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At Sunday's Golden Globes, Ben Affleck looked genuinely surprised and delighted twice toward the end of the evening: first when he won Best Director for Argo, and then again when the film won for Best Motion Picture/Drama.

The film, which Affleck produced and in which he also stars, is the mostly true story of the CIA operative who helmed the rescue of six U.S. diplomats who managed to escape at the outset of the 1979 Iran crisis that held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days after militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran.

Saying that "hiring a veteran can be one of the best business decisions you make," Wal-Mart U.S. CEO Bill Simon confirmed this morning that the retail giant is launching a plan to hire more than 100,000 recently discharged veterans over the next five years.

Good morning.

Our early headlines:

-- Lance Armstrong Admits Doping, Oprah Winfrey Confirms.

-- White House Plan On Guns To Include 19 Executive Actions, Lawmakers Say.

Retail sales rose 0.5 percent in December from November, the Census Bureau says. That may be a sign that as 2012 ended consumers were still in a shopping mood even as lawmakers in Washington struggled to keep the federal government from going over the so-called fiscal cliff.

"Well — he did not --"

Just four words.

No one's sure what he meant.

But just the fact that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was heard saying them Monday is news. After all, the famously silent justice has not asked a question from the High Court's bench since Feb. 22, 2006.

Britain's Observer newspaper ran a 2012 investment challenge pitting stockbrokers and wealth managers against Orlando. The calculating kitty chose stocks by batting a toy mouse onto a grid of options. The cat's portfolio came out ahead.

Thomas had gone seven years without saying a word in oral arguments. Then, on Monday, Justice Thomas made a remark. Several justices were talking at once, leaving his exact words unclear. But a detailed contextual analysis by The New York Times suggests he told a joke.

Update at 8:10 a.m. ET. Confession Confirmed:

On CBS This Morning moments ago, Oprah Winfrey confirmed that Lance Armstrong admitted to her in an interview recorded Monday that he did use performance-enhancing drugs during a cycling career that included seven Tour de France victories (titles he has since been stripped of).

Update at 1:25 p.m. ET. Announcement on Wednesday:

The White House says President Obama and Vice President Biden will unveil the steps they intend to take and legislation they recommend to reduce gun violence at 11:45 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

Our original post:

Fiction and nonfiction releases from Vladimir Nabokov, Karen Thompson Walker, Toby Wilkinson, Alec Wilkinson and William J. Broad.

Copyright 2013 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

While you're gearing up for the Political Junkie D.C. Live Road Show on Wednesday evening — see below for details — why not try and solve this week's ScuttleButton puzzle first?

At a White House news conference Monday, President Obama compared lawmakers who refuse to raise the debt limit to deadbeat diners who gorge themselves at a pricey restaurant, then try to skip out without paying the bill. Congressional Republicans quickly rejected the president's argument. They hope to use the debt ceiling fight to put the government on a spending diet.

Wal-Mart is expected to announce that it will hire every veteran who wants a job as part of a new program beginning on Memorial Day. The only requirements: that he or she left the military in the previous year and wasn't dishonorably discharged.

The deal is valued at close to $1 billion. Harry Winston is a symbol of luxury. It regularly loans out its diamond studded creations to stars for their walk down the red carpet. Swatch may be best known for its colorful plastic watches.

Having success in TV, movies and Broadway, Trey Parker and Matt Stone are now branching out with their own $300 million production company. They've named it Important Studios, and it's poised to approve TV, movie and theater projects.

After careening from back-to-back crises — recalls and the tsunami — Toyota is No. 1 in worldwide sales again. Toyota says it sold at least 9.7 million vehicles in 2012. General Motors reports it sold 9.3 million. Both companies say it doesn't really matter which one is in the top spot.

Banking regulators are telling JPMorgan Chase that it must take action to improve its risk analysis and money-laundering controls. The bank racked up a $6 billion trading loss last year. CEO Jamie Dimon cited managerial lapses and called the loss inexcusable.

Superstorm Sandy devastated the mostly below ground electric system that runs through the heart of Manhattan. What happens if Sandy is part of a new weather pattern? Con Edison, the utility that provides power to much of New York's five boroughs, is looking for ways to protect its aging infrastructure.

France has intervened in the conflict in the West African nation of Mali, but why does that conflict affect the United States? Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has offered the most basic take on America's interest in Maili: al-Qida is there.

The situation in the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo is much less dire than it was a month ago. Food stalls are full of produce, albeit at much higher prices than before, and the bread crisis has been somewhat averted. The fighting is now centered on airbases on the outskirts of the city.

The French military continues its bombing raids in Northern Mali, where extremists, including an al-Qaida affiliate, have taken over. The French have pummeled rebel positions from the air, backing up Mali's beleaguered army on the ground.

What does it feel like to be working in an emergency room during this nasty flu season? Monday. Every day feels like Monday, typically the busiest time of week in the ER.

"Now instead of having a Monday peak, it's seven days a week of a Monday," said Dr. Bill Frohna, who runs the emergency department at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C.

It's still too soon to say whether this is a historically bad flu season. But it's already clear that emergency rooms around the country are filled with a feverish throng that is much larger than the last time around.

Thousands of Minnesota soldiers deployed in Kuwait woke up to a surprise last spring. Just weeks before the end of their tour, a group of corporate recruiters in business-casual attire showed up on base. The first-of-its kind visit was part of a new strategy to help returning service members find civilian jobs before their feet even hit U.S. soil.

The number of suicide deaths in the U.S. military surged to a record 349 last year — more than the 295 Americans who died fighting in Afghanistan in 2012. The numbers were first reported by the AP; NPR has confirmed them.

Does President Obama have a problem with women?

On the level of appearances, he certainly does. Which is why at his Monday news conference, he found himself responding to criticisms about the lack of diversity in his picks so far for his second-term Cabinet — State, Treasury, Defense and CIA — who have all been white men.