OBAMA AGENDA: Resuming talks
The latest on the Iran talks, from NBC News: "Iran and six world powers resumed nuclear talks on Wednesday, hours after an earlier deadline passed without an agreement."
More, from the New York Times: "As the nuclear negotiations dragged into overtime here on Tuesday, some uniquely American and Iranian political sensitivities were permeating the marathon negotiating sessions, leading many to wonder whether two countries that have barely spoken for 35 years are just not ready to overcome old suspicions."
The Wall Street Journal writes that more companies are blocking their employees from filing lawsuits.
According to a new Washington Post-ABC poll, Obama's approval stands at 47 percent -- down from 50 percent in January -- although he has regained some ground since the midterms.
CONGRESS: Messy Democratic drama in the Senate
From our own Frank Thorp: "Senate Democrats could soon be in the middle of a messy battle for the No. 2 spot in leadership. An alleged late-night deal between Illinois Senator Dick Durbin and New York's Chuck Schumer to support each other in their respective leadership races apparently never happened, according to a person close to Schumer."
The House committee investigating Benghazi wants to interview Clinton behind closed doors before May 1, but a spokesman says she "remains ready to appear at a hearing open to the American public."
OFF TO THE RACES: Campaign-finance complaints against likely 2016ers
Campaign finance groups have formally filed complaints against Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Rick Santorum and Martin O'Malley.
Ouch. The Indy Star leads its web coverage with an op-ed from Matthew Tully: "Pence was never meant to be a governor. A partisan and dysfunctional Congress that lives on bright line divisions was his home for 12 years, and that's where he belongs — in a place where a person can rise high by talking well and digging in and not really doing much."
An Arkansas religious freedom bill is headed to the governor's desk.
McClatchy’s David Lightman: “The furor this week over Indiana’s religious freedom law means new trouble nationally for a Republican Party that’s been fighting an image of intolerance for years.”
Msnbc.com's Benjy Sarlin on GOP arguments about the way to win: "Some blame Romney’s loss on a failure to fire up the party’s white base, while others point to a desperate need to reach out to voters outside the GOP’s usual wheelhouse. More than any one single policy fight, this broad demographic argument over what the next Republican president’s winning coalition will look like defines the battle lines of the presidential primaries."
BUSH: Writes the Washington Post: "Jeb Bush has given his tacit endorsement to a new group that can collect unlimited amounts of money in secret, part of a bold effort by his advisers to create a robust external political operation before he declares his expected White House bid. The nonprofit group, Right to Rise Policy Solutions, was quietly established in Arkansas in February by a friend and former Bush staffer. The group shares the name of two political committees for which Bush has been aggressively raising money — blurring the line that is supposed to separate a campaign from independent groups."
California donors still aren't sold on him, writes POLITICO.
CLINTON: Could another Democrat beat her? The New York Times looks at potential blueprints.
CRUZ: NH1 reports that he'll keynote a Young Republicans convention in New Hampshire next month.
PAUL: The Des Moines Register: "It looks like presidential hopeful Rand Paul has found a clever way to champion ethanol, with an issue that's in harmony with his keep-government-out-of-the-marketplace mentality."
WALKER: It turns out Scott Walker is allergic to dogs, reports the New York Times.
PROGRAMMING NOTES.
*** Wednesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: Tamron Hall speaks with Jason Rahlan of the Human Rights Campaign and Sandy Rios of the American Family Association about the new religious freedom restoration law in Indiana, Boston Globe Reporter Mike Bello on the latest on the Boston Marathon bombing trial, and photographer Kathy Shorr and subject Sara C, about the SHOT Project which follows shooting survivor victims years later and documents how they have overcome such tragedy through living life.
*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reports live from Switzerland on the up to the minute developments on the Iran nuclear negotiations and will interview Rep. Adam Schiff, Brookings Senior Fellow Robert Einhorn, NBC’s Kristen Welker, John Yang and Sarah Dallof, Bloomberg’s Jeanne Cummings and the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza.