It was the first time the five prisoners had been in court since February and they sat calmly through a morning's worth of dense legalistic testimony, with none of the outbursts that characterized previous sessions. Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed terrorist mastermind and lead defendant, wore a camouflage jacket and white turban, his bushy gray beard dyed reddish-orange.

In the audience, behind panels of glass that allow the government to cut off sound in case classified information is inadvertently uttered, were two retired New York firefighters injured while responding to the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center, as well as relatives of other victims. The spectators were chosen by lottery to view the proceedings at the U.S. base in Cuba. Several said they were eager to see it move along.

"They are obviously guilty, I think they have already admitted it, and the trial should happen as quickly as possible," said Joe Torrillo, one of the two retired firefighters.

Mohammed has told the military that he was involved in a long list of terrorist plots, including the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, and has said in court that he was proud of his role in the Sept. 11 plot. The men have not yet entered pleas and defense lawyers say the men were tortured in CIA custody.

In the start of what is scheduled to be five days of hearings on pretrial motions, the defense questioned retired Navy Vice Adm. Bruce MacDonald, the Pentagon legal official who oversaw the military tribunals until his term expired in March. The lawyers asked about rules that he approved governing attorney-client interactions in the case.

Defense lawyers called MacDonald in part to challenge the rules, which they say interfere with their ability to represent their clients, who are held under ultra-secure conditions in a section of Guantanamo reserved for men deemed by the Pentagon to be "high-value detainees."

Defense teams have argued that MacDonald may have been improperly swayed in approving the charges in the case in April 2012 and acted too quickly, not giving the lawyers enough time to prepare a response to the prosecution's filing. He testified by video link from Washington state for the entire day and was scheduled to resume testifying Tuesday.

In the final minutes of Monday's session, the lawyer for defendant Ramzi Binalshibh asked that the defendant be allowed to address the court. The judge, Army Col. James Pohl, denied the request.

Pohl is hearing motions this week on a long list of procedural motions, including whether the defendants can be excluded from closed pretrial sessions that deal with classified material and whether the defense can gain access to confidential reports by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The government has asked for a trial in late 2014, though it's likely to be later.

Mohammed and his four co-defendants each face charges that include terrorism and nearly 3,000 counts of murder for their alleged roles planning and aiding the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the United States. They could get the death penalty if convicted.

Is Obama Losing His Base?

Through the highs and lows of his two terms, President Obama has always maintained rock-solid approval ratings with his base. He won a second term in surprisingly comfortable fashion by rallying young voters, single women, and minorities to his side. But the controversy over the administration's surveillance techniques is exposing, for the first time, a potential soft spot with one of those core groups.

In a new CNN/ORC poll, Obama's job approval dropped 8 points in the last month to 45 percent. Among Americans age 18-29, that number slipped 17 points. Democratic pollsters they are seeing similar trend lines emerging.

Obama won't be on the ballot again, but his legacy is critical for his party. Build a growing base of Democratic voters and exploit the GOP's weakened brand, and voil: Any future Democratic nominee should capitalize. But if the Obama brand loses its luster in a second term, the call for change could sound a lot different than it did in 2008.

Josh Kraushaarjkraushaar@nationaljournal.com

SNOWDEN DEFENDS NSA LEAKS; NEW DOCS SUGGEST WIDER INTERNATIONAL SCRUTINY. Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden discussed his decision to leak information on agency surveillance programs, as well as the implications of that decision, in anwith readers of The Guardian today. "I did not reveal any U.S. operations against legitimate military targets," Snowden said. "I pointed out where the NSA has hacked civilian infrastructure such as universities, hospitals, and private businesses because it is dangerous. These nakedly, aggressively criminal acts are wrong no matter the target." Meanwhile, aindicates that U.S. and British intelligence officials monitored the communications of international leaders during a 2009 conference in London.

G-8 MEETING OPENS IN IRELAND; TALKS TO BEGIN IN JULY ON U.S.-EU TRADE PACT. President Obama and European leaders opened the Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland today with the announcement that negotiations on a U.S.-European Union trade agreement will begin next month, The New York Times reports. "The U.S.-E.U. relationship is the largest in the worldit makes up almost half of global G.D.P.," Obama said. "This potentially groundbreaking partnership would deepen those ties." French President Francois Hollande voiced concern overmade by European Commission President Jos Manuel Barroso in which he characterized a French effort to limit the scope of the talks as "part of this anti-globalization agenda that I consider completely reactionary." Obama met with Putin for 90 minutes

REPORT: WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS DEEPLY INVOLVED IN IMMIGRATION BILL. The White House is playing a larger role than publicly recognized in helping craft the immigration legislation making its way through Congress, . An unnamed senior White House official told reporter Ryan Lizza regarding Senate "Gang of Eight" negotiations: "No decisions are being made without talking to us about it," adding: "This does not fly if we're not O.K. with it, because everyone knows this is going to pass with some Republicans but with a majority of Democrats." And, as The Atlantic's Elspeth Reeve regarding the article, the one member of the "gang" who has needed the most managing is Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is seen as the legislation's linchpin.

SCOTUS RULES AGAINST ARIZONA VOTER ID LAW. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that the state of Arizona may not require voters to present documentary proof of citizenship, The New York Times reports. Justice Antonin Scaliain Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona that the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which asks voters to answer the question, "Are you a citizen of the United States?" under penalty of perjury, supersedes the state rule.

CORNYN REVEALS THREE PUBLIC PENSIONS ATOP SALARY. Texas Republican John Cornyn supplemented his Senate salary with a trio of public pensions last year from his days as a Texas judge and elected officiala practice some fiscal watchdog groups have attacked as "double dipping." Cornyn, who is the minority whip and the No. 2 ranking Republican in the Senate, reported collecting $65,383 in public retirement benefits in 2012 in addition to his $174,000 salary as a U.S. senator. Cornyn's office did not respond to requests for comment. Elected to the Senate in 2002, Cornyn is a former district judge, Texas Supreme Court justice, and state attorney general. In 2012, he collected pensions from three separate state retirement programs, National Journal's Shane Goldmacher reports.

IS SCOTT WALKER THE GOP'S SLEEPER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE? Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker polls near the bottom of would-be presidential contenders. Unlike potential rivals, you won't find him onor . But he's a conservative Republican who won election in a blue state, survived a brutal recall campaign, and now posts approval ratings over 50 percent. A budget-slashing chief executive and son of a Baptist minister who straddles the fiscal and social conservative camps. A proven fundraiser who has . He's poised to be the sleeper Republican presidential candidate of 2016, National Journal'sBeth Reinhard reports.

ARE WE REACHING A SEQUESTER TIPPING POINT? When $85 billion in broad spending cuts went into effect in March, the world didn't end. Kids weren't kicked out of school en masse, hundreds of thousands weren't laid off, the economy didn't tank. Sequestration wasand the deluge never came. But it may begin to pour this summer. The across-the-board cuts may gain more visibility this summer largely as big defense cuts go into effect. Starting in early July, the Defense Department will begin 11-day furloughs for hundreds of thousands of its civilian employees nationwide, and the local reports are rolling in, National Journal's Niraj Chokshi reports.

YOU SHOULD FOLLOW IRAN'S NEW PRESIDENT ON TWITTER. Iran's new president is quite the tweeter. Just on Monday morning, Iranian President-elect Hassan Rouhaniaround 50 times, mostly in English. The tweeting blitz coincided with a press conference, where he said he will work to end the sanctions that have devastated the Iranian economy by attempting to negotiate with the United States and its allies. He is expected to take office in early August. The Western-educated cleric is clearly attempting to get the attention of the outside world and bolster hope for a resolution on the country's nuclear program. If Rouhani comes off as more moderate and sensible, U.S. and European officials might be willing to engage with the new leader, National Journal's Matt Vasilogambros reports.

OBAMA TO CONTINUE G-8 TALKS. Obama will be in Northern Ireland on Tuesday as part of the G-8 Summit. He will be part of a session on counter-terrorism, another on trade, tax and transparency, and a working lunch that will include leaders of African nations and heads of international organizations.

POLICY DISCUSSION ON FUTURE OF AMERICAN ENERGY, TRANSPORTATION NEEDS. National Journal will host "Fueling the Nation: The Transportation Transformation," an in-depth policy summit on the future of American energy and how the nation will continue to meet its transportation fuel needs. Speakers, including Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Richard Burr, R-N.C., Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., and several industry experts and advocates, will explore a range of issues that are central to future transportation planning decisions. The event, held from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the Newseum, will be live-streamed online. To RSVP, please. Follow along with the Twitter hashtag.

SENATE COMMITTEE TO VET OBAMA GSA PICK TANGHERLINI. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday to consider Obama's nomination of Dan Tangherlini to head the General Services Administration. Tangherlini has been acting GSA administrator since shortly after 2012 revelations of wasteful spending at the agency.

PRICE TRANSPARENCY, HIGH COST OF HEALTH CARE UNDER REVIEW. The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on price transparency and high cost in health care. The latter received a lot of attention after a recent article by Time magazine's Steven Brill, who will be among those testifying. Newly released hospital price data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services revealed a wide variation in the charges of common procedures among hospitals in the same area and brought price-transparency issues into focus this spring.

"Ask yourself: If I were a Chinese spy, why wouldn't I have flown directly into Beijing? I could be living in a palace petting a phoenix by now." Edward Snowden, during a question-and-answer session, about if he had, or would, provide intelligence to the Chinese government in exchange for asylum. ()

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SNOWDEN, ELLSBERG GETS AT NATION'S REACTION TO LEAK. The Atlantic's Garance Franke-Ruta breaks down the differences between Edward Snowden and Daniel Ellsberg, who released the Pentagon Papers in 1971, and tries to get at what's driving the reaction to his actions. Unlike Ellsberg, Snowden was a relatively low-level contractor, leaving him without the type of Beltway connections that helped his predecessor. Also, unlike Ellsberg, the threat Snowden says is coming is theoretical, a "turn-key tyranny," versus something that has a direct effect of physical harm. Franke-Ruta also pushes back on Snowden's argument that government is the biggest threat to privacy by noting that "the only reason there is private information for the government to ask for is because we have volunteered it already to corporate third parties."

REPORT: McDONNELLS BILL VIRGINIA FOR PERSONAL ITEMS. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife have billed the state for items including "body wash, sunscreen, dog vitamins, and a digestive system 'detox cleanse' " and used state employees to run errands for their adult daughters, The Washington Post reports. Records obtained by ThePost through a FOIA request include 16 sales receipts for purchases including "college stuff" for the McDonnell children at Bed Bath and Beyond. While a spokesperson indicated that the McDonnells have reimbursed the commonwealth for their purchases of personal items, the limited information provided in response to the FOIA request makes this difficult to verify.

OBAMA ON 'CHARLIE ROSE' Before heading out to Ireland for the G-8, Obama sat down for a 45-minute interview with PBS's Charlie Rose, touching on a wide range of subjects including the Iranian elections, Syria, China, NSA, and drones, . The interview will air tonight, at 11 p.m. and will re-air globally on Bloomberg Television on Tuesday at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.

CORRECTION: An item in the Friday edition of The Edge incorrectly identified the party affiliation of Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska. She is a Republican.

EU and U.S. leaders announced the plans Monday at the start of the G-8 summit of wealthy nations in Northern Ireland.

"America and Europe have done extraordinary things before and I believe we can forge an economic alliance as strong as our diplomatic and security alliances, which of course are the most powerful in history," U.S. President Barack Obama declared alongside EU leaders and the British host, Prime Minister David Cameron.

At stake is a vision of boosting the value of trans-Atlantic trade in goods and services that Obama said already exceeds $1 trillion annually, as well as $4 trillion annually in investment in each other's economies.

EU and U.S. officials agreed at the start of the Group of Eight summit that these already colossal trade figures could be much higher if only both sides agreed to dismantle high tariff walls and bureaucratic hurdles that undermine the export of many products.

"The whole point is to fire up our economies and drive growth and prosperity around the world and there is no more powerful way to achieve that than by boosting trade," Cameron said against a backdrop of Northern Ireland's lush Fermanagh Lakeland, where the two-day summit at an isolated golf resort concludes Tuesday.

Cameron said a tariff- and barrier-free trade environment could generate an extra $150 billion annually for the 27-nation European Union, perhaps $120 billion for the United States, and provide a similar growth jolt for the rest of the world.

The British leader said these figures would mean, in practical terms, "2 million extra jobs, more choice and lower prices in our shops. We're talking about what could be the biggest bilateral trade deal in history. ... This is a once-in-a-generation prize, and we are determined to seize it."

A White House statement said the EU-U.S. talks could start the week of July 8. Both sides hope to reach agreement by late 2014.

Yet the French government of President Francois Hollande has already illustrated the many speed bumps on the road to such a deal as each nation seeks to preserve tariff barriers and other shields of red tape for its own potentially uncompetitive industries.

When discussing its negotiating position Friday before meeting Obama, European Union chiefs gave France an advance concession that its state-subsidized TV and movie industry would not be cut adrift to compete directly with Hollywood. At least, not yet.

The head of the EU's executive arm, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, stressed that the negotiations would repeatedly confront such issues and each nation would have to be persuaded that a level playing field was in everyone's long-term self-interest.

He said money currently wasted in overcoming other nations' obstacles could be spent "to invest in new innovative products and services and job creation."

"Our regulators need to build bridges faster and more systematically. The current economic climate requires us to join forces and to do more with less," Barroso said. "More importantly, in doing so, we will remain strong global players who set the standards for the 21st century."

The official launch of talks to achieve a free trade deal came just ahead of the opening of the summit of Group of Eight leading industrial nations: The U.S., Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia, plus the European Union.

Northern Ireland's police commander, Chief Constable Matt Baggott, said the summit could prove one of the most peaceful in G-8 history, as the selection of the remote Lough Erne resort on a hard-to-reach peninsula proved an obstacle too far for Europe's cadre of professional protesters.

The major anti-capitalist demonstration planned for the summit departed from central Enniskillen with far fewer than the 2,000 that police were expecting.

About 500 people marched several miles (kilometers) to one section of the steel fences and razor wire preventing access to the 300-acre golf resort. Some chanted "We will fight! We will win! What we want is socialism!" Others carried a giant mock rocket emblazoned with the slogan "Drop debt not bombs."

As night fell, most demonstrators walked peacefully back into Enniskillen. But about 200, mostly youths with scarves over their faces, found a weak spot in the barriers with no fencing and stomped over the razor wire.

Police standing 200 yards (meters) away opted not to confront the protesters as they milled about the farm field, some of them waving Palestinian flags, apparently unwilling to charge at the police. When officers picked up riot shields, the protesters fled back across the flattened wire. No arrests were reported.

Police had deployed some 7,000 officers, half of them imported from Britain, to blanket Enniskillen with armored-car units at every intersection and side street in this town of barely 15,000 residents. But a central park earmarked for the potential invasion of thousands of anti-G-8 campers contained barely a dozen tents Monday.

__

Associated Press writers Cassandra Vinograd and Vladimir Isachenkov in Enniskillen contributed to this report.

In his first congressional testimony since revelations about the top-secret operations, Army Gen. Keith Alexander insisted that the public needs to know more about how the programs operate amid increasing unease about rampant government snooping and fears that Americans' civil liberties are being trampled.

"I do think it's important that we get this right and I want the American people to know that we're trying to be transparent here, protect civil liberties and privacy but also the security of this country," Alexander told a Senate panel.

He described the steps the government takes once it suspects a terrorist organization is about to act all within the laws approved by Congress and under stringent oversight from the courts. He said the programs led to "disrupting or contributing to the disruption of terrorist attacks," but he did not give details on the terror plots.

Half a world away, Edward Snowden, the former contractor who fled to Hong Kong and leaked documents about the programs, said he would fight any U.S. attempts to extradite him. American law enforcement officials are building a case against him but have yet to bring charges.

"I am not here to hide from justice; I am here to reveal criminality," Snowden said of the surveillance programs in an interview with the South China Morning Post.

In plain-spoken, measured tones, Alexander answered senators' questions in an open session and promised to provide additional information to the Senate Intelligence Committee in closed session on Thursday. The director of national intelligence has declassified information on two thwarted attacks one in New York, the other in Chicago and Alexander said he was pressing for more disclosures.

But he also warned that revelations about the secret programs have eroded agency capabilities and, as a result, the U.S. and its allies won't be as safe as they were two weeks ago.

"Some of these are still going to be classified and should be, because if we tell the terrorists every way that we're going to track them, they will get through and Americans will die," he said, adding that he would rather be criticized by people who think he's hiding something "than jeopardize the security of this country."

Alexander said he was seriously concerned that Snowden, a former employee with Booz Allen Hamilton, had access to key parts of the NSA network, a development that demands a closer examination of how well the agency oversees contract employees.

Alexander said Snowden was a system administrator who didn't have visibility into the whole NSA network but could access key portions of it.

The director was questioned at length by senators seeking information on exactly how much data the NSA gathers through programs to collect millions of telephone records and keep tabs on Internet activity as well as the legal backing for the activities.

Members of the House and Senate Intelligence panels and key leaders have been briefed on the programs and have expressed their support for the operations as a valid tool in the terrorism fight.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Wednesday that the programs are constitutional and "very important to the security of the American people and they help us in a big way to address the terrorist threat that does in fact remain."

But rank-and-file lawmakers who haven't been privy to the details expressed concerns and bewilderment, reflected in the comments of several senators at the hearing and one exchange between Republican Sen. Mike Johanns and Alexander.

Johanns asked the NSA director whether the government could check and see what an individual is searching for through Google, or sending in email.

Alexander said once an individual has been identified, the issue is referred to the FBI.

"The FBI will then look at that and say what more do we need to now look at that individual themselves. So there are issues and things that they would then look at. It's passed to them," Alexander said.

"So the answer to the question is yes," Johanns said.

"Yes, you could. I mean, you can get a court order to do that," Alexander said.

The Nebraska lawmaker said it was imperative for the government to get information about the programs to the American people "because right now we're all getting bombarded with questions that many of us at the rank-and-file level in the Senate cannot answer."

Congressional leaders and intelligence committee members have been routinely briefed about the spy programs, officials said, and Congress has at least twice renewed laws approving them. But the disclosure of their sheer scope stunned some lawmakers, shocked allies from nations with strict privacy protections, and emboldened civil liberties advocates who long have accused the government of being too invasive in the name of national security.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he plans on Thursday to announce "legal action against government surveillance and the National Security Agency's overreach of power," his political office said.

Paul told "Fox News Sunday" that he would ask "all the Internet providers and all of the phone companies" and their customers to join a class-action lawsuit against surveillance techniques that he called "an extraordinary invasion of privacy."

Recent polling on the issue found Americans troubled by the intrusion but perhaps willing to give the government even more leeway in its efforts to fight terrorism.

A new poll by CBS News and The New York Times found that 58 percent disapprove of the government collecting phone records of all Americans. Yet it also found that 59 percent think the government has struck the right balance or not gone far enough.

___

Associated Press writers Lara Jakes, Kimberly Dozier, Frederic Frommer, Alan Fram, Andrew Miga and Pete Yost contributed to this report.

Joseph Reel of Kettering, Ohio, has been charged with destruction of government property and was ordered held without bond Tuesday.

According to a federal court charging document, Reel rigged his Jeep so it crashed into a light post, bike rack and security bollard near the guard post around 3 a.m. Sunday. It caused more than $1,000 worth of damage.

The document says that Reel was seen on a bicycle after the crash and was stopped in a courtyard of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. He told officials he wanted to spray paint a "don't tread on me snake" nearby. An email to Reel's attorney was not immediately returned Tuesday evening.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- State leaders stand ready to commit up to $15.4 million in taxpayer subsidies to a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company they hope will put an outpost in Minnesota, according to a document made public Wednesday.

After declining to provide details the day before, Gov. Mark Dayton's office released a February letter from the governor and top legislators to a site hunter for Baxter Healthcare Corp. The Deerfield, Ill.-based company is eyeing a property in Brooklyn Park, a Minneapolis suburb, for an expansion that could result in 200 good-paying jobs.

The initiative was dubbed "Project Fern" in the official communications, because the Dayton administration signed an agreement that barred it divulging Baxter's identity or interest in the state. That agreement was waived late Tuesday as questions began to swirl about the offering and the covert courtship. The process is raising concerns that the pressure to attract jobs is overwhelming transparency at the Capitol.

The letter from the state's political powers went to a Minneapolis consulting firm that is advising Baxter as it considers branching into Minnesota.

"We, leadership of the state of Minnesota, greatly value your investment and by receipt of this letter, state our commitment to pursuing the following special legislation for Project Fern during the 2013 legislative session," the letter reads. It goes on to list five programs the officials were prepared to tap to deliver tax exemptions, forgivable loans, per-job tax credits, working training grants and special assistance on road, sewer and water construction.

House Speaker Paul Thissen, a Minneapolis Democrat, has said he signed the letter without knowing the identity of the company or the full scope of its plans. Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, a Democrat from Cook, said sensitivities involved in recruiting a large company makes the discretion understandable.

Baxter is a $14 billion-a-year company that makes devices and drugs to treat hemophilia, immune disorders, infectious diseases, kidney disease and other acute conditions. It recently bought a building vacated by another biotech company and is considering a two-phase expansion, which could add $300 million in space and equipment to the property and result in permanent jobs that would average $75,000 in base salary plus benefits.

Baxter could also qualify for city subsidies, making the public's commitment to the project even more.

Lawmakers had begun voting on the subsidies without knowing which company could land them. Some now say they are uncomfortable with the secrecy involving a request for taxpayer dollars.

Democratic Rep. Ryan Winkler, a Golden Valley Democrat, said he might have opposed a larger economic development package the House passed Monday if he knew what was transpiring privately. That bill contained $5 million in forgivable loans plus another $2 million incentive based on the number of jobs the company adds to its Minnesota payroll.

"It's a problem that we didn't know and weren't told what the subsidy deal was because most of these are not very good, and without some public scrutiny, we just start throwing money around in an even more egregious fashion than we typically do with these kind of subsidies," Winkler said.

Winkler said the state appears to be bowing too readily to a company for the sake of attracting jobs. "It's a certain kind of desperation to agree to their confidentially terms when they're asking for the taxpayers to give them free money," he said.

Blake Chaffee, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, said the non-disclosure agreement was meant "to protect the business and their competitive interest in terms of proprietary information." He didn't have immediate information on how often such agreements are used, but he stressed that the incentives themselves are subject to public disclosure and examination.

Rep. Kurt Zellers, a former Republican House speaker, said the way this deal played out could come back to haunt state leaders if Baxter wins its subsidies. He predicted more companies and their search firms will insist on non-disclosure agreements that prevent a full public vetting of their requests.

"It's a new precedent for those that do these searches for these companies," Zellers said. "If you go to Minnesota that's what you do."

Kerry was to meet Venezuela's foreign minister on the sidelines of an Organization of American States meeting in Guatemala to explore ways to repair relations. The encounter comes at Venezuela's request and is to occur just hours after Venezuela released from prison an American filmmaker who had been jailed on espionage charges, removing at least one irritant in the relationship.

U.S. officials with Kerry said the secretary was hopeful, but not certain, that Timothy Tracy's release could be a sign that the Venezuelans are interested in a rapprochement. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

The discussion between Kerry and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jose Jaua will be the first at cabinet level between the two countries in at least several years and the first substantial contact since Venezuela's disputed April 14 election to replace the late populist president Hugo Chavez. Chavez protege Nicolas Maduro claimed victory at the polls, but the opposition is still contesting the results.

Washington is willing to work with Maduro's new government but has said opposition questions about the electoral process must be addressed. The Obama administration has been eager to mend ties with Venezuela after Chavez's death in March. Chavez delighted in tweaking the United States and pursued policies that U.S. officials regarded as hostile. However, until Wednesday there has been little to show for its outreach.

U.S.-Venezuelan relations have been especially tense in recent months. Maduro expelled two U.S. military attaches in March the same day Chavez died, accusing them of trying to foment instability, and Tracy's arrest came amid domestic political turmoil over the election.

The Obama administration has backed opposition candidate Henrique Capriles' call for a full recount.

U.S. officials with Kerry said he wanted to look at areas like counternarcotics and counterterrorism where cooperation could be improved with Venezuela. But they stressed that the U.S. was not going to stop expressing concerns about democracy and human rights in the country, particularly after the election.

The two countries haven't had ambassadors posted in each other's capitals since 2010 but U.S. officials said they were not sure if this subject would be raised in the meeting between Kerry and Jaua.

Shortly before the two men were to meet, Venezuela released Tracy who had been jailed for what authorities said were attempts to destabilize the country.

U.S. President Barack Obama called that allegation "ridiculous." Family and friends say the 35-year-old Hollywood producer and actor had been making a documentary about Venezuelan politics when he was arrested on April 24 at the Caracas airport as he tried to leave the country to attend his father's 80th birthday in suburban Detroit.

In a speech to the 35-member OAS annual general assembly, Kerry did not mention the developments with Venezuela, but reiterated U.S. concerns that some countries in the hemisphere are backsliding on their commitments to democracy and seeking to weaken OAS institutions that monitor and report on human rights.

"We must keep this organization's focus on its core objectives," Kerry said, calling for the OAS to redouble its efforts on protecting basic freedoms, improving rule of law and fighting corruption. "The Americas present a vivid example to the world that diversity is a strength, that inclusion works, that justice can overcome impunity, and that the rights of individuals must be protected against government overreach and abuse."

Kerry is pushing the candidacy of the US nominee for the Inter American Commission on Human Rights, James Cavallaro, a Stanford University law professor who is one of six people in the running for three spots on the panel that will be chosen later this week. Some OAS members are opposed to the U.S. having a presence on the commission because it is not also a member of the organization's human rights court.

"None of our countries is perfect, and we continue to draw strength from scrutiny and the opportunity to review our human rights practices," he said. "We are all diminished when we fail to defend the very institutions we created to safeguard the noble ideals (of) peace, democracy, development, liberty, and social justice based on respect for the essential rights of women and men."

The capture of the town, which lies close to the Lebanese border, solidifies some of the regime's recent gains on the ground that have shifted the balance of power in Assad's favor in the Syrian civil war.

The state TV said the army "restored security and peace" after successfully dismantling "terrorist networks" operating in the town over the last few days. An official in the governor's office of Homs province confirmed the report.

"At 6.30 a.m., Qusair became secure," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the media about an ongoing military operation.

Government troops, backed by Hezbollah, launched a wide offensive on the town on May 19.

Both sides in the conflict value Qusair, which lies along a land corridor linking two Assad strongholds, the capital of Damascus and an area along the Mediterranean coast that is the heartland of his minority Alawite sect.

For the rebels, who had been in control of the town shortly ever since after the uprising against Assad began in March 2011, holding Qusair meant protecting their supply line to Lebanon, just 10 kilometers (six miles) away.

In the past week, rebels in Qusair called on fighters from all over Syria to come to their aid in the town, and foreign fighters were suspected to be playing a large role in the city's defense.

The Qusair battle has also laid bare Hezbollah's growing role in the Syrian conflict. The Shiite militant group, which has been fighting alongside Assad's troops, initially tried to play down its involvement, but could no longer do so after dozens of its fighters were killed in Qusair and buried in large funerals in Lebanon.

Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, firmly linked his militant group's fate to the survival of the Syrian regime, raising the stakes not just in Syria, but also in Hezbollah's relations with rival groups in Lebanon.

Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen TV, which has reporters embedded with Syrian troops, was reporting live from Qusair on Wednesday, showing images of damaged buildings and a deserted town. The reporter said there was no sign of fighting.

The municipal building in the center of Qusair appeared to be pockmarked from fighting. A Syrian flag was raised above it, claiming government control of the town.

The official Syrian news agency SANA said some of the rebel fighters have surrendered.

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El Deeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report.

[More from BGR: ]

Verizon was once again the top carrier with 36.3% of smartphones sold, ahead of AT&T at 26.3%, Sprint with 13.1% and T-Mobile at 11.3%. Verizon and Sprint experienced growth of 1.8 percentage points and 1.4 percentage points, respectively, while smartphone sales at AT&T remained flat and T-Mobile sales declined.

[More from BGR: ]

Verizon and Sprints slight increase is thanks to the growth of two key players, KantarWorldpanelComTechanalyst Mary-AnnParlatoexplained. For Verizon, Windows share rose from 0.2% in the three months ending April 2012 to 6.8% by the period ending April 2013. At Sprint, they continued to reap share increases thanks to theiriOSoffering iOS sales share on Sprint grew from 33.4% to 38.4% over the last year.

The firm notes thatLumia line of smartphones was the key to Windows Phones growth and is expected to further contribute to the platforms success with .

This article was