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WATCH: Rachel’s tribute to the ‘fearless’ Michael Hastings

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow remembers the late journalist Michael Hastings, who died Tuesday morning in a car crash in L.A. Read More

The CBO report may be a boon to the chances of the Gang of 8's immigration reform bill.
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

CBO report: Immigration bill cuts deficit by $197 billion over 10 years

A newly released CBO report bolsters the arguments in favor of the Senate's immigration reform bill. Read More

Image: Activists Protest House Farm Bill Plan To Cut Food Assistance Program

House debates $20.5 billion cuts to food stamps

Nearly two million people could lose food stamp eligibility, and as many as 210,000 children could lose free school meals. President Obama has threatened a veto of the legislation. Read More

Outside the Ninth Circuit Court of appeals gay rights supporters waited for the ruling that ultimately affirmed Vaughn Walkers ruling of Proposition 8 being unconstitutional. (Photo by Jason Doiy)

Steve Kornacki hosts Google+ Hangout On Air: DOMA/Prop 8

Tune in here Wednesday at 12:15pm ET, where Kornacki--joined by two of the plaintiffs challenging Prop 8, among others--will lead a discussion examining the political implications of these cases from both sides of the aisle. Read More

A vacant Housing and Urban Development (HUD) home is pictured in North Las Vegas, Nevada April 2, 2013. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Reuters)

Same-sex couples face housing discrimination, new study shows

A report released Tuesday found that same-sex couples experience less favorable treatment than heterosexual couples in the online rental housing market. Read More

The US flag flutters in front of the US consulate in Hong Kong on June 10, 2013.  Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old US government contractor and the source who leaked details of a vast secret US program to monitor Internet users was reported to be in Hong Kong and remained there ever since, holed up in a hotel room. (Photo by Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images)

Poll: Opinions on government spying programs are changing

There is now almost an even split on Americans’ approval of the programs as part of the fight against terrorism, 48% approve and 47% disapprove. Read More

Drill Instructor speaks to her female Marine recruits during boot camp February 27, 2013 at Parris Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

‘Days of Rambo are over’: Women to enter combat roles

The Pentagon outlined its schedule for women to enter combat roles in the military, breaking through a decades-old gender barrier on the front lines. Read More

This handout image provided by the White House shows a copy of the long form of President Barack Obama's birth certificate from Hawaii. (Photo by J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Republican congressman questions Obama’s ‘validity’

Another Republican is jumping on the birther bandwagon by saying Congress should "revisit" the issue of "the president's validity." Read More

File Photo: Brooke Amabile, 15, of Kansas City, Missouri, joined thousands of anti-abortion demonstrators participating in the "March for Life" in front of the Supreme Court building January 22, 2008 in Washington, DC. The march marked the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States.  (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, File)

Republicans claim science on their side in abortion wars

“What we’re saying is science is on our side on this; public opinion is on our side on this,” said Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee in an interview Tuesday on MSNBC. Read More

Deputy FBI Director Sean Joyce testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2013, before the House Intelligence Committee hearing regarding NSA surveillance. (Photo by Charles Dharapak/AP Photo)

FBI: Snooping programs helped thwart more than 50 terror plots

The post-leak offer of additional information from one of the government’s most secretive organizations seems to signal a White House effort to shore up the public’s confidence and trust. Read More

President Barack Obama.  (Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

Does Obama really ‘welcome debate’ on his national security policies?

It's unclear why Obama's public remarks on transparency are so frequently at odds with his actions. Transparency advocates still hope the administration's promises will be followed up by real disclosure. Read More

File Photo: A pro-abortion rights protester holds a sign as he confronts an anti-abortion demonstration organized by local church Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Queens, New York October 20, 2012. The protest was held outside the Choices Women's Medical Center, a center whose services include abortion operations. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters File)

GOP Congressman takes abortion debate to new low

Republican Congressman Michael Burgess of Texas, a former OB/GYN, said that male fetuses can feel pleasure in the womb when they masturbate and can therefore also feel pain. Read More

(FILE) This NASA file photo dated June 1983 shows America's first woman astronaut Sally Ride, as she communicates with ground controllers from the flight deck during the six-day space mission of the Challenger. (AFP PHOTO/NASA)

Sally Ride’s historic space mission turns 30 years old

Ride, who died last year at age 61, was also the first-known LGBT astronaut. Read More

An Afghan army soldier stands guard in the destroyed courthouse in Farah, western Afghanistan, Thursday, April 4, 2013. Suicide bombers disguised as Afghan soldiers stormed a courthouse Wednesday in a failed bid to free more than a dozen Taliban prisoners in western Afghanistan, officials said. Tens of people, including the nine attackers were reported killed in the fighting. The assault in Farah province was the latest example of the Taliban's ability to strike official institutions despite tight security measures. (Photo by Hoshang Hashimi/AP)

US and Taliban to begin peace talks

Representatives of the United States and the Taliban are expected to meet over the next few days in Doha, Qatar, to discuss an end to the 12 year old war in Afghanistan directly with that country's government. Read More

NJ Gov. Chris Christie appears at a groundbreaking ceremony on May 7, 2013 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

Chris Christie: Presidential aspirations can wait ‘till 2015’

Gov. Chris Christie says he 'probably' won't decide on whether to run for president until 2015. Read More

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives on stage to address the Vital Voices Global Awards ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington on April 2, 2013. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

McCaskill jumps on Hillary Clinton 2016 bandwagon

Hillary Clinton is still playing coy about her presidential ambitions, but she nabbed her first congressional endorsement Tuesday morning, with Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill announcing she is on board with a Clinton White House bid. Read More

Vice President Biden speaks about gun legislation at the White House in Washington on April 9, 2013. (File photo by Charles Dharapak/AP)

Biden warns opponents of gun legislation ‘will pay a political price’

Looking to revive the stalled gun control movement, Vice President Biden hosted an event at the White House on Tuesday with gun safety groups in attendance. Read More

President Obama at the G-8 Summit in Belfast, Northern Ireland on June 17, 2013. (Photo by Evan Vucci/AP)

Obama continues defense of NSA programs

The president in a PBS interview defended the surveillance program, rejected comparisons to former Vice President Cheney, and said the government must "go to a judge, show probably cause." Read More

Prayer in school, 1956 (Photo by Lisa Larsen/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images).

50 years after SCOTUS banned school prayer, debate lives on

On June 17, 1963, the high court issued a landmark 8-1 ruling outlawing Bible readings or the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer as assigned in the public schools of Maryland and Pennsylvania. But that wasn't the end of religion in school. Read More

Image: Photos of Snowden, a contractor at the NSA, and U.S. President Obama are printed on the front pages of local English and Chinese newspapers in Hong Kong in this illustration photo

Obama says he’s not Cheney, defends intel gathering

The president said there was a system in place to prevent intel from being abused. But he said he understood the public's concern over not knowing how much information was being gathered and who had access to the data. Read More