To the Point

This week's pilgrimage to the Holy Land by Pope Benedict XVI has

President Obama is just one supporter of gay rights who draws the line at same-sex marriage.  We talk about a movement that's been picking up speed and about the developing efforts by some to keep it going and by others to slow it down.  Also, Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi is released, and healthcare reform gets serious as the industry reaches out to the White House.

Liberal or Moderate? Man or Woman? Black, White or Brown? Should the next Supreme Court Justice have judicial experience or a record of service in other branches of government? We hear different as President Obama gets ready to pick his first nominee. Also, the pace of unemployment slows, and Pope Benedict visits the Middle East.

The rising cost of tuition and fees makes college inaccessible for millions of young Americans while others graduate with tens of thousands of dollars in debt. We look at their plight, their prospects and President Obama's plan to take over student loans and create a big, new entitlement program. Also, the stress test results, and the best record in baseball and performance-enhancing drugs.

In Washington, the Obama Administration is hosting two weak leaders from strategic countries threatened by militant fundamentalists. Can the presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan make common cause against the Taliban? Also, stocks rise on latest Labor Department report, and the so-called "torture memos" and possible legal discipline.

The newly elected leaders of the US and Israel will meet later this month to tackle the ongoing struggle for peace in the Middle East. Will they agree to disagree on coping with Iran's nuclear program and about a so-called "two-state solution" with the Palestinians? Also, banks get stress test results, and cracking down on the Cayman Islands.

Chrysler's been forced into bankruptcy with hopes of merging with Fiat in just a few weeks.  Presuming that all goes well, will American drivers take to Italian cars? Also, Obama's plan to curb corporate tax havens, and the underground world of steroids for the brain.

President Obama says he’s “optimistic” about the coming pandemic of

The college class of 2009 faces a market with fewer jobs at lower salaries.  Applications for volunteer national service are up by more than 200%.  We talk with college graduates and others. Also, while Chrysler files for bankruptcy, at Bank of America, a shareholder revolt.

On his hundredth day, President Obama thanked Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter for switching parties. Will Specter be a better Democrat than he was a Republican? Has the GOP gone so far right that it can't appeal to the centrists and independents who decide most elections? Also, vaccines and variations in the Swine Flu outbreak, and melting ice and international politics in the Arctic.