Morning Buzz: March 25, 2008

U.S. home prices dropped 11.4 percent in January, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index, the Associated Press is reporting this morning. The index looks at the price of single-family homes in 10 major metropolitan areas. The decline means that housing prices have been growing more slowly or dropping for 19 consecutive months. The worst-performing markets were in Las Vegas and Miami, while Charlotte, N.C., did the best.

Hillary Clinton's campaign is saying the candidate "misspoke" when she mentioned she had landed under gunfire in Bosnia in March 1996. "I remember landing under sniper fire," Clinton said during a speech last week. "There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base." Associated Press reports made no mention of Clinton being under extraordinary risks at the time and one of her companions, the comedian Sinbad, told the Washington Post he had no recollection of gunfire. Video reports from the time also are at odds with her stated recollection of the visit.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former aide Christine Beatty will be arraigned today on multiple counts of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and misconduct. Kilpatrick and Beatty have denied in court having had an affair. However, flirty and sexually explicit text messages sent to Kilpatrick's city-issued pager have called into question testimony Kilpatrick and Beatty gave last August in a lawsuit filed by two police officers who said they were fired for investigating the mayor's use of his security unit to cover up extramarital affairs. Attorneys for both asserted their clients will be exonerated.