Fmr. CIA Officer Mike Baker looks at where al Qaeda is headed now that Ayman al-Zawahiri has succeeded Osama bin Laden.

Media expert Howard Kurtz (Host, CNN's "Reliable Sources") and former Rep. Rick Lazio discuss key factors in the downfall of Rep. Anthony Weiner "In The Arena."

CNN's Eliot Spitzer said Rep. Anthony Weiner should take time to reflect and "figure out what you did wrong" during an interview with Dan Abrams, founder of Mediaite.com and legal analyst for ABC News, for "In The Arena."

CNN's Eliot Spitzer confronts Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council when he links Planned Parenthood with child prostitution and sex trafficking "In The Arena." FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today’s OFF-SET questions is Philippe Petit, high-wire artist, magician, author (“To Reach The Clouds”) , and the subject of the astonishing 2008 documentary, “Man on Wire.”

This week in New York City, at the Henry Street Settlement’s Abrons Arts Center, Petit is performing a new, one-man show called “Wireless.” Mixing magic and audience participation, Petit shares his experiences as a street performer,  writer, barn builder, and engineer.

You call your new show “Wireless.” Does that mean it’s a bit safer for you to perform?

No, absolutely not. There is no actual high-wire walking in the show, but there is plenty of psychological high wire walking, and for me it’s the same. If I make just one mistake in the one-man show, I’ve lost my life.  I take it very seriously. FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - Rep. Anthony Weiner resigned from office Thursday, saying, "Unfortunately, the distraction that I have created" has made it "impossible" to continue his work in Congress.

Weiner apologized "for the personal mistakes I have made and for the embarrassment I have caused" to his neighbors, his constituents, and his wife. FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today’s OFF-SET questions is Neill Franklin, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

Founded on March 16, 2002, LEAP is made up of current and former members of the law enforcement and criminal justice communities who speak out about the failures of existing drug policies in the United States.

After 23 years with the Maryland State Police, including as an undercover narc and as the head trainer for drug enforcement, Franklin was recruited by the Baltimore Police Department to reorganize its education and training division.

On June 17, 1971, President Nixon sent a message to Congress, announcing  “a full-scale attack on the problem of drug abuse in America.” Nixon created a Special Action Office on Drug Abuse Prevention in the White House, and office he thought would operate from three to five years.

The U.S. has now been fighting a war against drugs for 40 years. There are various figures around, but it appears that, during the last 40 years, the U.S. has spent more than $1 trillion on enforcing laws, protecting borders, arresting and incarcerating criminals, etc. Here’s another number: as of April of 2011, just over 50 percent of convicted federal prisoners are drug offenders. Did the U.S. win or lose the war on drugs?

Despite arresting over 40 million people on drug charges since the start of the war on drugs -  resulting in huge costs both in terms of dollars and in human lives – drugs today are more available, more potent and cheaper than ever.

Despite the best enforcement efforts of cops like me, we have lost this war, and it's not because we haven't tried hard enough. 

The whole strategy is backwards and needs to be changed. I'm not saying we need to give up trying to stop problems of drug addiction; it's just the opposite. We need to stop wasting resources on punishment policies that don't work and direct those resources toward treatment for those who seek it.

CLICK HERE to read our blog interview with Rafael Lemaitre, Associate Director for Public Affairs at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in Washington, D.C. FULL POST

The Number of the Day is (around) $100 billion.

With so many millions of people out of work in the United States—and the news of a Congressman’s imminent resignation–it may be difficult to pay attention to what is happening in Greece, especially when there are those who say the financial crisis there doesn’t matter. But it does.

Protesters have been clashing with police in Athens, as Prime Minister George Papandreou struggles to save his government and his economy. Greece’s deficit was 10.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2010.

Papandreou is desperately trying to slash that deficit in order to secure a bailout package agreement with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, estimated at around $100 billion, possibly higher. Without the bailout, Greece could default on its debts. You’ll remember that Greece got a $160 billion bailout last year and that hasn’t worked. FULL POST

BREAKING SEXTING NEWS – CNN’s Dana Bash reports that New York Rep. Anthony Weiner will resign Thursday, according to a senior Democratic source.

AFTER TOUGH FIGHT IN THE TERRORIST PRIMARIES, AL QAEDA SELECTS A NEW LEADER – Ayman al- Zawahiri has been appointed the new leader of al Qaeda, according to a statement posted on the jihadist website, Ansar al Islam. Al-Zawahiri has played a defining role in al Qaeda for over a decade as Osama bin Laden's deputy. Even before the announcement, he had been widely regarded as the organization's de facto leader.

Meanwhile, The New York Times reports that Pakistan’s army chief, the most powerful man in the country, is fighting to save his position in the face of seething anger from top generals and junior officers since the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden, according to Pakistani officials and people who have met the chief in recent weeks. FULL POST