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Top Weekend Links: Edward Snowden's father to head to Russia to encourage son's return to US

From a Snowden family reunion to Christian hypocrisy demonstrated by some Republicans, here are some of the top stories from the weekend:

From a Snowden family reunion to Christian hypocrisy demonstrated by some Republicans, here are some of the top stories from the weekend:

  • Edward Snowden's father has obtained a visa to visit Russia, according to the family's lawyer. Lon Snowden said he intends to encourage his son to return to the United States to face trial. (New York Times)
    • Meanwhile, things between President Obama and Vladimir Putin are still seen as icy after Obama's Friday news conference, where he openly acknowledged the decline in U.S.-Russia relations. Sen. Robert Menendez told ABC's This Week on Sunday that he felt the relationship between the two countries needed to be evaluated. (Politico)
  • Three U.S. soldiers were killed in eastern Afghanistan Sunday by insurgents. The three service members were assigned to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. (NBC News)
  • San Diego Mayor Bob Filner is done with his two-week sexual harassment therapy program a week early. (NPR)
  • Texas Congressman Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, criticized President Obama's proposals to bring more oversight to the NSA surveillance programs. "The problem fundamentally is he’s failed to explain these programs, which are lawful, which have saved lives, (and) which have stopped terrorist plots. He has not adequately explained them or defended them," McCaul said on Sunday's Meet the Press(NBC News)
  • RNC Chairman Reince Priebus told CNN on Sunday that he would not pick sides over whether or not Republicans should force a government shutdown in order to put the Affordable Care Act to a stop, but he assured the public that he felt the problem did not lie within the GOP, but rather with the Democrats who were "fighting each other over the overall picture of whether or not we should keep Obamacare in place." (CNN)
  • Vice Presiden Joe Biden is headlining an event in Iowa in September--could this mean he's considering a 2016 bid? (AP)

And, in case you missed it, Martin was on The Ed Show Sunday evening to talk about the Republican Party's unwillingness to help those in need: