• Reliable Source: Anderson Cooper brings out 300 fans in Arlington. . . Rep. DeLay seen eating French food and drinking French wine. . . Rep. Cynthia McKinney spotted dancing in her car. [WP]

• Page Six: Giuliani has dinner with Romney and his wife… Lauren Bush introduces Bill Clinton at Princeton’s commencement: “Our class was so excited to hear that Clinton was coming to give the commencement speech this year — of course, they were expecting Hillary!” [NYP]
• Rush & Molloy: Mark Felt’s co-author attacks the Times for having John Dean review Deep Throat’s memoir. [NYDN]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Cheney to give the Daily News a reporting award for Washington coverage. [NYDN]

• Sen. Specter (R-Pa.) proposes to give Bush the choice of getting a warrant from a special court for surveillance programs; proposal would specifically not limit presidential powers. Specter: “I think he [Cheney] is serious about trying to work something out. For the first time, he said they are willing to consider legislation.” [WP]
• Cheney says his communications with Sen. Specter “are not unusual.” Specter: “He does not face head on; he does not deal with his not having taken it up with the chairman. This isn’t me personally; this is institutional. This is not the way government works, to deal with a committee without going through the chairman.” [WP, NYT]
• Rep. DeLay (R-Tex.) gives “defiant retirement speech”: “I did a good job… Given the chance to do it all again, there’s only one thing I’d change. I’d fight even harder.” [WP, NYT, LAT]
• Death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi will provide little reprieve for Republians feeling political heat. Official: “We don’t want another ‘Mission Accomplished’ moment.” [WSJ]
• Troop levels in Iraq will not be down to 100,000 by the end of this year. [NYT]
• Senate is three votes shy of repealing the estate tax. Sen. Lott (R-Miss.): “The conservative base will appreciate the fact that we are trying.” [NYT, LAT, WSJ, USAT]

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• Reliable Source: Rep. Carolyn Maloney calls on Queen Latifah to raise women’s confidence. . . Bill O’Reilly says Ann Coulter’s “personal attacks are foolish”. . . Catherine Herridge begins month-long hospital stay following liver transplant. [WP]

• Heard on the Hill: Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) loses her chief of staff. [Roll Call]
• Under the Dome: Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) gets hitched on a railroad bridge. . . Gingrich wins straw poll in Minnesota. [The Hill]
• Liz Smith: Al Gore “looks like a candidate.” [NYP]

• Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida leader, is killed in Iraq by a “precision airstrike”; Bush says it’s “a significant victory in the war on terror.” [AP]
• George H.W. Bush “waged a secret campaign over several months” to replace Rumsfeld with a “retired four-star general,” but the president held firm. [Salon]
• Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) exposes how Cheney played hardball with the Judiciary Committee. [NYT]
• Victory in California primary “settled Republicans nerves,” but the margin was slim and the campaign was expense. Ken Mehlman: “You see a lot of things that are bellwethers, and they indicate Republicans are in position to hold Congress.” Professor: “The fact that Busby got 15 points over Democratic registration, that should make Republicans nervous. It’s not that Bilbray won. This is a safe Republican seat. I was very surprised that $5 million doesn’t allow you to break 50 percent.” [WP, NYT, LAT, USAT]
• Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage fails to get 60 votes needed to end debate; roll calls ends with 49 yeas, 48 nays. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.): “We’re not going to stop until marriage between a man and a woman is protected… for the future of our children in this society.” [WP, NYT, USAT]
• FBI threatened to pick the lock of Rep. William Jefferson’s office when a Capitol Police official hesitated. [WP]

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• Heard on the Hill: DNC recruiters canvassed outside of the Camelot strip club. . . Former girlfriend of Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.) writes a tell-all in Cosmo. [Roll Call]

• Rush & Molloy: Laura Bush brings daughter Barbara to see “Jersey Boys.” [NYDN]
• Reliable Source: Rob Thomas hits up Kiehl’s in Georgetown. [WP]

• Primary results “yielded no significant surprises”; Republican Brian Bilbray beats Democrat Francine Busby in race for Rep. Randy Cunningham’s seat. [WP, LAT]
• Cheney brokers deal to keep telephone company executives from testifying about NSA database. [USAT]
• Some Republican Senators think the recent focus on “ideologically charged topics” like gay marriage could backfire; voters have more pressing concerns. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.): “I know in many meetings of our colleagues when the issue of marriage comes up, heads drop. It is just an issue that people just feel uncomfortable talking about. It’s something that maybe in some respects they feel like, why do we even have to? Why is this even an issue?” [NYT]
• Use of “taxpayer-funded databases” provides an advantage to incumbents who can “cultivate constituents more attentively than ever.” Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.): “As incumbents, we have unlimited access to the most up-to-date technology in the world.” [WP]
• FBI sought proof that Rep. William Jefferson may have tried to bribe the vice president of Nigeria. [NYT, LAT]
• Judiciary Panel members are riled by a Justice Department official’s refusal to say “whether the Bush administration has ever considered prosecuting journalists for publishing leaked national security information.” [WP]
• Tom DeLay says “panic, depression and woe-is-me-ism” risks losing the election for the GOP. [USAT, USAT]

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• Reliable Source: Rep. Patrick Kennedy spent the night before his driving accident with a female “friend”. . . Katie Couric stopped by Cafe Milano late Saturday night for a martini and pizza with local beer distributor Jimmy Reyes. [WP]

• Heard on the Hill: Journalism professor will testify that the investigation of Jack Anderson was sparked by a convict. . . Robert Redford will be on the Hill next week to fight oil addiction with Sen. Harry Reid. [Roll Call]
• Under the Dome: Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) adds amendment stating, “None of the funds made available to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in this act may be used to purchase a Louis Vuitton handbag.” [The Hill]
• Page Six: Hillary recommends “An Inconvenient Truth.” [NYP]

• Bush renews call to ban gay marriage; social conservatives cheer the “litmus test” as critics contend the move is mainly political. James Dobson: “It is true what this vote will do will be to help the voters identify who is and is not supportive of the family, and I think those that are not are going to have to answer for it.” [WP, NYT, USAT]
• This week’s Senate agenda, from the ban on gay marriage to a repeal of the estate tax, is “all about” motivating conservative voters. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) on the marriage amendment: “I am confident that the American people will see this for what it is: a mean-spirited attempt to score political points in an election year.” [WP, W$J]
• Intense campaigning is already underway for the midterm election, “reflecting a consensus in both parties that Republicans could lose control of the House and perhaps the Senate”; Republicans have spent at least $4.5M on today’s special election for Randy Cunningham’s seat. [NYT, W$J]
• Congress and the courts “are beginning to push back against what has been the greatest expansion of presidential powers in a generation or more.” [USAT]
• Bill Clinton hopes to raise over $20M for midterm campaigns. [NYT]

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• Heard on the Hill: Sen. Bill Frist’s middle son Jonathan has a Facebook profile, complete with “hunky photos” and strange group affiliations. . . Oxygen is recruiting for a reality show called “Capitol Hill Girls”. . . Jack Abramoff listed Rep. Bob Ney’s golf handicap, but the congressman doesn’t even play. [Roll Call]

• Washington Whispers: Laura Bush’s press secretary was “American Idol” Taylor Hicks’s ninth-grade teacher, so they’re trying to arrange a White House visit. . . Margaret Spellings is learning Arabic. [USN&WR]

• Authorities allege that Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) formed a “corporate labyrinth” to “secretly receive illegal payments.” [WP]
• The Bush administration appears reluctant to enforce medical privacy laws; no civil fines have been issued despite 19,420 reported grievances. [WP]
• Lawsuits target electronic voting in at least six states. [USAT]
• South Dakota ruling has made abortion a top campaign topic in local races cross the country. [NYT]
• ‘08 campaign calendars and speculation align as Mark Warner (D) and Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) share a ballroom in Richmond. [WP]
• Rep. Katherine Harris’s (R-Fla.) Senate campaign is “inspiring dread among many in her party.” [USAT]

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• Reliable Source: Auction of Capitol Hill ladies wear raises $15,752. . . Rep. Dennis Hastert is now the longest-serving Republican speaker of the House. [WP]

• Inside the Beltway: BetUS.com is taking bets on rumors of Clinton’s next affair. [WT]