Clinton Addresses a Key Constituency at the University of Miami

Hillary Rodham Clinton fielded questions from college students in Miami on Wednesday evening, and in the process positioned herself as sympathetic to a younger generation’s concerns about the country and its political leaders.

In a wide-ranging talk at the University of Miami, Mrs. Clinton talked about tolerance and inclusion. “I hope your generation will be a true participation generation,” she said. “I hope you will find ways that the barriers that too often divide us are torn down once and for all.”

She also weighed in on the legislation in Arizona that would have allowed businesses to deny service to gays and lesbians. “Thankfully, the governor of Arizona has vetoed the discriminatory piece of legislation that had passed,” Mrs. Clinton said to applause.

Sounding at times as if she were still secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton discussed the crisis in Syria and called for the removal of the Assad regime’s chemical weapons stockpiles. “This is an issue I’ve certainly spent a lot of time working on and worrying about both when I was in the government and in the time since,” she said.

The students, many of them Latino, also questioned Mrs. Clinton about the violence in Venezuela. “We tried to engage President Chávez,” Mrs. Clinton said of former President Hugo Chávez and referring to her tenure at the State Department. But she said the United States had made no headway in its relationship with Venezuela, despite what she said were the Obama administration’s best efforts with Mr. Chávez â€" who died a year ago â€" and his successor, President Nicolas Máduro.

On the domestic front, Mrs. Clinton defended the Affordable Care Act, warning that young people who think they are invincible need health insurance. If all Americans are covered, she added, insurance costs would come down.

Mrs. Clinton used the talk to praise the Millennial Generation â€" generally defined as those born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. The voters of that generation would be crucial to Mrs. Clinton if she decides to run for president in 2016.

“If you look at what’s happening in our country today, it’s clear that the so-called Millennials are really representative of a generous and active generation,” she said.

At the end of the event, the university’s president, Donna Shalala, a longtime Clinton friend who was secretary of health and human services in the Clinton administration, coyly tried to discern Mrs. Clinton’s 2016 plans. She asked if the former first lady would reveal the meaning of “TBD” in her personal Twitter description. Mrs. Clinton replied: “I’d really like to, but I have no characters left.”

Clinton Addresses a Key Constituency at the University of Miami

Hillary Rodham Clinton fielded questions from college students in Miami on Wednesday evening, and in the process positioned herself as sympathetic to a younger generation’s concerns about the country and its political leaders.

In a wide-ranging talk at the University of Miami, Mrs. Clinton talked about tolerance and inclusion. “I hope your generation will be a true participation generation,” she said. “I hope you will find ways that the barriers that too often divide us are torn down once and for all.”

She also weighed in on the legislation in Arizona that would have allowed businesses to deny service to gays and lesbians. “Thankfully, the governor of Arizona has vetoed the discriminatory piece of legislation that had passed,” Mrs. Clinton said to applause.

Sounding at times as if she were still secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton discussed the crisis in Syria and called for the removal of the Assad regime’s chemical weapons stockpiles. “This is an issue I’ve certainly spent a lot of time working on and worrying about both when I was in the government and in the time since,” she said.

The students, many of them Latino, also questioned Mrs. Clinton about the violence in Venezuela. “We tried to engage President Chávez,” Mrs. Clinton said of former President Hugo Chávez and referring to her tenure at the State Department. But she said the United States had made no headway in its relationship with Venezuela, despite what she said were the Obama administration’s best efforts with Mr. Chávez â€" who died a year ago â€" and his successor, President Nicolas Máduro.

On the domestic front, Mrs. Clinton defended the Affordable Care Act, warning that young people who think they are invincible need health insurance. If all Americans are covered, she added, insurance costs would come down.

Mrs. Clinton used the talk to praise the Millennial Generation â€" generally defined as those born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. The voters of that generation would be crucial to Mrs. Clinton if she decides to run for president in 2016.

“If you look at what’s happening in our country today, it’s clear that the so-called Millennials are really representative of a generous and active generation,” she said.

At the end of the event, the university’s president, Donna Shalala, a longtime Clinton friend who was secretary of health and human services in the Clinton administration, coyly tried to discern Mrs. Clinton’s 2016 plans. She asked if the former first lady would reveal the meaning of “TBD” in her personal Twitter description. Mrs. Clinton replied: “I’d really like to, but I have no characters left.”

Rogen Tells Congress of Family’s Struggle With Alzheimer’s

Seth Rogen opened his testimony to a Senate panel on Wednesday with a quip.

“First I should answer the question that I assume many of you are asking,” said Mr. Rogen, whose many movies include a starring role in the stoner comedy “Pineapple Express.” “Yes, I’m aware this has nothing to do with the legalization of marijuana.”

When the laughter quieted, he got down to business before the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, where he testified about the devastating impact of Alzheimer’s disease on families and the need to raise awareness and financing for treatment. He described his and his wife’s experiences with his mother-in-law, who developed early onset Alzheimer’s.

“I thought it was something that only really, really old people got, and I thought that the way the disease primarily showed itself was in the form of forgotten keys, wearing mismatched shoes and being asked the same question over and over,” he said. “After that, however, is when I saw the real ugly truth of the disease.”

Mr. Rogen’s mother-in-law received an Alzheimer’s diagnosis when she was 55, and five years later she could not feed, dress or go to the bathroom by herself, he said.

He and his wife have been working with the Alzheimer’s Association to help spread awareness about the disease and to raise money for research. The congressional hearing room where Mr. Rogen testified was packed with supporters who wore purple sashes in solidarity with those affected by the disease, which is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States, and growing.

Mr. Rogen was not the only celebrity to hit Capitol Hill on Wednesday. As Mr. Rogen spoke, Ben Affleck was a few floors up, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the prospects for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is the founder of the Eastern Congo Initiative, a nonprofit advocacy group for people in the region.

House Republicans in Texas Donate to Protect One of Their Own

One of the surest signs that an incumbent is concerned about re-election is the amount of money that other lawmakers send his way.

By that standard, Representative Ralph M. Hall, who is in his 34th year of House service, is clearly worried. At least seven of Mr. Hall’s fellow Texas Republicans have contributed money to him from their own campaigns since the beginning of 2014, although Mr. Hall’s most recent Federal Election Commission filing incorrectly labeled them as individual contributions. Between Jan. 1 and Feb. 12, Mr. Hall raised $117,688 â€" more than four times what he raised during the same period in 2010.

Although Mr. Hall has increased his fund-raising effort, it’s the $13,000 in contributions from seven of his colleagues that is more telling. The amount isn’t much, but the fact that Mr. Hall is getting money directly from his colleagues is somewhat unusual. Lawmakers typically make donations to other candidates from their leadership committees, reserving the bulk of money in their campaign accounts for their own re-election efforts. Two of the House donors who gave money in January to Mr. Hall, William M. Thornberry and Kay Granger, last gave their colleague a campaign check in 2004, after Mr. Hall, elected as a Democrat, switched to the Republican Party. Representative Sam Johnson, another Texas Republican, also gave money to Mr. Hall in 2004, but did so again in 2012.

Mr. Hall didn’t make the House Republicans’ list of most endangered incumbents, because he’s at little risk of losing his 4th District seat to a Democratic candidate in November’s election (in his last race, he secured 73 percent of the vote). Instead, his concerns stem from the March 4 Republican primary, where a former United States attorney, John Ratcliffe, is running to his right. Mr. Ratcliffe has loaned his campaign $400,000 and spent $300,000 during the first six weeks of the year, including more than $80,000 on television and radio advertisements. Mr. Hall has responded with ads of his own on TV, billboards and other media.

Should Mr. Hall lose his bid for re-election, Republicans would be no worse off in their attempts to maintain a majority. But his replacement could provide another vote for the collection of conservative House Republicans who have caused a headache for Speaker John A. Boehner as he tries to preside over a splintered majority, perhaps one reason he is getting some financial help from his friends.

Sunday Breakfast Menu, Feb. 23

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

The Ukrainian Parliament voted Saturday to oust President Viktor F. Yanukovych after weeks of antigovernment protests and violent clashes with the military. Protesters claimed to have established control of the capital city, while Mr. Yanukovych called the events a “coup” in a television interview on Saturday.

President Obama condemned the violence in Ukraine this week. Protesters say more than 70 people have been killed. But Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, criticized Mr. Obama’s approach, calling him “the most naïve president in history” in a radio interview on Thursday.

Mr. McCain will weigh in again on the president’s foreign policy and the situation in Ukraine on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Susan E. Rice, the national security advisor, will give the administration’s position on developments in Ukraine and Mr. Obama’s relationship with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

On “Fox News Sunday,” Senators Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, and Kelly Ayotte, Republican of New Hampshire will also discuss the Ukrainian protests.

The National Governors’ Association held its winter meeting this weekend in Washington, and Mr. Obama pushed minimum wage raises in a meeting with Democratic governors on Friday. Several governors will extend the conversation on the Sunday shows. Gov. Scott Walker, Republican of Wisconsin, and Gov. Peter Shumlin, Democrat of Vermont, will give updates on their states on “Fox News Sunday.”

CNN will host four governors on “State of the Union,” including Gov. Mike Pence, Republican of Indiana, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Democrat of Connecticut, Gov. Rick Perry, Republican of Texas, and Gov. Jay Nixon, Democrat of Missouri. They will cover the health care law, minimum wage, same-sex marriage and the death penalty.

Gov. Martin O’Malley, Democrat of Maryland, and Gov. Bobby Jindal, Republican of Louisiana, will appear on CBS to comment on presidential prospects in 2016 and the health care law.

Former President George W. Bush will sit down with Martha Raddatz to talk about the Bush Institute’s Military Service Initiative, which helps veterans returning from war, on ABC’s “This Week.”

On Telemundo’s “Enfoque,” María Corina Machado, an opposition leader in Venezuela, will appear on the show to share her views on the protests in her country. The show airs at noon Eastern.

Lorraine Miller, interim president of the N.A.A.C.P., will talk about the minimum wage, the healthcare law and criminal justice reform on CSPAN’s “Newsmakers.”

Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart, Republican of Florida, and Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois, will give an update on immigration reform on Univision’s “Al Punto.”

Gov. Maggie Hassan, Democrat of New Hampshire, discussed the economy on Bloomberg’s “Political Capital” on Friday. John Sununu, former Republican senator of New Hampshire, and David Plouffe, former White House adviser, debated immigration reform. The show repeats throughout the weekend.