Vanita Gupta confirmed as associate attorney general
CBSN
The Senate narrowly confirmed Vanita Gupta to be associate attorney general on Wednesday, with Senator Lisa Murkowski breaking with Republicans to join all Democrats to support her. Gupta will be the first woman of color to be associate attorney general, the second highest ranking official at the Justice Department.
Gupta was confirmed by a vote of 51 to 49. Vice President Kamala Harris was at the Capitol on Wednesday in case she needed to break a tie to confirm Gupta, but Murkowski announced this afternoon that she would support the nominee. Most Republicans opposed Gupta, who led the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department under the Obama administration, criticizing her for her previous tweets directed at Republicans. During her confirmation hearings, Republicans also questioned her on whether she supported defunding the police based on her previous comments, which she said was a mischaracterization. She has previously expressed support for reallocating some resources from police departments to deal with some issues such as mental health problems.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.
The knock at the door came at nighttime on Mother's Day 2008 in Oregon, where Jessica Ellis' parents lived. It was around 9:20 p.m. and his wife, Linda, was already in bed; her father Steve Ellis told CBS News, that he thought someone let their animals out — but two soldiers in Class A uniforms were standing at the door.