A high-profile corruption trial in Cleveland is being re-enacted on a local news station using puppets. Cameras are barred from the courtroom so the station has come up with a unique way to show what's been going on in the courtroom. A former county commissioner and seven others face prison terms for a pay-to-play scheme.

President Obama is trying again to revive the nation's housing market. Past efforts have come up short, and this one faces long odds in Congress. On Wednesday, he outlined a program designed to make it easier for homeowners to refinance into cheaper mortgages.

The report by congressional Republicans says ATF agents and supervisors should have realized two targets of their criminal case along the Southwest border had already been under investigation by the DEA and the FBI. It comes the same day the attorney general faces questions on Capitol Hill about the debacle.

Two senators who have taken the lead on legislation aimed to help homeowners refinance are blunt about how concerned they are by the news NPR reported about Freddie Mac's "multibillion-dollar bets against American homeowners being able to refinance."

So why did the nation's largest breast cancer charity cut off funding to Planned Parenthood? The answer depends on whom you ask. Here's a quick Q&A about Tuesday's decision.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney sparked controversy Wednesday when he told CNN that he wasn't "concerned about the very poor." Audie Cornish talks with NPR's Ari Shapiro, who's traveling with Romney in Nevada.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta says U.S. troops hope to begin transitioning from a combat role in Afghanistan to a role that focuses on training Afghan troops instead. The transition could happen sooner than expected — possibly by mid- to late-2013. U.S. troops would still remain in Afghanistan through at least the end of 2014, however. Audie Cornish talks to NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman, who has the latest.