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Mitt Romney, the presumptive candidate for the Republican nomination, is hiring hundreds of new staffers over the next few months. The former Massachusetts governor is still surrounded by a trusted core of senior advisers, however, and they aren't going anywhere. Host Rachel Martin talks with NPR's Ari Shapiro about the inner circle.

Longtime Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch faced a contentious and much-watched state convention Saturday, two years after fellow Republican Bob Bennett was ousted from office at the same event for not being conservative enough. NPR's Howard Berkes reports.

Have we seen the end of the Tea Party movement? New York Times reporter Kate Zernike is the author of Boiling Mad: Inside Tea Party America. Host Rachel Martin talks with Zernike about the Tea Party's current relevance and influence in the political process.

Charles "Chuck" Colson, a key figure in the Richard Nixon White House, died Saturday. Colson was the president's special counsel and went to prison for his role in the Watergate scandal. While behind bars, he embraced Christianity. As NPR's Joel Rose reports, he went on to become a central evangelical leader after his release.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week on the most divisive immigration law in recent memory. Arizona's Legislature passed SB 1070 two years ago, but much of it has been put on hold pending the court's decision.

Still, supporters say the law has achieved one of its stated goals: Thousands of illegal immigrants have self-deported, leaving the state on their own. The real reason — and consequence — of such a demographic shift may be more complex, however.

Just the arrival of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner prompted supporters in her Peronist movement to break into chants last Monday. The event, choreographed to feel momentous, was at the presidential palace. Fernandez de Kirchner announced plans to expropriate assets of the Spanish oil firm Repsol in Argentina.

Through a window, television viewers could see a huge image of Evita Peron, the famous 1950s-era populist whose presence is deeply felt in today's government.

In his State of the Union address two years ago, President Obama argued there were a few things the U.S. needed to do in order to recover from the economic recession. One of them was to export more of our goods around the world.

"The more products we make and sell to other countries, the more jobs we support right here in America," Obama said.

That night, the president unveiled a new goal: to double U.S. exports over the next five years. It would be an increase that the president said would "support two million jobs in America."