• Actor and comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Coffee With Carlos

• Detroit, saddled with more than $18 billion in debt, became the biggest U.S. city in history to file for bankruptcy on Thursday. “This is a difficult step, but the only viable option to address a problem that has been six decades in the making,” Michigan governor Rick Snyder said.

• More than three years after signing a massive health care system reform into law, President Barack Obama on Thursday worked to sell the legislation’s benefits to an American public still largely skeptical about the overhaul.

• Lawmakers kept bickering Thursday over the origin of the IRS targeting of Tea Party groups applying for tax-exempt status, as Republicans sought to refocus public outrage toward a controversy that has diminished in recent weeks.

• Protesters who set up camp in the Florida Capitol building earlier this week finally got to meet with Gov. Rick Scott late Thursday, and they urged him to push for the repeal of Florida’s “stand-your-ground” law. Scott ultimately said the law will remain.

• Most residents have evacuated Idyllwild, CA as the massive Mountain fire roars in rugged terrain south of Palm Springs; six homes are lost in the early stages.