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Pompeo slams release of "American Taliban" as unconscionable: Fox

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized the pending release on Thursday of John Walker Lindh, the American captured in 2001 fighting for the Taliban, and said he believed the decision needed to be reviewed. "Unexplainable and unconscionable," Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News. Pompeo said Lindh "still is threatening the United states of America, still committed to the very jihad that he engaged in that killed a great American and a great CIA officer.

U.S. prosecutors weigh death penalty for accused Pittsburgh synagogue shooter

The case of Robert Bowers, the man accused of massacring 11 people at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue last year was set to return to a federal courtroom on Thursday, as prosecutors weigh whether to pursue the death penalty against him. Bowers has pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh to a 63-count indictment. Some of the charges, including murder as a hate crime, can carry the death penalty.

Swimming, s'mores and shots: Camps harden vaccine rules in U.S. measles outbreak

As the United States battles its worst measles outbreak in 25 years, summer camps are tightening their policies on vaccines, with some prepared to turn away children whose parents opted not to vaccinate them against the disease. With more than 10 million American children attending summer day and overnight camps, camp owners and industry associations said they are urging parents to follow medical experts' advice to prevent their camps from becoming transmission sites for the highly contagious and sometimes deadly illness. Scott Rosmarin, whose family has operated Rosmarins Day Camp in Monroe, New York, for three generations, said he has already sent past camp families a letter warning that he will turn away longtime campers if their parents cite religious or philosophical objections to the vaccine.

Trump loses court round in U.S. Democratic lawmakers demand for bank documents on his businesses

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, three of his children and the Trump Organization on Wednesday lost their bid to block Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corp from providing financial records to Democratic lawmakers investigating Trump's businesses.

Trump administration holds off redirecting California's high-speed rail money

In exchange, the state dropped its plans to ask a court to at least temporarily halt any planned shift in funds, California Governor Gavin Newsom's office said. On Tuesday, California sued in U.S. District Court in San Francisco to challenge the administration's decision to withhold $929 million awarded in 2010 for a "bullet" train project hobbled by extensive delays and rising costs. The lawsuit argued that President Donald Trump has "overt hostility to California" and its opposition to his initiative, so far unrealized, to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

New Jersey man charged with threatening to bomb Trump Tower

Jonathan Xie, of Basking Ridge, was taken into custody on charges of attempting to provide material support to Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip and which the United States designates as a terrorist organization, making false statements and transmitting threats over interstate commerce, according to federal prosecutors. "Homegrown violent extremists like Xie are a serious threat to national security,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said in a statement.

Judge rules against Trump, paves way for banks to provide his business records to Congress

U.S. President Donald Trump, three of his children and the Trump Organization on Wednesday lost their bid to block Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corp from providing financial records to Democratic lawmakers investigating Trump's businesses. In a decision read from the bench after hearing arguments, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos in New York said Congress has the legal authority to demand the records, clearing the way for the banks to comply with subpoenas issued to them by two U.S. House of Representatives committees last month.

Republican senator wants U.S. Census to ask about criminal records

Senator Mike Lee of Utah suggested the idea at a hearing about the economic impact of the Census. It may add a new layer to a political battle over what questions the U.S. Census Bureau should include on its decennial survey of U.S. residents. "How many people are out of the labor force because of their criminal records?" Lee asked at a hearing in Washington by the Joint Economic Committee, which he chairs.

U.S. Treasury backs away from plan for Harriet Tubman on $20 bill next year

In 2016, the Treasury Department said it would replace former President Andrew Jackson's image on the front of the bill with that of Tubman by 2020, along with redesigns of the $5 and $10 bill. President Donald Trump has called the inclusion of Tubman on the $20 bill an example of "pure political correctness." As a presidential candidate, Trump suggested Tubman would be better-suited for the $2 bill, a note that is not widely circulated. "We will meet the security feature redesign (goal) in 2020.

Trump loses court round in U.S. Democratic lawmakers demand for bank documents on his businesses

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, three of his children and the Trump Organization on Wednesday lost their bid to block Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corp from providing financial records to Democratic lawmakers investigating Trump's businesses. U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos ruled at a court hearing in New York that Congress has the legal authority to demand the records, clearing the way for the banks to comply with subpoenas issued to them by two U.S. House of Representatives committees last month. (Reporting by Brendan Pierson; editing by Grant McCool)

Trump torpedoes meeting with Democrats, blasts Pelosi's 'cover-up' accusation

President Donald Trump on Wednesday abruptly cut short a White House meeting with Democratic lawmakers on infrastructure, then ripped into them over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's accusation that he is engaged in a cover-up and asserted that he could not work with them unless they dropped multiple investigations. The rupture bodes ill for any possible cooperation between the president and the Democrats who control the House of Representatives on legislation on infrastructure or other matters as Trump seeks re-election in 2020, signaling deepening political gridlock in Washington.

U.S. Navy SEAL appears in court for hearing in war crimes case

A decorated Navy SEAL platoon leader charged with war crimes in Iraq appeared in a San Diego military court on Wednesday for a hearing focused on allegations by his attorneys that prosecutors engaged in illegal snooping on the defense team and journalists. The hearing comes less than a week before Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher is scheduled to go on trial in a court-martial charging him with murdering a helpless, wounded Islamic State fighter in his custody and shooting unarmed civilians. Defense assertions that the Navy prosecutor, together with agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and presiding judge, have engaged in wrongdoing could lead to a substantial delay in further proceedings.

Rain, flooding expected in U.S. Southern Plains after deadly storms

Weather forecasters on Wednesday expected drenching rains to roll into the storm-ravaged U.S. southern and central states, where thunderstorms and tornadoes killed at least three people and triggered widespread flooding. More than 30 tornadoes struck a swath from Texas to Iowa since Monday, according to the National Weather Service, and residents in at least three Oklahoma riverfront communities were urged to evacuate due to flooding. One person was killed and another was injured when a tornado struck the rural town of Adair, Iowa, about 50 miles (80 km)west of Des Moines, at about 1:30 a.m. local time, the weather service said.

New York state legislature votes to make Trump tax returns available

New York state's legislature on Wednesday passed a bill that would make it easier for U.S. congressional committees investigating President Donald Trump to get access to his state tax returns. The Democratic-controlled state Assembly and Senate voted along party lines on the measure, which would circumvent his refusal to hand over his federal tax returns to Congress. New York Republicans who opposed the bill called it an abuse of power that fed into the political designs of Democrats in Washington, the Albany Times-Union reported.

Trump administration holds off redirecting California's high-speed rail money

In exchange, the state dropped its plans to ask a court to at least temporarily halt any planned shift in funds, California Governor Gavin Newsom's office said. On Tuesday, California sued in U.S. District Court in San Francisco to challenge the administration's decision to withhold $929 million awarded in 2010 for a "bullet" train project hobbled by extensive delays and rising costs. The lawsuit argued that President Donald Trump has "overt hostility to California" and its opposition to his initiative, so far unrealized, to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

'American Taliban' to be released from prison Thursday

John Walker Lindh, the American captured in Afghanistan in 2001 fighting for the Taliban and vilified as a national traitor, is to be released early from a federal prison on Thursday while some U.S. lawmakers worry he still poses a security risk. Lindh, photographed as a wild-eyed, bearded 20-year-old at his capture, will leave a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana on probation after serving 17 years of a 20-year sentence, according to a prison official. Now 38, Lindh is among dozens of prisoners set to be released over the next few years after being captured in Iraq and Afghanistan by U.S. forces and convicted of terrorism-related crimes following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Virginia governor's role in blackface yearbook photo unclear, school says

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's former medical school was unable to determine his role in a racist photograph that appeared on his 1984 yearbook page, according to a report released on Wednesday following a three-month inquiry. The photo sparked weeks of political chaos in the state after it was published by a conservative website in February, setting off scandals that embroiled Virginia's three top Democrats. It shows one person in blackface makeup and another in the robes of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan.

House panel, Justice Dept end standoff over Mueller documents

The House Intelligence Committee pulled back on Wednesday from threats to enforce a subpoena against Attorney General William Barr after the Justice Department agreed to turn over materials relating to an investigation into Russian election interference. The decision ended a standoff between the Democratic-led committee and the Justice Department for access to counterintelligence reports generated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller during his probe of President Donald Trump and his associates. The dispute, one of many between the Republican administration and the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, has come as Trump refuses to cooperate with numerous congressional probes into matters ranging from his personal finances and business dealings to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

U.S. military families more negative about housing than landlords claim, survey shows

U.S. military families are expressing far deeper dissatisfaction with their housing conditions than their private landlords claim, according to a granular survey of tenants at more than 100 bases across the country that was recently presented to Congress. The survey, conducted by the nonprofit Military Family Advisory Network, was initially publicized in February. For more than a year, Reuters has exposed slum-like conditions dogging the Department of Defense housing privatization program, describing how private landlords reap billions in payments even as tenants clamor for repairs.

In Fed policy review, labor may finally win out over inflation

At 2.3 percent, Minneapolis' jobless rate seems impossibly low, even with national unemployment at a 50-year trough. U.S. policymakers "may be satisfied because we see numbers we have not seen in a while" in the headline unemployment rate, said Tolliver, director of workforce innovation at the Center for Economic Inclusion, a local group that works on economic inclusion and growth issues. Federal Reserve officials increasingly agree.

Half of American adults expect war with Iran 'within next few years': Reuters/Ipsos poll

While Americans are more concerned about Iran as a security threat to the United States now than they were last year, few would be in favor of a pre-emptive attack on the Iranian military. Historically tense relations between Washington and Tehran worsened in May after U.S. President Donald Trump hardened his anti-Iran stance and restored all sanctions on Iranian oil exports following his decision a year ago to pull the United States out of a 2015 international nuclear accord with Tehran. The United States moved an aircraft carrier and forces to the Gulf region in response to intelligence that Iran may be plotting against U.S. interests, an assertion Iran denies.

U.S. states, cities sue to block Trump 'conscience' rule for healthcare workers

Two dozen U.S. states and municipalities sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to stop it from enforcing a rule that would make it easier for doctors and nurses to avoid performing abortions on religious or moral grounds. A lawsuit led by New York Attorney General Letitia James said the expanded "conscience" protections could undermine the ability of states and cities to provide effective healthcare without jeopardizing billions of dollars a year in federal aid. Sterilizations and assisted suicide are other procedures that might be impeded, according to a complaint filed by New York and 22 other states and municipalities in federal court in Manhattan.

California sues Trump administration over withholding high-speed rail funds

California and its high-speed rail authority filed suit on Tuesday to prevent the Trump administration from canceling a nearly $1 billion federal grant awarded in 2010 for a "bullet" train project hobbled by extensive delays and rising costs. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, claims the U.S. Transportation Department lacks authority to withhold the $929 million in question, which the Obama administration allocated nearly a decade ago but has remained untapped. The state also plans to petition for an immediate temporary restraining order to prevent the department's Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) from redirecting the money to other projects.

Oklahoma reels, Missouri declares state of emergency from storm, floods

Rescue crews using boats pulled at least 50 people from rising water as heavy downpours inundated roads and homes, Oklahoma Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Keli Cain said, although there were no reports of deaths or serious injuries. Only the tops of cars engulfed by water were could be seen in video footage of roadways near Oklahoma City, and some houses were entirely surrounded by floods. "It's real dangerous," said Ross Reuter, a spokesman for Canadian County, where 10 people were rescued.

California sues Trump administration over withholding high-speed rail funds

The state later on Tuesday plans to seek a temporary restraining order request asking a judge to prevent the U.S. Transportation Department from repurposing the money for other transit projects, the governor's office said. The state argues that the withholding is aimed at punishing California for opposing President Donald Trump's proposed wall along the southern U.S. border. The suit also names Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)and FRA chief Ron Batory.

Half of American adults expect war with Iran 'within next few years': Reuters/Ipsos poll

While Americans are more concerned about Iran as a security threat to the United States now than they were last year, few would be in favor of a pre-emptive attack on the Iranian military. Historically tense relations between Washington and Tehran worsened in May after U.S. President Donald Trump hardened his anti-Iran stance and restored all sanctions on Iranian oil exports following his decision a year ago to pull the United States out of a 2015 international nuclear accord with Tehran.

Hundreds rally at U.S. Supreme Court, calling state abortion bans as step backward

Abortion-rights campaigners, including Democrats seeking their party's 2020 presidential nomination, rallied at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to protest new restrictions on abortion passed by Republican-dominated legislatures in eight states. Many of the restrictions are intended to draw legal challenges, which religious conservatives hope will lead the nation's top court to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy. "We are not going to allow them to move our country backward," U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, one of the two dozen Democrats running for president, told the crowd through a megaphone.

U.S. garlic growers profit from trade war as most farmers struggle

Unlike millions of other U.S. farmers, garlic growers are profiting from the trade war with China and have cheered President Donald Trump's latest economic attack accordingly. Sales of California-grown garlic are now increasing after decades of losing ground to cheaper Chinese imports. Sales are poised to get even better as Chinese garlic faces even higher tariffs, with no end to the trade war in sight.

U.S. senators urge Volkswagen to end delay in Tennessee union vote

Three Democratic U.S. senators on Tuesday questioned a decision by Volkswagen AG's U.S. unit to delay a union election for workers at its Tennessee assembly plant. Earlier this month, the largest German automaker won its bid to put off a union vote for 1,700 workers at the Chattanooga plant until its challenge to a smaller United Auto Workers bargaining unit at the factory is settled. The National Labor Relations Board, in a 2-1 decision on May 3, granted Volkswagen's motion to stay an election petition filed by some of its workers last month.

McDonald's faces 25 new sexual harassment complaints from workers

The cases announced by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the labor group Fight for $15, and the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund cover alleged misconduct at McDonald's locations in 20 U.S. cities, including groping, indecent exposure, propositions for sex, and lewd comments. McDonald's is one of the world's most recognizable brands, and the cases make the fast-food chain a primary target of a campaign to extend the #MeToo movement, which sprung from sexual harassment cases in Hollywood, to the workplace. More than 90 percent of the locations are franchised, and McDonald's has long maintained it should not be liable for how employees in franchised restaurants behave.

Trump expected to tap ex-Virginia attorney general for immigration post: official

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to pick former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli for an immigration policy position at the Department of Homeland Security, a White House official said on Tuesday. Cuccinelli met with Trump on Monday, and the announcement of his appointment could come as early as this week, the official said. News outlets have reported over the last two months that Trump was searching for an "immigration czar" to coordinate policy across the federal government.

Trump appeals ruling allowing Congress to see his financial records

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday appealed a federal judge's ruling against his attempt to block a House of Representatives committee from seeking his financial records, according to a court filing. Lawyers for Trump and his company filed the appeal in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia one day after a U.S. district judge backed the House Oversight Committee's subpoena for Trump's financial records from his accounting firm Mazars LLP. The House Oversight Committee has said it needs Trump's financial records to examine whether he has conflicts of interest or broke the law by not disentangling himself from his business holdings, as previous presidents did.

With shelters at 'max' California border agents drop migrants at bus station

U.S. Border Patrol in the El Centro area of southern California said it began to drop migrants off at San Bernardino's Greyhound Station on Wednesday after it ran out of room to hold them. "It was a decision that was made because they couldn’t take any more families and obviously we cannot keep them in custody for much longer because we are at capacity," said Miguel Garcia, acting assistant chief patrol agent. Apprehensions of migrant families in California's El Centro sector rose 383 percent in the seven months through April from a year earlier as record numbers of mainly Central Americans crossed the border, Border Patrol data shows.

Rural Iowans ponder Trump alternatives as China trade war drags on

The world's two largest economies have been locked in a 10-month trade war that has roiled global supply chains and rattled financial markets. U.S. farmers, who helped carry Trump to his surprise 2016 election win, have been among the hardest-hit as China has imposed tariffs on imports of U.S. agricultural products, including soybeans, pork and grain sorghum in response to U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. Now, increasing frustrations over the prolonged dispute are prompting some rural residents in Iowa, home of the first presidential nominating contest in February, to consider candidates other than President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

Supreme Court gives Merck another shot to avoid Fosamax lawsuits

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday gave Merck & Co a new opportunity to avoid lawsuits accusing the company of failing to properly warn patients of debilitating thigh-bone fractures from taking its osteoporosis drug Fosamax, throwing out a lower court decision that had revived the litigation. The nine justices unanimously directed the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decision to let the lawsuits proceed even though the Food and Drug Administration had rebuffed Merck when the company sought to add a warning to Fosamax's label about fracture risk.

White House does not need a 'strongman,' Hickenlooper says in 2020 policy speech

"I think history clearly demonstrates that when you have a so-called strongman - a dictator - you don't have rule of law," Hickenlooper said when asked at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs if that was a better approach to foreign policy than multilateralism.