Today's words

AP - Mario Lopez is in negotiations to once again host the Miss America pageant.

AP - President George W. Bush says history will judge him, but he is getting his own crack first. Bush is using his final 50 days in office to tout his legacy, hoping to leave a lasting impression of overshadowed progress. On Monday, World AIDS Day, Bush was heralded for his leadership in fighting the disease, a point that even his Democratic critics readily concede.

AP - Most Americans sorely knew it already, but now it's official: The country is in a recession, and it's getting worse. Wall Street convulsed at the news — and a fresh batch of bad economic reports — tanking nearly 680 points. With the economic pain likely to stretch well into 2009, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday he stands ready to lower interest rates yet again and to explore other rescue or revival measures.

AP - Police arrested the estranged brother-in-law of Jennifer Hudson on Monday in the deaths of the entertainer's mother, brother and young nephew, taking him from a prison where he had been held on a suspected parole violation.

AP - Police arrested the estranged brother-in-law of Jennifer Hudson on Monday in the deaths of the entertainer's mother, brother and young nephew, taking him from a prison where he had been held on a suspected parole violation.

AP - A television anchorwoman killed in her home had been sexually assaulted and beaten so badly in a suspected burglary that her jaw shattered and she broke a hand while trying to fend off her attacker's blows, her parents said Monday.

E! Online - Oh, Boy. Jurors today were treated to a police interview with Boy George in which the "Karma Chameleon" purveyor admits that he locked up—but never threatened to kill—a male escort.

AP - Chris Brown is in demand with on-demand viewers.

E! Online - Kirsten Dunst has a lot to be thankful for this holiday season—including a brand-new restraining order against an alleged stalker.

Reuters - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi met leading governors on Monday to discuss the size and shape of an economic stimulus package that one Democratic aide said was likely to cost around $500 billion.

AP - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday that further interest-rate cuts are "certainly feasible," but he warned there are limits to how much such action would revive an economy likely to stay weak well into next year.

AP - Authorities responding to a shooting at suburban Miami mall say one person has been shot and taken to a hospital.

AP - The U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday.

Reuters - Stocks stayed near session lows on Monday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the U.S. economy remained under considerable stress.