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Good morning.

Our early headlines:

-- Lance Armstrong Admits Doping, Oprah Winfrey Confirms.

-- White House Plan On Guns To Include 19 Executive Actions, Lawmakers Say.

Retail sales rose 0.5 percent in December from November, the Census Bureau says. That may be a sign that as 2012 ended consumers were still in a shopping mood even as lawmakers in Washington struggled to keep the federal government from going over the so-called fiscal cliff.

"Well — he did not --"

Just four words.

No one's sure what he meant.

But just the fact that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was heard saying them Monday is news. After all, the famously silent justice has not asked a question from the High Court's bench since Feb. 22, 2006.

Britain's Observer newspaper ran a 2012 investment challenge pitting stockbrokers and wealth managers against Orlando. The calculating kitty chose stocks by batting a toy mouse onto a grid of options. The cat's portfolio came out ahead.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning, I'm Steve Inskeep with a word from Clarence Thomas - we're just not exactly sure what it is. The Supreme Court justice had gone seven years without saying a word in oral arguments. Then yesterday, Justice Thomas spoke.

Several justices were talking at once, leaving his exact remark unclear. But a detailed contextual analysis by The New York Times suggests he told a joke, saying a law degree from Yale or Harvard might be proof of incompetence. He's a Yale grad.

Update at 8:10 a.m. ET. Confession Confirmed:

On CBS This Morning moments ago, Oprah Winfrey confirmed that Lance Armstrong admitted to her in an interview recorded Monday that he did use performance-enhancing drugs during a cycling career that included seven Tour de France victories (titles he has since been stripped of).

Update at 1:25 p.m. ET. Announcement on Wednesday:

The White House says President Obama and Vice President Biden will unveil the steps they intend to take and legislation they recommend to reduce gun violence at 11:45 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

Our original post:

Wal-Mart is expected to announce that it will hire every veteran who wants a job as part of a new program beginning on Memorial Day. The only requirements: that he or she left the military in the previous year and wasn't dishonorably discharged.

France has intervened in the conflict in the West African nation of Mali, but why does that conflict affect the United States? Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has offered the most basic take on America's interest in Maili: al-Qida is there.