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Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski came out Friday against calling witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment trial, all but assuring the Senate will move to wrap up proceedings with a likely acquittal in a matter of days, if not hours. “Given the partisan nature of this impeachment from the very beginning and throughout, I have come to the conclusion that there will be no fair trial in the Senate. I don’t believe the continuation of this process will change anything. It is sad for me to admit that, as an institution, the Congress has failed,” said Murkowski, R-Alaska, a key moderate senator...

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski came out Friday against calling witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment trial, all but assuring the Senate will move to wrap up proceedings with a likely acquittal in a matter of days, if not hours. “Given the partisan nature of this impeachment from the very beginning and throughout, I have come to the conclusion that there will be no fair trial in the Senate. I don’t believe the continuation of this process will change anything. It is sad for me to admit that, as an institution, the Congress has failed,” said Murkowski, a key moderate senator who...

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Veteran investigative journalist Carl Bernstein blasted Senate Republicans on the eve of their vote to determine whether or not witnesses will be allowed in President Trump's Senate impeachment trial. "The Senate of the United States, through the Republican leadership and membership, has now joined hands with a tyrant," said Bernstein. "We now have a precedent that's been set, especially if we're going to follow this new catechism, this cult of Trump that professor Dershowitz has advanced, this catechism that he cannot abuse his power. So, totally different situation than what happened in Watergate, because in Watergate the real heroes were...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) — A flight carrying 240 American evacuees from Wuhan, China — the epicenter of a coronavirus outbreak that's infected nearly 6,000 people and claimed the lives of 132 — touched down at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport shortly before 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. Kalitta flight #371, carrying 240 Americans from Wuhan, China, shortly after landing at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (KTUU) Passengers aboard Kalitta flight #371 will disembark at the North Terminal for further health screenings by the State Department of Health and Social Services, and to go through U.S. Customs while the Boeing 747 refuels before...

Top Republican senators dismissed leaked details from former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s upcoming book, saying the allegations were not new.“There’s nothing new here. It does seem to be an effort to sell books,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, told reporters in Washington on Monday.“The basic dynamic of the obligation of the House to take the time they have to put a case together doesn’t change. I don’t think it changes any fundamental information, nor does it change the basic case that the House has to put the case together,” added Sen. Roy...

Sometimes when prosecutors appeal to jurors to do their duty, it works. Other times, it backfires. For impeachment manager Jerry Nadler, it went up in flames. It turns out his condemnation of the senators during the Trump impeachment trial didn't just earn him an admonition from Chief Justice John Roberts. It may have cost him a swing vote. During his remarks in the Senate on Tuesday night, Nadler alleged that any senator who voted against a measure to allow additional witnesses was guilty of a White House "cover up." It was an incendiary and outrageous claim that was soundly rejected...

WEYBRIDGE, Vt. -- When Revolutionary War soldier Josiah Clark was buried in a small Vermont cemetery near a river bank in 1835, it was supposed to be his final resting place. But erosion over the years made worse by more intense storms has washed away some graves and left the remains of Clark, who fought at the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts, precariously perched on the edge of the steep eroding bank. “That’s a big part of our history, and I think it’s terrible that ... this is happening,” said Tom Giffin, president of the Vermont Old Cemetery...

The Trump administration plans to release guidance as soon as this month for granting states waivers to convert Medicaid funding to block grants, according to two people familiar with the matter, paving the way for a transformation of the 55-year-old program that is likely to reignite a partisan feud. The impending release comes as a surprise after the Office of Management and Budget, which reviews regulatory actions, indicated in November that block-grant instructions had been withdrawn. Lawmakers and legal advisers speculated that the guidance may have been shelved or significantly delayed. Approving state waivers to change Medicaid funding to block...

This didn’t take long, did it? Almost as soon as Mitch McConnell got past the 51st vote to use the rules from Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial for Donald Trump’s, he moved to seal the victory: Senate Republican leaders are preparing to move forward on a set of impeachment trial rules without Democratic support.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is on the verge of having sufficient backing in his 53-member caucus to pass a blueprint for the trial that leaves the question of seeking witnesses and documents until after opening arguments are made, according to multiple senators.That framework would mirror the...

After being a reliable ally to President TrumpÂ’s judicial nominees in 2017 and 2018, Susan Collins is suddenly opposing some of TrumpÂ’s court picks Some believe Collins may be trying to win some over some goodwill from Democrats in what may be a difficult reelection cycle. Per a PPP poll in October, Collins is unpopular, with only 35% of voters approving of the job sheÂ’s doing to 50% who disapprove. She trails a generic Democrat for reelection 44-41. That represents a big drop for Collins compared to a poll we did last September when she led a generic Democrat by...

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska expressed unease in an interview broadcast on Tuesday with the Senate majority leader’s vow of “total coordination” with the White House on impeachment proceedings against President Trump, a potentially significant crack in Republican unity. Ms. Murkowski, a moderate with an independent streak, told Anchorage’s NBC affiliate KTUU she opposed “being hand in glove with the defense” and voiced other concerns as the Senate prepares to hold a trial over the two articles of impeachment that the House approved earlier this month. Ms. Murkowski’s views could prove important. She rarely speaks publicly against Republican leadership, but...

All across the country, Planned Parenthood is trying to overturn laws that protect women from unsafe abortions. Its newest lawsuit, filed Thursday in Anchorage Superior Court, seeks to end an Alaska law requiring that abortions be done by doctors, KTOO News reports. The lawsuit challenges the Alaska law and decisions by the state medical and nursing boards prohibiting nurse practitioners, physician’s assistants and midwives from aborting unborn babies. It is no secret that the abortion industry has been struggling to find young doctors to replace aging abortionists. These new lawsuits are one of the ways the abortion industry hopes to...

Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands has sued over an Alaska law it says limits who can provide abortions. The lawsuit, filed Thursday, alleges a state law and Board of Nursing policy bar advanced practice clinicians from providing early abortion and miscarriage care that they are qualified to provide. This restricts access to abortion and other gynecological care "without medical justification" and violates the rights of women, the lawsuit alleges. Department of Law spokeswoman Maria Bahr said by email that the department will review the complaint when it receives it and "respond in due course to...

On 18 different occasions in 2019, a Massachusetts EBT card was swiped in Hawaii — including one that was used twice at a posh island resort where rooms fetch $800 a night, a report published Monday said. The Boston Herald said it reviewed more than 2 million EBT expenditures over the past year and found thousands of out-of-state transactions that included withdrawals in Las Vegas and Alaska. The Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards are issued to needy citizens who qualify and are replenished monthly. The state's Department of Transitional Assistance bars cardholders from using the cards for vacation services —...

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz on Saturday said that to resurrect America's greatness it was necessary to revive the economy, defend the Constitution, and restore America's place in the world arena. Appearing at the conference themed "America at Its Best," Cruz told more than 3,000 attendees to the Western Conservative Summit in Denver that "the single biggest lie" is that Republicans are the party of the rich. "The rich have done fine with big government," he said. The ones most hurt by big government are those who are struggling. The event, in its fifth year, is sponsored by the Centennial Institute,...

A national group called Republicans for the Rule of Law is running ads aimed at moving Sen. Lisa Murkowski off the sidelines. They want her to criticize President Trump for asking Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. But both of Alaska’s senators have said they see shades of grey in the Ukraine picture. This ad is showing up in Alaskans’ Facebook feeds. It’s focused, of course, on that call this summer, when Trump leaned on the Ukrainian president for an investigation of the Bidens. “We think she will be receptive to the message,” said Chris Truax, a San Diego attorney who...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Friday that all but three GOP senators had signed onto his resolution condemning the House impeachment inquiry. GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Mitt Romney (Utah) have not yet signed onto the resolution, according to an updated list of co-sponsors shared by Graham the day after he introduced the measure. A spokesperson for Collins didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about whether or not she would back the resolution, which formally opposes the impeachment inquiry and urges House Democrats to hold an official vote on it. A spokeswoman for...

Thousands of pro-lifers stood outside in all kinds of weather Sunday to pray for unborn babies and their mothers. People gathered in about 1,600 communities in the United States and Canada for the annual Life Chain, according to organizers. The event brings pro-lifers together in their local communities to pray for an end to abortion and peacefully witness to the truth about life in the womb. In West Reading, Pennsylvania, about 75 people stood on the sidewalks in the rain, holding signs encouraging mothers to choose life, the Reading Eagle reports. “We got rained on quite well but people stayed...

(CBS News/ KMOV) -- After over a year of secret construction, Planned Parenthood announced its newest abortion facility on Wednesday: an 18,000-square-foot mega-clinic in Fairview Heights. The new location is just 13 miles away from Missouri's last remaining abortion clinic, a facility in St. Louis fighting to keep its license. Since August 2018, Planned Parenthood has used a shell company to construct the facility, leaving no public trace that the former medical office would become one of the largest abortion clinics in the country. CBS News first visited the site in August, while it was still being built. Colleen McNicholas,...