Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of September 21, 2012. Give us your feedback below and tune in to Lubbock’s First News with Chad Hasty for these and many more topics from 6-9 am.

Mario Tama, Getty Images
Mario Tama, Getty Images
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1. Camping Out for the iPhone 5

The iPhone 5 will be released today and across the country, iPhone fans have been camping out in order to get their hands on the new phone.

I don't get camping out in order to buy something. Especially something like the iPhone which will still be around next week. I'm sure for many it's a social thing to do and they enjoy it, except for the person who shows up one person too late and has to leave empty handed. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of Apple and will in fact be getting the iPhone 5. However, I like sleeping in my own bed so I pre-ordered my phone last Friday and will be waiting for it at home whenever it arrives.

Is there anything you would camp out for?

2. U.S. Finally Admits Terror Attack (link)

The White House is finally admitting what we all, including Mitt Romney, knew. The attack on the U.S. Embassy in Libya was a terrorist attack.

The White House, after declining for more than a week to directly label the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi a terrorist strike, conceded Thursday that it was "self evident" that it was an act of terror -- an admission that took eight days for any administration official to make.

Earlier in the week, a top State Department spokeswoman declined to label the attack terrorism.

Carney's comment, though, comes after the director of the National Counterterrorism Center testified on Capitol Hill that the strike was indeed a "terrorist attack." Intelligence sources also told Fox News on Wednesday they are convinced the deadly attack was directly tied to Al Qaeda, with a former Guantanamo detainee involved.

The administration is still sticking by its claim that they don't have evidence the assault was pre-planned. But Carney for the first time Thursday called it terrorism -- while downplaying the fact that he was doing so.

"It is, I think, self evident that what happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack," Carney said. "Our embassy was attacked violently and the result was four deaths of American officials. That is self evident."

I wonder if the Obama campaign will apologize to Mitt Romney since he was right. Obama has failed and a terror attack has occurred on his watch on the anniversary of 9/11. Still, the White House just stands by and does nothing. Where is the outrage? If the terror attack was "self evident", why was this administration blind?

3. Obama Pressed on Failures (link)

President Obama probably won't be visiting Univision again anytime soon. According to Politico, Obama was pressed in an interview.

President Barack Obama on Thursday faced some of the toughest questioning of his reelection campaign to date, pressed repeatedly on his failure to achieve comprehensive immigration reform and other unmet promises from his 2008 run.

The Univision presidential forum at the University of Miami here kicked off with grilling on another topic which brought mounting criticism from Republicans Thursday: The government’s decision to label as a terrorist attack the violence at the consulate in Benghazi which killed American Christopher Stevens.

While Jay Carney at the White House admitted that the Benghazi attack was a result of terrorism, the President still wanted to put some blame on the video.

Asked why the United States was not better prepared, with better security at its embassies on the Sept. 11 anniversary, Obama responded by repeating the admonitions about not tolerating violence, but continued to discuss the incident in the context of the controversial video depicting scenes from the life of Mohammed.

“This is obviously something that is used as excuse by some to carry out inexcusable violent acts on westerners or Americans,” Obama said, “and my number one priority is to keep our diplomats safe and our embassies safe.”

The president did not go as far as had his press secretary, Jay Carney, who earlier in the day told reporters on the flight from Washington that the president considers the attacks last week in Benghazi terrorism.

“We’re still doing an investigation,” he said. “What we do know is that the natural protests that arose because of the outrage over the video were used as an excuse by the extremists to see if they could directly harm U.S. interests.”

4. Hobby Lobby & ObamaCare (link)

Hobby Lobby could face a backlash and boycott from liberals for their stance against ObamaCare.

A Christian-owned chain of hobby shops is facing a bitter backlash after suing the Obama administration over new requirements to provide insured employees with contraceptive and abortion coverage.

Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby filed the suit Sept. 12 in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City, alleging that the ObamaCare mandate violates the religious beliefs of the company's owners. The suit followed similar suits by Catholic colleges and a Denver-based company whose owners also objected to the mandate on religious grounds. While a judge has not yet ruled on Hobby Lobby's suit, a Facebook page calling for a boycott of the company, which operates 500 stores in 41 states, has appeared online, and several other forums have featured posts urging customers to steer clear of Hobby Lobby.

Lawyers argued that company employees are well aware of Green's views and their bearing on the company.

“The Green family’s business practices ... reflect their Christian faith in unmistakable and concrete ways,” the complaint states. The company employs full-time chaplains; close all store locations on Sundays and monitors all marketing and operations to make sure that it is consistent with their beliefs.

Failure to comply with the mandate could subject the company to as much as $1.3 million in daily fines, according to Becket Fund attorneys.

"They’re being told they have two choices: Either follow their faith and pay the government half a billion dollars or give up their beliefs,"  Lori Windham, an attorney from the Becket Fund, told Foxnews.com. "We believe that’s a choice no one should have to make.”

If Hobby Lobby isn't careful they could face the same wrath and fate that Chick-fil-a did. Oh, wait... their business went up.

Other Top Stories:

These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of Lubbock’s First News with Chad Hasty. Tune in mornings 6-9am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard online in our podcast section after the show at kfyo.com.

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