Daybreak 7 Stories - May 18

There are key pieces of legislation - including a higher cigarette tax and reforms to payday lending practices - on the table as the South Carolina General Assembly enters the final week of the session. (The State)

Public colleges and universities are in a bind as they wait for lawmakers and Governor Sanford to finalize the state budget. Will stimulus dollars be available at a time when painful cuts will be needed even with that federal money. (The State)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates tells CBS News 60 Minutes it will take two to four years before the army in Afghanistan will be able to take the lead on operations.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner continues to struggle implementing key decisions with numerous top level jobs in his department still open. General Motors fired chief executive remains on the company payroll because his severance package hasn’t been finalized.

A USC baseball player is out of jail Monday morning after he was arrested over the weekend for public drunkeness among other charges. Police say Casey Matthew Rihn hit the back of a marked patrol car. (The State)

Michael Vick is scheduled to get out of prison Wednesday and he has plans in place to begin his hopeful comeback to the NFL. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

James J.T. Thomas won the latest edition of “Survivor” on CBS with a unanimous jury verdict.