Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 4:54 PM
IRS Chief: "Foolish Mistakes" Behind Scandal
Outgoing IRS chief Steven Miller Friday blamed "foolish mistakes" for the agency's targeting of conservative and Tea Party groups for additional scrutiny over an 18-month period beginning in March 2010, and he said that he did not believe partisanship played any role in the controversy. "As acting commissioner I want to apologize on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service for the mistakes that we made and the poor service that we provided," Miller said at the outset of a House Ways and Means Committee hearing. J. Russell George, the Treasury Department inspector general whose report unearthed the IRS controversy, also testified that there was no evidence government workers targeted conservatives for partisan reasons. The answers did not satisfy Republicans, who spent much of the hearing trying to advance a narrative of a "culture of intimidation" of Obama administration ideological opponents. More congressional hearings are planned for next week.
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Friday, May 17, 2013 at 7:18 AM
Kidnap Suspect in Custody After Snatched Girl's Mom Rams Car
Albuquerque Police
A 31-year-old man has been charged with kidnapping and child abuse, one day after the snatched girl's mom chased down his car during a high-speed pursuit and rammed it with her own, police told NBC News. David Jesus Hernandez allegedly snatched a 4-year-old girl from the yard of her apartment complex Wednesday and forced her into his silver Buick. As the victim's mother chased him in her own car, Hernandez pushed the child out of his vehicle, according to authorities. The mother didn't notice and continued to chase the man, eventually ramming the Buick to a stop, after which Hernandez fled on foot. He turned himself in Thursday night.
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Friday, May 17, 2013 at 9:45 AM
Drone Pilot Burnout Triggers Call for Recruiting Overhaul
US Navy
Those training to pilot drones drop out at a rate of 30 percent, compared to a burnout rate of 10 to 15 percent for pilots training to helm fighter jets like the F-16, according to research by Brad Hoagland, an Air Force colonel and visiting researcher at the Brookings Institution. Hoagland, a fighter-jet pilot and operations commander of 23 years himself, is calling for a review of drone pilot selection, especially as 500 more pilots are expected to join the ranks of the military’s 1,300 combat drone pilots in the next few years, NBC News reported. Click through to read about how drone pilots are selected now and what challenges they face.
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Friday, May 17, 2013 at 6:21 AM
Soldier Sentenced to Life for Killing 5 at Iraq Clinic
Army Sgt. John Russell was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole for the 2009 killings of five fellow service members at a combat stress clinic in Iraq, The Associated Press reported. Earlier this week, a military judge found Russell guilty of premeditated murder. The only other possible penalty for Russell would have been life in prison with the possibility of release. Russell, a 14-year veteran from Sherman, Texas, had previously pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder so that prosecutors would take the death penalty off the table. The 2009 shooting was one of the worst instances of soldier-on-soldier violence in the Iraq war.
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Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 7:57 PM
Sisters Reunite, 17 Years Later, at High School Track Meet
Friday, May 17, 2013 at 1:16 AM
Uzbek Man Arrested in Idaho on Terror Charges
Getty Images
A man from Uzbekistan who was living in Boise, Idaho, was arrested Thursday and charged with plotting to support Islamist extremists there, according to federal prosecutors. Fazliddin Kurbanov, 30, a truck driver, had acquired a fuse, explosive powders and other parts that could be used to make a hand grenade, they said. He had also distributed bomb-making instruction videos, but he had been closely monitored by federal agents, prosecutors said. According to officials, Kurbanov watched videos online on how to make bombs, then bought components and then reached out to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan for more information on how to make them. It was then that the FBI learned about him, they said, and they stressed that he had not yet plotted any attacks. The Associated Press reported that he would appear in federal court Friday morning.
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Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 6:30 PM
House Votes to Repeal Health Care Law for 37th Time
Getty Images
Thirty-seventh time's a charm? Not quite, at least not for Republicans in the House who want the 2010 Democratic health care law off the books. The House voted Thursday to repeal the Affordable Care Act, this time using the IRS scandal to bolster their charges and saying the much-criticized agency will be involved in administering the law's insurance coverage requirements. The House voted mostly along party lines, with two red-state Democrats voting with the GOP for a 229 to 195 vote. That marked the 37th time the House has voted to repeal all or part of the law, though such a repeal stands no chance of passing the Senate. Michigan House Democrat Sander Levin called repeal "a Republican obsession," and indeed the law remains highly unpopular on the right, despite the Supreme Court's decision upholding the constitutionality of the law last year. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that repealing the law would boost budget deficits by $109 billion over the next decade.
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Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 1:39 PM
Second Suspect Arrested in Mother's Day Parade Shooting
A second suspect was arrested in connection with a shooting rampage that left 19 people injured at a Mother’s Day parade in New Orleans, police said Thursday, NBC News reported. Authorities identified the suspect as Shawn Scott, 24. His brother, Akein, was arrested late Wednesday and ordered held Thursday on $10 million bond. Each faces 20 counts of attempted murder, police said. The wounded, who were marching in what is known as a second line parade, common in New Orleans, included two 10-year-old children. Surveillance footage showed a man stepping into the street, opening fire on the crowd and running away.
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Friday, May 17, 2013 at 2:56 AM
2nd Top Official Out at IRS, Obama Names New Chief
AP
A second top official is out at the Internal Revenue Service, as the agency reels from a scandal over revelations that it gave special scrutiny to conservative groups applying for tax exemption. An internal memo said that Joseph Grant, commissioner of the IRS's tax-exempt and government entities division, will retire on June 3. That news came after President Barack Obama appointed a new acting IRS commissioner earlier Thursday, hours after he said he knew nothing about the actions within the agency until they were reported in the press. He named Daniel Werfel to fill the position vacated by Steven Miller, who resigned Wednesday on the Treasury's request. The president, however, declined to endorse appointing an independent counsel to investigate the controversy.
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Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 1:17 PM
"Perfect" Diamond Sells for Record $27 Million
Fabrice Coffrini / AFP - Getty Images
The Harry Winston jewelry firm purchased the largest diamond ever offered at auction for a record $26.7 million in Geneva Wednesday. The raw original 236-carat, colorless stone was extracted from a Jwaneng mine in Botswana, and the cut and polish process lasted 21 months. Now, the pear-shaped, flawless-clarity diamond weighs 101.73 carats and has been named the "Winston Legacy." Rahul Kadkia, head of jewelry at Christie's Switzerland and Americas, called the piece the "most perfect diamond ever offered for sale at auction." The auction also broke records for the highest prices for pearls and sapphires, according to a Christie's auctioneer.
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Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 12:12 PM
Tea Party Lawmakers Use IRS Scandal to Ding Health Care Reform
AP
Tea party lawmakers on Thursday warned that the revelation that the IRS had targeted conservative groups could lead to further abuses of government power, specifically when it comes to implementing President Barack Obama’s health care reform law, NBC News reported. "Could there potentially be political implications regarding health care, access to health care, denial of health care - will that happen based upon a person's political beliefs or their religiously held beliefs?" asked Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party figurehead, in a press conference on Capitol Hill. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a Tea Party darling with presidential ambitions said he’s worried that people’s “medical records now will be evaluated by the IRS.” He added that the while acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller’s resignation was a "step in the right direction," more heads needed to roll. The press conference happened hours before House Republicans were to hold their 37th vote to repeal or replace part of the law.
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Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 7:19 PM
IRS, AP, Benghazi: Guide to 3 White House Storms
With the White House facing several scandals — the Benghazi talking points, the subpoena of Associated Press phone records and the IRS’s political targeting of conservative groups — President Barack Obama on Wednesday tried to stop the bleeding, first by releasing emails about the crafting of the Benghazi talking points and then, about an hour later, announcing the ouster of the acting IRS commissioner. The White House also said Wednesday that it supports the re-introduction of a media-shield bill. The stakes in the scandals are high: Hillary Clinton, a presumed 2016 front-runner, is in the GOP's sights on Benghazi, and Sen. Marco Rubio said the IRS scandal could hurt immigration reform's chances of passing the Senate. In the meantime, Attorney General Eric Holder has promised a nationwide probe of the IRS scandal, and more congressional hearings are on the way.
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Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 6:01 PM
Obama Vows Crackdown on Military Sex Assault
AP
President Barack Obama vowed Thursday to launch a "sustained effort" to curb sexual assault in the military, calling the epidemic "dangerous to our national security." His remarks came after he met with Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Martin Dempsey and military service chiefs on the issue, as well as just after a bipartisan group of senators launched a bill to remove the investigation of serious sex crimes out of the military chain of command. The bill would place the decision for the type of trial with officers holding a rank of colonel or higher, and it would give service chiefs of staff the power to establish courts, empanel juries and pick judges. It would also enshrine into law Hagel's recent proposal of barring military authorities from reducing guilty findings. The new proposal comes in the wake of two separate accusations of two officers tasked with curbing sex crimes in the military of themselves committing sexual misconduct. Just after Obama's remarks Thursday, another officer in charge of a sexual assault program was relieved of his duties for his alleged involvement in a domestic dispute.
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Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 7:42 AM
One Million Flee as Cyclone Lashes Bangladesh Coast
AP
More than 1 million people were forced to evacuate after Cyclone Mashasen struck the southern coast of Bangladesh Thursday. Upon reaching land, the forward movement of the storm slowed, meaning the towns in its path would have to weather the storm for longer, the director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department said. The U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had reported Wednesday that the storm could bring life-threatening conditions to about 8.2 million people in Bangladesh, Myanmar and northeast India. At least 18 deaths related to Mashasen were reported in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka before the brunt of the storm hit. River ferries, boat service and factories were suspended in Bangladesh. Air force helicopters and navy ships are also at the ready, the military said. Cyclone Mahasen is rated Category 1, the weakest level.
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Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 7:36 AM
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Left Note Inside Boat, Sources Say
AP
Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev scribbled a note while hiding inside the hull of the boat, saying that the attacks were retaliation for American action against Muslims, sources told NBC News on Thursday. In that note, Tsarnaev, bleeding and hunted by police, said many of the things he told investigators from his hospital bed days later, after his capture, the sources said. The note was first reported by CBS News. Tsarnaev was discovered hiding in the boat, in Watertown, Mass., on April 19 after a daylong manhunt and is currently in a federal prison hospital in Massachusetts. He has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction and could face the death penalty. His brother, Tamerlan, was killed in a shootout with police in Watertown.
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