The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who was front-and-center during the Republican-led impeachment of President Clinton in 1998, is cautioning his GOP colleagues about the risk of appearing to be too eager as they dig into the scandals now dogging the Obama administration.

You're standing in front of a beer cooler staring at a sea of crafty looking labels. Like a puppy at the pound, each is designed to catch your eye and to get you to take them home.

Good Friday morning, here are our early stories:

-- Congress Due To Grill Ousted IRS Chief.

-- Reports: Russia Sends More Missiles, Has Ships Near Syria.

-- Kai The 'Hatchet Hitchiker' Is Accused Of Murder.

On Cragslist, he describes himself as "a clean man" with a job and no arrest record, who adds, "I don't like murder." For extra motivation, he promises an open bar.

Writer Kevin Williamson of the National Review attended a musical in New York. He says a woman was web surfing on her phone, violating theater rules. He tells Gothamist he complained to the woman. She replied, "So don't look." That's when Williamson grabbed her phone and threw it across the theater.

Friday's major news about the conflict in Syria:

-- "Russia Sends More Advanced Missiles to Aid Assad in Syria."

According to The New York Times, "Russia has sent advanced antiship cruise missiles to Syria, a move that illustrates the depth of its support for the Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad, American officials said Thursday."

(Most recent update: 12:50 p.m. ET.)

Saying that "foolish mistakes were made by people trying to be more efficient in their workload selection," the outgoing head of the Internal Revenue Service told Congress on Friday that he and the agency want to apologize for the targeting of some conservative groups during the 2012 campaign cycle.

On Thursday, President Obama named Daniel Werfel, 42, acting IRS commissioner. The announcement comes a day after the resignation of Steven Miller, who got caught up in the controversy over the IRS targeting Tea Party groups.