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President Bush visited the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC today to give his condolences and offer help to China after a massive earthquake killed an estimated 50,000 in China's Sichuan province last week.

"We stand ready to help in any way that the Chinese government would like," Bush said at the embassy today.

See Bush's full remarks, as released by the White House, below:

 

THE PRESIDENT:

John McCain was the first presidential candidate to issue a statement of sympathy this afternoon for Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), who has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.

Kennedy was hospitalized Saturday for a seizure, and his doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital today issued a statement announcing the diagnosis of a tumor.

McCain said Kennedy is the "single most effective member of the Senate," and referred to him as the "last lion" of the upper chamber. See McCain's statement below:

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Senator Kennedy and his family. We hope and pray his doctors will be able to effectively treat his condition and that he will experience a full recovery. I have described Ted Kennedy as the last lion in the Senate, and I have held that view because he remains the single most effective member of the Senate.

While Rep. Vito Fossella's (R-N.Y.) sex scandal is the latest fodder for New York's tabloids, Gotham's other recent salacious story, the fall of Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D), serves as inspiration for Wednesday night's "Law & Order."

Here's the plot, courtesy of the Daily News:

There's an investigation into a murder that leads to a prostitution ring called Excaliber Exclusives. The case also involves payments to a fake company designed to hide money going to the prostitution ring. And, if that weren't enough, the governor of New York is caught in a wiretap making arrangements for a hottie named Chanel.

Set your TiVos for Wednesday at 10 p.m. on NBC.

The Senate Banking Committee tomorrow will question Steven Preston, President Bush's nominee to replace Alphonso Jackson as chairman of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Preston looks to face tough questions from the panel's chairman, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), whose reaction to Preston's nomination in April was less than warm. Read more...

The California Supreme Court ruled that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional Thursday.

Elected officials in California have already weighed in on the 4-3 ruling.A spokesman for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, a proponent of gay marriage rights, sent out two-word e-mail that read, "We won," according to the San Jose Mercury News.


Social conservatives are trying to amend the California's state constitution to prohibit gay marriage through a ballot initiative in November, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) reiterated his opposition to the amendment after Thursday's court decision was announced.

"I respect the court's decision and as governor, I will uphold its ruling," Schwarzenegger said within minutes of the ruling. "Also, as I have said in the past, I will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this state Supreme Court ruling."

Massachusetts had been the only state to uphold in court the right of gay couples to wed.

Former presidential candidate and "Law & Order" star Fred Thompson has a new gig: blogger for Townhall.

Thompson, who will also pen columns for Townhall Magazine, writes in his first blog post that conservatives need to stick to their principles.

"Now isn

The first time Tony and Cherie Blair met President George W. Bush and his wife, the two couples watched the movie "Meet The Parents" on DVD, according to reports in the Daily Mail and The Times of Cherie Blair's new book.

Blair also reveals that her husband's "heart sank" after learning of Bush's election to the White House. But both Blairs later came to appreciate Bush as

President Bush, scheduled to depart this evening on a trip to the Middle East, conducted interviews with three Middle East TV stations at the White House today and held a roundtable discussion with Israeli print media.

Bush was interviewed by Dubai-based Al Arabiya TV yesterday (transcript). Today, Egypt's Dream TV (transcript), Israel's Channel 10 TV (transcript), and BBC Arabic (transcript) each interviewed the president.

Bush answered questions on his daughter's wedding, Egypt's 60th anniversary, Iranian and Syrian support for Hezbollah, and the war on terror. Many of the questions centered on Palestine.

The president told reporters he is optimistic about negotiating preliminary agreements on Palestinian statehood before the end of his term. Read more...

A former State Dept. official told the Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) today that the department has misled Congress and the American public about corruption in the Iraqi government.

Arthur Brennan, who briefly served in Baghdad as head of the State Dept's Office of Accountability and Transparency in 2007 according to the Associated Press, told Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) that Ambassador Ryan Crocker is either misleading the American public about corruption in Iraq, or is unaware of the corruption due to his own negligence.

Brennan made his statements at a DPC hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The DPC circulated a video of the exchange today; see it below:



When contacted for response, State Dept. spokeswoman Nancy Beck told The Hill, "As we

Oil executives have been asked to return to Congress later this month to testify on rising oil prices.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) today called top executives from Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP America, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips to testify before his committee Wed., May 21 on "the skyrocketing price of oil."

The hearing will examine oil's effect on gas prices, in addition to "speculation and manipulation of the oil commodity market, anticompetitive practices by OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), artificial limits on supply, and the oil industry