Wednesday News Round-Up

Good morning, Capitolists! It's Day 100 of the Obama Administration, Day 3 of "Politics Daily," and Day 2 of the rest of Sen. Arlen Specter's career. How long will it last? Nobody knows, but The Capitolist will be here to tell you all about it.

Case in point, here's your daily news round-up of the best stories on the net, the must-read nest of nuggets we're going to start calling "The Morning Cap," unless one of you comes up with a better name? Let us know. In the meantime, don't start your days without knowing this...

Top Domestic Story: President Obama met with Sen. Arlen Specter at the White House this morning and endorsed him as a Democrat he can work with, and "one tough hombre." Obama also said he and Vice President Biden will be campaigning for Specter in the Democratic primary, a key announcement that will likely keep other Dems out of the race. [The Capitolist on Politics Daily]

Top International Story: A British court has cleared three men on charges of terrorism stemming from the 2005 London subway bombings. A previous court also failed to convict the men last year on the same charges. The acquittal means that no convictions have resulted from the bombings, although four suspected bombers died in the attacks. [New York Times]

RNC Chairman Michael Steele may be getting his wings clipped by his fellow GOPers. The Washington Times reports that leaders in the party leadership have presented a resolution to limit Steele's ability to spend RNC funds, a move his supporters have called an attempt "to embarrass and neuter the chairman." Rough waters ahead....

A 23-month old toddler from Mexico has died in Houston after his family brought him from Brownsville, Texas for care. The case is the first death reported in the United States and reinforces the CDC's warning yesterday that, "The idea of trying to limit the spread to Mexico is not realistic or at all possible." [Houston Chronicle]

Despite Sen. Tom Coburn's diagnosis of her "fatal character flaw," the Senate confirmed former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services last night by a vote of 65 to 31. [The Hill]

One a five-to-four vote, the Supreme Court yesterday upheld the FCC's fines against broadcasters for dirty words or explicit content, as initiated by Bono's use of the "f-word" at the Grammy awards. Judge Scalia said the policy is "entirely rational" and singled out "the F-word." Keep it clean, PBS! [BBC]

TiVo alert!: President Obama will have a prime-time news conference to mark his 100th day in office, but "American Idol" fans can have their Adam Lambert and eat....never mind. The Fox network will not carry the newser, but Fox News Channel will. It's at 8 p.m. EST.