Trump’s Iran move reminds some of run-up to Iraq war

Agencies, Washington , Fifteen years after invading Iraq over weapons of mass destruction and ties to al Qaeda that both proved non-existent, the United States is again steering toward a possible confrontation with a Middle East power for suspected work on nuclear weapons and support for terrorism. U.S. President Donald Trump's Iran policy sounds hauntingly familiar to some current and former U.S. officials who witnessed the buildup to the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, where sectarian and ethnic fractures and some 5,000 U.S. troops still remain.

RedPort Global Unveils New Satellite Device

A new satellite device that combines the Inmarsat Fleet Xpress Network Service Device with the RedPort Optimizer Enterprise satellite router and VoIP gateway was launched by RedPort Global. The single rackmount appliance will manage ship networks with satellite broadband routing, VoIP connectivity and crew services, and replaces at least three pieces of hardware that were previously required for Fleet Xpress installations.

Stephen Colbert Breaks Down All the Scandals Surrounding Michael Cohen

It's a difficult task keeping up with the mounting legal troubles engulfing Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer. There's last month's FBI raid into Cohen's offices , Rudy Giuliani's baffling statements confirming the president reimbursed Cohen for money to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels, and documents this week that reportedly show a firm connected to a Russian oligarch paid Cohen $500,000 .

Joe Scarborough Blasts Trump Team: – They’re Not Smart…

Joe Scarborough knows the answer for why Trump officials and their allies on Capitol Hill continue to stumble from one blunder to the next - they're not very smart. The "Morning Joe" host made his pronouncement on Wednesday as the show was reviewing the payments that Trump attorney Michael Cohen received from various companies in exchange for insights into his former boss.

House bill would revive mothballed Nevada nuclear waste dump

The House is moving to approve an election-year bill to revive the mothballed nuclear waste dump at Nevada's Yucca Mountain despite opposition from home-state lawmakers. Supporters say a bill slated for a vote Thursday would help solve a nuclear-waste storage problem that has festered for more than three decades.

Report: Legal marijuana linked to opioid-use declines amid drug crisis

Some states allowing medical marijuana and recreational pot saw declines in opioid prescribing as authorities pushed urgent efforts to combat the historic American drug crisis. Medicaid patients, for example, are getting about 5.9 percent fewer prescription painkillers in medical marijuana states.

Campaign 2018: Hispanic activists show support for Dean Heller

U.S. Sen. Dean Heller this week unveiled a "Juntos con Heller" campaign with a coalition of 254 Hispanic activists committed to helping the Republican win re-election. U.S. Sen. Dean Heller this week unveiled a "Juntos con Heller" campaign with a coalition of 254 Hispanic activists committed to helping the Republican win re-election.

Dayton makes case for K-12 funding

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton shows a photo of his dog to students in Denise Ducharme's first-grade class while visiting Ben Franklin Elementary School Wednesday, May 9, 2018, in Rochester. Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton responds to questions from first-graders from Denise Ducharme's first-grade class while visiting Ben Franklin Elementary School Wednesday, May 9, 2018, in Rochester.

CIA nominee says she doesn’t believe torture works

President Donald Trump's CIA nominee said during her confirmation hearing that she doesn't believe torture works as an interrogation technique and that her "strong moral compass" would prevent her from carrying out any presidential order she found objectionable. Under questioning Wednesday by members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, acting CIA Director Gina Haspel said she would not permit the spy agency to restart the kind of harsh detention and interrogation program it ran at black sites after Sept.

Senate Democrats force vote to reinstate net neutrality

More than a dozen Democratic senators called publicly Wednesday for reinstating net neutrality protections, and moved to force a vote on the proposal. The issue galvanizes Democrats and is poised to pass the Senate, but it faces an uphill battle in the House and would likely be vetoed by President Donald Trump if it somehow gets to his desk.

In W.Va., it’s Manchin vs. Morrisey for U.S. Senate

Having roundly defeated U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins and former coal mining executive Don Blankenship in West Virginia's U.S. Senate Republican primary Tuesday night, Morrisey set his political sights on U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin in the Nov. 6 general election. He invoked Manchin's name close to a dozen times as Morrisey defeated Jenkins and Blankenship, garnering 44,888 votes or 35.6 percent of the vote count, according to the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office.

Trump is returning to campaign roots with rally in Indiana Source: AP

Taking the reins as party leader, President Donald Trump is returning to his campaign roots with big-stage events allowing him to target vulnerable Senate Democrats and mobilize his most fervent supporters on behalf of Republicans. Trump was set to rally supporters in Elkhart, Indiana, on Thursday night, two days after state Republicans nominated former state lawmaker Mike Braun to challenge vulnerable Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly.

Families tell EPA chief of deaths linked to paint stripper

Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney, left, and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt listen to President Donald Trump speak during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, May 9, 2018, in Washington. less Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney, left, and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt listen to President Donald Trump speak during a cabinet meeting at the White ... more WASHINGTON - Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt has met with families of two men whose deaths were linked to a toxic compound in a widely sold paint stripper, weeks after lawmakers pressed him about an Obama-era rule that would limit sales to consumers.

Haspel Won’t Condemn Waterboarding But Says It’s Over

Gina Haspel, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the CIA, promised she wouldn't resort to waterboarding and other harsh techniques that she once helped supervise, but she repeatedly refused to disavow their past use as immoral or ineffective. "Having served in that tumultuous time, I can offer you my personal commitment, clearly and without reservation, that under my leadership, on my watch, CIA will not restart a detention and interrogation program," Haspel told the Senate Intelligence Committee at her confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

What Gina Haspel didn’t tell us at her high-stakes CIA hearing

Don't ask Gina Haspel, President Donald Trump's nominee to run the agency, because she doesn't have a clear answer -- or, at least, not one she was willing to offer publicly and under oath on Wednesday. Called upon repeatedly during her confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill to address whether the CIA's post-9/11 detainee interrogation techniques were morally objectionable, Haspel demurred, refusing over and over again to address the question directly and without qualification.