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 Good morning! Here's what you need to know: 1. The FT reports: "Moody’s Investors Service, the credit rating agency, warned of a “very small but rising risk” that the US could default on its debt, adding pressure on Congress and the Obama administration to overcome severe political divisions and strike a deal on fiscal policy. The report from Moody’s follows a move in April by Standard & Poor’s to change the outlook on America’s vaunted triple-A credit score from “stable” to “negative” because of the lack of a political consensus on deficit reduction." 2. The Wall Street Journal reports: "Moody's Investors Service said it may downgrade credit ratings of some of the biggest U.S. banks, as it reconsiders the likelihood that they will be supported by the government in times of trouble." The banks in question are Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citi. 3. Walter Mead reports: "Today some 86 million Americans live in homes that are ‘under water;’ where the amount owed on the mortgage is greater than the value of the house. Since the financial crisis began in 2008, over one million consumer mortgages have gone into foreclosure. Sales of bank-owned properties are now 34.5 percent of the housing market; homes in foreclosure waiting for resale now account for a three years-supply on the sluggish housing market." 4. The Department of Labor's jobs report will be updated today at 8:30am. Joe Weisenthal points to five things to look for in the data. 5. Mitt Romney launched his presidential campaign yesterday in New Hampshire, saying that President Obama had "failed" America and that he would focus his campaign almost entirely on economic growth and job creation. Dan Balz has a balanced assessment of Mr. Romney's political challenge. We outline six reasons he might win. 6. A new poll from National Journal finds that President Obama's ratings have improved markedly since late last year, but that roughly 6-out-of-10 Americans believe that the country is off on the wrong track. Whites are more pessimistic than other demographic sub-groups. 7. The US House will vote today on two measures that are "strongly critical of President Obama’s decision to maintain an American role in NATO operations in Libya, reflecting increasing disenchantment among elements of both parties about the United States’ involvement in the conflict," The New York Times reports. 8. The Obama Administration and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) believed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was open to "reform." Those hopes have been dashed and US policy toward Syria is in shambles. Columnist David Brooks writes that the Syrian regime is "depraved." 9. Yemen's economy is near collapse, as tribal forces battled government forces in that country's capitol city. The complete collapse of Yemen is now truly possible. 10. Pakistan's test launch last month of a new short-range ballistic missile, when added to its quickly growing arsenal of lower-power nuclear weapons, indicates the South Asian country is seriously readying to use its nuclear deterrent should war break out again with India, the Times of India reported on Sunday. 11. Killer cukes! The New York Times reports: "The strain of E. coli setting off alarms throughout Europe is a previously unknown “super-toxic” variant, international health officials said Thursday." 12. Jill Abramson was named executive editor of The New York Times. For the latest in politics, visit Politics. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. | 
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