Arwa Gunja

Recent college students are defaulting on their student loans in growing numbers. If default rates get bad enough, it can threaten federal funding for their alma maters. But a group of historically black colleges in Texas may have found a way to slow the default problem by counseling students about their financial responsibilities.

Yesterday, President Obama made one last-ditch attempt to push for health care overhaul. After a year of debate, the president said it was time for the Senate to cast an "up or down vote" on the final version of the bill. Still, many Republicans — and even some Democrats — do not support the proposal. The push comes just a week after the president's heath care summit at the White House, and after he said he would be open to four republican ideas gleaned from that discussion.

Texans headed to the polls in large numbers yesterday to vote in the primary election for gubernatorial candidates. The Republican race was particularly heated, as incumbent Rick Perry faced challenger Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. After a close race, Sen. Hutchison conceded the election. For the Democrats, former Houston Mayor Bill White won the nomination.

It's been four days since an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile and since then, the country's military and police force have been tested in some of the hardest hit areas, where there have been reports of curfews, looting, and vigilantes protecting their threatened property. At the same time aid has been arriving from around the world, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arriving in the capital yesterday.

In a high-profile Republican primary contest for governor, incumbent Rick Perry is being challenged by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Texans generally tends not to favor the incumbent, but in this race, Governor Perry has flipped the script and convinced some voters that his anti-Washington attitude differentiates him from Sen. Hutchison.

Without enough votes in the Senate to revote on a modified bill and pass health care reform, the Democratic Party may resort to using a 1974 budgetary law known as reconciliation. The process protects the bill from filibusters that require a 60-vote majority to end debate, and would instead allow the bill to pass by a simple majority.

This week, the Supreme Court will hear three very different cases; from corporate trials, to gun control laws, to international torture laws. New York Times Supreme Court correspondent Adam Liptak previews each case.

After long hours of spirited debate, President Obama and Congressional lawmakers failed to reach any substantive compromises on health care legislation. Republicans were clearly frustrated with the president's proposals and repeatedly suggested scrapping the legislation and starting over again. Democrats insisted that was not an option because too much progress has already been made.

Under ordinary circumstances, it can be hard to get young people engaged in politics. But when the political system seems broken, does the job become even harder? For the fourth installment in our series, "Frustration Nation," we turn to a high school civics teacher and two students to hear how the turmoil in Washington plays out in the classroom.

Yesterday, we spoke with media experts about the role of news in politics and its impact on the gridlock in Washington, D.C.  We received many comments from listeners who believe strongly that the media are responsible for much of the political divisiveness in the country today.

From television, to talk radio, to the newsstands, Americans are inundated with news about the sorry state of politics. But are the media merely covering the story of D.C.'s gridlock, or are they creating it? For the second installment of our series, "Frustration Nation," we examine the role of the media and its impact on the political divisiveness in America and Washington, D.C., today.

A new CNN poll finds that 86 percent of Americans think that government is broken. This week, we kick off a series called "Frustration Nation," where we examine the gridlock in the capital and how politics has come to be so divisive in America. For the first installment, we put today's situation in a historical context.

With the fighting this week in Marjah, Afghanistan, the military focus has narrowed towards pushing out the Taliban and implementing a functioning government in the region. But after more than eight years of war in Afghanistan, how well does the U.S. understand the Taliban?

It's been one week since NATO and Afghan forces began their offensive in Marjah, Afghanistan. In that time, much of the Taliban has fled the region and key leaders have been caught. But will controlling the city help defeat the Taliban in the long run? 

With the recent announcement that the administration may repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," there has been much talk about issues of equality when it comes to the military. But another another group is also struggling for equal military opportunities: women. The current policy held by the Department of Defense does not allow women in ground units where they might engage in direct combat.

More women serve in America's armed services than in most other nations. Yet 30 percent of female veterans report being sexually assaulted or raped while serving, according to a 2003 survey funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. This month, Congress is hearing testimony from service members who say they were sexually attacked.

For show dogs, it all came down to last night's results. After weeks of grooming, pampering and prepping, the officials at the Westminster Dog Show declared Sadie, a four-year-old Scottish Terrier, the "Best in Show."

Over the last few weeks, Toyota has been criticized for poorly handling the media and its public relations campaign. In response, Toyota's President Akio Toyoda held a press conference in Tokyo this morning to answer questions. But is Toyota allaying consumer concerns?

UPDATED: 8:35 p.m. 

Alex Goldmark here on the holiday night shift. 

Tomorrow we'll continue our ongoing effort to understand as many ripple effects of the Haitian earthquake as possible. We will hear from two doctors, one of them Haitian-American, about the strains and stresses on the medical community and the medical workers administering necessary care in the battered country. 

On an uplifting note, it is Mardi Gras time. We'll get Grammy award winning musician Terence Blanchard to tell us about his favorite carnival time music. Good listening will abound. 

According to the Department of Homeland Security, the number of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. has declined by one million since 2008, with states like California, Florida, Arizona, New York and New Jersey seeing the largest drops. The economic recession has made it difficult for many undocumented immigrants to find work and make enough money to send to their families in their country of origin.