Michael Cohen, a lawyer who made his career protecting President Donald Trump, was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for crimes including making illegal hush-money payments to two women during the 2016 campaign — a scandal that could damage Trump's presidency. Moments before learning his fate, Cohen told the court he blamed himself for conduct that brought him there, according to WNBC’s Jonathan Dienst. Cohen added that out of a “blind loyalty” to Trump, which he called his weakness, he had chosen “darkness over light. Cohen said he takes full responsibility and called this one of the most important days of his life. "I am truly sorry, and I promise I will be better," Cohen said in tearful remarks. Cohen's sentence is below the sentence guidelines of four to five years. He also received three years of supervised release and a $50,000 fine for lying to Congress. Get More

British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a political crisis over her Brexit deal Wednesday, winning a no-confidence vote by Conservative lawmakers that would have ended her leadership of party and country. But the margin of victory — 200 votes to 117 — leaves May a weakened leader who has lost the support of a big chunk of her party over her handling of Britain's exit from the European Union. Get More

Rep. Nancy Pelosi has all but ensured that she'll be elected House speaker in January by agreeing to limit how long she'd serve in the post to no more than four additional years. The California Democrat says in a written statement Wednesday that she is "comfortable" with the plan. Moments after she released her statement, seven rebellious Democrats said they would now back her. Get More

Nikki Haley, the departing U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in an interview for NBC's "Today" show that she used President Donald Trump's "unpredictable" nature to her advantage on the job. "He would ratchet up the rhetoric, and then I'd go back to the ambassadors and say: 'You know, he's pretty upset. I can't promise you what he's going to do or not, but I can tell you if we do these sanctions, it will keep him from going too far,'" Haley said. Haley also said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman doesn't "get a pass" for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. But she stopped short of recommending giving Saudi Arabia anything more than stern talking-to. Haley said that she wants her nominated successor, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, to be "successful" and "time will tell how this works out." Get More at NBC News

The company that publishes the National Enquirer admitted that it paid $150,000 in hush money to silence alleged mistresses of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump prior to the 2016 election, prosecutors said Wednesday. The publisher, American Media Inc., will avoid prosecution by stipulating that it worked with Trump's campaign to buy the silence of women — who have identified themselves as adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal — ahead of the vote two years ago, prosecutors said. The agreement between prosecutors and AMI was signed and dated Sept. 21. A representative for AMI and the company's CEO, David Pecker, a long-time ally of Trump's, declined comment on Wednesday. Get More at NBC News

Three people missing in an inactive coal mine in West Virginia were found alive Wednesday after being reported missing four days ago, authorities said. The three had been trapped in the Rock House Powellton mine in Clear Creek, NBC News reports. "Efforts are underway now to bring the individuals to the surface, where they will be transported for medical treatment," said Samantha Smith, a spokeswoman for the West Virginia Department of Commerce. Get More at NBC News

A North Texas family is opening up about a trip to see Santa they say they’ll never forget. "You appreciate it so much because he wasn’t supposed to do it, he wasn’t supposed to be here, he wasn’t even supposed to survive," Misty Wolf said. Wolf’s 6-year-old son Matthew was born 24-weeks premature and is both blind and autistic. Get More

American diplomats affected by mysterious health incidents in Cuba showed damage in the inner ear shortly after they complained of weird noises and sensations, according to their earliest medical exams, publicized Wednesday. The detailed findings were published in a medical journal nearly two years after what the U.S. calls "health attacks" began — and they shed no new light on a possible culprit. The U.S. says since late 2016, 26 people associated with the embassy in Havana suffered problems that include dizziness, ear pain and ringing, and cognitive problems such as difficulty thinking — a health mystery that has damaged U.S.-Cuba relations. Get More

Family members of a UPS worker who was found dead late last month said someone has been sending them suspicious messages pretending to be their beloved father and brother in a “cruel prank” following his death. Get More

A massive manhunt involving hundreds of police and soldiers was underway Wednesday for a suspected extremist who yelled "God is great!" in Arabic during a shooting spree around one of Europe's most famous Christmas markets. The assault in the eastern French city of Strasbourg killed two, left one person brain dead and injured 12 others, authorities said. Police union officials identified the suspected assailant as Frenchman Cherif Chekatt, a 29-year-old with a thick police record for crimes including armed robbery and monitored as a suspected religious radical by the French intelligence services. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss details of the large and ongoing investigation into the attack that set France on edge anew. The suspect's parents and two brothers, also known for radicalism, have been detained, according to a judicial official. Get More

President Donald Trump's first encounter with newly empowered congressional Democrats produced a striking Oval Office display that revealed how ill-prepared he is for the biggest political challenge of his presidency. There was Trump, sitting between two seasoned legislators, repeating his demands for border wall funds, while House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer first politely, then forcefully, told him no, with the force of their combined 60-plus years in Congress. Tuesday's televised bout offered a tantalizing preview of divided government in Trump's Washington. The bravado and playground taunts that are the president's signature weapons of choice ran squarely up against the Democratic resistance, subpoenas and gridlock of a soon-to-be empowered Congress. After two years of unified Republican control in Washington, Trump learned the hard way that as challenging as his first two years in office have been, the next will be even more trying. Get More

The J.M. Smucker Company is voluntarily recalling specific lots of 9Lives Protein Plus wet canned cat food due to possible low levels of thiamine, an essential vitamin for cats, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Get More