39 minutes ago
Rescue Turns to Recovery as Search Nears End in Okla.
AP
The task of clearing debris from areas devastated by the massive tornado in Oklahoma was expected to start Wednesday as the search and rescue teams wound up their search, NBC News reported. President Barack Obama vowed to help victims get needed assistance "right away" after the category EF-5 tornado tore through the suburbs of Oklahoma City on Monday leaving a 17-mile path of destruction. Authorities said 24 people were confirmed killed by the twister, nine of them children, including a 3-month-old baby. Officials were still not certain how many homes were destroyed or how many families had been displaced. Emergency crews had trouble navigating devastated neighborhoods because there were no street signs left. Severe thunderstorms were forecast for an area stretching from the lower Great Lakes to the Tennessee Valley on Wednesday. The National Weather Service said that the “primary threats” would be damaging winds and large hail, but added “isolated tornadoes will also be possible.”
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2 hours ago
Tornado Victims Face Wreckage
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6 minutes ago
WATCH: House Committee Holds IRS Hearing
AP
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is holding a hearing Wednesday on the IRS treatment of political groups applying for tax exempt status. Though the panel will hear from two of the same witnesses who appeared at hearings of the House Ways and Means Committee last Friday and the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, two witnesses who have not yet appeared before Congress could make Wednesday’s hearing the most interesting yet, according to NBC News. Those witnesses are Neal Wolin, a deputy Treasury secretary, and Lois Lerner, who oversees the tax-exempt division within the IRS. Lerner’s attorney said Tuesday that her client would invoke her Fifth Amendment rights against having to offer self-incriminating testimony.
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2 hours ago
Sweden Stunned by Third Night of Unrest
AFP/Getty Images
Hundreds of youths rioted in suburbs of Stockholm, Sweden, on Tuesday night, setting fire to cars and attacking police and rescue services, Reuters reported. It was the third night of unrest, mainly in the suburbs where many immigrants live. The disorder, in one of Europe’s richest capitals, has fueled a debate about how Sweden is dealing with youth unemployment and an influx of immigrants. The riots appear to have been sparked by the police killing of a 69-year-old man wielding a machete, which prompted accusations of police brutality. A spokesman for Stockholm police said Wednesday that around 30 cars were set on fire and eight people had been arrested Tuesday night. After decades of practicing the "Swedish model" of generous welfare benefits, the country has been reducing the role of the state since the 1990s, spurring a rapid growth in inequality.
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4 minutes ago
FBI Kills Man Linked to Boston Bombing Suspect
AP
A Florida man linked to the Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot and killed while being questioned by the FBI in Orlando, Fla. overnight, NBC News reported. Ibragim Todashev, 27, allegedly attacked an agent with a knife, who shot and killed him, according to the FBI. Todashev was not suspected of being involved in the bombing, but he did confess to being involved in a brutal slaying in 2011 in which three men were murdered in an apartment in Waltham, Mass., investigators said, according to NBC News. Law enforcement officials said Todashev was being questioned as part of the FBI’s effort to find and talk to anyone who had any links to Tsarnaev. Todashev, officials said, had spent some time in the Boston area, where he was a mixed martial arts fighter, and knew Tsarnaev there. He had been interviewed about his connections to the bombing suspects before by the FBI and started out cooperative. Officials said he became violent as he was about to sign a written statement based on his confession.
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2 hours ago
Courage Amid Chaos as Tornado Destroys School
The powerful tornado that tore through Moore, Okla., on Monday hit hard Plaza Towers Elementary School, where children sheltered inside from the roaring gusts, even as the building began to come apart around them. The winds and flying debris from the mile-wide tornado claimed at least two dozen lives, the Oklahoma medical examiner said on Tuesday, according to NBC News. Nine of those victims were children. The seven students who were killed at Plaza Towers, a single-story cinder block building that was leveled in the storm, were found dead in a pool of water, authorities said. Another student died at Briarwood Elementary, less than two miles away. School officials had long planned for a tornado, but they were not ready for such such a devastating one, with EF-5 category winds that topped 200 mph.
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Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 2:49 AM
Immigration Bill Approved by Senate Committee
AP
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-5 Tuesday night on a sweeping bill to overhaul the nation's immigration system, NBC News reported. Three Republicans -- Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Orrin Hatch of Utah -- joined the panel's 10 Democrats to vote in favor of the bill. Flake and Graham are both members of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" that originally drafted the 844-page immigration legislation. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Mike Lee of Utah and Jeff Sessions of Alabama voted against the legislation. In an emotional moment shortly before the final passage of the bill, committee chairman Patrick Leahy announced that he would withhold a vote on an amendment that would give the spouses of LGBT individuals the same standing as heterosexual couples. The measure will now head to the Senate floor.
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 11:47 PM
9-Year-Old Among First Tornado Victims Identified
Courtesy Angela Hornsby
A 9-year-old girl is among the first of the Oklahoma tornado victims to be identified, NBC News reported. Third-grader Ja'Nae Hornsby, who was "always smiling" was one of the students who died when the tornado slammed into Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., on Monday afternoon. Grieving family members gathered Tuesday at a Baptist church in Oklahoma City to console each other after a night of anxious waiting ended with a devastating call from the medical examiner's office. Ja'Nae's father tried to race back home to pick her up from school and pick up his two-year-old from daycare as the twister bore down on the Moore suburb. By the time he got there, the school had been reduced to a pile of rubble and the parking lot was transformed into a triage area for surviving students. Click through to read more about the frantic search for Ja'Nae Hornsby.
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 6:57 PM
Army General Suspended from Duties Amid Adultery Investigation
U.S. Army
An army general being investigated for adultery and for being involved in a physical altercation has been suspended, NBC News reported. Army Brigadier General Bryan T. Roberts, the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Training Center in Fort Jackson, S.C. was allegedly involved in an altercation with an unidentified woman and is being investigated for reportedly having an affair with her, a U.S. military official told NBC News. The two were apparently making up after an argument when Robert allegedly bit the woman's lip, prompting her to seek medical help. While the investigation is ongoing, Brig. Gen. Peggy Combs, Commandant of the U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, will serve as the interim commander.
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 5:42 PM
Peace Corp Opens Up to Same-Sex Couples
Getty Images
The Peace Corp will now start accepting applications from same-sex partners who want to serve together overseas, NBC News reported. Deputy Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet said on Tuesday that opening up to same-sex domestic partners will diversify the pool of applicants for the volunteer force who serve in education, health, economic development and agriculture projects. Same-sex couples can start applying June 3 and those wishing to join will need to sign an affidavit to verify their relationship.
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 5:18 PM
Pakistan's New Leader Makes Landmark Offer of Talks to Taliban
AP
Pakistan's prime minister designate Nawaz Sharif told members of his party on Monday that talks with the Taliban is not off the table, NBC News reported. "All options should be tried, and guns and bullets are not a solution to all problems … Why shouldn't we sit and talk and engage in dialogue?" Sharif said. His announcement in Lahore has created a divide among Pakistan's political classes with many saying this is a war which must be committed to and won. The Pakistani Taliban would be willing to partake in peace talks, according to their spokesman, who added that they had already been willing to participate in peace talks with the previous government – and that they had wanted to work with Sharif as a guarantor to implement accords, if they were agreed to.
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31 minutes ago
Jodi Arias: Death Penalty Would Be "Revenge"
As an Arizona jury resumes deliberating Wednesday about whether she deserves the death penalty for the murder of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander, Jodi Arias is now asking jurors to spare her life after initially saying she preferred to die. “What I receive will be what I deserve, I believe,’’ Arias said in interview which aired on the "Today" show Wednesday. Arias said she deserves life in prison instead of the death penalty because she still has a lot to contribute to society. She also said she feels betrayed by the jury’s verdict, which her attorneys plan to appeal. On Tuesday she begged jurors to spare her life on behalf of her family. “I’m asking you, please, please don’t do that to them,” she said. “I want everyone’s pain to stop.” Asked in the "Today" interview about people who feel that the only way for Travis Alexander to get justice is for Arias to get the death penalty, the former waitress replied, "That's not justice. That's revenge."
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 12:55 PM
During Tornado, Trapped Students Had Nowhere to Hide
When the sirens began wailing and teachers at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., heard that a huge tornado was heading toward them, there was nowhere to hide.
They crouched in hallways and bathrooms, waiting, hoping and praying. Then "the school started coming apart," one neighbor who sought shelter at the school told The Associated Press. A teacher told NBC station KFOR that she draped herself on top of six children in a bathroom to shelter them. The twister hit the school at about 200 mph at 3 p.m. local time, tearing off the roof and killing seven children. Officials said the children drowned in a pool of water. As of Tuesday morning, it is still unclear if any other children were killed or trapped alive.
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Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 12:01 AM
More Rough Weather Hit Country Tuesday
About 9.5 million people remained under the threat of more "large and devastating" tornadoes Tuesday as the storm system that devastated the suburbs of Oklahoma City moved east, forecasters warned. A tornado watch was issued for Dallas-Fort Worth as well as all of north and central Texas until 8:00 p.m. ET. Tornado watches were also issued for a large portion of the south including Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee until 11:00 p.m. ET.
Weather Channel meteorologist Kevin Roth said early Tuesday that the threat area appeared to be east and south of Oklahoma City.
"Tornadoes, damaging wind gusts and large hail are possible throughout the threat area," Roth said.
He added that cities including Dallas-Ft. Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Shreveport, Texarkana and Little Rock were among the cities "close to the the larger tornado threat." The National Weather Service said storms were expected Tuesday "from the Great Lakes across the Mississippi River Valley and into central Texas."
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 6:22 PM
Senators Demand Answers from IRS Officials
U.S. Senators from both sides of the aisle demanded answers as to why action was not taken sooner to stop the IRS' practice of targeting conservative groups, NBC News reported. Senate Democratic leader Max Baucus (D-Mont.) -- who demand to know why those at the top of the tax agency did not take action -- called the conduct "outrageous" and "unacceptable." Former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, the Bush-era appointee who served during much of the time that the IRS targeting of conservatives took place, testified Tuesday that he was not aware of all the facts surrounding the abuses until earlier this month. Steven Miller, the acting IRS commissioner who resigned last week amid outrage over the scandal, also testified before the Senate Finance Committee. He said he was responsible for having another IRS official, Lois Lerner, answer a planted question at an American Bar Association panel discussion to publicly reveal the targeting of Tea Party groups and other conservatives, NBC News reported. Miller said his original plan for was the IRS to simultaneously brief Capitol Hill about the forthcoming inspector’s general report that detailed the abuses. “Obviously, the entire thing was an incredibly bad idea,” Miller said.
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