OBAMA AGENDA: The latest out of Baltimore
The very latest on riots and looting in Baltimore, via the Baltimore Sun and NBC News.
POLITICO, with a big picture on Baltimore: "Obama and Congress are busy arguing over the Iran nuclear negotiations, a trade deal, what could become the broadest climate change agreement in history. But each city that erupts is a reminder of how little’s been done to address the hopelessness that’s hitting Americans in some communities across the country much more immediately."
Here's Pete Williams with a preview of today's oral arguments on gay marriage in the Supreme Court.
Attitudes about gay marriage have shifted dramatically over the past 12 years. Here's a look back at the data, from one of us(!)
In a New York Times op-ed, Fordham Law School professor Joseph Landau floats a theory of why John Roberts might support gay marriage .
Pope Francis is preparing to weigh in heavily on the issue of climate change. From the New York Times: "[A]s Francis prepares to deliver what is likely to be a highly influential encyclical this summer on environmental degradation and the effects of human-caused climate change on the poor, he is alarming some conservatives in the United States who are loath to see the Catholic Church reposition itself as a mighty voice in a cause they do not believe in."
There’s a new front in the fight over fast-track, Roll Call reports, and it’s over currency manipulation.
CONGRESS: GOP negotiators reach compromise on budget
“Republican negotiators on Monday reached a compromise on a joint budget between the House and the Senate, the first common congressional budget in a decade,” the New York Times writes. “The deal would increase military spending and take aim at President Obama’s signature health care law. It would also cut education and entitlement programs, like Medicare, but negotiators dropped a proposal by Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin and a former chairman of the House Budget Committee, to turn Medicare into a largely private voucher program.”
OFF TO THE RACES: Christie: Media to blame for my low poll numbers
The New York Times notes how both Republicans and Democrats running for president are talking about changing the justice system and reversing the trend towards mass incarceration of the 1990s.
Our own Perry Bacon Jr. on how Republicans are struggling to answer questions about issues like gay marriage and marijuana as public opinion rapidly changes.
BUSH: “Jeb Bush, the potential GOP presidential candidate who once identified himself as Hispanic on a voter registration form, is marching into the Latino voter space this week. The former Florida governor who has yet to declare his candidacy was to visit Puerto Rico Tuesday for an event at the Universidad Metropolitana de Cupey and for a town hall with the Republican Party of Puerto Rico,” NBC’s Sandra Lilley writes.
CLINTON: National Journal looks at Clinton's sharp drop in approval ratings and her "squandered goodwill" since leaving the State Department.
She's telling activists she'll help rebuild the Democratic Party around the country, POLITICO reports.
CHRISTIE: He's blaming media coverage for his sinking approval ratings. "If you're going to have relentlessly negative coverage from the media, it's going to affect your poll numbers," he said.
HUCKABEE: He's heading to Iowa in early May, the day after announcing his presidential intentions.
O'MALLEY: The former Maryland governor is cutting short an overseas trip amid the violence in Baltimore.
PAUL: He told an audience of Orthodox Jews that it was “a mistake” to topple Saddam Hussein and engage in a war in Libya, per the New York Observer.
RUBIO: The Des Moines Register ed board, with some praise for Marco Rubio: "While he could be self-effacing and conversational, Rubio exhibited an impressive grasp of public policy detail. He held forth extemporaneously on a broad spectrum of issues that included the economy, immigration, health care, education, energy, the environment, Medicare, Social Security and a whirlwind tour around the globe to highlight all the threats to U.S. national security."
TRUMP: He says he's "made up his mind" about what he'll do about a 2016 run and that he'll announce "by June or July, at the latest."
WALKER: The New York Times writes that Scott Walker is ceding some fundraising momentum to Jeb Bush as he works on his policy knowledge and fundraising strategy.
PROGRAMMING NOTES.
*** Tuesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: Tamron Hall speaks with Munir Bahar, President and founder 300 Men March movement, Pastor Jamal Bryant of Jamal Bryant Ministries, and Brandon Scott Vice Chair of Baltimore City Council about the riots in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore last night, GLAAD CEO and President Sarah Kate Ellis, Attorney Josh Schiller Partner with Boies, Schiller & Flexner Law Firm, and Tom Goldstein Supreme Court Expert from SCOTUS Blog about the Supreme Court of the United States taking on Same Sex Marriage.
*** Tuesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell will be covering the unrest in Baltimore with the Baltimore Sun’s Christopher Assaf and Colin Campbell, Baltimore City Paper photo editor J.M. Giordano, Fmr. Maryland Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s Monique Dixon and WRC’s Shomari Stone.