Busch on her victory. Elizabeth is an accomplished professional in education and business who has a record of problem solving and bringing diverse groups together to create jobs," 

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) said in a statement after she won. "The people of South Carolina are tired of this Congress's extreme ideology and dysfunction. Elizabeth Colbert Busch offers a breath of fresh air, standing on the side of sensible solutions that strengthen the middle class."

The GOP fired back.

"Elizabeth Colbert Busch and her liberal-Obama policies are dramatically out-of-step with South Carolina values," National Republican Congressional Commitee spokeswoman Katie Prill said in a statement. "Her support for pushing the will of unions over South Carolina jobs proves she will be a rubber stamp for President Obama's job-destroying agenda. Republicans can rest assured that our nominee will champion pro-growth policies that will bring jobs back to South Carolina."

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/289183-colbert-busch-wins-south-carolina-democratic-primary#ixzz2O56NIEaL

The ACN Morning Report Wednesday March 20, 2013

GOOD MORNING! TODAY IS WEDNESDAY MARCH 20, 2013. HERE ARE TODAY'S TOP AND MOST INTERESTING HEADLINES FROM ACN:

55 Killed In Iraq On Anniversary -- Ohio Gunman Mocks Victims' Families -- Senate Dems Drop Assault Weapons -- Cyprus Uncertainty Puts EU In Jeopardy -- Pentagon Bans 60MM Mortars After Deaths -- Contingency Plans Underway For Syria

ATTACK CLAIMS 55 LIVES ON IRAQ ANNIVERSARY

Baghdad (CNN) -- At least 55 people were killed and scores more wounded when bombs exploded across Iraq on Tuesday, a stark reminder of the violence and instability that grips the country 10 years after the start of the U.S.-led war.

The attacks -- 17 car bombs, seven roadside bombs, and two shootings -- ripped mostly through Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, but also struck Sunni communities in other towns. At least 187 people were wounded.

TEENAGE GUNMAN IN OHIO MOCKS VICTIMS' FAMILY 

Thomas Lane wore a T-shirt with KILLER scrawled in black ink during his sentencing Tuesday in an Ohio courtroom for shooting and killing three students in a high school cafeteria and wounding two others last year.

Mr. Lane, 18, was sentenced to three life sentences without parole. He pleaded guilty last month to opening fire on the morning of Feb. 27, 2012, with a .22-caliber Ruger semiautomatic pistol at Chardon High School while waiting for a bus to attend an alternative high school.

SENATE LEADERS DROP ASSAULT WEAPONS FROM GUN SAFETY BILL

Three months after the mass shooting of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school outraged the nation, Senate Democratic leaders are dropping an assault-weapon ban from gun legislation.

While public opinion polls show most Americans support an assault-weapon ban, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday the proposal has fewer than 40 votes in the 100-member chamber. Its sponsor, California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, will be given a chance to offer the measure as an amendment to gun legislation that Democrats will introduce, second-ranking Democrat Dick Durbin told reporters.

EURO ON DEFENSIVE AS CYPRUS PARLIAMENT DISREGARDS BANK TAX, MARKETS EYE BERNANKE

(Reuters) - The euro was pinned near four-month lows against the U.S. dollar in Asia on Wednesday after Cyprus' rejection of bailout terms seemed to threaten default or even expulsion from the euro zone.

The general assumption in markets is that the European Union, as so often before, will hash out a last minute deal that keeps Cyprus in the single currency.

PENTAGON BANS 60 MM MORTAR ROUNDS 

HAWTHORNE, Nev. (AP) - A mortar shell explosion killed at least seven Marines and injured several more during mountain warfare training in Nevada's high desert, prompting the Pentagon to immediately halt the use of the weapons until an investigation can determine their safety, officials said Tuesday. The explosion occurred Monday night at the Hawthorne Army Depot, a sprawling facility used by troops heading overseas, during an exercise involving the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force from Camp Lejeune, N.C. Several Marines from the unit were injured in the blast, authorities said.

COMMANDER: CONTINGENCY PLANS UNDERWAY FOR SYRIA

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top U.S. military commander in Europe said Tuesday that several NATO countries are working on contingency plans for possible military action to end the two-year civil war in Syria as President Bashar Assad's regime accused U.S.-backed Syrian rebels of using chemical weapons.

The ACN Morning Report Monday March 18, 2013

Good Morning! Today is Monday March 18th, 2013. Here are today's top and most interesting headlines from ACN: 

Venezuela Urges Obama To Halt 'Plot' -- Body, Explosives Found At FL Dorm -- There And Back Again, A Student's Spy Story -- S. Korea Cyber Warfare Soldiers Prepare -- "Talk Of Tax Increases Is Over" -- Republican: Congress Can Reach Grand Bargain -- U.S. Doesn't Have A Debt Crisis -- Bailout Looms For EU -- Earthquakes Have The Midas Touch -- Plane Crash In Indiana -- Perez As Labor Secretary -- SCOTUS Hears Voting Rights Case 

VENEZUELA'S MADURO URGES OBAMA TO HALT "PLOT" AGAINST RIVAL

CARACAS, March 17 (Reuters) - Venezuela's acting president urged U.S. leader Barack Obama to stop what he called a plot by the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency to kill his opposition rival and trigger a coup before an April 14 election.

Nicolas Maduro said the plan was to blame his opponent's murder on the OPEC nation's government and to "fill Venezuelans with hate" as they prepare to go to vote following the death of socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

Maduro first mentioned a plot against his rival, Henrique Capriles, last week, blaming it on former Bush administration officials Roger Noriega and Otto Reich. Both rejected the allegations as untrue, outrageous and defamatory.

UCF DEATH: MALE COMMITS SUICIDE AT DORM, POLICE FIND GUNS AND EXPLOSIVES

Law-enforcement officers investigating an apparent suicide inside a University of Central Florida residence hall have found several weapons and improvised explosive devices, a school spokesman said early Monday.

UCF spokesman Grant Heston said a fire alarm call registered for Tower 1, a residence hall for about 500 students located near the Arena and Bright House Networks stadium, about 12:20 a.m. Monday.

While UCF police were on the way, officers received a 911 call for a male with a gun in the residence hall.

FROM STUDENT TO SPY, AND BACK AGAIN

BAKERSFIELD — Fernando Jara is something of a star in Kern County — and a mystery.

From humble beginnings, Jara founded a program to rehabilitate drug addicts and felons on a five-acre farm. He is completing a master's degree at Claremont School of Theology and will soon begin work on a doctorate and a law degree.

The energetic 37-year-old and his wife, a Kern County supervisor and rising political star, attended President Obama's inauguration in January at the invitation of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

SOUTH KOREA'S 'TOP GUN' CYBER WARRIORS PREPARE FOR BATTLE AGAINST NORTH KOREA

AFP

Cheon Joon-Sahng may not look like an elite warrior, but the shy, South Korean high school student has been fully trained for a frontline role in any future cyber battle with North Korea.

Cheon, 18, was one of 60 young computer experts chosen in July from many applicants for a government programme providing specialist training in vulnerability analysis, digital forensics and cloud-computing security.

At the end of December their number was narrowed to 20 who completed a further two months survival-of-the-fittest training in cyber warfare.

HOUSE SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER: "TALK OF TAX INCREASES IS OVER."

AP

Rep. Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Republican and chairman of the House Budget Committee, compared the U.S. debt situation with being “the healthiest-looking horse in the glue factory.”

“So we do not have a debt crisis right now, but we see it coming. We know it’s irrefutably happening, and the point we’re trying to make with our budget is, let’s get ahead of this problem,” said Mr. Ryan on “Face the Nation.” “If we keep kicking the can down the road, if we follow the president’s lead or if we pass the Senate budget, then we will have a debt crisis.”

CORKER: CONGRESS CAN REACH A GRAND BARGAIN, BUT ONLY IF OBAMA "GETS SERIOUS"

FOX NEWS

Republican Sen. Bob Corker expressed optimism Sunday about Democrats and Republicans reaching a long-term budget deal, but only if President Obama provides leadership and gets "serious” about entitlements.

"When the president is serious will be when he begins using the podium to explain to the American people that the average American family is only paying one-third of the cost of Medicare," Corker told “Fox News Sunday.”

RYAN: U.S. DOESN'T HAVE A DEBT CRISIS YET

(CBS News) The United States does not have a debt crisis, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said today on "Face the Nation," corroborating what House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama have said as both chambers of Congress scramble to concoct a budget plan to shore up the federal deficit. But, Ryan added, a crisis is "irrefutably" on its way.

"To borrow a phrase from my friend Erskine Bowles" - President Clinton's former chief of staff and Washington's go-to budget guru - "we are the healthiest-looking horse in the glue factory," Ryan said. "That means America is still a step ahead of the European nations who are confronting a debt crisis, of Japan, that's in its second lost decade. It's probably because of our resilient economy, because of our world currency status.

CYPRUS BAILOUT CRISIS 

GETTY IMAGES

Global markets traded lower and the euro hit a three-month low against the dollar on Monday as a weekend decision by the euro zone to force bank depositors in Cyprusto contribute towards a bailout provided a stark reality check for investors.

The losses were limited however, on reports the Cyprus government would put forward a new proposal on Monday to reduce the levy imposed on bank deposits.

EARTHQUAKES HAVE THE MIDAS TOUCH, NEW STUDY CLAIMS

Water in faults vaporizes during an earthquake, depositing gold, according to a model published in the March 17th issue of the journal Nature Geoscience. The model provides a quantitative mechanism for the link between gold and quartz seen in many of the world's gold deposits, said Dion Weatherley, a geophysicist at the University of Queensland in Australia and lead author of the study. 

When an earthquake strikes, it moves along a rupture in the ground — a fracture called a fault. Big faults can have many small fractures along their length, connected by jogs that appear as rectangular voids. Water often lubricates faults, filling in fractures and jogs. 

SOUTH BEND PLANE CRASH KILLS 2 INJURES THREE

Two people were killed and three people hospitalized when a small plane crashed into three homes in South Bend, Ind., Sunday afternoon.

The crash happened about 3:15 p.m. as the plane, which had taken off from a Tulsa, Okla., airport, made an approach to South Bend, said Elizabeth Isham Cory, an FAA spokeswoman.

The pilot radioed the airport tower as he was approaching the airport, signaling that he was having electrical problems, Cory said. The pilot made multiple approaches to the airport, and the airplane stalled and fell, hitting at least one structure, Cory said.

OBAMA TO NOMINATE THOMAS E. PEREZ AS LABOR SECRETARY 

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to nominate the government's top-ranking civil rights lawyer as the new secretary of Labor on Monday, a key position as the administration prepares to take on immigration reform.

Thomas E. Perez's nomination had been expected, but the administration said last week that the announcement was not imminent. If confirmed by the Senate, Perez would be the only Latino in Obama's second-term Cabinet. He is the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

SUPREME COURT TAKES UP VOTING RIGHTS CASE

Voting rights advocates are sounding the warning sirens as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments Monday on a low-profile but important case on whether states may require people to submit proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

At issue is whether the Arizona law, known as Proposition 200, violates a federal law that requires states to let people register to vote while renewing drivers licenses or applying for social services. The form provided by the National Voter Registration Act requires people to attest that they are U.S. citizens, but not to provide documented proof, like the Arizona law does.

Several Cheer As CPAC Participant Defends Slavery Because It Gave ‘Food And Shelter’ To Blacks

Slavery, believes at least one CPAC member, was good for African-Americans, and he said it during a minority outreach panel.

The exchange occurred after an audience member from North Carolina, 30-year-old Scott Terry, asked whether Republicans could endorse races remaining separate but equal. After the presenter, K. Carl Smith of Frederick Douglass Republicans, answered by referencing a letter by Frederick Douglass forgiving his former master, the audience member said “For what? For feeding him and housing him?” Several people in the audience cheered and applauded Terry’s outburst.

After the exchange, Terry muttered under his breath, “why can’t we just have segregation?” noting the Constitution’s protections for freedom of association

Elizabeth Warren Calls Out Republican Opposition

Elizabeth Warren calls out Republicans for trying to stall financial regulation: "Blocking Rich Cordray is about keeping the game rigged so that consumers remain in the dark — and a few bad actors can rake in big profits."

But let’s take a step back here for a moment to appreciate exactly how un-politician-like Sen. Warren is acting when  she makes speeches like this.  President Obama passed over Warren in naming Cordray to head the CFPB — even though she was the driving force behind the agency’s creation – because the administration was concerned that she was too outspoken to get confirmed in the Senate. (Obviously, as it turns out, it really didn’t matter whom Obama nominated because Republicans are blocking Cordray anyway.)

In other words, Warren’s support for Cordray despite being passed over for his position for being too awesomeoutspoken gains her nothing politically. She’s just doing it because she genuinely believes in stopping financial institutions from causing another recession. Perhaps my expectations have become a bit low, but I find this exceedingly impressive coming from an elected official.

Warren went on to point out that, although government regulation is always a controversial subject, federal agencies actually have an excellent history of protecting consumers:

It’s thanks to federal agencies that no one has to worry that those white pills are baking soda instead of antibiotics or that the paint on the baby’s crib is laced with lead.

Because look, no one likes regulation. No one likes “government red tape,” as lobbyists have skillfully spun it. But you know what people like even lessthan government red tape? World wide financial meltdowns. Dying of a bacterial infection. Babies getting lead paint poisoning.

If it takes a little red tape to take care of those things, I’m okay with that.

ACN Investigates: House Speaker John Boehner Claims Demcorats Have No Plan To Replace The Sequester

With no last-minute deal to avoid sequestration, the sweeping federal spending cuts have begun to take effect, and politicians have taken to the airwaves to explain where they stand.

House Speaker John Boehner appeared on Meet the Press on March 3, 2013, and told host David Gregory he and his fellow Republicans have done all they can to break the stalemate over deficit reduction. It’s now up to President Barack Obama and the Democrats, Boehner said.

"We've known about this for 16 months. And yet even today, there's no plan from Senate Democrats or the White House to replace the sequester," he said. "And over the last 10 months, House Republicans have acted twice to replace the sequester."

No plan? That didn’t sound quite right.

THE WHITE HOUSE PLAN

http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/sequester/the-presidents-plan

SENATE DEMOCRATS' PLAN

From PolitiFact:

On Feb. 26, Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski introduced the American Family Economic Protection Act of 2013, which would cancel the $85.3 billion sequester and replace it over several years with a mix of spending cuts and tax increases.

The bill proposes to cut $27.5 billion from the defense budget and another $27.5 billion from agriculture funding. It would raise $55 billion in new revenue by implementing the "Buffett Rule" (which sets a minimum 30 percent tax rate on income above $1 million) and ending tax deductions for oil companies.

On Feb. 28, the Senate voted on a motion to cut off debate, which would have brought the bill up for a full vote, but the motion failed 51-49 on a largely partisan vote (60 votes were needed to end debate).

Obama Sidesteps GOP Leaders To Revive Sequester Talks

The New York Times

WASHINGTON — With Republican leaders in Congress forswearing budget negotiations over new revenues, President Obama has begun reaching around them to Republican lawmakers with a history of willingness to cut bipartisan deals.

Mr. Obama has invited about a dozen Republican senators out to dinner on Wednesday night, after speaking with several of them by phone in recent days, according to people familiar with the invitation. And next week, according to those people and others who did not want to be identified, he will make a rare foray to Capitol Hill to meet separately with the Republican and Democratic caucuses in both the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House.

Since the weekend, the president has called at least a half-dozen Republican lawmakers, mostly senators, in a bid to revive talks toward a long-term deficit-reduction agreement and to press for action on other issues, includingimmigration, gun safety and climate measures. His calls began after indiscriminate government spending cuts — known as sequestration — took effect on Saturday because Republican leaders and Mr. Obama could not agree on alternative measures.

“Maybe because of sequestration and frustration with the public, the time is right to act, and what I see from the president is probably the most encouraging engagement on a big issue since the early days of his presidency,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who received a call from Mr. Obama on Tuesday.

Speaking of the deficit reduction impasse, Mr. Graham added, “He wants to do the big deal.”

Mr. Obama’s call to Mr. Graham followed other conversations with Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Rob Portman of Ohio and Bob Corker of Tennessee, all Republicans. Mr. Corker called his conversation with the president “constructive.”

Mr. Portman, while reluctant to detail private talks, was also positive, saying: “I think there’s a window of opportunity between now and the end of the summer. This is the last best chance.”

Yet such expressions of hope are increasingly scarce in Washington. While Mr. Graham said he and Mr. Obama agreed that a comprehensive deal could be reached to both slow the growth of the entitlement programs like Medicare and raise revenues by curbing costly tax breaks, that optimism is not the prevailing sentiment. Proponents in both parties have all but given up on a grand bargain in view of the chasm between Mr. Obama, who insists that revenues be part of the equation, and Republican leaders, who are just as adamant against raising taxes further.

Indeed, Mr. Obama’s calls reflect a sense of urgency within the White House to find a way to keep alive the prospects for a deal on revenues and entitlement spending — or, failing that, to at least appear to be doing so.

Administration officials take Speaker John A. Boehner and the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, at their word that they will not cut any revenue deals with Mr. Obama given the two men’s separate political pressures — Mr. Boehner would lose his leadership post, Republicans say, and Mr. McConnell could draw a conservative opponent in his re-election race next year.

With sequestration in place, the two sides now have agreed over two years to nearly $4 trillion in deficit reduction through 2023, with about 80 percent from spending cuts and the rest from higher taxes on the wealthy. Virtually no savings come from Medicare,Medicaid and Social Security, the entitlement programs whose growth is driving projections of unsustainable debt as the population ages and medical costs increase. And revenues are insufficient to support the size of government.

As a consequence, the legacy-minded president is forcing himself to do something he has largely avoided or left to senior advisers — personally reaching out to rank-and-file members of Congress. The call to Mr. Graham, for example, was partly in response to his televised comment that he would be willing to raise $600 billion more in revenue over 10 years if Democrats agreed to reduce entitlement spending — just the offer Mr. Obama has been making.

Senior aides also opened a channel with Senator Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri and a member of his party’s leadership. Senate aides familiar with the talks say Mr. Obama is telling senators that he wants to convene bipartisan discussions at the White House, a departure from the more typical meetings between him and party leaders.

“The president is engaging with lawmakers of both parties and will continue to do so,” said the White House press secretary, Jay Carney. Repeating a phrase the president first used recently, Mr. Carney said the outreach was the president’s way of “finding the members of the caucus of common sense and working with them to bring about a resolution to this challenge.”

Dissatisfaction with Mr. Obama’s attentions to Capitol Hill, however, has been longstanding and bipartisan. Democrats complain that the president has done little to use the trappings of office to woo opponents or reward friends. Republicans say they rarely hear even from the White House aides tasked to reach out to Congress.

One senior Democratic Congressional aide said the president seemed to view relations with lawmakers “as a chore, not an opportunity.”

But another expressed sympathy with the White House view that many Republicans see political risk in appearing too friendly with Mr. Obama, adding: “If he invited people up and nothing came of it, then he looks like a failure. He’s trying to find effective ways to reach out.”  

This article is from The New York Times.

The Morning Report -- Monday March 4 2013

N. Korea To Obama: Call Me Maybe? -- Queen Elizabeth II Hospitalized -- Iran Open To Direct Talks -- Netanyahu Warns Iran Stalling -- Cuts to Achieve Deficit Goals -- Romney Explains Loss -- Republicans Signal Spending Cuts Are Permanent -- Officials Say Sequester Deal Likely -- Child With HIV Cured -- Senator, Congresswoman Propose Pay-Cut During Standoff

Rodman Says North Korea's Kim Wants Obama To Call Him 

WASHINGTON — Flamboyant ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman Sunday defended his trip to North Korea, saying leader Kim Jong-Un does not seek war but does want one thing -- a call from US President Barack Obama.

Rodman, a colorful Hall of Famer who won NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and at one time dated Madonna, is now the most high-profile American to have met Kim, with whom he watched a basketball game last week in Pyongyang.

Queen Elizabeth II Hospitalized 

LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II, who is 86, was admitted to a London hospital on Sunday after experiencing symptoms of gastroenteritis, according to a statement issued by Buckingham Palace.

The statement said that all the queen’s engagements for the next week would be postponed or canceled, including a two-day visit to Italy that was scheduled to begin Wednesday. She had already skipped one event, a military parade in the Welsh city of Swansea on Friday, because of the illness.

Iran Open To Direct Talks With U.S. 

Iran would be willing to sit down for direct talks with the United States, the country's ambassador to the United Nations said in an interview broadcast on CNN.

"I can confirm it here with you, and also for your distinguished audience, that Iran will come negotiation and direct talks with the United States provided that we make sure that U.S. is serious and do not act differently," Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in an interview that aired on Fareed Zakaria GPS.

Netanyahu Says Iran Stalling For Bomb

(Reuters) - Renewed international efforts to negotiate curbs on Iran's disputed nuclear program have backfired by giving it more time to work on building a bomb, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.

His remarks on the inconclusive February 26-27 meeting between Iran and six world powers signaled impatience by Israel, which has threatened to launch preemptive war on its arch-foe, possibly in the coming months, if it deems diplomacy a dead end.

Cuts To Achieve Goal For Deficit But Toll Is High

WASHINGTON — The latest budget impasse ushered in a new round of austerity on Saturday, with the nation facing reduced federal services, canceled contracts, job furloughs and layoffs.

But lost in the talk of Washington’s dysfunction is this fact: on paper at least, President Obama and Congress have reduced projected deficits by nearly $4 trillion over a decade — the widely embraced goal for stabilizing the national debt.

Romney Offers Explanation For Loss

Republican Mitt Romney, in his first television interview since he lost November's presidential election, said a failure to connect with minority voters doomed his bid for the White House.

"We weren't effective in taking my message primarily to minority voters—to Hispanic-Americans, to African-Americans, other minorities," Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, told Fox News in an interview that aired Sunday. "That was a real weakness."

Republicans Call Spending Cuts Modest, Indicate Here To Stay 

WASHINGTON — The spending cuts are here to stay if you believe the public posturing Sunday.

The Senate’s Republican leader Mitch McConnell called them modest. House Speaker John Boehner isn’t sure the cuts will hurt the economy. The White House’s top economic adviser, Gene Sperling, said the pain isn’t that bad right now.

Officials Say Deal To Avert Government Shutdown Likely

Congress returns to work this week with no plan to reverse across-the-board spending cuts that took effect Friday, but with hope on both sides of the aisle of averting an end-of-the-month showdown that could result in a government shutdown.

The House plans to vote Thursday on a spending measure that would keep the government running after its current funding mechanism elapses March 27.

Doctors Cure Child Born With HIV 

Doctors in the US have made medical history by effectively curing a child born with HIV, the first time such a case has been documented.

The infant, who is now two and a half, needs no medication for HIV, has a normal life expectancy and is highly unlikely to be infectious to others, doctors believe.

Though medical staff and scientists are unclear why the treatment was effective, the surprise success has raised hopes that the therapy might ultimately help doctors eradicate the virus among newborns.

McCaskill Introducses Bill To Cut Pay During Sequestration

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill and Bill Nelson will introduce legislation that would cut pay for members of Congress if federal employees are furloughed due to the sequester. The legislation calls for a reduction in Congressional salaries once federal furloughs begin.

"The federal workforce is looking at furloughs that would result in a sizeable pay cut-and there's absolutely no reason members of Congress should exempt themselves," McCaskill said. "We can and should reach a balanced compromise to replace these damaging across-the-board cuts, but until we do, this is an obvious step to hold Congress accountable for the job we need to get done."