Trump loses some sway with fellow Republicans - NBC News

Trump loses some sway with fellow Republicans 

In the aftermath of President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, two things have happened when it comes to Trump's standing with his own party. One, congressional Republicans haven't abandoned Trump on Comey (yes, some have criticized the timing, but there isn't a growing GOP demand for a special counsel). Two, enough of them are beginning to buck their president on non-Comey items. That includes Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Ben Sasse (R-NE) saying they're opposed to Trump's pick to be U.S. trade representative, and three Republicans who worked to defeata GOP-backed resolution to repeal an Obama environmental regulation. 

So while Republicans aren't in open revolt when it comes to Comey directly, we've seen some signs in the last 24 hours how Trump's legislative agenda, as well as his staffing priorities, could be in peril. And as for Democrats, it's hard to imagine how the president has the juice to win over any members of the opposition. Don't forget: At this same point in time of George W. Bush's presidency, there were a handful of Democrats who supported his tax cuts, and Ted Kennedy was working with his administration on education. 

NBC's Lester Holt interviews Trump 

NBC's Lester Holt today interviews President Trump, and it will air on "Nightly News." What will President Trump say about his recent firing of FBI Director James Comey? Be sure to watch!

Some of the new details we've learned about Trump vs. Comey 

• The Washington Post: "Trump was angry that Comey would not support his baseless claim that President Barack Obama had his campaign offices wiretapped. Trump was frustrated when Comey revealed in Senate testimony the breadth of the counterintelligence investigation into Russia's effort to sway the 2016 U.S. presidential election. And he fumed that Comey was giving too much attention to the Russia probe and not enough to investigating leaks to journalists."
• The New York Times: "After President Trump accused his predecessor in March of wiretapping him, James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, was flabbergasted. The president, Mr. Comey told associates, was 'outside the realm of normal, even 'crazy.'"
• A former senior intelligence official, per NBC's Ken Dilanian: "The way this was done, I think was done to send a message to the FBI agents left behind. It's not just that they removed him - it's that they did it in the most thuggish and humiliating way possible. No notice, no nothing - instant execution."
• "[Deputy Attorney General Rod] Rosenstein threatened to resign after the narrative emerging from the White House on Tuesday evening cast him as a prime mover of the decision to fire Comey and that the president acted only on his recommendation," the Washington Post also reports.
• NBC's Stephanie Ruhle: "The majority of White House staff - including some of the most senior members of the Trump team - found out the Comey news moments before or watching it on TV [Tuesday]. There was no internal meeting, no strategy session," per a senior White House official.

A timeline of developments in the Trump-Russia storyline 

Feb. 13: National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigns just after the Washington Post first reported that the Justice Department had informed the White House that Flynn could be subject to blackmail 

Feb. 14: The New York Times reports that Trump's 2016 campaign "had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials" 

March 1: Washington Post reports that Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with Russia's envoy twice last year — which he didn't disclose in his confirmation hearing 

March 2: Sessions recuses himself from any federal inquiries involving Trump's 2016 campaign 

March 20: FBI Director Comey confirms his agency is investigation allegations that Trump's 2016 campaign might have contacts with Russian entities. Comey also says there's "no information that supports" Trump's wiretapping charges against Obama 

March 22: House Intelligence Chair Devin Nunes goes to the White House and tells reporters that he has seen evidence of potential surveillance activity on Trump campaign officials 

April 6: Nunes steps down from House Intelligence Committee's Russia probe, and the move comes as the House Ethics Committee announces that it is investigating allegations that Nunes mishandled classified information 

May 2: Trump tweets that Comey "was the best thing that ever happened" to Hillary Clinton, and adds that the Russia investigation is "phony" 

May 3: Comey tells a Senate Committee that he won't be providing updates about the FBI's Russia inquiry until the matter is concluded 

May 8: Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates testifies on Capitol Hill that she warned Flynn could be subject to blackmail for apparently lying about his contacts with the Russian government (Flynn remained in office for 18 more days) 

May 8: Trump tweets, "The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?" 

May 9: Trump announces that he fired FBI Director Comey 

Mysterious US X-36B returns after 2 years in space - NDTV

Mysterious US Drone Back On Earth After 2 Years In Space

Some think it might be a space-based bomber, others suspect it is a potential "killer satellite" or a super spy plane.

Agence France-Presse | Updated: May 10, 2017 00:29 IST

Story Highlights

• US military drone X-37 B looks like a small version of NASA space shuttle
• Some suspect it could be a 'killer satellite' or super spy plane
• The craft touched down on Sunday ending a 718-day voyage around the Earth 

Washington, United States: After a nearly two-year sojourn in space, the US military drone X-37 B is back on Earth, fueling wild ideas about its mystery mission.

Looking like a small version of an old NASA space shuttle, the craft touched down Sunday in Florida, ending a 718-day voyage around the Earth, the US Air Force announced.

Just under 30 feet (9.1 meters) long and with a nearly 15-foot wingspan, the X-37 B was blasted into low Earth orbit atop a rocket.

Since its first flight in 2010, it has sparked all kinds of speculation about its real purpose.

Some think it might be a space-based bomber that could strike objectives on Earth at a moment's notice.

Others suspect it is a potential "killer satellite," capable of destroying or damaging enemy satellites. 

Or perhaps it is a super spy plane, orbiting Earth to keep watch on enemy territory as needed. 

Fears that the world is on the brink of an arms race in space is behind some of those theories.

Weapon of war?

Satellites are crucial to the functioning of national economies as well as military operations, and the United States, China and Russia are all thinking about ways to defend them against attack.

No doubt they are also looking at ways to attack their adversaries' satellites.

In 2015, the mysterious behavior of a Russian satellite fueled speculation that Moscow was developing attack satellites capable of maneuvering in space to zero in on other satellites.

But many experts doubt that the X-37 B is the prototype for a true weapon of war or espionage.

"The X-37 is the size of a pick-up truck -- it would be difficult to have an effective weapon on board," says Victoria Samson, an expert with the Secure World Foundation, an advocate of sustainable development in space.

Moreover, the X-37 B would not be very maneuverable once in space, because its only source of power are solar panels.

"Generally speaking, to maneuver up in orbit requires a tremendous amount of fuel. So I can't imagine that they would be doing a lot of maneuvering," Samson said.

Mark Gubrud, a physicist and expert on military space technologies at the University of North Carolina, says the idea that it is a maneuverable spy satellite doesn't make much sense either.

"It has very little maneuver capability in orbit, and it can't reach high altitudes, only low Earth orbit," he said in an email.

"If you want to make a stealthy, maneuvering satellite, you will not weigh it down with wings and landing gear and make it so visible from Earth that even amateurs are able to track it."

The X-37 B's fourth flight was spotted six days after its launch in 2015 by a network of amateur satellite trackers, according to the website Spaceflight101.com.

It disappeared for several months in 2015 following a change in orbit, and again in February 2017 after another maneuver, but was later found again, the website said.

A test bed

In reality, experts today think the X-37 is more likely a test bed rather than a potential weapon, just as the Air Force said it was in one of its few public statements about the system.

They think it is being used to test sensors and equipment in space that can then be brought to the ground to see how they have performed.

Rocketdyne, a US company, announced that on the latest flight, it tested an ionic thruster used by satellites to move in space.

"If the US military wanted to quell concerns, they could," simply by putting out more information about the X-37 B, said Samson.

"Maybe it's in their interest to keep people guessing."

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