The State Department blasted CNN this weekend for reporting on the personal journal of slain American ambassador Christopher Stevens.

A State Department spokesman said the news channel wrote an online posting about Stevens' journal after family members to the ambassador objected.

"The journal was found on the floor of the largely unsecured consulate compound where he was fatally wounded," CNN posting said. "A source familiar with Stevens' thinking told CNN earlier this week that, in the months leading up to his death, the late ambassador worried about what he called the security threats in Benghazi and a rise in Islamic extremism."

State Department spokesman Philippe Reines, a senior adviser to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, said CNN broke a pledge to the family that it wouldn't report on the journal and he called the story "indefensible."

From AP: In a statement Saturday, CNN defended its use of the journal's contents and asked "why is the State Department now attacking the messenger."

"CNN did not initially report on the existence of a journal out of respect for the family, but we felt there were issues raised in the journal which required full reporting, which we did," the channel said.

Sen. Marco Rubio tweets a tough American Airlines flight

He was a Republican vice presidential nominee short-lister, a prime speaker at the Republican National Convention, a Daily Show guest and is a rising star in conservative politics. But airlines are the great equalizer in America, as Marco Rubio found out.

Storified by Craig Newman · Fri, Sep 21 2012 18:39:02

SPRINGFIELD-Gov. Pat Quinn is the most globetrotting Illinois governor since at least Jim Thompson.

Rod Blagojevich never went outside the country in his capacity as governor. George Ryan made his celebrated trips to Cuba twice and also to South Africa. And, Jim Edgar went to China, Mexico, the Middle East, India and Europe during his two terms in office.

But in leaving on a trade mission for Brazil this Sunday, Quinn is setting a standard for going abroad.

Since July 2011, the governor has gone on separate trips to Israel, China, Japan, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Spain and now Brazil, mostly to talk business, though the Germany trip last Christmas involved visits to U.S. troops from Illinois.

"He's the exporter in chief of Illinois and a key part of his strategy is to promote Illinois around the world," spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said. "The governor's efforts have resulted in more tourism and exports for Illinois."

Here's the full list of those accompanying Quinn to Brazil:

Ann Romney campaigns in Leesburg, Va., earlier in September. | AP

Political news site Politico is reporting that Ann Romney, the wife of Republican nominee for president Mitt Romney, is safe after her plane made an emergency landing in Colorado.

Details are developing, but there were reports of smoke in the cabin, forcing the plane to land. there were no injuries to Ann Romney or any other passengers, according to Politico.

Romney campaign press secretary Andrea Saul tweeted details as the incident unfolded:

.@anndromney plane makes emergency landing in CO. All okay. Thank goodness.

— Andrea Saul (@andreamsaul) September 21, 2012

PIC: fireman rush plane after @anndromney emergency landing twitter.com/andreamsaul/st...

— Andrea Saul (@andreamsaul) September 21, 2012

The cause, according to Saul, was an electrical fire.

Ann Romney was traveling from Nebraska to Los Angeles for a campaign event when the plane was forced to land.

Here the cabin communications from the pilot:

The shrunken and revamped Taste of Chicago will return for another five day engagement in 2013-- complete with a $25 fee for concert seats at the Petrillo bandshell and $40 sit-down meals prepared by a celebrity "chef-du-jour."

No doubt prepping Americans to brace themselves, the Romney campaign released a statement from former IRS commissioner Fred Goldberg on Romney's tax returns, referencing "complexity of our tax laws," saying there was "no indication" that the Romneys took part in "any tax-motivated or aggressive tax planning activities."

The release of the tax returns came on the same week of what is now a famous "47 percent" video, in which Romney is heard in a secretly recorded address to wealthy donors referencing half of Americans, saying they portray themselves as victims and do not pay income taxes.

"I have reviewed Governor and Mrs. Romney's joint tax return for 2011, including returns for the Ann and Mitt Romney Family Trust, the Ann D. Romney Blind Trust, and the W. Mitt Romney Blind Trust. My reaction following this review is the same as my reaction after reviewing the 2010 returns. As I said then:

"These returns reflect the complexity of our tax laws and the types of investment activity that I would anticipate for persons in their circumstances. There is no indication or suggestion of any tax-motivated or aggressive tax planning activities." In my judgment, they have fully satisfied their responsibilities as taxpayers. They have done so by relying on a highly reputable return preparer and other advisors, who have in turn relied primarily on information provided by third parties to them and to the IRS. The end result of that process has been returns that include a multitude of schedules, IRS forms and accompanying statements that provide appropriate transparency and the proper payment of taxes that Governor and Mrs. Romney owe under current law.

After suffering through a rough week, highlighted by a leaked video calling half of Americans freeloaders, GOP presidential candidate will make public his 2011 income tax returns, according to a report by Politico.

Politico reports that the returns will be made public 3 p.m. (Eastern)

SPRINGFIELD--After deep-sixing a casino expansion package in August, Gov. Pat Quinn Thursday raised the prospects of another gambling deal taking flight during a lame-duck legislative session in January that could include a Chicago casino and infuse schools with a windfall of new dollars.

"I really feel we will address this issue and hopefully resolve it by the 9th of January, which is the deadline for this session of the General Assembly. I'm very hopeful of that," Quinn told reporters when asked about resurrecting a Chicago casino.

The governor, who vetoed a gambling package sent to him last spring, reiterated his demand that there be specific dollars set aside from any casino expansion package for schools across the state.

"When I vetoed the legislation before, it did not have dedicated, earmarked money for education. I think that's absolutely required, imperative, if we're going to do this. I feel if that's addressed, that certainly will go along way toward getting the job done," the governor said after an event at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago.

Quinn also renewed his push for a prohibition on campaign contributions from gambling interests, an ethics initiative he said that Mayor Rahm Emanuel has told him "privately" that he agrees with.

For years, speculating on gambling packages is one of the great parlor games in Springfield, though the past two years the General Assembly has gone farther toward expansion than at any point since riverboat casinos were authorized more than two decades ago.

Twice, the House and Senate passed big expansion packages, only to run into a Quinn buzzsaw. The first time, in 2011, the Senate refused to relinquish a bill that passed because of the governor's threatened veto. The second time, this year, Quinn vetoed it.

A lame-duck session potentially starting as early as Jan. 2 also is when Quinn and the Democratic leaders are contemplating passage of a pension-rollback package that stalled last May and again failed to materialize during a one-day August special legislative session that Quinn ordered.

Unlike former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Gov. Pat Quinn has used his powers of executive clemency aggressively, denting the backlog of mercy petitions by granting pardons to 711 criminals.

Ald. Proco Joe Moreno's efforts to repel the "hipster alderman" label took a hit Thursday when Wicker Park came in at No. 4 on a list of the nation's "hippest hipster neighborhoods."