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NEW YORK (AP) -- President Barack Obama got his first look Thursday at the devastation that Superstorm Sandy waged on New York City, with a helicopter tour above flood-ravaged and burned-out sections of Queens and Staten Island. Two and a half weeks after the massive East Coast storm displaced New Yorkers, thousands of whom remain without power, Obama took an aerial tour that included Breezy Point, a waterfront community in Queens where roughly 100 homes were burned in a massive fire.

(Reuters) - In his first public remarks since resigning as CIA director last Friday over an extramarital affair, retired General David Petraeus said he did not share any classified documents with his mistress and biographer, Paula Broadwell. Petraeus also told a reporter for the HLN television network that it was the affair, not any questions over the CIA's role during the September 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that prompted him to step down.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) confirmed Thursday that she will seek the chairmanship of the Senate Budget Committee next year but told The Hill that she cannot commit to doing a budget. This opens up the possibility that Senate Democrats will avoiding passing a budget resolution for the fourth year in a row. The last time the Senate passed a standalone budget resolution was in 2009. This past year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said a budget was not necessary because the top-line spending number for appropriations was set in the August 2011 debt-ceiling deal. Murray said that an agreement...

The Department of Labor has announced that new jobless claims rose by a staggering 78,000 in the first week after the election, reaching a seasonally-adjusted total of 439,000. Over the past year, and in the weeks leading up to the election, jobless claims were said to be declining, dipping as low as 339,000, with the media proclaiming that they had reached the "lowest level in more than four years." Now, suddenly, the news seems far less rosy. From the Department of Labor press release this morning: In the week ending November 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims...

At a Thursday press conference in Bangkok, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he's unaware of any more top military brass involved in the web of scandal uncovered by the investigation into Gen. David Petraeus's affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, the Associated Press reports. The clarification comes now that the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, has been sucked into the controversy after the discovery of potentially flirtatious emails with Tampa, Fla., socialite Jill Kelley.

Two public school teachers are facing investigations for posting messages that some perceived as critical of President Obama on social networking sites. In Rock Hill, SC, a middle school teacher was placed on leave after she posted a message on her personal Facebook page about President Obama and food stamps. “Congrats Obama,” she allegedly wrote. “As one of my students sang down the hallway, ‘We get to keep our food stamps’ … which I pay for because they can’t budget their money … and really, neither can you.” A school spokesperson said they had received several calls complaining about the...

Former CIA Director David Petraeus has agreed to testify at a closed-door session of Congress to answer questions about September's terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya, but he will likely also be asked about new revelations that his alleged mistress Paula Broadwell is suspected of storing classified military material, at her home. Petraeus had been reluctant to testify following his resignation as CIA chief, but pressure had been growing in Congress for him to appear. "Gen. Petraeus is willing to come before the committee and the details are being worked out," Sen. Diane Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate...

(Reuters) - A computer used by Paula Broadwell, the woman whose affair with CIA Director David Petraeus led to his resignation, contained substantial classified information that should have been stored under more secure conditions, law enforcement and national security officials said on Wednesday. The contents and amount of the classified material - and questions about how Broadwell got it - are significant enough to warrant a continuing investigation, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to comment publicly.

The war of words over Benghazi escalated Wednesday when President Obama told his critics to "go after me" rather than Ambassador Susan Rice. Those critics then said they would do exactly that. "Mr. President, don't think for one minute I don't hold you ultimately responsible for Benghazi. I think you failed as Commander in Chief before, during, and after the attack," said Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican. The exchange came after Mr. Graham and Sen. John McCain said they would try to block Ms. Rice if Mr. Obama tapped her to become secretary of state. They said she hasn't done...

At today's press conference, President Barack Obama made a second term pledge: "I hope and intend to be an even better president in the second term than I was in the first," said the president.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama says he wants to begin a national "conversation" on climate change. At a news conference Wednesday, Obama said his administration has taken steps to combat global warming, such as sharply increasing fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks.

President Barack Obama revealed at his press conference this afternoon that he is responsible for sending U.N. ambassador Susan Rice to speak to the American people a few days after the September 11 Benghazi terror attack. "As I said before, she made an appearance at the request of the White House in which she gave her best understanding of the intelligence that had been provided to her," Obama said at the press conference, defending the statements the ambassador to the U.N. made regarding the Benghazi attack. Rice has been widely criticized for giving misleading statements about Benghazi. She maintained that...

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday said his re-election gives him a mandate to help the American middle class, but he does not presume his opponents agree with all of his ideas.

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday pushed for his proposal to have the wealthy pay more in taxes as a way to tame the federal deficit, taking a hard line in his opening bid before he begins fiscal talks with U.S. lawmakers later in the week. "We should not hold the middle class hostage while we debate tax cuts for the wealthy," Obama said in his first press conference since winning re-election on November 6.

With the election over, President Barack Obama lavished praise on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at today's press briefing: "There are certain aspects of Governor Romney's record and his ideas that I think could be very helpful," said Obama. "Well, and to give you one example, I do think he did a terrific job running the Olympics."

Russian president Vladimir Putin claims President Barack Obama is planning to visit Russia, the outlet RIA Novosti reports. "US President Barack Obama has confirmed plans to visit Russia at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the Russian president’s spokesman said on Tuesday," the Russian outlet reports. "Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Obama made the statement when Putin called a second time to congratulate the US president on his reelection."

On Sept. 12, 2001, President George W. Bush assured us: “We will not allow this enemy to win the war by changing our way of life or restricting our freedoms.” The enemy has certainly tried, but it was President Bush, following the advice of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, who began the extensive attack on our individual liberties through the Patriot Act, which passed on Oct. 26, 2001. Then, President Barack Obama went far beyond his predecessor’s administration to become the most destructive uprooter of our Constitution in our nation’s history. Growing up as a student at Boston Latin School,...

Mr. President, please sign an executive order such that each American citizen who signed a petition from any state to secede from the USA shall have their citizenship stripped and be peacefully deported.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The itinerary for President Obama's trip to New York City Thursday includes a visit to Hurricane Sandy-ravaged Staten Island, the Advance has learned. A government official confirmed that President Obama will make a stop on Staten Island, home to more than half of the city's Hurricane Sandy-related deaths. Obama's itinerary is not official, and is subject to change. The official said Obama's Staten Island plans will include a stop at Miller Field in New Dorp. No other details were available, and it's not known if he will also visit storm-ravaged neighborhoods in the borough.

ATLANTA (AP) -- The UPS Foundation says it will no longer give grants to the Boy Scouts of America as long as the group excludes gays and lesbians from being scouts or scout leaders. The philanthropic arm of the Atlanta-based shipping giant made the change Thursday after an online petition protesting the foundation's annual grants to the Boy Scouts attracted more than 80,000 signatures.