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Here's a look at the people who will be closest to Donald Trump in the White House, his advisers and his picks for the top jobs in his administration. The nominees for Cabinet positions will need Senate approval.
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Photo Credit: Getty Images
What Donald Trump's presidency will look like is unclear to many observers. He has not previously worked in politics, and has made contradictory statements on policy issues in several areas during his campaign. Despite the unknowns, Trump has an extensive public profile that, along with his real estate empire and the Trump brand, grew domestically and internationally over the last few decades. Here is a look at the president-elect's personal and career milestones and controversies.
Photo Credit: AP
Donald Trump in 1986 and 2016.
President-elect Donald Trump promised to repeal Obamacare, defeat ISIS, withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, create 25 million jobs over the next decade and "drain the swamp" in Washington, D.C. How well do his Cabinet nominees reflect his governing philosophy? Here they are in their own words.
The retired neurosurgeon and unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination grew up in Detroit and has no experience in elected office or in running a large bureaucracy.
"These government-engineered attempts to legislate racial equality create consequences that often make matters worse. There are reasonable ways to use housing policy to enhance the opportunities available to lower-income citizens, but based on the history of failed socialist experiments in this country, entrusting the government to get it right can prove downright dangerous." — The Washington Times, 2015
Former secretary of labor under President George W. Bush, deputy transportation secretary under President George H.W. Bush, Chao is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
"If vehicles already meet an acceptable level of safety on a particular aspect of vehicle performance without being required to do so by regulation, I believe the Department should devote its resources to other issues rather than engage in rulemaking simply to affirm the existing level of safety." — Statement before DOT deputy secretary confirmation hearing, 1989
A keen advocate for school vouchers and charter schools, influential in Detroit, where charter schools have a poor record and state legislators rejected calls for more oversight, she engages in political battles to help advance God's kingdom, she told a religious gathering in 2001.
"We are stuck in a partisan rut. The political parties are dead-enders when it comes to education revolution. As long as we think political parties might solve the problem it will never be solved. Oddly enough education choice is very unique in that some conservative Republicans and some liberal Democrats are actually on the same wavelength….But those are exceptions. The vast majority of the political class is committed to defending and protecting the status quo." — SXSW in Austin, 2015
The governor of South Carolina and the daughter of immigrants from India, Haley led the drive to remove the Confederate flag from the statehouse and during the Republican primary accused Donald Trump of "irresponsible talk."
"During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation." -- Speaking of Donald Trump and others in the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech, 2016
A retired four-star Marine general, he oversaw the Guantanamo Bay military prison and efforts to stop drug trafficking and other smuggling into the United States.
"In my opinion, the relative ease with which human smugglers move tens of thousands of people to our nation’s doorstep also serves as another warning sign: These smuggling routes are a potential vulnerability to our homeland. As I stated last year, terrorist organizations could seek to leverage those same smuggling routes to move operatives with intent to cause grave harm to our citizens or even bring weapons of mass destruction into the United States." — Testimony to the Senate Armed Forces Committee, 2015
Nicknamed "Mad Dog," the retired Marine Corps general and former commander of U.S. Central Command blames President Barack Obama's policy in the Middle East for adding to the rise of extremism.
"Is political Islam in the best interest of the United States? I suggest the answer is no but then we need to have the discussion. If we won't even ask the question, then how to we ever get to the point of recognizing which is our side in the fight. And if we don't take our own side in this fight we're leaving others adrift."— The Heritage Foundation, 2015
Donald Trump's campaign finance chairman, a former partner at Goldman Sachs, and Hollywood financier, he and partners took over failed mortgage lender IndyMac Bank and operated it under the name, OneWest Bank. He pledged to tackle mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
"It makes no sense that these are owned by the government and have been controlled by the government for as long as they have. In many cases this displaces private lending in the mortgage markets, and we need these entities that will be safe. So let me just be clear— we'll make sure that when they're restructured, they're absolutely safe and they don't get taken over again. But we've got to get them out of government control." — Fox Business, November
Perry, the former governor of Texas, has promoted the state's oil industry and has questioned climate change. He has advocated eliminating the department he would head though famously could not name it during a presidential debate in 2012.
"I do believe that the issue of global warming has been politicized. I think there are a substantial number or scientists who have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects. I think we're seeing, almost weekly or daily, scientists are coming forward and questioning the original idea that manmade global warming is what is causing the climate to change. Yes, our climate has changed. They've been changing ever since the earth was formed." -- Town Hall in Bedford, N.H., 2011
Republican congressman from Georgia, an orthopedic surgeon and persistent critic of Obamacare, he has repeatedly introduced his own legislation for replacing it.
"It's a fundamental philosophical difference that we have with the other side …. They believe that government ought to be in control of health care. We believe that patients and families ought to be in control of health care. And sadly what we're seeing right now is that government control that we've seen ramped up over the past six or seven years has resulted in a decrease in quality that's being seen by patients. People have coverage, but they don't have care. They're priced out of the market." — American Enterprise Institute, June
Attorney general of Oklahoma, one of the Republicans leading the legal fight against President Barack Obama's attempts to curb carbon emissions, Pruitt questions how much human actions are contributing to climate change, a point disputed by the vast majority of the world's climate scientists.
"Healthy debate is the lifeblood of American democracy, and global warming has inspired one of the major policy debates of our time. That debate is far from settled. Scientists continue to disagree about the degree and extent of global warming and its connection to the actions of mankind. That debate should be encouraged — in classrooms, public forums, and the halls of Congress. It should not be silenced with threats of prosecution. Dissent is not a crime." — with Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, Tulsa World, May
The CEO of CKE Restaurants, the fast-food company that owns burger chains Carl's Jr and Hardee's, Puzder is an opponent of the Affordable Care Act, which he said created a "government-mandated restaurant recession" and of raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, which he argues would lead to fewer jobs.
"I like our ads. I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis. I think it's very American. I used to hear, brands take on the personality of the CEO. And I rarely thought that was true, but I think this one, in this case, it kind of did take on my personality." — Entrepreneur, 2015
Turnaround specialist who became rich buying struggling steel, textile, coal and other companies and restructuring them, Ross came under criticism for a deadly explosion at a mine his company had bought.
"Clinton will raise taxes. Trump will cut taxes. Clinton will increase regulation. Trump will decrease regulation. Clinton has vowed to kill the coal industry. Trump will leverage America's energy resources to create new jobs and growth." — with Trump adviser Peter Navarro, CNBC, August
U.S. senator and former U.S. attorney from Alabama who failed to win confirmation to a federal judgeship because of concerns about racially charged comments he was accused of making, he has opposed immigration reform and the legalization of marijuana.
"You have to have leadership from Washington. You can't have the president of the United States of America talking about marijuana like it is no different than taking a drink, saying I used marijuana when I was in high school and it is no different than smoking. It is different. And you are sending a message to young people that there is no danger in this process. It is false that marijuana use doesn't lead people to more drug use. It is already causing a disturbance in the states that have made it legal. I think we need to be careful about this." — Senate floor speech, April 2016
Tillerson, the CEO of ExxonMobil, has what he has called "a very close relationship" with Russia's Vladimir Putin, which could be problematic during his confirmation hearing. Although he does not have a political or diplomatic background, he has broad experience negotiating deals for ExxonMobil in troubled spots around the world.
"We do not support sanctions, generally, because we don't find them to be effective unless they are very well implemented comprehensively and that's a very hard thing to do," he said, adding, "We always encourage the people who are making those decisions to consider the very broad collateral damage of who are they really harming with sanctions." — ExxonMobil shareholders' meeting, 2014.
Montana's sole representative in the House, Zinke would end a moratorium on federal coal leases on public lands. He is also a hunter and fisherman who opposes transferring public lands to the states.
"It's not a hoax, but it's not proven science either. But you don't dismantle America's power and energy on a maybe. We need to be energy independent first. We need to do it better, which we can, but it is not a settled science." — Campaign debate, 2014
Photo Credit: AP
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President-elect Donald Trump smiles as he listens to his pick for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos speak during a rally at DeltaPlex Arena, Friday, Dec. 9, 2016, in Grand Rapids, Mich. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
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Hindu holy men or Sadhus pray at the Sangam, confluence of rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, during the start of preparations and safe and successful completion of Ardh Kumbh mela, in Allahabad, Dec. 26, 2016. Ardh Kumbh mela, where millions of Hindu devotees take part and falls after every six years will be held at Allahabad in 2019.
A former Versace employee has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the company, alleging it uses a code word to alert workers when black shoppers enter the store.
Christopher Sampino, 23, says he was fired from the Versace outlet store in Livermore, California, after two weeks despite meeting and "exceeding expectations."
Sampino accuses the company of training him and other workers to use the code "D410" or hold up a black colored shirt when a black person entered the store, the lawsuit alleges. "D410" is the same code used for black-colored items of clothing, the suit states.
He alleges to have complained about the discrimination during new employee training, telling a manager "You know that I'm African-American?" In the lawsuit, Sampiro self-identifies as one-quarter African American.
The lawsuit claims after the revelation he was denied proper training and rest breaks, and was fired because "he didn't understand luxury."
Sampino is suing for damages and unpaid wages. He earned $13 an hour and worked 40 hours a week. His lawyers, Michael Robert Hoffman and Stephen Noel Ilg, said that he is owed $59,800 in back pay and other monetary losses, $25,000 for emotional distress, and at least $100,000 for "race-related" punitive damages. The attorneys noted they should also be paid $65,000 in attorney fees.
In a statement, Versace denies the allegations and attorney Joseph Alan Schwachter said the company plans to file for dismissal.
"We do not tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, national origin or any other characteristic protected by our civil rights laws," the statement says.
The suit was filed Dec. 16 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, although a version of the allegations was first filed in Alameda County Superior Court on Nov. 16, before it moved to federal court.
According to court documents, Judge Kandis A. Westmore ordered the case be assigned to an Alternative Dispute Resolution. The first case management conference is scheduled for March 21.
Photo Credit: Getty Images file
File photo of Versace logo.
A 14-year-old girl’s message to a friend led police to a horrific scene in North Carolina where the teen was allegedly being held captive and her mother killed, authorities said.
A 47-year-old man wanted in Ohio was charged with murder in the crime authorities called “demonic," according to NBC affiliate WYFF4.
Gary Stephen Love was charged after he fled from officers questioning him after conducting a welfare check Monday morning at a home near Statesville, according to the Iredell County Sheriff’s office. Deputies reported they went to the house after a 14-year-old girl sent a friend a message asking for help.
When officers arrived, Love reportedly told them the teen girl and her mom were at a funeral. He ran away from authorities during questioning and was later taken into custody, police said.
Inside the home, police found the body of a 46-year-old woman and authorities say the teen told them she’d been held inside the home since Christmas Eve. She said she had reportedly not seen her mother since that day.
The sheriff’s office said there are indications that one or both of the victims may have suffered violent sexual attacks while being held.
Love had reportedly been in North Carolina for roughly 90 days and knew the woman from childhood. The sheriff's office said he had an outstanding arrest warrant for domestic violence-related charges in Ohio and an active protection order against him in the state.
The sheriff's office expects more charges could be filed in the North Carolina case.
Photo Credit: Iredell County Sheriff's Office
A New York City Uber driver has been given a green light, and then some.
Noah Forman says he managed to hit about 240 green lights in a row earlier this month in Manhattan — and he’s captured video to prove it.
It's not the first time he's attempted the feat: he hit 186 greens back in 2015 when he was driving a yellow cab. Video of that journey shows him driving from Battery Park to Central Park and back down to the World Trade Center.
But in the early morning hours of Dec. 6, Forman hit the streets with the aim of shattering his previous record.
During the nearly 30-minute trip, he zigzagged from Harlem down to Washington Square Park, then back up to 59th Street and down again to the Lower East Side, where he finally hit his first red light.
A friend edited Forman's uncut video down to four minutes and said the feat might just be a world record.
Forman confirmed reports that he'd like to eventually double his number to around 500 green lights — and bring new meaning to "going green."
Photo Credit: Noah Forman
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A Florida woman is accused of trashing a Tampa Starbucks after employees refused to give her change for the bus.
Abigail Juanita Rowe, 32, walked into the Starbucks on Big Bend Road and asked for change, according to the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office. When a barista told her they don’t open the register for change, deputies say Rowe started knocking over display shelves and turning over tables and chairs.
Leslie McHugh said she was standing in line when Rowe threw a temper tantrum and captured the aftermath on cellphone video.
"It took me a second to realize no one was joking around. She was legitimately angry," explained McHugh.
McHugh's 7-year-old daughter was at her side and she moved to protect her child as the situation escalated.
"The lady shoved over a couple of displays. [My daughter] wasn't injured but it scared her and fell on her legs," said McHugh.
At the end of the video, a Starbucks employee can be heard helping McHugh's daughter. "I was really impressed with the staff. They ushered us into the back room, a stock room."
Other customers, three men and a woman, moved in to subdue the erratic woman. McHugh said the woman wanted to leave, telling the customers police officers knew where to find her. The customers refused and held her down until police arrived.
When deputies arrived, they arrested her. While searching, they say they found marijuana and paraphernalia in her pockets.
Authorities said Rowe would undergo a mental evaluation. Rowe is charged with criminal mischief, trespassing and possession of marijuana.
Photo Credit: Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office
The Amazon Echo is a voice-activated smart speaker that plays music, gives the weather forecast and updates its owner's shopping lists, among other everyday tasks.
But prosecutors in Arkansas believe one such virtual assistant may hold something far more crucial: data that can help in a murder trial.
The case against Bentonville resident James Bates is gaining national attention after prosecutors confirmed there is an active warrant to obtain information from his Amazon Echo, NBC News reported.
While Benton County prosecutor Nathan Smith told NBC News they're not trying to force Amazon to comply with the warrant — and the e-commerce giant says it has refused anyway — the case is putting a spotlight on how newer types of personal technology have become sought-after pieces of evidence.
Photo Credit: AP
File
Oregon state troopers and workers from the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife teamed up Wednesday to rescue a young deer trapped on a frozen pond.
A motorist on Interstate 84 called 911 after seeing the stranded deer, which was saved by officials using a drift boat, according to KGW.com.
The deer was helped off the ice and wandered away.
Photo Credit: Oregon State Police
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The Oregon State Police and Department of Fish and Wildlife rescued a young deer when it became stranded on an ice-covered pond near The Dalles on Dec. 21, 2016.
With no official place in Hollywood to honor the late Carrie Fisher, fans took it upon themselves to craft a tribute to the actress, author and activist by decorating a blank star on the Walk of Fame. Beverly White reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016.
The New Year usually comes with new resolutions, but change can be hard, especially once life goes back to normal after the holidays. To succeed with resolutions going forward, sports psychologist Dr. Stephen Graef at Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center recommends looking to the past.
Donald Trump said Wednesday that Sprint will bring back 5,000 jobs to the United States while another company, OneWeb, will hire 3,000 workers.
"Because of what is happening and the spirit and the hope, I was just called by the head people at Sprint and they are going to be bringing 5,000 jobs back to the United States, they have taken them from other countries," Trump said outside his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
The president-elect said the deal "was done through" SoftBank CEO and the current chairman of Sprint Corp., Masayoshi Son, a Japanese billionaire and technology investor. Son also owns OneWest, a startup internet company.
The telecom mogul promised to invest $50 billion in the U.S. and create 50,000 jobs after a private meeting with Trump in December, The Wall Street Journal reported. A Sprint spokesperson told NBC News the jobs announced Wednesday are part of Son's earlier commitment, but the 5,000 jobs will be funded by Sprint, not SoftBank.
Sprint has struggled under SoftBank. The carrier shed roughly 9,000 workers between 2012 and 2016, reducing its staff to 30,000, according to annual reports, The Associated Press reported.
In 2014, federal regulators objected to Sprint's attempt to join with rival T-Mobile, a merger that would have combined two of the four largest mobile telecom companies in the United States. But a Trump administration would be more likely to approve blockbuster mergers, including a deal between Sprint and T-Mobile, analysts say.
Sprint Chief Executive Marcelo Claure said in a statement that the company is "excited" to work with Trump.
“We are excited to work with President-Elect Trump and his Administration to do our part to drive economic growth and create jobs in the U.S.,” Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure said in a statement following the announcement. “We believe it is critical for business and government to partner together to create more job opportunities in the U.S. and ensure prosperity for all Americans.”
During his campaign, the New York businessman pledged to do more to protect workers' interest and singled out numerous companies for criticism.
Earlier this month, Trump brokered a deal to keep a Carrier plant in Indiana and save about 1,000 jobs. Under the proposed deal with Carrier's parent company United Technologies, the company would receive $7 million in financial incentives over 10 years in exchange for a guarantee that Carrier would retain at least 1,000 jobs and invest $16 million into its Indiana operation, a source familiar with the talks said, NBC News reported.
He has also called on Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp to lower their costs for U.S. military and government projects.
On Tuesday, Trump thanked himself for a surge in a key gauge of consumer confidence. He wrote on Twitter that the Conference Board had reported that its consumer confidence index had climbed to 113.7 in December, the highest the index has climbed in more than 15 years.
"Thanks Donald!" he wrote.
The Sprint announcement came after tensions rose and fell Wednesday between Trump and President Barack Obama. The president-elect accused president Obama of throwing up "inflammatory" roadblocks during the transition of power and said his administration has treated Israel with "total disdain and disrespect."
"Doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory President O statements and roadblocks," Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. "Thought it was going to be a smooth transition — NOT!"
However, later Wednesday Trump told journalists at Mar-a-Lago that the changeover of power is going "very, very smoothly."
The reversal appeared to come after Trump and Obama spoke privately. “He phoned me,” Trump told reporters. “We had a very nice conversation.”
White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Obama phoned Trump. "Today's call, like the others since the election, was positive and focused on continuing a smooth and effective transition," Schultz said. "The president and president-elect committed to staying in touch over the next several weeks."
The Obama administration is preparing retaliatory actions against Russia for its alleged involvement in cyber-attacks on Democratic Party institutions in order to interfere in the presidential election, two senior U.S. officials confirmed to NBC News.
As early as Thursday or Friday, a 2015 Obama executive order will be updated to announce the retaliatory steps, the officials said.
The announced steps will likely include economic sanctions coordinated by the Treasury Department.
Unannounced steps will be covert and will involve cyber option — although the U.S. has been very careful to try to avoid engaging Russia in an all-out cyber war, the officials said.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
U.S. President Barack Obama, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Just a day after actress Carrie Fisher died, her grieving mother Debbie Reynolds passed away. She was 84.
“She's gone to be with Carrie,” her son Todd Fisher told NBC News. " She loved taking care of her and now she's gone to be with her."
The "Singing' in the Rain" star was rushed to a California hospital earlier Wednesday after suffering a medical emergency.
The double tragedy deals a blow to Reynolds and Fisher families, which are still mourning Fisher's death.
Hollywood is also in shock over the successive losses of two icons. Fellow actors and celebrities took to social media to send condolences to the families.
"A final curtain made of tears #DebbieReynolds #CarrieFisher," actress Rose McGowan wrote on Twitter.
Ellen Degeneres, actress Illeana Douglas and actor Albert Brooks expressed their disbelief over Reynold's death one day after her daughter's.
"Debbie Reynolds was one of the last of Hollywood Royalty. It breaks my heart that she is gone. I'd hoped that my grieving was done for 2016." William Shatner tweeted.
Actress Lisa Rina noted the "unbearable loss of a child" and "Star Trek" star George Takei wrote on Twitter that "Debbie died of a broken heart, but she's with her daughter now."
"My thoughts and prayers are with the family during this time of unimaginable loss. Two generations in two days," Chaz Bono tweeted.
Photo Credit: Paul Drinkwater/NBC
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Debbie Reynolds plays Amanda Cody in an 1989 episode of "Perry Mason: The Case Of The Musical Murder".
The Truvada pill is taken daily to prevent HIV and has been touted as a miracle drug responsible for lowering rates of the virus across the United States. But soon, the daily pill may be overshadowed by an even simpler method — a single flu shot-like injection at the doctor's office, once every two months, NBC News reported.
The National Institutes of Health announced last week that it was entering the first-ever global clinical trial of an injectable HIV-prevention drug called cabotegravir. The trial is taking place in eight countries across three world regions — the Americas, Africa and Asia — and researchers are enrolling 4,500 gay and bisexual men along with transgender women, pulling from groups with the highest rates of new infections.
"The annual number of new HIV infections among young people, especially young men who have sex with men and transgender women who have sex with men, has been on the rise despite nearly flat HIV incidence among adults worldwide," said Raphael J. Landovitz, the protocol chair for the study.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
File - Syringe with hypodermic needle
Once known as the "crack king" of Oakland, Darryl Reed officially became a free man Wednesday night after he and 110 others were granted clemency by President Barack Obama in August.
Reed had been living under home confinment until Wednesday. In his first Bay Area interview since being in prison for 26 years, he spoke with NBC Bay Area on a wide range of subjects.
First, he wanted it known that his street name, Lil' D, is behind him. Then, after briefly acknowledging his past, he talked about the future.
"I don’t care what the district attorneys try to tell the public. Don’t nobody deserve to do 30 to 40 years for selling no drugs," said Reed, who served 26 years of a 35-year sentence for manufacturing, possessing and selling crack cocaine. "I’m going to take the negative about my journey and turn it into a positive."
With his limited freedom so far, Reed seems to be doing just that, donating toys to kids in Oakland this Christmas.
Twenty-eight years ago, he was a very different man. In the late 1980s, Reed became one of the most powerful drug dealers in the Bay Area, at 20 years old.
Today, he wants to make a difference.
"The things that I went through that got me where I'm at now are giving me the tools to take my life story and share it with the world," he said.
The Obama White House said Reed and the 110 others whose sentences were commuted with him were sentenced under outdated laws to unduly long prison terms. Inmates applying for a reduced sentence must be nonviolent.
"We must remember that these are individuals -- sons, daughters, parents, and in many cases, grandparents -- who have taken steps toward rehabilitation and who have earned their second chance," White House Counsel Neil Eggleston wrote at the time.
Former prosecutor Rus Giuntini contends that Reed’s early release was inappropriate, saying the president’s decision to cut Reed's sentence short was like commuting a sentence for Al Capone.
Reed said he doesn’t care what Giuntini thinks, and that he spent nearly 30 years behind bars "for a drug charge."
"First offender," Reed said. "So for him to question the decision the chief of us makes, it sounds like it’s something personal with him."
Photo Credit: NBC Bay Area
Darryl Reed, who officially became a free man Wednesday after serving 26 years in prison for dealing drugs, cuts a cake. (Dec. 28, 2016)
"Star Wars" fans gathered at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas, to honor the late Carrie Fisher with a lightsaber vigil. A crowd of people lifted their lightsabers in salute as a band played and children battled Stormtroopers.
Photo Credit: @helennatx/Instagram
A Queen Anne's County sheriff's deputy was shot and critically wounded while escorting a woman back into a home to pick up clothing following a domestic incident at a home early Thursday morning, authorities said.
An armed suspect was also shot in the incident, and has died, authorities said.
The incident began Wednesday evening when the sheriff's office responded to a domestic disturbance on Edmore Road in Chestertown, Maryland, shortly after 9:30 p.m.
The woman involved in the incident later went to the sheriff's headquarters, and deputies escorted the woman back to the home shortly after midnight to get clothing.
A man inside the home was armed with a shotgun and fired at Deputy First Class Warren Scott Hogan, the Queen Anne's County Sheriff's Office said.
Hogan returned fire, and both he and the suspect were shot.
Hogan was flown to Shock Trauma, where he underwent surgery. He is in critical condition, the sheriff's office said.
"Your prayers, posts and messages are appreciated," the sheriff's office posted on Facebook.
The suspect's identity has not yet been released.
The Maryland State Police homicide unit is investigating the case.
Authorities will release more information later Thursday morning, they said.
Photo Credit: Queen Anne's County Sheriff's Office
Dfc. Warren Scott Hogan was critically wounded in a shooting at a Chestertown, Maryland, home Wednesday, December 28, 2016, authorities said.
The man charged with killing D.C. yoga instructor Tricia McCauley claimed to police that he had sex with her and she then killed herself inside her own car, documents filed in D.C. court say.
Prosecutors say Duane Adrian Johnson sexually assaulted McCauley and strangled her.
Johnson gave police grim details of what he claims occurred after McCauley went missing on Christmas Day, according to court documents. He made his first court appearance on the murder charge Wednesday.
McCauley went missing Sunday, on Christmas Day. She was found dead early Tuesday inside her white Scion IQ after Johnson was seen with the car and then police found the car keys in his pocket.
Johnson, who also has been known as Adrian Duane Johnson, was charged with murder Tuesday after the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined McCauley died after she was strangled and suffered blunt force trauma.
Police believe McCauley and Johnson were strangers.
Johnson, 26, said little and was blank-faced in court. Prosecutor David Misler spoke in open court about McCauley's ordeal.
"She was violently sexually assaulted," Misler said.
When Johnson's lawyer requested bail for the murder suspect, a friend of McCauley's screamed and cried.
"No! He's an animal! He stole my friend!" Greg Upwall shouted.
Court marshals escorted him out of the courtroom and later allowed him to return.
McCauley lived in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of D.C. and was an accomplished actress who also worked as a yoga instructor and as a licensed nutritionist.
"She basically embodied the teachings of yoga, which start with ahimsa, which is nonviolence and acts of love," her friend Jasmine Chehrazi said.
'She Is in There'
Police found McCauley's body early Tuesday after they received a tip reporting a sighting of the 46-year-old woman's car around 21st and P streets NW, near Dupont Circle. The caller said he had seen photos police had distributed of the car and the suspect.
Moments later and several blocks to the southwest, police saw the white car parked outside a CVS store, on the 2200 block of M Street NW. Officers went inside the store and found Johnson.
Right away, he asked the officers if he could have a lawyer, the court documents say.
He said he had sex with the owner of the car and that she then hung herself inside the vehicle. Later, he asked police, "If someone is suicidal and gives you all their stuff, is that illegal?"
Officers asked Johnson if he knew where the owner of the car was and he said, "She is in there" and motioned his head toward the car.
Police got the car keys from him and opened the car.
There, they found McCauley's body on the rear floor board, concealed by several items. Her body was cold to the touch, and her legs were tied together with a seat belt, the documents say.
Johnson was arrested and found with several of McCauley's credit cards in his coat pocket.
Medical examiners found that McCauley had sexually related injuries, as well as wounds consistent with having been strangled.
Speaking with detectives at the D.C. police department's Homicide Branch, Johnson claimed he met McCauley on or about Christmas Day. He claimed she offered to give him a ride in his car and then offered to have sex with him. She then killed herself, he claimed, according to the court documents.
He then drove her car throughout D.C. for hours and made purchases using her credit cards. He said he then picked up a prostitute.
When police asked Johnson why he drove with McCauley's body in the car, he claimed he thought she was sleeping and might awake.
The murder suspect claimed that prior to McCauley's death, she told him he could have all her belongings, including her credit cards, money and car, the documents say.
Missing Ankle Bracelet
Johnson was arrested six previous times in 2016. He was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and wear a GPS ankle bracelet after he was charged with theft from two businesses on Dec. 17. But police said Wednesday he was not wearing the monitor when he was arrested Tuesday.
Interim Police Chief Peter Newsham spoke on Wednesday about the case.
"Most of the time, the system does work. In this particular case, if anyone could have predicted this type of behavior -- I don't think you could," he said.
Johnson's stepfather, Russell Dixon, told The Washington Post that Johnson had been living on the streets and suffered from mental problems. Dixon suggested the courts had been too lenient on his stepson.
“The court system let him go. That’s not the help he needs,” he told the Post. “He should have been held.”
Dixon told the paper he never saw signs of violence in the murder suspect.
No one answered a knock at the family's door Wednesday morning.
Johnson's mental health was not discussed in court Wednesday. He was held without bail and is due in court Jan. 13.
Photo Credit: Bill Hennessy
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Courtroom sketch of Adrian Duane Johnson on Dec. 28, 2016
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened government officials with the prospect of being thrown out of a helicopter mid-air if they are found to be corrupt, claiming he had done it before and had no qualms about doing it again, NBC News reported.
The former prosecutor said he once hurled a Chinese man suspected of rape and murder out of a helicopter.
"If you are corrupt, I will fetch you using a helicopter to Manila and I will throw you out. I have done this before, why would I not do it again"? Duterte said during a speech to victims of a typhoon on Tuesday.
Duterte's latest threat comes just a few weeks after he admitted killing people during his 22 years as a mayor of Davao City, sometimes riding a motorcycle looking for "encounters to kill."
Photo Credit: Wu Hong-Pool/Getty Images
File Photo — Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte makes a speech during the Philippines - China Trade and Investment Fourm at the Great Hall of the People on October 20, 2016 in Beijing, China.
President-elect Donald Trump, asked Wednesday about possible sanctions against Russia in the wake of alleged cyber-attacks during the presidential campaign, replied, "I think we ought to get on with our lives."
"I think that computers have complicated lives very greatly, the whole you know age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what's going on," Trump told reporters outside his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, NBC News reported.
"We have speed we have a lot of other things, but I'm not sure you have the security that you need," Trump said. He added that he has not spoken with senators who have called for sanctions.
The comments come as the U.S. is said to be preparing to take retaliatory steps against Russia after political institutions were hacked during the presidential campaign. Those steps could include sanctions.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
President-elect Donald Trump speaks to members of the media at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Fla., Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016.
A live video feed is poised over the nest of two Florida bald eagles who are waiting for eggs to hatch.
American bald eagles Harriet and her mate M15 have been taking turns incubating the eggs since they were laid in late November in their Fort Myers-area nest, NBC affiliate WFLA reported.
An area real estate company provides a live look at the nest with its "southwest Florida eagle cam."
Dick Pritchett Real Estate has provided the live video stream of the nest for four years, according to WFLA's report.
Photo Credit: AP
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File Photo — In this photo taken April 11, 2016, a bald eagle is seen before the start of a baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers in St. Louis.
Photos show inside the now abandoned Edgewater Hospital and Medical Center, where Hillary Clinton and John Wayne Gacy were born.
Photo Credit: Mike Kinsch
The National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Fund says there were 135 law enforcement officer deaths in 2016.
A fire chief in Maine braved the icy waters of a river to recover mail police believe was stolen from mailboxes in the area and dumped out on ice on the river.
The Waldo County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that an officer found a large amount of mail over the side of the West Main Street bridge in Monroe.
Fire Chief Kenneth Clements went into the water below to recover the three large bags of mail found on the ice, deputies said in a Facebook post. Mail from a neighboring county was found as well.
According to NBC affiliate WCSH, 19-year-old Randy Elwell of Swanville and his juvenile partner were arrested in connection with the stolen mail.
It is not known when they will appear in court.
Photo Credit: Waldo County Sheriff’s Office
On Tuesday, 55-year-old Sara Kelly Keenan received something in the mail she's been waiting for her entire life: an accurate birth certificate, NBC News reported.
Keenan was born intersex, with male genes, female genitalia and mixed internal reproductive organs. In September, she made headlines when a judge allowed her to become the first California resident—and second U.S. citizen—to change her gender to "non-binary."
Now, Keenan, who uses female pronouns, is making history again. Hers is believed to be the first birth certificate ever issued in the United States that reads "intersex" in the gender field, instead of "male" or "female."
Keenan was unaware of her anatomy for most of her adult life, because her parents and doctors agreed to keep it secret when she was born in New York City. Now, the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has issued Keenan's new birth certificate.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Stock photo
The Winsteads did everything together through their 63-year marriage, like watching the late-night news at 9:30, their daughter told the "Today" show.
And until last month, Delores, 83, and Trent, 88 were remarkably self-sufficient, Sheryl Winstead said. Then Trent fell, and had to be hospitalized.
"I just don’t know how I could live without him," Winstead recalled her mother saying, just a day before Dolores slumped over in her chair by Trent's bedside.
The staff in their Nashville hospital moved their beds next to each other, where they spent their final hours together — after Trent learned his wife was dying, "his heart began to fail," Winstead said.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Sheryl Winstead
Federal officials are shutting down a Russian-owned compound on Maryland's Eastern Shore amid sweeping U.S. sanctions in response to election-related hacking.
A State Department official confirmed to News4 that one of two Russian compounds the U.S. will shut down is in Centreville, Maryland.
Video shot from Chopper4 Thursday afternoon shows a flurry of activity and multiple unmarked cars on the perimeter of the sprawling waterfront property.
Officials appeared to set up an antenna, plus lights at each entrance. A man in what appeared to be a law enforcement boat appeared to watch the property by water.
White House officials said the facility is recreational but also used for intelligence activities.
Intelligence officials told NBC News the property was used for work to monitor the National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland, and another NSA building on Kent Island.
President Barack Obama gave Russia until Friday at noon to leave the 45-acre property, which the Soviet government bought in 1972.
The second compound U.S. officials ordered Russia to vacate is in Long Island, New York.
Obama said Thursday that his administration is kicking out of the country 35 Russian diplomats working as intelligence operatives.
"All Americans should be alarmed by Russia's actions," he said in a statement. He added: "Such activities have consequences."
These 35 people work in the Russian Embassy in D.C. and the Russian Consulate in San Francisco, the State Department said. They are being declared "persona non grata" and will be given 72 hours to leave the country.
Trump released this statement Thursday evening: "It's time for our country to move on to bigger and better things. Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders on the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation."
Russian officials have denied the Obama administration's accusation that the Russian government -- including President Vladimir Putin himself -- worked to influence the U.S. presidential election.
U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia's goal was to help Donald Trump win — an assessment Trump has dismissed as ridiculous.
The president-elect was asked on Wednesday about possible sanctions against Russia.
"I think we ought to get on with our lives," he said.
Stay with News4 and NBCWashington.com for more details on this developing story.
Photo Credit: NBC Washington
Kids between 10 and 15 who spend as little as one hour a day chatting on social networks are overall less content, NBC News reported, citing a recent report by published by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics.
"Spending one hour a day chatting on social networks reduces the probability of being completely satisfied with life overall by approximately 14 percentage points," the authors concluded in "Social Media Use and Children's Wellbeing."
The research, which was conducted from 2010 through 2014 and surveyed British households, was partially an effort to "contribute to wider debates about the socioeconomic consequences of the internet and digital technologies."
The study cited some theories for why children's well-being might decrease, including cyberbullying, an increase in social comparisons and a decrease in real-life, face-to-face activities.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
This year was particularly deadly for police officers in the United States, with 21 deadly ambush shootings marking the highest number in more than two decades, according to a law enforcement advocacy group that tracks fatal shootings of officers.
Those shootings, including the five officers gunned down in Dallas in July, are a 163 percent increase from 2015, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund's annual fatalities report, released Thursday. Overall, 64 officers were fatally shot in the year, a more than 50 percent increase year over year.
Police shootings were a major issue in the U.S. in 2016, both when officers were targeted and when they shot suspects who appeared not to be a danger.
In fact, the ambush in downtown Dallas took place in the midst of a peaceful protest against officer-involved shootings across the nation, with gunman Micah Xavier Johnson leaving seven other officers wounded along with two civilians before police tracked him down and killed him.
Less than two weeks later, three officers were killed in an ambush in Baton Rouge.
"You'd have to go back almost to the 1970s to see a similar experience in American policing," where officers were regularly being targeted, NBC News analyst and former New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton told NBC.
President Barack Obama held a closed-door meeting with police, activist and civic leaders in the wake of the Dallas shooting to try and hash out a way to improve police-community relations, but emerged saying America is "not even close" to where it needs to be to resolve those issues.
Police shootings were a major issue in the presidential campaign as well, with eventual-President-elect Donald Trump touting himself as the "law and order candidate" and winning the endorsement of the national police union, the Fraternal Order of Police.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund report said there were 135 total officer fatalities in 2016, including automobile crashes and other causes, the most since 2011 but below the average for the decade between 2006 and 2015.
Texas had the most officer fatalities, at 17, followed by California, Louisiana and Georgia.
"As we begin the new year, let us all resolve to respect, honor, and remember those who have served us so well and sacrificed so much in the name of public safety," memorial fund President and CEO Craig W. Floyd said in a statement.
The organization inscribes the names of officers killed in the line of duty on a monument in Washington, D.C. There are nearly 21,000 names on it already.
Photo Credit: Getty Images, File
Law enforcement agents pay respects during a viewing before the funeral service for Senior Corporal Lorne Ahrens at Prestonwood Baptist Church on July 13, 2016, in Plano, Texas. Ahrens was one of five Dallas police officers shot and killed by a sniper during a Black Lives Matter march in Dallas. (Photo by Stewart F. House/Getty Images)
President-elect Donald Trump reiterated his call for the U.S. to "move on" rather than retaliate against Russia for interfering in the 2016 election as the Obama administration imposed new sanctions against the Kremlin's intelligence services and their top officials.
"It's time for our country to move on to bigger and better things," Trump said in a statement. "Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation."
On Wednesday, Trump suggested that the U.S. and Russia lay to rest the controversy over Moscow's computer hacking of Democratic Party officials, saying, "We ought to get on with our lives."
The White House expelled 35 Russian intelligence diplomats from the U.S., imposed sanctions on nine Russian individuals and entities in retaliation for Russia's interference in the U.S. presidential election and harassment of U.S. diplomats by Russian personnel and police.
Obama's move to punish the Russian government puts Trump in a tough position of having to decided whether or not to undermine retaliatory sanctions or abandon his calls for better relations with Moscow. U.S. officials acknowledged that Trump could use his executive authorities to reverse the sanctions.
Trump's refusal to accept the assessment of the intelligence community also puts him at odds with congressional leaders, who appear to be unified in the conclusion that Russia's government was responsible for hacking its way into tipping the election in favor of the GOP candidate.
Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham said the sanctions are a "small price" to pay for interfering with U.S. elections, adding that they'll lead efforts in Congress to impose stronger penalties.
But the president-elect has held firm to his skepticism of the intel apparatus he's about to inherit.
Trump has long had a cozy relationship with Putin, going out of his way to praise him during the campaign and resisting joining the chorus of criticism over Russia’s alleged involvement in the elections. He has said the idea that Russia tried to help him win was “ridiculous.”
“I think it’s just another excuse,” Trump said in December. “I don’t believe it. No, I don’t believe it at all.”
The president-elect has also belittled the intelligence agencies that he will assume command over on Jan. 20, insinuating in a tweet that they couldn't be trusted.
“These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” he said.
Trump said in July that he would consider lifting previously imposed sanctions against Russia, including those against Russian state banks and corporations following its 2014 invasion of Ukraine. While the U.S. has thus far refused to recognize the legitimacy of Russian referendums in Crimea, Trump has hinted in the past that he may be prepared to do so.
