Politics & Government

President Obama heads to the 200-acre California estate on Friday for a meeting with the Chinese president. He'll be the eighth president to visit the former winter home of Walter and Leonore Annenberg. It has also entertained the likes of Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart and Frank Sinatra.

The goal of the meeting between President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping is for the leaders of the world's largest economies to find common ground and build trust. But the summit threatens to be overshadowed by revelations about secret NSA surveillance programs.

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board is tasked with making sure that secret government surveillance programs aren't abused. It was created in 2004, but still doesn't even have a website or email.

Sen. John McCain, just back from a quick foray to rebel-held territory in Syria, is pushing the Obama administration to do more to help rebels topple Bashar Assad's regime. His call comes as rebels lose ground in their fight, and as skepticism rises about the U.S.-Russian plans for a peace conference.

With its upcoming decisions on same-sex marriage, the U.S. Supreme Court faces the same question that Margaret Marshall faced a decade ago as Massachusetts' chief justice. Marshall says she had little idea that the decision she wrote legalizing gay marriage would be groundbreaking.

President Obama has named a former journalist and activist to represent him at the United Nations. If confirmed, Samantha Power will replace Ambassador Susan Rice, who is returning to the White House to become national security adviser. Power's supporters see her as a voice of conscience in the Obama administration, an advocate for humanitarian interventions.

President Obama has selected U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to be his next National Security Adviser. She'll take over from Tom Donilon, who has played a critical role in developing the White House's relationship with China. The president is also nominating former aide Samantha Power to fill Rice's position at the U.N.

The attorney general heads to the Senate on Thursday, where lawmakers are sure to demand answers. But being in the center of the storm is nothing new for Holder. Over four years in office, he has been a lightning rod for the president's fiercest critics.

The popular comedian Marc Maron, who works out of his garage in California, faces off with a patent holder who claims to have invented podcasting.