The televised health-care summit President Obama will host Thursday is being billed as likely the last chance for the GOP to influence the legislation. The Obama administration said health-care proposals will be published on its website Monday and will likely be a melding of the House and Senate Democrats' versions of the reform legislation. The summit has been hyped as a chance to break through partisan gridlock and listen to Republican ideas. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Saturday that the final Democratic bill will be unveiled Monday evening, and that Democrats will finish up health care within the next 60 days using the budget reconciliation process, a procedure that requires a simple majority vote and would block a potential Republican filibuster. Republicans have decried reconciliation as a partisan move.

The Justice Department ruled Friday that lawyers who authorized CIA interrogators to use waterboarding are not guilty of professional misconduct, but did show “poor judgment,” after an internal investigation into the Bush administration’s counterterrorism policies. Though Obama has abolished the technique, the Justice Department was responsible for deciding if those who previously authorized such tactics would be punished. An initial review had concluded that the two former government lawyers, John Yoo and Jay Bybee, had committed professional misconduct, but the Justice Department’s associate deputy attorney general disagreed after re-examining the case. However, he was quick to note that “This decision should not be viewed as an endorsement of the legal work that underlies those memoranda.”

Are Canadians bitter that despite the $100 million they shelled out to host the Winter Olympics, the U.S. is taking over their home turf? Just eight days into the Games, the U.S. has already won 20 medals, leading second-place Germany by seven. That pace beats the U.S.'s record rate, in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, by nine medals. If Americans win the lead in Vancouver, it would be the first time since the 1932 Winter Games at Lake Placid that the U.S. would be the overall medal leader. On Saturday, Olympic sweetheart Lindsey Vonn won the bronze in the Super-G. Shani Davis, though expected to win the gold in the men's 1,500 meter speedskating, ended up with silver.

NATO has been criticized for killing too many civilians, and military commanders and civilian planners for the Marja surge worry that the toughest challenge lies ahead. Part of the problem is that they were deceived by the two-dimensional images from satellites, which made a bombed-out school appear to be a police station, and another building’s foundation look like a large, rectangular government building. "We're just in the opening act,” a state department official said. The goal is to clear the area and set up a stable government to gain the trust of locals, who will then, Marines hope, have the confidence to offer the names of Taliban fighters. But building that trust will take time. "We don't want you to come here and fight and then leave," a local man told an officer, referring to what British and U.S. forces did twice before.

A bad sign that sectarian tensions could be worsening again in Iraq: The Sunni wing of the country’s main nonsectarian political coalition has withdrawn from next month’s national elections after a Shiite-led panel—with, some say, Iranian backing—banned hundreds of mostly Sunni candidates. The party, the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, is also calling on other parties to back out of the elections. American and U.N. officials have voiced concerns that a disputed election could usher in a new wave of violence in Iraq.

Alexander Haig, the former Secretary of State and longtime advisor to presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan, has died at the age of 85. The four-star general who served in Korea and Vietnam had recently been hospitalized for an infection. In spite of direct involvement with Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal and a penchant for controversial soundbites, Haig was a longtime staple at the White House and even made a bid for the presidency in 1988. “I think of him as a patriot’s patriot,” said his successor George P. Schulz. When President Reagan was nearly assassinated in 1981 and Vice President George H.W. Bush was flying, Gen. Haig quickly asserted his power in front of reporters, saying, "As of now, I am in control here in the White House, pending return of the vice president and in close touch with him," which, to some people, appeared to be overstepping his boundaries.

First Lady Michelle Obama urged governors to take up the fight against childhood obesity at the National Governors Association’s winter meeting. “There's no place for politics when it comes to fighting childhood obesity,” Obama said, “Because with a phone call or the stroke of a pen, you can determine whether a child can see a doctor or get a decent education or have a safe place to play...” The first lady spoke approvingly of several successful state programs, including one in Arkansas, for which she gave former Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee high marks. She praised the creativity in West Virginia of bringing the dance game Dance, Dance Revolution to schools (and noted the president had yet to master the difficult game). Obama stressed that lowering the BMI of the nation’s youth was not only morally right, but financially smart.

American Lindsey Vonn won the bronze medal in the super-G Olympic ski event Saturday, placing behind Austria’s Andrea Fischbacher and Slovenia’s Tina Maze. Vonn had been expected to bring home many medals for the U.S., but suffered a deep bruise on her shin just before the Games began. Vonn was able to clinch the gold in the downhill despite the injury, but wiped out in the super-combined. In Saturday’s event, Vonn says she lost speed in the second half of the race. "Once I got past those difficult sections, I kind of backed off the gas pedal," she said. "I felt like I just didn't ski as aggressively as I could have, and I think that's where I lost the race." Vonn has two events left to compete: the slalom and the giant slalom.

The family of Vernon Hunter, a 68-year-old longtime IRS worker, has identified his body. Hunter was killed when software engineer Joe Stack flew his airplane into an Austin building containing IRS offices. Hunter’s son Ken said he feared the worst when his father did not respond to phone calls within an hour after the incident. Thirteen other people were injured in the crash, believed to be motivated by Stack’s troubles with an IRS audit.

Hope Tiger has a few more "I'm sorrys" in his pocket: His mistresses are demanding apologies, too. “He didn't mention anything about the girls [he had trysts with]," said Sicilian-born Playboy model Loredana Jolie Ferriolo, Tiger’s supposed mistress No. 10. Porn star Joslyn James—who claims to have twice been pregnant with Tiger’s child— said “I didn’t deserve this” and “He's so selfish. It's not about anybody but him." Earlier this week, Jaimee Grubbs demanded an apology as well.

Credit card companies are going to lose out on $12 billion a year thanks to a law that goes into effect Monday, but they’re already figuring out ways to make that money back—measures that could cost the average consumer even more. The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act, passed in May, requires cardholders to be notified of how long it would take to pay off their balance if they pay just the minimum each month, prevents them from going over their limit without a previous agreement to pay a penalty, and allows interest-rate increases on new purchases only. Banks are grumbling about the new rules, which come as many are still trying to rehabilitate their balance sheets in the wake of the financial crisis. To compensate, credit card companies will be raising annual rates and adding new fees. Citigroup, for example, now offers a card with a 10 percent interest rate—which spikes to 29 percent if the cardholder doesn’t pay on time.

After a rough two weeks swatting down rumors about a potentially career-ending New York Times profile, Governor David Paterson is steering the focus back towards his career. During an appearance at Hofstra University today, Paterson said "After all you have heard, there's one rumor I will confirm: I am running for governor this year,” …"They haven't knocked us down yet, and they never will." The announcement was his first official bid in the New York governor’s race, and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is expected to battle him in the primary race. Former Long Island congressman Rick Lazio has also declared his intention to run on the Republican ticket.

A bad day in news from Afghanistan: President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that NATO was killing too many Afghan civilians, and the Dutch government collapsed over whether to extend the country’s 1,600-troop commitment. In an impassioned speech, Karzai held up a picture of an 8-year-old girl who he said was the only one left to search for the bodies of her 12 relatives after a NATO rocket struck their home during the Marja offensive. The civilian death toll from the operation is at least 16. Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said the second-largest party has quit his governing coalition after insisting that the Netherlands stick to its withdrawal timeline in southern Afghanistan. He made no mention of elections.

Despite his personal woes, Roman Polanski is having a professional comeback. The controversial Polanski was named best director for his political thriller The Ghost Writer at the Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday. Polanski is currently under house arrest in Switzerland for charges related to having sex with a minor. Producers Robert Benmussa and Alain Sarde, who won the Golden Bear for best picture, accepted the award on Polanski's behalf. "As I told Roman how sorry I was that he could not be here, he said he probably would not have come anyway. 'The last time I went to a film festival I ended up in jail,' he told me," Sarde said.

Amy Bishop, the University of Alabama Huntsville neuroscientist charged with the killing of three colleagues in a shooting spree, may not remember her own horrific crime. “She just doesn’t remember shooting these folks,” said Bishop’s lawyer Roy W. Miller. “She’s very sorry for what she’s done.” Miller is expected to file an insanity plea for his client, and has to engage at least one psychiatrist to work with Bishop. “This is not a whodunit,” Miller said. “This lady has committed this offense or offenses in front of the world. It gets to be a question in my mind of her mental capacity at the time, or her mental state at the time that these acts were committed.” Authorities are also looking into prior incidents of memory loss in Bishop and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick ordered a review of the investigation surrounding the shooting of Bishop’s brother in 1986, which was ruled an accidental death.

Millions of protestors were expected to turn out, but government threats and crackdowns successfully quelled a massive protest on the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution, leaving Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s detractors demoralized and frightened. "We ended up with a couple thousand people running from the security forces," said one demonstrator. "Our movement needs new tactics, but I have no idea what we should do." Threats of violence from Ahmadinejad’s government amounted to what opposition leaders called “complete militarization” which they believe caused the “dominance of an atmosphere of terror and fear in different parts of the country.” Many Iranians view their president as tyrannical but see few options, and one student said, “We have a very simple demand: freedom. But I don’t see how we can get it.”

In the aftermath of last month’s massive earthquake, Haiti is facing a mounting new crisis: poor sanitation. With thousands of citizens living in tent cities in destroyed Port-au-Prince, sewage is rapidly accumulating and causing officials to warn of possible disease outbreaks, such as cholera. “We’re witnessing the setup for the spread of severe diarrheal illnesses in a place where the health system has collapsed and without a functioning sewage system to begin with,” said a medical officer working in the area. Considered by some to be Port-au-Prince’s biggest health threat, one aid group distributed over 10,000 latrines (“a drop in the ocean of what’s needed,” according to a Red Cross spokeswoman), and Brazilian NGO Viva Rio has launched a project to turn the waste into bio-gas to be used as fuel. “This crisis can trigger innovation for Haiti, allowing us to move beyond the desperation you see now,” said the project’s director.

Conan O’Brien isn’t allowed to make TV appearances for the next few months thanks to his settlement with NBC, but the former Tonight Show host might do the next best thing: launch a live tour of the U.S. or even Europe, according to insiders. Spokespeople for the comedian have refused to comment, but sources say that O’Brien is seriously considering the option at the same time as he is rumored to be preparing for a new talk show. Fox has been most vocal in its interest in O’Brien since he was ousted from Johnny Carson’s old spot hosting The Tonight Show, which will be reclaimed by Jay Leno this month.

After walking away with the silver medal at Friday’s Super-G, Bode Miller is full of sound bites on his fellow U.S. skiers, who have already racked up their highest number of alpine medals at any single Winter Olympics. Asked to explain the team’s winning streak, Miller joked, “aside from the fact that we’re just much better than anybody else…” With this latest medal, Miller is now the first-ever U.S. skier to earn four Olympic medals over the course of the career and said, “All the big events, I’ve always done well in—when I decide that’s what I want to do.” Also in the spotlight is Miller’s teammate Lindsey Vonn, who won a gold medal in downhill. “It was ‘The Lindsey Vonn Show’ coming in, and now it’s turned into “The U.S. Ski Team Show’—and it’s really cool,” said teammate Marco Sullivan.

The big news Friday was that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he was open to adding a public option to health-care reform through reconciliation—a measure 18 senators have signed a letter to support. So the public option’s back from dead, right? Maybe not, says Ezra Klein: “I’ve spoken to a lot of offices about this now, and all of them are ambivalent privately, even if they're supportive publicly. … No one I've spoken to—even when they support the public option—thinks that its reemergence is good news for health-care reform. It won't be present in the package that the White House will unveil Monday. Everyone seems to be hoping this bubble will be short-lived.”

So maybe Rahm doesn't have the dirtiest mouth in the White House, after all. “I’ve been invited to the White House a couple of times,” Jay-Z tells MTV. The Brooklyn-born rapper campaigned for Obama and recorded a verse on Young Jeezy’s track "My President." “Hopefully we’ll keep him in for eight years, so I’ll have time to get there.” The admiration is mutual, and the president has often mentioned his fondness for Jay’s music. “Barack loves hip-hop,” said Jay. “When I called him he was playing '[The] Blueprint' in the gym.”

Take a back seat, Michele Bachmann and Glenn Beck: The biggest star of CPAC so far has been Texas Congressman Ron Paul. Paul was the first speaker to fill the convention hall Friday night with 1,100 people—and some supporters were turned away. “Sounds to me like the revolution is alive and well,” Paul said after taking the stage to Queen’s “We Will Rock You.” Paul warned about the national debt and called for less foreign entanglements in U.S. foreign policy. Politico says “The crowd was louder and more raucous in their support for Paul than they had been for most of the other speakers combined.”