WASHINGTON – A Defense Department investigator on a terrorism task force looked into Fort Hood shooting suspect Nidal Hasan's background months ago, officials said Tuesday — providing fresh evidence the military knew worrisome details about the Army psychiatrist before last week's deadly rampage.

Two officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case on the record said the Washington-based joint terrorism task force overseen by the FBI was notified of communications between Hasan and a radical imam overseas, and the information was turned over to a Defense Criminal Investigative Service employee assigned to the task force.

That worker wrote up an assessment of Hasan after reviewing the Army major's personnel file and the communications. The assessment concluded Hasan did not merit further investigation, in large part because his communications with the imam were centered on a research paper he was writing at the time, and the investigator had concluded Hasan was in fact working on such a paper, the officials said.

The disclosure came as questions swirled about whether opportunities were missed to head off the massacre — 13 dead and 29 wounded — and the FBI launched its own internal review of how it handled the early information about Hasan. Military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies are all defending themselves against tough questions about what each of them knew about Hasan before he allegedly opened fire in a crowded room at the huge military base in Texas.

Within hours after the role of the defense investigator on the task force was disclosed, a senior defense official said "based on what we know now, neither the U.S. Army nor any other organization within the Department of Defense knew of Maj. Hasan's contacts with any Muslim extremists."

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WASHINGTON - Former President Bill Clinton knows just how high the political stakes are in the fight to overhaul America's health care system. His failed attempt to revamp the delivery of medical care contributed to the Republican takeover of the House and Senate in 1994.

Fast forward to 2009, where health care's white-hot spotlight now shines on the Senate. Clinton is still in the picture, and he's expected to speak to Senate Democrats about health care legislation during their weekly caucus Tuesday, officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss his schedule.

President Barack Obama wants to sign the legislation into law by the end of the year. But abortion opponents in the Senate are seeking tough restrictions in the health care overhaul bill, a move that could roil a shaky Democratic effort.

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., said he could not support a bill unless it clearly prohibits federal money from going to pay for abortions. Nelson is weighing options, including offering an amendment similar to the one passed by the House this weekend.

"While there may be different views about abortion, I think there's a strong majority against using federal dollars to fund abortions," Nelson said Tuesday on NBC's "Today."

Obama said the legislation needs to find a balance.

President Obama suggested Monday that he was not comfortable with abortion restrictions inserted into the House version of major health care legislation, and he prodded Congress to revise them.

“There needs to be some more work before we get to the point where we’re not changing the status quo” on abortion, Mr. Obama said in an interview with ABC News. “And that’s the goal.”

He said, he wanted to make sure “we’re not restricting women’s insurance choices,” because he had promised that “if you’re happy and satisfied with the insurance that you have, it’s not going to change.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33824081/ns/politics-health_care_reform/