The "vast right-wing conspiracy" that attacked him during his presidency has been weakened, but continues to operate against President Obama, former President Clinton said Sunday. On NBC's "Meet the Press," Clinton was asked about the term his wife Hillary Clinton, now secretary of state, famously coined. "Is it still there" host David Gregory asked. "Oh, you bet. Sure it is. It's not as strong as it was, because America's changed demographically, but it's as virulent as it was," the former ...

After a heady week on a high-stakes world stage, President Obama returned to America's messiest political mosh pit -- the health care debate. Speaking before the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's annual dinner on Saturday night, Obama prescribed the same contentious policy pill he's embraced since taking office: health care reform and his intention to "get it done this year." "We must bring about a better health care system in this country not in ten years, not in five years, not ...

There were tears, fears and lots of shouting Wednesday when Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland held a town hall meeting on health care at Hagerstown Community College in his home state. Dozens of audience members crowded two microphones to ask questions, and many accused Cardin and President Obama's administration of seeking to bankrupt the nation's future by overhauling the health care system. "This government is out of control. We are in debt up to our eyeballs," one questioner declared, ...

The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee unveiled a summary of his long-awaited health care reform bill Wednesday, setting the stage for a legislative showdown on President Obama's top domestic priority. The bill crafted by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, would cost $856 billion over 10 years and mandate insurance coverage for every American. The bill -- released with no Republican support -- would not add to the federal deficit, Baucus said in a written statement. The measure drops the ...

Shouting from the audience. Holding up signs blasting the health care reform bill before Congress. Frequent hissing and booing. Though it sounds like behavior at one of the health care town hall meetings last month, it was how some Republicans reacted to President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night. But Norm Ornstein, a longtime observer of Congress and an expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said the tone and behavior from members of Congress are ...

Seeking to build on momentum generated by his health care address to Congress, President Obama ratcheted up his call Thursday for the passage of reform legislation this year. "Now is the time to act," Obama told an audience near the White House. "We have talked this issue to death. ... The time for talk is winding down. The time for bickering is past." The president was joined by representatives of the American Nurses Association, which has strongly endorsed the passage ...

A Republican House member shouted "You lie" during President Obama's health care speech to Congress on Wednesday, and members of both parties condemned the heckling. After the speech, South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson issued a statement apologizing for his outburst. "This evening, I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the president's remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill," the statement said. "While I disagree with the president's statement, my comments ...

President Obama's speech to Congress on Wednesday on health care reform will probably be one of the high-noon moments of his presidency. Surrounded by liberals demanding a government-run public option and centrist Democrats -- along with Republicans -- who want to dump the option, Obama just might have his finger on something that can get him through this health care showdown: the "trigger" option. The idea would give insurance companies a defined period to make changes in order to help ...

Vice President Joe Biden promised Thursday that President Obama will delve into specifics when he tackles health-care reform in a highly anticipated speech to a joint session of Congress next week. The president will be "laying out in understandable, clear terms" what the administration wants for health care when he addresses Congress on September 9, Biden told an audience at the Brookings Institution. Biden also promised success on the administration's top domestic legislative priority. "I think the prospects for success ...

It is midday and girls are flooding out of school, but Nujood Ali is not among them. We find her at the family's two-room house in an impoverished suburb of the city where Nujood is angry, combative and yelling. Tension surrounds the home like a noose. After much arguing with family members, Nujood finally grabs her veil and agrees to sit down with CNN. Her presence is grudging, although CNN had got permission in advance to see how the girl ...