BALTIMORE- Though Saturday began with thermometers dipping down to 1 degree Fahrenheit and the local health department issuing warnings about the dangers of the extreme cold, the frigid temperature didn't keep a crowd of enthusiastic people from warmly welcoming President-elect Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Vice President-elect Joe Biden, and Jill Biden to the city's main plaza, on their final public stop on their symbolic train trip to Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON-News networks didn't know what to cover Thursday at the Capitol: cabinet nominees' Senate hearings, the arrival of Roland Burris to take his seat in the Senate, the farewell speeches of Sens. Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, or the continued congressional squabbling over an economic stimulus package and more bailout funds that will eat up more dollars than it takes to run all federal agencies in a year.

How to convince a majority of 534 lawmakers to release $350 billion for financial bailouts when the last $350 billion has yet to reach taxpayers in the form of credit where they need it? Senate Majority leader Harry Reid says he has the votes to get the cash on its way to the Treasury Department, while Speaker Nancy Pelosi tries to rally support in the House by arguing that President-elect Obama will oversee the billions of spending better than President Bush has. Votes on the legislation could happen as early as Thursday.

WASHINGTON-One former senator from Chicago, Barack Obama, and another soon-to-be-former senator were, among others, on parade Tuesday on Capitol Hill for hearings and policy lunches.

WASHINGTON-Under icy rain outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Roland Burris, 71, declared, "I am the junior senator from Illinois," despite being barred from the Senate chambers minutes earlier. Burris, who Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed last week to fill President-elect Barack Obama's empty Senate seat, said that the secretary of the Senate, Nancy Erickson, told him he did not have the signature of Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White on his credentials, which prevented him from taking the seat.

WASHINGTON-Though the new session of Congress doesn't officially begin until Tuesday, Washington was a-buzz Monday.

The Obamas arrive in D.C.

Sunday night the first-family-to-be stepped off a plane and into their new lives in Washington, D.C., with the Obama girls Sasha and Malia beginning school Monday at Sidwell Friends, a private school in the area.

WASHINGTON-Brushing aside Republican opposition in the House and Senate, President Bush endorsed a $17.4 billion plan Friday to bail out Chrysler and General Motors, with $13.4 billion available now and $4 billion in February. The other Big Three U.S. automaker, Ford, has indicated it can continue without government aid, but the other two are on the precipice of bankruptcy. The plan is designed to be a short-term fix for the industry, as Bush demanded the companies use the coming months to restructure.