The bankers, it seems, are in for another tongue lashing: President Obama had some surprisingly harsh words for Wall Street on Monday, saying that “Instead of learning the lessons of Lehman and the crisis from which we are still recovering, they are choosing to ignore them.” He went on to say, “Hear my words: We will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess at the heart of the crisis, where too many were motivated only by the appetite for quick kills and bloated bonuses.” Obama was scheduled to have lunch with Bill Clinton after the speech, though the details of their meeting are unknown.

On the same day Osama bin Laden took to the airwaves, an American helicopter gunned down al Qaeda commander Saleh Ali Nabhan, a leader of Somalia’s al Shabab organization, which works closely with al Qaeda, The Guardian reports. Nabhan was allegedly involved in the deaths of 229 people when American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed in 1998, as well as a 2002 attack on a hotel in Mombasa and a botched missile attack on an Israel-bound Mombasa airplane. Nabhan was traveling by car south of Mogadishu when U.S. special forces opened fire on his vehicle; two other passengers were killed, and two others were wounded and captured. The Pentagon and White House declined to comment on Nabhan’s death.

Sad news out of Hollywood: Patrick Swayze has died. The Ghost star had been battling pancreatic cancer since January 2008, but had managed to film a television series, Beast, while he fought the disease. Swayze, best known for his roles in Dirty Dancing, Ghost, and Road House, was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive in 1991.

You can delete a tweet, but you can’t erase it from the public memory—especially when you have more than a million followers. The Twitter-sphere erupted Monday night when ABC News’ Terry Moran tweeted, “Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a ‘jackass’ for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT’S presidential.” Moments later, Moran removed the tweet, but by then it had been retweeted so many times, ABC’s PR department had to make a statement: “In the process of reporting on remarks by President Obama that were made during a CNBC interview, ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview. This was done before our editorial process had been completed,” ABC continued, prompting wayward tweeters across the Internet to wonder: Does ABC have an “editorial process” for tweets?

The Pakistani army may have saved Swat Valley from the Taliban, but The New York Times reports that order in the war-torn region comes at a high price: “Perhaps hundreds” of bodies are being dumped on the streets, and many say blood is on the military’s hands. The murders appear to be revenge killings of former Taliban members and supporters; they mimic Taliban torture methods and are “systematic,” suggesting something more organized than rogue civilian murders. The U.S.-supported Pakistani army denies the claims: “There are no extrajudicial killings in our system,” said a spokesman. But NYT notes that the deaths do not occur in places where the Pakistan army’s control is firm; they appear strategic at quelling and punishing Taliban sympathies. Some even say mass graves are involved. Human Rights Commission, a nongovernmental organization, claims reports on the military’s involvement are credible; meanwhile, government officials kicked out the International Committee of the Red Cross, which investigates illegal killings, from Swat Valley last month.

An amazing upset at Flushing Meadows on Monday evening: Big-hitting Argentine Juan Martin del Potro has defeated Roger Federer to take the U.S. Open men’s tennis championship. The No. 6-seeded del Potro stunned the No. 1 defending champion, who was seeking his record 16th Grand Slam title, in five sets, 3-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2. The victory is the 20-year-old del Potro’s first Grand Slam title and breaks Federer’s streak of five straight U.S. Open championships. Del Potro reached the final by defeating Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

After a hidden-camera exposé caught ACORN employees helping to falsify tax forms and to organize a child-prostitution business, the left-leaning voter-registration group is between a rock and a hard place. Their solution? Sue. Politico reports that ACORN is threatening to sue Fox News, Breitbart.com, and the two conservative activists who produced the film. If ACORN follows through, they’ll be using laws governing the use of undercover filming in Maryland and Washington, D.C. “It is clear that the videos are doctored” said ACORN’s chief organizer, who says the filmmakers’ crime is a felony. ACORN claims the filmmakers made many failed attempts to lure their employees into compromising situations. The producers themselves describe their undercover work as a “silly idea” that “escalated into a full-blown operation with scripts, Method acting, undercover gear, scandalous outfits” including posing as a pimp and a prostitute.

Police appear to be narrowing in on a suspect in the murder of Annie Le, the Yale graduate student who was supposed to marry on Sunday: ABC News is reporting that investigators are focusing on a suspect who failed a lie detector test and has what appear to be defensive wounds. Sources add that the bloody clothing removed from the lab contained evidence that police believe will link the killer to the crime.

President Jimmy Carter's press secretary, Jody Powell, died on Monday at his home on Maryland's Eastern Shore of an apparent heart attack, according to a family friend. Born Joseph Lester Powell, his nickname derived from the young hero in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ classic The Yearling. The 65-year-old was Carter’s longest-serving aide; Powell worked on Carter’s campaign in 1976 and served as his spokesman from 1977 to 1981. After leaving the White House, he became CEO of the Powell Tate Group, a public-relations and lobbying firm in Washington. The Georgia native's death comes a year after that of Hamilton Jordan, Carter's chief of staff and fellow native Georgian. The two appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in 1977, dubbed the White House’s "whiz kids."

President Obama isn’t the only one scolding banks on Monday: A federal district judge overturned a settlement between Bank of America and the SEC over the $3.6 billion in bonuses that Merrill Lynch paid its executives right before BofA took it over. The $33 million settlement “does not comport with the most elementary notions of justice and morality,” Judge Jed S. Rakoff wrote. The bank and the SEC have been directed to prepare for a trial that will begin no later than February 1. “It is quite something else for the very management that is accused of having lied to its shareholders to determine how much of those victims’ money should be used to make the case against the management go away,” Rakoff wrote.

Hendrik Hertzberg uses his valuable real estate in the front of the New Yorker this week to attack what he calls the “heart” and “brain” of the this summer’s town-hall movement: conservative media hosts like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and Michael Savage. Actual Republican Party leaders, Hertzberg says, have become followers of this group. According to Hertzberg, Joe Wilson, the Republican who shouted “You lie!” during Obama’s prime-time address, did the president a favor by showing how futile bipartisanship has become, thanks to the new structure of the opposition party. “A bill that reflects a necessary compromise among Democrats,” he writes, “is bound to be stronger than one that reflects an unnecessary compromise between Democrats and Republicans.”

Tea parties apparently aren’t as fun as advertised: The organizers of conservatives' 9/12 rally and several conservative blogs have started circulating a photo that they claim proves their rally had more than 1 million participants. One problem? The photo is several years old: It does not include the National Museum of the American Indian, which opened in 2004. The public-affairs officer for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Department said that the crowd “only filled the Capitol grounds, maybe up to Third Street.” The photo shows crowds that go to the Washington Monument on 16th Street.

Though MTV's Video Music Awards may have started off all about Michael Jackson, country singer Taylor Swift's acceptance speech, or lack thereof, became the talk of night. Rapper Kanye West stormed the stage while the 19-year-old country star was receiving her award for Best Female Video and ranted that the honor belonged to Beyoncé. "I was really excited because I had just won the award," Swift said afterward. "And then I was really excited because Kanye West was on stage. And then I wasn't so excited anymore after that." Though she claims to have been a fan of West, whom she had never previously met, the country superstar says there are no hard feelings and doesn't "want to start anything because I had a great night tonight," thanks to Beyoncé. After winning Video of the Year, the former Destiny's Child frontwoman graciously called Swift onstage to give the acceptance speech West had interrupted. "She's always been a great person," Swift said of Beyoncé. "I thought I couldn't love Beyoncé more tonight."

Bail has been set at $30 million for Phillip Garrido, the man charged with kidnapping Jaycee Lee Dugard and holding her captive in his backyard for 18 years. El Dorado County (California) Superior Court Judge Douglas Phimister approved the amount on Monday on the grounds that Garrido is a danger to the public and a flight risk. Phimister also authorized Garrido to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. His wife, Nancy, however, is still imprisoned on a no-bail hold. Both Nancy and Phillip Garrido face 29 charges of kidnapping and rape. Phillip is believed to be the father of Dugard's 15- and 11-year-old daughters. The couple's next court appearance will be on October 29 for a preliminary hearing.

Despite her notoriously frank discussions of lady parts and outraging audience gift-giving, Oprah Winfrey has reached a new ratings low. Though she still reigns supreme among her competitors, Oprah may not be the unsinkable ship it was previously believed to be. The show’s average viewership fell below 7 million last season, down 7 percent from the year earlier. What’s worse: When the program was airing reruns in July, it earned its lowest ratings since debuting in 1985. Though other daytime talk-show ratings are also on the decline, Age of Oprah author Janice Peck chalks up Winfrey’s troubles to her outpouring of support for President Barack Obama, which might have alienated conservative audience members. Plus, Winfrey’s also having a difficult time attracting younger viewers, who “see Oprah as kind of like who their mom likes,” Peck explained. “This is not a good sign for her.”

No outbursts here: It was a swift and easy victory for Venus and Serena Williams in the U.S. Open women’s doubles final on Monday. The sisters defeated defending champions Cara Black and Liezel Huber 6-2, 6-2. The match was free from the drama that ensued at Serena’s singles semifinal match Saturday night, which ended with her being cited for a foot fault and subsequently lashing out at the line judge who called the penalty. She was fined $10,500 and has issued an apology for her behavior.

Eat your heart out, Beatles. The British invasion is back again in the form of charmingly frumpy Susan Boyle. The Telegraph reports that more than 1,000 fans were waiting for Boyle when her airplane touched down at LAX Airport in Los Angeles. Boyle will perform the Rolling Stones song “Wild Horses” during Wednesday's finale of America's Got Talent. Her debut album is due to drop on November 23rd, but already tops the list of Amazon.com bestsellers due to pre-orders, outselling Whitney Houston's latest album and the Beatles Remastered.

Maybe Sir Elton John can get Madonna’s adoption lawyer. Two days after he spoke about wanting to adopt a Ukrainian orphan named Lev, the country’s minister squashed the pop star’s ruminations of fatherhood. The minister explained that the 62-year-old singer is too old to care for the 14-month-old HIV-positive toddler. Another disqualification? He’s not married. John’s civil union with longtime partner David Furnish, 45, doesn’t count. "The law is the same for everybody: for a president, for a minister, for Elton John,” explained the official.

True Compass, Ted Kennedy’s posthumous memoir, was released Monday and the book is chock full of political and Kennedy lore. “My own life has always been inseparable from that of my own family,” Kennedy wrote. “My story is their story, and theirs is mine.” Politico has a comprehensive wrap of excerpts. We learn about how his hard-driving father challenged Teddy to live a serious life—and how he made him throw out his car horn, which made the sound of a cow’s moo. Teddy recounts how he lost a tooth in his first college football game and how his mother asked Khrushchev for a signed book during the height of the Cuban missile crisis. Kennedy also discusses the death of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick: “That night on Chappaquiddick Island ended in a horrible tragedy that haunts me every day of my life. I had suffered sudden and violent loss far too many times, but this night was different. This night I was responsible. It was an accident, but I was responsible….”

Last week, Amazon's Jeff Bezos said his company was keeping its copies of Dan Brown's new novel, The Lost Symbol, "under 24-hour guard in its own chain-link enclosure," before the book's Tuesday release, and others hyping the book (like Matt Lauer) promised not to divulge too much about its top-secret storyline. But somehow The New York Times procured a copy, and on Sunday revealed The Lost Symbol's moments of heart-pounding symbol-interpreting action in such surprising locales as…the U.S. Capitol building. After Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code, good ol' Robert Langdon is back. Also making an appearance: a severed hand, a giant squid, and a muscular bad guy who has castrated himself. The biggest revelation? Brown “[brings] sexy back to a genre that had been left for dead.”

When it comes to health-care costs, end-of-life care is really the elephant in the room, according to Newsweek writer Evan Thomas. American health-care costs have grown almost 50 percent in the last decade, and almost one third of the money spent by Medicare—about $66.8 billion per year—goes to treating chronically ill patients in the last two years of their lives. Much of the geographical disparities in the cost of end of life care—Medicare averages $5,311 for a Honolulu patient, but $12,543 for a Bronx one—exist because some doctors order more tests and procedures. The medical care provided at the end of life may not serve the patient in important ways either; 70 percent of people want to die at home, but about half die in hospitals. Instead of treating death like "a scientific challenge to be overcome," Thomas suggests, the system should focus on easing death for the elderly by providing hospice care and the human contact that people in the old folks' home seem to crave.

Last week's celebrity hijinks at Fashion's Night Out—a late-night shopping event in cities across the world that was the brainchild of Vogue editor Anna Wintour—appear to have worked. WWD reports that the Sept. 10 event galvanized a 3.4 percent nationwide traffic increase at apparel and accessories stories, with a nearly 50 percent rise in Manhattan. That the four prior Thursdays saw an average decline of 10.5 percent compared to 2008 makes the gains even more impressive. As Macy's chairman Terry Lundgren put it, "Hopefully the publicity will resonate throughout the country. Without consumption [...] the U.S. economy will not work." It remains to be seen whether the event will help boost sales throughout the fall season.

Take cover, George W. Bush: The Iraqi journalist who catapulted to infamy after throwing his shoes at the then-U.S. president during a December press conference will be released from jail on Tuesday. Muntadhar al-Zeidi’s family had gathered for his release from an Iraqi base in Baghdad at dawn on Monday, but was told after five hours of waiting that his release had been delayed until Tuesday due to paperwork processing delays. His family has announced plans to stage a sit-in until he is released.

Poet and punk rocker Jim Carroll died from a heart attack on Friday in Manhattan. Sixty-year-old Carroll earned a cult following for his poetry—he began publishing pamphlets in his teens—long before the 1978 publication of The Basketball Diaries, a journal he kept in high school as he descended from basketball-scholarship student at a Manhattan private school to hustling in Times Square for heroin. The book became widely popular on college campuses, and Leonardo DiCaprio played him in a 1995 film adaptation of the book. Singer Patti Smith met Carroll in 1970 and encouraged him to read his poetry while Smith's band played background. He then formed the Jim Carroll band, and with the help of Keith Richards he scored a record deal. The band's first release, Catholic Boy, in 1980, is considered by some to be the "last great punk album."

In the latest issue of The New Yorker, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James Stewart offers a 24-page, 19,000-word inside account of the eight days of drama that went down at the White House, Federal Reserve, Treasury, and Congress a year ago over the collapse of Lehman Brothers. “Everybody in some part of their brain thought it was a good thing for Lehman Brothers to go under,” one Treasury official reveals. On September 16, 2008, Bush convened a meeting at the White House. “So what is going on in our financial system, and what are we going to do?” he asked Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke. Said one Bush loyalist: “This came up in the final months of an eight-year term. He was so ground down by Katrina, the war in Iraq. He was just out of gas.” So Paulson was “unilaterally making economic policy for the administration,” an official says. At the close of the meeting, Bush remarked, “Someday you guys are going to need to tell me how we ended up with a system like this… We’re not doing something right if we’re stuck with these miserable choices.” Later that day, Paulson and Bernanke explained to the House and Senate leadership the need to loan AIG $85 billion. “Do you have $85 billion?” Rep. Barney Frank asked. “I have $800 billion,” the Fed chairman responded, referring to the Fed's balance sheet. Politico’s Mike Allen has excerpts of the story, which goes online Monday.

So much for hopes of a much-hyped U.S. Open finals faceoff between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina beat Nadal in three straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in a match lasting over two hours on Sunday. Del Potro, the No. 6 seed, now heads to his first grand-slam final against none other than five-time champ Federer or fourth-seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

Sir Elton is considering a new career: father. The singer has his heart set on adopting a 14-month-old toddler he and his partner David Furnish met at an orphanage in Ukraine while on a trip for his AIDS foundation. “David always wanted to adopt a child and I always said 'no' because I am 62 and I think because of the travelling I do and the life I have, maybe it wouldn't be fair for the child,” the pop star explained. “But having seen Lev today, I would love to adopt him. I don't know how we do that but he has stolen my heart. And he has stolen David's heart and it would be wonderful if we can have a home. I've changed my mind today.” Elton John has been with Furnish since 1993.

President Barack Obama said in an interview on CBS's 60 Minutes that his health-care bill will pass this year, and once it does, he will ''own it." Obama said he sees this moment as the best opportunity to solve health-care issues, and that he wouldn't sacrifice the bill for the sake of bipartisanship. He's also skeptical of the cost-saving potential of caps on payouts in malpractice suits. The president warned that he would not repeat the health-care history of 15 years ago: "I think there're some who see this as a replay of 1993-94. You know, young president comes in, proposes health care. It crashes and burns and then the Republicans use that to win back the House in the subsequent election… And I think there are some people who are dusting off that playbook."

Is Afghanistan the new Iran? Last month's Afghan elections were plagued by charges of wide-spread vote rigging, and opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah, the country's former foreign minister, wants President Hamid Karzai criminally investigated for "state-engineered fraud." Abdullah also accused Karzai of treason in an interview with The Times of London. In the elections, Karzai squeaked by with more than 50 percent of the vote, allowing him to avoid a run-off, although a U.N.-backed elections watchdog ordered Afghanistan's Independent Elections Commission to start a recount last week after saying it unearthed "clear and convincing evidence of fraud." The recount could take months, by which time harsh winter conditions in Afghanistan would preclude another election until spring, leaving the country rudderless in the meantime.

The MTV Video Music Awards always have a few memorable moments, and during Sunday’s presentation, it didn’t take long for another celebrity feud to erupt. Kanye West, who has notably freaked out after losing past VMAs, Grammys, and American Music Awards, jumped on stage after Beyoncé lost the Best Female Video award to young country singer Taylor Swift, saying "Taylor, I'm really happy for you, and I'm gonna let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time.” Nineteen-year-old Swift didn’t even finish her speech and quickly followed up with a performance of “You Belong to Me.” Kanye West was booed by the crowd throughout the rest of the show, and after her win for Video of the Year, Beyoncé invited Swift up to the stage to have her moment. A memorable tribute to Michael Jackson headlined the event, with his sister Janet singing their duet “Scream” and a touching speech by Madonna. "Sometimes, we have to lose things before we can truly appreciate them," she said.

Osama bin Laden has resurfaced again, this time in an 11 minute audio tape posted on an Islamist Web site, in which he brands President Obama "a weakened man." The al Qaeda leader purportedly has a message for the public only two days after the eighth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In “A statement to the American people” bin Laden says "The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby.” In the tape, which hasn’t yet been verified, bin Laden allegedly comments on the current government: “If you think about your situation well, you will know that the White House is occupied by pressure groups.” The tape is thought to have been recorded after Obama’s speech in Cairo in June.

An inspiration for mothers everywhere: Kim Clijsters became the first unseeded woman to ever win the U.S. Open on Sunday, beating Caroline Wozniacki 7-5. 6-3. Clijsters retired in 2007, citing injuries and a desire to start a family. “It still seems so surreal," the Belgian tennis star said. "In my third tournament back, I won my second Grand Slam. It wasn't the plan.” She is the first mother since 1980 to win a Grand Slam singles title.

On Friday night, approximately 50 Joe Wilson supporters gathered outside the office of the infamous South Carolina congressman who shouted, "You lie!" at President Obama. Though many in the group do not back Wilson's method, they agreed that illegal immigrants would benefit from Obama's proposed health care reform. One of the residents, Paul Hopper said that Wilson might have had "a breach of protocol, but he spoke for a lot of people." Another, Lori Gates explained, using the President's word of choice, "I'm not saying we don't need a change, I'm not sure that they've found the right solution." Though Friday's gathering was not official, Richard Bolen, chairman of the Lexington County Republican Party, and Bill Connor, a candidate for lieutenant governor, addressed the crowd briefly.

Tragic news coming from Connecticut. Police announced on Sunday that a body was found inside the Yale lab building where missing graduate student Annie Le was last seen. New Haven Assistant Police Chief Peter Reichard says the body, found inside a wall in the building’s basement, has not been identified, but that “We are assuming that it’s her.” The 24-year-old Le last swiped her ID card to enter the lab last Tuesday, but there was no evidence that she had left. Le’s wedding, which was scheduled for Sunday, was canceled.