Gay rights protesters interrupt Obama speech at fundraiser  —  Gay rights protesters interrupted President Barack Obama's speech at a fundraiser for California Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) Monday night in Los Angeles.  —  Activists from a group called GetEQUAL began shouting at Obama while he was speaking at the podium.

Goldman Sachs taps ex-W.H. counsel  —  Goldman Sachs is launching an aggressive response to its political and legal challenges with an unlikely ally at its side — President Barack Obama's former White House counsel, Gregory Craig.  —  The beleaguered Wall Street bank hired Craig …

Head Lock  —  The inside story of how Goldman and the banks are getting clobbered on financial reform.  —  Some two dozen executives from large corporations will be descending on Capitol Hill today to make the case against over-regulating derivatives.  The “fly-in” is being organized in part …

A Letter: Apple Wants Its Secret iPhone Back  —  Well, how can I explain this?  I got some interesting calls today.  It was Apple.  And they wanted their phone back.  —  This phone was lost, and then found.  But from Apple's perspective, it could have been considered stolen.

Crist: 'I'm Staying in This Race' — By: Robert Costa  —  In an exclusive interview, Gov. Charlie Crist (R., Fla.) tells National Review Online that “damn right, I'm staying in this race.”  He tells us that he will not run as a Democrat.  “I was never going to do that.”

FDA plans to limit amount of salt allowed in processed foods for health reasons  —  The Food and Drug Administration is planning an unprecedented effort to gradually reduce the salt consumed each day by Americans, saying that less sodium in everything from soup to nuts would prevent thousands …

Energy debate grows divisive  —  Centrist Democratic senators are wrestling with liberal colleagues over whether to vote on an energy reform bill if it does not include measures to address global warming.  —  A group of Democratic senators led by Sen. Byron Dorgan (N.D.) …

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel: Rahm eyes City Hall in post-Daley era  —  WASHINGTON — White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, who in January tried to quash stories about a future Chicago mayoral bid, on Monday put his interest in City Hall on the record: “One day I would like to run for mayor of the city of Chicago.”

Dorothy I. Height, founding matriarch of civil rights movement, dies at 98  —  Dorothy I. Height, 98, a founding matriarch of the American civil rights movement whose crusade for racial justice and gender equality spanned more than six decades, died early Tuesday morning of natural causes …

GOP Split Over How to Win in Fall  —  WASHINGTON—Sen. John Cornyn, who is spearheading the Republicans' campaign to take back the Senate, is on a roll.  The GOP snatched a seat in Massachusetts and polls favor Republicans in many key states.  —  But the genial Texas lawyer is facing an unusual challenge …

What's behind the anti-Tea Party hate narrative?  —  There's a new narrative taking hold in the wake of the recent Tea Party protests and the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing: The Tea Partiers' intense opposition to the Obama administration has led to overheated political rhetoric …

Burns leads Critz 44-41  —  Buoyed by an electorate that is exceptionally sour on national Democrats, Republican Tim Burns has a 44-41 lead over Democrat Mark Critz in the special election to replace John Murtha in the House.  —  It's a rare election these days where both candidates are viewed pretty favorably in the district.

Free Speech Denied In Miami  —  In an outrageous denial of free speech rights, Miami-Dade Transit last week forced the removal of a “Leaving Islam” ad campaign on Miami buses because the ads might be “offensive to Islam.”  —  The Freedom Defense Initiative, the new organization I have begun …

Dem to Obama: Push immigration or I'll tell Latino voters to stay home  —  A congressman from the president's home state is threatening that he will urge Latino voters to stay home this November if the Democratic Party does not make a concerted effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

The costs of crossing the president  —  Will the White House punish Democrats who defected on the monumental health care overhaul?  —  “There is not a whole lot of [President] Barack Obama and [Vice President] Joe Biden to spare on a good day,” one senior White House official told POLITICO.