In an anxious conference call from Air Force One, Obama asked campaign donors to send more money. Lloyd Grove obtained the tape and describes the presidential pitch.

As the mercury soars, customers in states lashed by storms Friday night may be without power for several more days. In Virginia, Gov. Bob McDonnell called the damage from the storm “a very dangerous situation,” as power company officials said it may take up to a week to restore service in some areas. Thirteen people were killed by the storm that left 3 million people without power. Communities around Washington, D.C., and in West Virginia were among the hardest hit, and states of emergency were declared in Maryland, Virginia, and the nation’s capital Saturday night.

With the 9/11 terrorist group on the ropes, the organization that masterminded the 2008 Mumbai attacks has become the world's most dangerous, says Bruce Riedel.

Thousands in Hong Kong are expected to protest the swearing in of new Beijing-backed leader Leung Chun-ying on Sunday. The semiautonomous Chinese territory marks 15 years since control of the financial center transferred from British to Chinese rule this weekend. The 57-year-old Leung faces growing discontent with the influence China has over Hong Kong’s government, and during the ceremony Sunday a speech by Chinese President Hu Jintao was briefly interrupted by a protester. Hong Kong’s chief executive is chosen by a 1,200-member council of commercial leaders who kowtow to orders from Beijing, angry residents say.

World leaders said they had reached a transition plan for Syria at talks in Geneva, Switzerland, on Saturday as a car bomb killed 85 people in a funeral procession in the country. The plan does not include a demand that dictator Bashar al-Assad be removed from office. While China and Russia—both among the five nations with permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council—have resisted calls for boots on the ground, it is expected that the United States along with France and Great Britain may ask for military intervention as the slaughter continues. “I think people with blood on their hands hopefully are not the only people in Syria,” said United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan, whose earlier attempt at peace unraveled in recent months. “It is for the Syrian people to determine the future of the country.”