Claire McCaskill defiant as Donald Trump visits Missouri

Sen. Claire McCaskill said she has no regrets about her vote against the tax cut bill or calling it mere "scraps" for American families, striking a defiant stance as President Trump visits Missouri on Wednesday to boost her likely Republican opponent in November's election. The $1.5 trillion tax cuts and the rest of president's agenda loom large in a race where the two-term incumbent Democrat is fighting to hold on to her Senate seat in a state Mr. Trump won by more than 18 points in 2016.

14K Shoes Placed Near US Capitol for Child Gun Victims

Organizers said last month's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, served as a catalyst for creating the memorial and sending a message to lawmakers Thousands of children's shoes were on display outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday as a temporary memorial to children killed by gun violence. The Monument for Our Kids, made up for 7,000 pairs of shoes, represents every child killed with a gun since the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, organizers said.

3 rural Illinois men charged with Minnesota mosque bombing

Federal authorities on Tuesday charged three men from rural central Illinois with the bombing of a Minnesota mosque last year and said one of the suspects told an investigator the goal of the attack was to "scare" Muslims out of the United States. A statement from the U.S. attorney's office in Springfield, Illinois, says the men also are suspected in the attempted bombing of an abortion clinic in November.

Senator Grassley to Hold Guns Hearing Following Florida High School Shooting

Senator Charles Grassley plans to convene a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday in response to violence in schools following the Parkland, Florida, massacre. Among those Grassley will call as witnesses at the hearing are Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Governor Bill Nelson.

Protests expected for Trumpa s visit to California border

Ariel Norcross holds a sign during a rally against a scheduled upcoming visit by President Donald Trump on Monday in San Diego. Trump is scheduled to visit San Diego on Tuesday, setting foot in California for his first time as president.

Five East River helicopter crash victims drowned

Revealed: Five victims in East River helicopter crash DROWNED to death after they became trapped upside down underwater by their safety harnesses New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death for all five victims was accidental drowning The victims have been identified as Trevor Cadigan and Brian McDaniel, 26, Carla Vallejos Blanco, Daniel Thompson, 34, and Tristan Hill, 29 The five passengers on board the helicopter that plunged into the East River on Sunday drowned to death after finding themselves trapped upside down by their harnesses. The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Tuesday ruled that the cause of death for all five victims was accidental drowning.

Dayton, lawmakers propose overhaul of senior care oversight

Gov. Mark Dayton and a bipartisan group of lawmakers proposed major changes to the state's oversight of Minnesota's elder care facilities on Tuesday, aiming to reverse years of pervasive abuse and neglect of Minnesota's seniors that was only recently revealed. Addressing widespread abuse of seniors - and the state's lax oversight - were a top priority for officials heading into 2018, following reporting by the Star Tribune last year that exposed maltreatment and the state's struggles to keep up with complaints.

Walker reaches to center in volatile Wisconsin

Not long ago, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was the voice of a conservative revolution in the heartland, a Republican at the vanguard and a possible future president. Today, he's the voice of concern, warning his party - at home and nationally - that change is coming again.

Gina Haspel, nominated by Trump as first woman to lead CIA, has controversial past

Gina Haspel, President Trump's nominee to become the first woman to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, made her career in covert action, but her involvement in controversial interrogations has already provoked opposition in the Senate to her confirmation. Haspel, who joined the CIA in 1985, earned high-level awards during her career and was sworn in as deputy director of the agency on Feb. 7, 2017.

Trump says ‘no problem’ shutting government, dismaying GOP

Unnerving fellow Republicans, President Donald Trump declared Monday he would have "no problem" shutting down the federal government this fall if Congress won't come up with more money for border security. Trump's threat, his second in two days, put him further at odds with his own party in Congress, where many Republicans are facing tough re-election fights this November.

Bag – may have hit fuel switch before New York City helicopter crash’

A pilot who survived a New York City helicopter crash that killed five passengers told authorities he believed a passenger's bag might have hit an emergency fuel shutoff switch in the moments before the chopper went down, it has been reported. A federal official who was briefed on the investigation spoke to The Associated Press on Monday.

Europe, U.S. senator push back as Trump seeks lower EU tariffs

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will urge the European Union to lower its trade barriers, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday, calling them unfair to U.S. farmers and industry, a view rejected by the EU and challenged by a Republican senator. The European Commission accused Trump of"cherry-picking" data to distort the debate in a transatlantic dispute over U.S. metals tariffs that threatens to become a trade war.

Possible Kennedy retirement would give Trump opportunity to tilt SCOTUS

"Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy might retire from the bench as early as this summer, a GOP senator said, and if true, President Trump would be able to nominate a justice who could tilt the nation's highest court well to the right [sic] for the foreseeable future. Kennedy, the 81-year-old swing vote appointed to the court by former President Ronald Reagan, has served on the bench for 29 years.