NBC-Marist polls: Obama, Romney deadlocked in three key states  —  President Obama phones Mitt Romney to congratulate him for locking up the GOP nomination.  NBC's Steve Handelsman reports.  —  President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney are deadlocked …

Bloomberg Plans a Ban on Large Sugared Drinks  —  New York City plans to enact a far-reaching ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts, in the most ambitious effort yet by the Bloomberg administration to combat rising obesity.

Warren says she told schools of heritage  —  Acknowledges identifying as Native American after hirings  —  Governor Deval Patrick (right) endorsed Elizabeth Warren's Senate candidacy at a campaign event on Wednesday.  (Yoon S. Byun / Globe Staff)  —  Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth …

Obama team bashes Romney record as governor  —  President Obama's re-election team kicks off its campaign against Mitt Romney's term as governor of Massachusetts today with a new video and anti-Romney testimony from state Democrats.  —  The four-minute film notes that Romney raised state fees …

Video: Fox's “Four years of hope and change”; Update: “Not authorized at the senior executive level of the network”  —  Considering the source.  —  I don't disagree with much, if anything, in this video presented earlier today on Fox & Friends.  Neither, I suspect, will many of our readers.

Wisconsin Unions See Ranks Drop Ahead of Recall Vote  —  Public-employee unions in Wisconsin have experienced a dramatic drop in membership—by more than half for the second-biggest union—since a law championed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker sharply curtailed their ability to bargain over wages and working conditions.

Republican Foreign Policy Establishment Slow to Embrace Romney  —  Henry A. Kissinger gave his endorsement to John McCain more than a year and a half before the last presidential election, explaining in April 2007 that Mr. McCain's “record, character, and belief that America's best days lie ahead” …

National Income and Product Accounts Gross Domestic Product, 1st quarter 2012 (second estimate); Corporate Profits, 1st quarter 2012 (preliminary estimate)  —  Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States …

Buddy Roemer quits 2012 race  —  Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer announced in a statement this morning that his quixotic independent campaign for president has come to an end.  —  After failing to get access to the GOP primary debates last year, Roemer had decided to run as an independent …

Morning Jay: It Was Never Bill Clinton's Party  —  Yesterday, we got word that Artur Davis, the former Democratic representative from Alabama's majority-black Seventh Congressional District and failed 2010 gubernatorial candidate, jumped from the Democratic party to the Republican party.

BREAKING: Walmart Ends Financial Support For ALEC  —  The world's largest retailer, Walmart, has become the nineteenth group to leave the American Legislative Exchange Council.  Walmart's departure from the right-wing legislation-crafting group is particularly salient because the big box chain …

In Milwaukee Post, Cardinal Authorized Paying Abusers  —  Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York authorized payments of as much as $20,000 to sexually abusive priests as an incentive for them to agree to dismissal from the priesthood when he was the archbishop of Milwaukee.

Porn actor suspected of dismembering acquaintance still on the loose  —  (CNN) — The search continued Thursday for a gay porn actor suspected of dismembering his acquaintance, posting the video of the incident online and mailing the severed limbs to different locations in Ottawa …

Congress flummoxed by can't-miss bills  —  The wish list seemed too simple to screw up.  —  President Barack Obama asked Congress to pass bills to keep student loan interest rates from doubling, prevent domestic abuse and fund the nation's highway system.  —  But never underestimate Congress's ability to fumble a can't-miss play.

Report: Chavez's cancer has ‘entered the end stage’  —  A special report from Dan Rather, anchor and managing editor of HDNet's Dan Rather Report  —  This reporter has been told that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive cancer that has “entered the end stage”.

On Edwards Jury's Eighth Day, Alternates Are Sent Home  —  GREENSBORO, N.C. — After more than 45 hours of jury deliberations over eight days, there is still no verdict on whether former Senator John Edwards is guilty of violating federal campaign laws.  —  But some moments in the courtroom …