Cummings releases the IRS transcript

• Gitmo vs. food stamps: GOP hypocrisy exposed
• NSA director: Surveillance stopped 50 terrorist plots
• Will Boehner risk speakership on bill?
• House passes most restrictive abortion bill in 10 years
• Call him what you like, but don't mess with American Samoa
• Sister Helen Prejean on her influential activism against the death penalty
• Plan presented to wrest control of ATF director from gun lobby
• GOP brings anti-science perspectives to war on women
• Republicans want to cut $20 billion from food stamps
• Meet the most powerful man in government you've never heard of
• House Republicans take another stab at limiting abortion rights, succeed
• Affidavits detail art of lying to struggling homeowners by B of A employees
• Pool of potential jurors in George Zimmerman case shrinks
• Obama no Cheney on surveillance
• GOP relentlessly pursues abortion restrictions
• Transcripts expose Issa’s witch-hunt
• Why the LGBT struggle is like the civil rights struggle
• Surveillance prevented at least 10 U.S. terror attacks, NSA says
• Obama to speak at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin
• House passes ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy
• Matthews: War's become the new damn normal
• Sideshow: Obama ‘birthers’ still exist
• Steele on GOP abortion bill: ‘This is a crazy conversation to have right now’
• Transcript release sheds new light on IRS scandal
• ‘The Good Wife’s’ Chris Noth talks unscripted politics
• Could foiled terrorist attacked have been stopped without snooping?
• Hillary Clinton’s officially unofficial campaign – and 2014 gun control politics
• NSA director: Intelligence gathering helped stop 50 attacks since 9/11
• Jindal’s ‘stupid’ GOP ignores jobs, sequester for latest abortion bill

On Syria, G8 leaders call for movement

The Group of Eight leaders meeting in Northern Ireland on Tuesday called for an international conference on the ongoing crisis in Syria to be held "as soon as possible" but offered little new that might end the civil war there.

• Justices strike down citizenship provision in AZ voter law
• Remember that IRS scandal . . . ?
• Senate negotiators seek new compromise on immigration
• NSA defends snooping
• Senators seek new compromise
• Shifting polls contradict deposition
• 7 things we learned about Obama
• Pentagon says women in all combat units by 2016
• 7 things we learned about Obama
• Shifting IRS polls contradict key deposition
• First lady, girls chow down with Bono
• The people have spoken! Income inequality tops Change the List
• Officials cite thwarted plots in defending surveillance
• NSA: Programs 'critical' for U.S.
• Bergen: Did snooping stop 'dozens' of attacks?
• Borger: Behind the slide
• Abortion bill sponsor said what?
• 'Mariachi singer' more American than critics
• George W. Bush's legacy is on the mend
• Two different marriage bans, both wrong
• Obama plunges in polls
• Leaker Snowden fears being killed
• CNN poll: Obama numbers plunge into generation gap
• Former U.S. Marine held captive in Syria
• U.S. and Russia still don't see eye to eye on Syria
• Syria's humanitarian crisis
• Plane carrying George W. Bush diverted after smell of smoke
• Christie has repair work to do with conservatives
• In New Hampshire, early signs of 2016

Survivors are 'friends for life'

Erika Brannock, a survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing, anxiously purses her lips.

• Parents of bombing suspect speak
• Fire chief resigns amid controversy
• Judge nixes Taliban defense
• Terrorists target the military
• Suspect could question victims
• Ariel Castro pleads not guilty
• 'Don't let me go,' woman tells officers
• Were there more victims?
• Audit missing people cases
• Castro's ties with victims
• Psychology of abuse
• Care more about white women?
• 5 stories of captive kids who got away
• The search for Ashley Summers
• No Texas links for Marine in shooting spree, authorities say
• 'Night Stalker' Ramirez died of cancer
• Chad Johnson's butt-slap apology
• Naked man attacks commuters
• Man accepts warning in chef case
• Rape terrorizes female enlistees
• Feds charge 3 in Ohio slavery case
• Grand jury indicts hero cop on rape charge
• Medical examiner in North Carolina hotel death cases resigns
• Italian court on reason for Knox retrial: Evidence neglected
• Video out in '08 Times Square bombing
• Witness: 'It broke my heart' to learn Bulger was FBI informant
• Man busted after nephew points fake rocket launcher at cars
• 'Highly credible' info led to Hoffa dig
• Chimp attack victim denied $150 million lawsuit against state

NSA: Data Dragnets Foiled Terrorism

The director of the National Security Administration today told Congress that more than 50 potential terrorist attacks have been thwarted by controversial two programs tracking more than a billion phone calls each day.

• Far-Reaching Anti-Abortion Bill Passed
• Tea Party Fight Brewing in Alaska
• Can Immigration Reform Help Economy?
• Watch: Military Explores Putting Women in Combat
• McCaskill 'Proud' to Join Ready for Hillary
• Ben, From Ben & Jerry's, Wants to Stamp Your Dollar
• Did Passing Immigration Reform Just Get Tougher?
• Reid: House Will Face Immigration Pressure
• Rep.: Male Fetuses Pleasure Themselves
• Rahm Emanuel's Super Sweet Bat Mitzvah Trip
• JFK Eternal Flame to Burn in Ireland
• Watch: NSA Director Defends Secret Surveillance Programs
• John Boehner Wasn't Always Tied to 'Hastert Rule' on Immigration
• Watch: Biden Pushes White House Gun Control Priorities
• Watch: Kennedy Eternal Flame Heads to Ireland
• Justice Dept. Document Details Guantanamo Prisoner Names, Status
• Report: School Debt Strangling Grads' Incomes
• Taliban Agrees to Join Peace Talks
• Watch: Grave Mistake Ruins Former NYC Mayor's Tombstone
• Watch: Grave Mistake Ruins Former NYC Mayor's Tombstone
• Pentagon's Women in Combat Plans Revealed
• Michelle Obama, Daughters Lunch With Bono in Ireland
• Watch: Obama Girls Not Impressed With Summer Vacation?
• Obama Talks 'Transparency'
• The Note's Must-Reads for Tuesday, June 18, 2013
• Obama: Spying Programs 'Transparent'
• Obama, Putin Don't 'Coincide' On Syria But Call for End to Violence
• This Week in History
• 'Bridge-Builder' Lawyer Picked to Spearhead Guantanamo Closing

Massachusetts Senate candidates spar on U.S. surveillance programs

BOSTON (Reuters) - The Republican underdog fighting for Massachusetts' open U.S. Senate seat in a Tuesday debate attacked his rival, a veteran Democratic congressman, over recently revealed programs in which federal agencies track Americans' use of phones and the Internet.

• Republican-led House passes bill restricting abortion
• NSA head, lawmakers defend surveillance programs
• United States to meet Taliban to seek Afghan peace
• Senate immigration bill to aid economy, budget office says
• 'Conservative Republican' at IRS defends treatment of Tea Party
• NSA head, lawmakers defend surveillance programs
• Republican-led House passes bill restricting abortion
• Massachusetts Senate candidates spar on surveillance programs
• Missouri senator joins effort urging Hillary Clinton to seek presidency
• Mississippi leans on Google to crack down on illegal products
• Enroll America sets private outreach for Obamacare sign-up
• Gaps widen between House, Senate on immigration
• United States to meet Taliban to seek Afghan peace
• Protesters jailed as they decry Republican shift in North Carolina
• NSA chief: agency programs prevented over 50 potential terrorist acts
• U.S. groups form alliance to push for Indian trade reforms
• Maine Democrats scramble after governor blocks Medicaid expansion
• Obama says Bernanke has 'stayed a lot longer' than he wanted at Fed
• Iceland received informal approach over Snowden seeking asylum
• Senior Republican says Snowden's surveillance comments 'dangerous'
• Obama pick for top U.S. telecom regulator to face Senate panel
• Insight: FBI relies on secret U.S. surveillance law, records show
• Obama sees Iran's election of moderate as hopeful sign
• U.S. says it will buy Russian helicopters for Afghan military
• Obama says will meet oversight board about NSA surveillance
• U.S. states, greens delay lawsuit, await Obama climate plan
• Republican senators seek border compromise for immigration bill
• Snowden hits back against critics of NSA leaks
• Virginia governor billed taxpayers for sunscreen, dog vitamins -report