Here's a roundup of news trending across the nation and world today.
What to know now:
1. Ok's drone strikes: President Donald Trump has given the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to conduct drone strikes against suspected terrorists, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The authority was granted for CIA operations in Syria, but it was not clear if the agency had the authority to carry out strikes in other countries.
2. More time for evidence: The Department of Justice has asked for more time to review claims by President Trump that he was wiretapped by former President Barack Obama during the 2016 campaign. The agency had been given a Monday deadline to turn over any evidence of the president's claim that phones at the Trump Tower in Manhattan had been tapped. The House Intelligence Committee gave the agency until March 20 to respond to the request.
3. Winter storm: More than 50 million people are in the path of a winter storm that is moving up the East Coast and into New England. The late-season blizzard could drop up to 2 feet of snow and produce wind gusts of 55 mph. More than 6,000 flights have been canceled as of Tuesday morning, and schools and many businesses are closed.
4. CBO analysis: The Congressional Budget Office analysis of the American Health Care Act says that the proposed Republican health care replacement plan would mean 14 million people would lose insurance coverage by next year, and 24 million would during the next 10 years. Older people and Americans with lower incomes would pay more under the plan, according to the analysis. On the flip side, the CBO reported the plan would save $337 billion over a decade. Premiums that would go up over the next two years, would then come down for most groups, the report says. Republicans attacked the CBO's credibility.
5. Kislyak met with Clinton people: A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin says the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, met "on several occasions" with officials from Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with CNN, "… if you look at some people connected with Hillary Clinton during her campaign, you would probably see that he had lots of meetings of that kind … in no way it should be presented as inference in (the) electoral process."
And one more
Tuesday is Pi Day – the date is 3-14 or 3.14 – and tech employees in Silicon Valley plan to observe the day by walking off the job. Some 1,200 people are expected to protest President Trump's policy on immigration. Google, Apple and Facebook employees are among those saying they will take part in the "Tech Stands Up to Trump" event.
In case you missed it
The "aww" for the day.
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