A single-engine plane that entered Marine One's airspace near Los Angeles - and was escorted to the ground by a pair of F-16s - was found to have drugs aboard when searched by local law enforcement.

Police at Long Beach Airport found marijuana aboard the Cessna 182, which was intercepted by the two NORAD fighters around shortly after noon Thursday, according to NBC 4.

"Two F-16 fighters scrambled out of March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California, to respond to a temporary flight restriction violation by a Cessna 182 aircraft over Los Angeles. After intercepting the aircraft, the F-16s followed it until it landed without incident at approximately 12:30 p.m. MST, where the plane was met by local law enforcement," NORAD said in a statement released later Thursday.

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The Democratic National Committee is using General Motor's announcement of a record $7.6 billion profit to hit Mitt Romney, who has criticized the bailout of GM and Chrysler. 

"Thanks to the sacrifice and determination of workers and management, and the faith of the president who bet on them, GM and Chrysler are back," on-screen text reads. "American taxpayers are being repaid. Instead of going under, automakers are adding plants, shifts, and jobs."

Video of Romney decrying the bailout is then spliced between autoworkers skeptical that a nongovernment entity could have helped the industry in the same way. The ad concludes with President Obama arguing the "lesson" of the auto bailout was not to "bet against America. Don't bet against the American auto industry. Don't bet against American ingenuity. Don't bet against the American worker. Don't bet against us."

The attack comes a little more than a week before the Michigan primary. Romney is struggling in Michigan, where his father served as a popular governor. A Detroit News poll this week showed Rick Santorum holding a 4 percentage point lead over Romney. 

Romney has argued against the bailout, stating that the U.S. comapnies wouldhave been better served by a managed bankruptcy that would have not cost taxpayer dollars. 

"Instead of the free market doing what it does best, we got a major taste of crony capitalism," Romney wrote in the Detroit News Tuesday.

Democrats are seizing on the auto industry's recovery to paint Romney as out-of-touch and having "bet against America."

In the video, a montage of news clips heralds the recovery as a positive step forward for the economy.

Romney was campaigning in Michigan Thursday.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on Thursday denied Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) his request for a "10-minute vote" on an amendment to strip Egypt of foreign aid until it returns 19 Americans they are detaining.

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The government still owns GM shares and has not recovered all of the nearly $50 billion it initially pumped into GM.

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Your morning transportation speed-read:

A woman is accusing the Transportation Security Administration of re-scanning her at airport security because employees thought she was "cute."

Workers at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, have gone on strike over their pay and working conditions.

Amtrak is celebrating its first high-speed railway outside of the Northeast.

Baltimore-Washington's Thurgood Marshall International Airport set a passenger record in 2011.

Speaker John Boehner delayed his signature highway bill and rank-and-file members grumbled about a tentative payroll tax deal.

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Sen. Boxer, sponsor of the Senate's $109 billion transportation bill, said the measure has been mired by  "ridiculously unrelated amendments."

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Janet Napolitano said officials don't weed through the tweets of incoming travelers in an attempt to spot potential terrorists.

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) suggested Wednesday afternoon that recent backroom negotiations have yielded some progress on the pending surface transportation bill.

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