Breaking now… a standoff with pirates developing minute-by-minute.  An American captain is being held hostage on a lifeboat by four armed attackers.  He’s their last bargaining chip.  A Navy destroyer has it in its sights.  AM has an angle on the story you will not see anywhere else.

We were actually working on a story with a crew member's father when this all went down.  Joe Murphy was teaching a first-of-its-kind course in fending off pirates at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy when he got the call that his son’s ship was hit.  He spoke to his son, Shane Murphy – who’s now in charge of the crew's safety – with the captain in danger.

Will the Navy act? Will the pirates flinch first? Answers could come over the next three hours… Don’t miss

Here are the big stories we're working on for you right now:

• President Obama arrived back from Iraq overnight.  A full agenda on his plate after a trip to try and reestablish America’s leadership in the world.  What did his journey accomplish? Are Iraqi police & military personnel up to speed for handling operations after U.S. forces begin pulling out?  We’ll ask NATO’s former Supreme Allied Commander, who led a Congressional study on Iraqi Security forces.
• Italy rocked by strong aftershocks – an uplifting moment amid disaster – a woman who was buried alive in the original earthquake, is pulled from the rubble.
• Congress and Castro – Members of the Congressional Black Caucus meeting with Raul and Fidel Castro.  It’s Raul’s first face-to-face meeting with U.S. leaders since he took over the island.  This comes as the Obama administration gets ready to lift all travel restrictions on the Island.  Has decades of Cold War-era policy been a complete failure – like Fidel Castro said?
• Stiffed by Stimulus – At first glance, it appears good on paper.  One-point-two billion in funds for Texas transportation infrastructure under President Obama's "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” but there is a growing anger in Texas over several expensive new TOLL roads being built with tax dollars.  They say that's equal to being taxed on both ends.
• The super-generous CEO – An insurance company owner sells half of the biz and then split the proceeds with all of his employees.
• Python Patrol – Need a job and don’t mind catching 20-foot, 200 pound snakes that dine on bobcats??  A non-profit group is trying to save the Florida everglades from pythons… and it needs your help.   We take a class on catching the beasts.

Two big developing stories overnight.  A small plane stolen in Canada lands in Missouri – the pilot is arrested.  Plus, a plot to assassinate President Obama is foiled in Turkey. The suspect is Syrian.  Here are the other major stories we're working on right now.

• President Obama is in Turkey speaking with Muslim youth this morning at a town hall in Istanbul, the gateway between the Muslim world and Europe.  He told students to “choose to build new bridges.”  We’ll talk about whether his tour changed our image around the world. CNN Chief International Correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, looks at President Barack Obama's first trip overseas - what did it achieve?
• The search for survivors intensifies after a strong earthquake in Italy.  An ancient town reduced to rubble. The death toll 150 and rising. We’ll look at a desperate search for students who may have been buried alive, when a dorm crumbled to the ground.
• Letter from a mass killer.  Confusion, paranoia, anger and frustration – all revealed in broken English in a letter purportedly written by the suspect in last week's deadly shooting at a Binghamton, New York immigrant center.  It was sent to a New York television station days after the massacre.
• The Texas Legislature is considering allowing guns on campuses.  This, after a wave of gun violence and mass killings across the country.  A former Virginia Tech student who lost his girlfriend in that school’s tragedy will debate it.

Live events and breaking news to kick off a big week:

President Obama arrived in Turkey overnight – two live events on our clock.  He’ll speak after meeting with Turkey’s President – and address the Turkish Parliament at 8:30 eastern time.  The President is making new overtures on his first official visit to the Muslim world.  Christiane Amanpour is up early to share her first-hand insight on the region.

North Korea fires its missile.  The President calls is it a "provocative act.”  Was it a satellite or a test launch?  Did the North Korea show its hand and actually help us tweak our own missile defense?  New details are coming in from the pentagon.

“Michelle Mania” continues – One year after the infamous “fist bump” cartoon appeared on the cover of New York Magazine, it appears First Lady Michelle Obama can do no wrong.  She’s a fashion icon and upstaging her husband, at times, overseas. 

And – Win one for Michigan!  The Michigan State Spartans will play North Carolina for the National Championship tonight in Detroit – a city suffering from 22% unemployment.  The home town team is offering a temporary escape from the economic fears plaguing Motown.

Happy Friday everyone.

President Obama is in France this morning for talks with the French president. Our Suzanne Malveaux is traveling witih the president.

Madonna's petition to adopt a second Malawian child was rejected by a local judge Friday, an official said. "The decision came down to residency requirement and the fact that the judge believes she was being well taken care of in the orphanage," said Zione Ntaba, a spokeswoman for the Malawi Justice Department.

The State Department on Thursday sent a blunt, public message to North Korea: Don't launch your rocket."We don't want to see this launch go forward," department spokesman Robert Wood said. But at the same time, the United States is carefully avoiding any suggestion that it would try to disrupt the launch and is being vague about what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others have said the "consequences" of the launch would be.

Remember "Freedom Fries"? Americans outraged over France's refusal to support the US position in Iraq in 2003 decided to rename "French Fries" to something, well, less French. US-French relations seemed to thaw when French President Sarkozy waxed poetic last year about Barack Obama. What about now? Has time healed wounds? And what about Sarkozy's recent threat to leave the G-20 talks if the US doesn't agree with the French position on the world economy?

Big tobacco has taken a big hit in Washington. Congress is moving forward with a bill that would give sweeping powers to the food and drug administration to regulate tobacco products for the first time ever.

Here are the big stories and guests lined up for you today:

• Breaking now: President Obama promising a "stern, united response" to a possible North Korea missile launch.  The President also saying that South Korea agrees.  those comments came overnight at the G-20 meeting as we received word that the North Korean rocket could be fueled up and ready to go in a matter of hours.
• Senator John McCain Live – The president asked if Republicans had any better ideas.  His former opponent has stepped up with a budget alternative that he claims will reduce the deficit while keeping the Bush tax cuts in place.  Senator McCain will be here live with the details.
• Building London Bridges:  High stakes economic talks are going on right now in London at the G-20.  President Obama will meet with Saudi leaders later this morning.  How will his promise to make us more energy dependent go over?
• We also have behind the scenes details from Buckingham palace.  Now the Queen has two iPods (we all have a knock-around one by now anyway…).  Our Suzanne Malveaux is taking a look at Mrs. Obama’s reception in London… the fashion and the pat-on-the-back, seen around-the-world. 
• Plus – the top three items you should be paying attention to at the G-20.  Why you should care.  We’re cutting through all the ceremonial stuff for the issues that matter to you and your money.  Leaders of the entire industrialized world are trying to save the world economy from collapsing.  What if they all leave with nothing but souvenirs?
• The Bailout Cop – He’s in charge of tracking your tax dollars. Just as anti-bank rage is flaring at the G-20 summit, we sit down with Neil Barofsky.  He’s the special inspector general investigating the bailout program. He’s already launched a dozen ongoing fraud investigations into the bailout – to make sure banks are using your money to fix our problems. FULL POST