FBI knew about Russia interference with election, Harry Reid says

The FBI knew that Russia was meddling in the U.S. election to help ensure a Donald Trump victory - but the agency's director turned a blind eye to the interference, outgoing Senate minority leader Harry Reid claimed. A day after a secret CIA assessment showed several people connected to the Russian government leaked hacked emails from the Democrats to whistleblowing site WikiLeaks, Reid called for the resignation of FBI director James Comey.

Congress passes at least $120M in…

In some of its last votes of the year, the U.S. Senate finally approved legislation that will be worth more than $120 million to Flint, Mich., and its effort to respond to an ongoing public health crisis linked to high lead levels in its tap water. In a series of votes late Friday night and early this morning, the Senate passed a so-called continuing resolution to fund government through April 28 of next year and national water infrastructure legislation, two bills that together included provisions to authorize and pay for long-sought funding for Flint and provide $170 million or more to help address concerns of lead in drinking water.

A nuke waste train to Yucca could pass near Trump’s L.V. hotel

President-elect Donald Trump hasn't said whether he supports or opposes the Yucca Mountain disposal site, but a possible train route to haul radioactive waste from nuclear power plants could come within a half-mile of his Las Vegas hotel. Robert Halstead, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, said Friday the Trump hotel is within "800 meters of influence" of the railroad route that could carry more than 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste to the site about 90 miles from Las Vegas.

Capito calls on Trump to join fight for miners’ benefits

Senator Shelley Moore Capito is calling on President-Elect Donald Trump to make the Miners Protection Act a priority in his first days in office. Capito voted in the majority in favor of the continuing resolution on Friday night to fund the government.

2 officers resign rather than face firing in 2006 beating

Two Chicago police officers recorded on video beating an ex-convict at a restaurant in 2006 while off-duty have resigned instead of facing the prospect of being fired. CHICAGO - Two Chicago police officers recorded on video beating an ex-convict at a restaurant in 2006 while off-duty have resigned instead of facing the prospect of being fired.

Government funding bill clears key hurdle in Senate

A bill to fund the US government through April that got caught up in a fight over health insurance for coal miners, cleared a key procedural hurdle late Thursday when senators voted 61-38 to advance it. A group of Democrats, who tried to bolster the health insurance provisions in the bill, were not able to get enough votes to block it.

Senate pushes to avert gov’t shutdown over miners’ benefits

The Senate pushed to avert a government shutdown at midnight Friday as coal-state Democrats evoked President-elect Donald Trump in pleading for a more generous extension of health care benefits for retired miners. A key Democrat in the rancorous fight over benefits for retired miners facing a loss of coverage at year's end suggested he would beat a tactical retreat and resume the battle next year.

Governor Tomblin Urges Passage of Federal Miners Protection Act –

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin recently issued a statement urging congressional passage of the Miners Protection Act, legislation supported by U.S. Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito that would protect health care benefits for retired coal miners and their families: "For decades, West Virginia's coal miners have given tirelessly of themselves to power our nation, lift up our economy and support their families.

This day in history, Dec. 9, 2016

On Dec. 9, 1916, actor, author, producer and director Kirk Douglas, known for such movies as "The Bad and the Beautiful," "Lust for Life," "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" and "Spartacus," to name only a few, was born Issur Danielovitch in Amsterdam, N.Y. In 1935, the Downtown Athletic Club of New York honored college football player Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago with the DAC Trophy, which later became known as the Heisman Trophy. In 1965, Nikolai V. Podgorny replaced Anastas I. Mikoyan as chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, a job he would hold for almost 12 years.

Trump Inaugural Reprises Campaign Slogan in Attempt to Unify Country

A "Make America Great Again" hat sits in a glass case during Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's election night party at the New York Hilton Midtown, Nov. 8, 2016 in New York City. Donald Trump is reprising the slogan of his historic presidential campaign as the official theme of a five-day inaugural celebration in the nation's capital next month, ABC News has learned.

Trump mobilizing Louisiana Republicans in final Senate race

President-elect Donald Trump, right, greets Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, left, as he welcomes him to the stage during a rally at Hy-Vee Hall, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016, in Des Moines. Branstad has accepted Trump's offer to become U.S. ambassador to China.

Big business warns Trump against mass deportation

Still grappling with Donald Trump's surprise election, the nation's business community has begun to pressure the president-elect to abandon campaign-trail pledges of mass deportation and other hardline immigration policies that some large employers fear would hurt the economy. The push, led by an advocacy group backed by New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, is still in its infancy as the business world struggles to understand the tough-talking Trump's true intentions on an issue that defined his outsider campaign.

Colleges pushed to note sexual misconduct on transcripts

Colleges that expel students whom they suspect of having committed sexual assault are being asked to go further by specifying the reason for expulsion on their transcripts. Victims' advocates say it's critical to ensuring such students don't end up on other campuses without their new schools knowing the potential risk and to holding them accountable, long term, so they can't just move on with a clean slate.