5 Things to Know: The President's Approval Ratings, Medicaid Eligibility Stats

From President Obama's approval rating to the Pentagon's new rules about religious garb in the military, here are five things you need to know for the coming week: 

1. More than 6.3 million Americans were found to be eligible for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program between the Oct. 1 launch of the Affordable Care Act and the end of 2013, according to federal figures released Wednesday. Health policy analysts say another big factor was the "out-of-the-woodwork effect"— people who discovered they already qualified for government healthcare plans when they inquired about coverage under the Affordable Care Act.  

2. Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden will answer questions during a live chat today at 3 p.m. ET on the website freesnowden.is. Snowden recently shot down allegations that he was a Russian spy, calling them "absurd" in an interview with The New Yorker. 

3. The NBA will announce its All-Star Game starting lineup tonight at 7 p.m. ET on TNT. See which players are in the lead in this video.

4. A new Associated Press-GfK poll finds that President Obama’s personal approval ratings are up, but his job performance rating remains below 50 percent. Translation? America thinks he’s a nice guy, but only an okay president. Less than a third of Americans consider Obama to be an above-average commander-in-chief, but nearly twice as many find him likable.