READ IN: Winter Storm Warning Edition

We’re filing a little late this week, from the West Coast. But that just means more time to sign up for Read In!

A1: The stories you need to read before your first conference call.

— Police across the country are being warned to remain vigilant in the wake of fatal shootings that killed two New York City police officers on Saturday in New York City. In the D.C. area, police departments in Washington and Prince George’s County warned officers to stay aware of their surroundings, fearing further attacks. (Washington Post)

— The shootings exacerbated tensions between New York police officers and Mayor Bill de Blasio, who’s spearheaded efforts to change police procedures. Officers turned their backs on de Blasio as he entered the hospital where the two patrolmen, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, died. The man who killed the two officers before killing himself on a subway platform had been arrested 19 times and a history of mental illness. (New York Times, Washington Post)

— A winter storm developing along the Gulf Coast will surge north toward the Great Lakes on Christmas Eve, bringing high winds and rain and threatening travel plans along the East Coast. Tornados are expected in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, and bad weather could delay flights through Atlanta. The brunt of the storm will hit the D.C. area Tuesday evening into Wednesday afternoon. (Capital Weather Gang) Travel today if you can.

— The U.S. will review whether to return North Korea to the list of state sponsors of terrorism, President Obama said in an interview on CNN that aired Sunday. North Korea was taken off the state sponsor list six years ago, but the review comes as the FBI says it has extensive evidence linking the North Korean government to the attack on Sony. Obama called the attack “an act of cybervandalism.” (New York Times) China said Monday it opposed all forms of cyberattacks, but it said there was no evidence that North Korea was behind the Sony attack. The Chinese statement didn’t mention U.S. overtures for help. (Reuters)

— Former Interior Minister and Parliament Speaker Beji Caid Essebsi received 56 percent of the vote in Tunisia’s first free and democratic presidential election, Tunisian elections officials said Monday. He bested interim President Moncef Marzouki, who took 44 percent. Sixty percent of registered voters turned out. (New York Times)

— Front Pages: WaPo leads with rising tensions between New York City cops and Mayor de Blasio. NYT one column lead: “NEW YORK POLICE ADD PRECAUTIONS AFTER AMBUSH.” New York Daily News: “WE WEEP AS ONE.” USA Today banner: “Ambush recharges debate.” WSJ leads with signs of a possible stock market slump in 2015. LA Times lead from Havana: “Castro foes in Cuba decry thaw.”

National Roundup: What’s happening outside the Beltway.

— WH’16: Former DSCC executive director Guy Cecil won’t manage Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, he said in a statement Sunday. That leaves a shorter short list under consideration: Former DCCC chief Robby Mook, former EMILY’s List head Stephanie Schriock and California strategist Ace Smith. (Politico) Cecil celebrated his freedom — he plans to finally go on a honeymoon with his husband — at The Passenger on Sunday with a bunch of friends.

— More WH’16: The first candidate who can claim a local chairman or chairwoman in all of Iowa’s 99 counties: Ben Carson. Run Ben Run, a national draft committee, has raised more money than Ready for Hillary. Houston lawyer Terry Giles has interviewed potential operatives in New York and Washington, while Carson himself traveled to Israel last week. A formal announcement is expected before May 1. (New York Times)

— Florida: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to block a lower court ruling invalidating the state’s same-sex marriage ban. State Attorney General Pam Bondi (R), who appealed the lower court ruling, said in a statement that the stay on District Court Judge Robert Hinkle’s August decision will be lifted Jan. 5, when same-sex marriages will begin. (Associated Press)

— Utah: Sen. Mike Lee (R) is making nice with establishment Republican leaders as he prepares for a re-election bid in 2016, and a likely primary challenge. Salt Lake City bank president Scott Anderson has commissioned polls gauging Lee’s strength, and he’s spoken to possible opponents. Former state Republican Party chairman Thomas Wright is actively considering a bid. (Politico)

— California: Leondra Kruger, Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D) nominee for an open state Supreme Court seat, faces the Commission on Judicial Appointments today in Sacramento. Kruger would be the first African American justice on the court in almost a decade, but her appointment has drawn criticism because she lives in Washington, D.C., where she serves as deputy assistant attorney general. Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown wrote a column in the Chronicle: “Were there no qualified African Americans in California?” (Sacramento Bee)

DC Digest: What’s on tap today in DC.

— President Obama intends to announce he will nominate U.S. Attorney Sally Yates to serve as deputy attorney general. Yates is the top lawyer in the Northern District of Georgia; she’s known as a close Eric Holder ally, and she serves on the advisory committee that AG-designate Loretta Lynch heads. (Reuters)

— Vice President Biden called Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko Sunday for an update on the situation in Eastern Ukraine. A White House statement cited Poroshenko’s “notable efforts” to implement internal reforms.

B1: Business, politics and the business of politics

— The DGA has picked political director Elisabeth Pearson as its new executive director. Pearson has been at the DGA for four years, after serving as deputy political director at the DSCC in the 2010 cycle. (Politico) DNC spokesman Michael Czin’s last day was Friday, he said in an email to friends; he’s headed to Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser’s office, where he’ll serve as communications director.

— The Dow is up half a percentage point as of 11:35 a.m. ET. World markets closed higher almost across the board today. (CNN)

C1: The long reads you’ll need to check out before tonight’s cocktail party.

— British, American and Indian intelligence services all picked up signs of the deadly November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, but none managed to put together the complete picture before Pakistani terrorists killed more than 100 people at hotels and other sites around the city. Both British and Indian officials were monitoring the internet traffic of Zarrar Shah, the technology chief of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group that carried out the attacks, which could have pointed them toward the group’s plans. (New York Times)

C4: The comics page, fun things to read when you’re bored at work

— German astronaut Alexander Gerst spent six months on the International Space Station with his camera running. The resulting six-minute time lapse of his 12,500 best shots is pretty spectacular. Watch it here.

— A group of atheists in Minnesota — dubbed, helpfully, the Minnesota Atheists — is conducting a food drive it calls the “War on Christmas.” Minnesota Atheists leader Eric Jayne says he’s not anti-Christmas, though: “I have a Christmas tree in my living room. I drink eggnog. We all get fat on the holidays like everyone else.” (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

Attn Matt Drudge: Things conservatives will get outraged by today.

— The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s 10 most ridiculous lawsuits of the year: 10. Woman sues Disney for $250m, claims “Frozen” stolen from her life’s story. (link) 6. NYC woman spooked by “Dexter” ad sues MTA, Showtime for subway fall. (link) 5. Calif. town victimized by plaintiffs’ attorney who has filed more than 3,000 lawsuits. (link) 1. Plaintiff in pending disability lawsuit topples huge, historic boulder. (link)

Attn HuffPo: What outrages liberals today

— The U.S. Treasury Department said Friday it had sold its last shares of Ally Financial, the financing subsidiary of General Motors, the last remnants of the auto bailouts that started back in 2008. All told, the federal government sank more than $426 billion into the financial and auto sectors during the financial crisis — and recouped $441 billion, a $15 billion profit. The government maintains about $1 billion in investments in 35 small community banks. (ThinkProgress)