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Articles written by Nedra Pickler


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  • Obama: Gov't with Oklahoma 'every step' of the way

    NEDRA PICKLER,Associated Press

    MOORE, Okla. — President Barack Obama visited tornado-devastated Moore, Okla., Sunday, consoling people staggered by the loss of life and property and promising that the government will be behind them "every step of the way." "I'm just a messenger here," the president said, saying "folks are behind you" across America. He offered moral and monetary support in the wake of the monstrous EF5 tornado that killed 24 people, including 10 children, last Monday afternoon. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster President Barack Obama and school o...

  • Obama's 2nd inauguration smaller, yet still grand

    NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's second inauguration is shaping up as a high-energy celebration smaller than his first milestone swearing-in, yet still designed to mark his unprecedented role in American history with plenty of eye-catching glamour. A long list of celebrity performers will give the once-every-four years right of democratic passage the air of a star-studded concert, from the bunting-draped Capitol's west front of the Capitol, where Obama takes the oath Jan. 21, to the Washington Convention Center, w...

  • Obama's 2nd inauguration smaller, yet still grand

    NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's second inauguration is shaping up as a high-energy celebration smaller than his first milestone swearing-in, yet still designed to mark his unprecedented role in American history with plenty of eye-catching glamour. A long list of celebrity performers will give the once-every-four years right of democratic passage the air of a star-studded concert, from the bunting-draped Capitol's west front of the Capitol, where Obama takes the oath Jan. 21, to the Washington Convention Center, w...

  • Ryan says Obama misleading on Libya questions

    NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan slammed President Barack Obama on Friday for describing response to the deadly attack in Libya as "not optimal" and said the White House is misleading the country in the face of mounting questions. Obama promised answers. "If four Americans get killed, it's not optimal," the president said Thursday during an appearance on "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central. "We're going to fix it." AP Photo/The News-Press, Amanda Inscore Republican vice presidential c...

  • Terror suspect wanted to blow up Capitol

    NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press

    WASHINGTON (AP) — A 29-year-old Moroccan man was arrested Friday in an FBI sting operation near the U.S. Capitol while planning to detonate what police said he thought were live explosives. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta Capitol Police officer Angel Morales, stands on guard on the West side of the Capitol in Washington Friday. A 29-year-old Moroccan man was arrested Friday in an FBI sting operation near the U.S. Capitol while planning to detonate what police say he thought were live explosives. Amine El Khalifi of A...

  • Terror suspect arrested near Capitol in FBI sting

    ERIC TUCKER, NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — A 29-year-old Moroccan man who believed he was working with al-Qaida was arrested Friday near the U.S. Capitol as he was planning to detonate what he thought was a suicide vest that undercover operatives gave him, officials said. Amine El Khalifi of Alexandria, Va., was taken into custody with a gun that didn't work and inert explosives, according to a counterterrorism official. He arrived near the Capitol in a van with the two undercover operatives, and walked toward the building, according to court papers. H...

  • Judge declares mistrial in Clemens case

    JESSE J. HOLLAND, NEDRA PICKLER - Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — Almost as soon as it began, former baseball star Roger Clemens' perjury trial ended Thursday — in a mistrial the judge blamed on prosecutors and said a "first-year law student" would have known to avoid. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton left the question of a new trial up in the air. But he called a halt to the trial under way after prosecutors showed jurors evidence that he had ruled out — videotaped revelations that a teammate had said he'd told his wife Clemens confessed to using a drug. Walton scolded prose...

  • U.S. ties Iran to plot to assassinate Saudi diplomat

    NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Tuesday accused agents of the Iranian government of being involved in a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, with help from a purported member of a Mexican drug cartel. Attorney General Eric Holder said the U.S. would hold Iran accountable. Two people, including a member of Iran's special operations unit known as the Quds Force, were charged in New York federal court. Holder said the bomb plot was a flagrant violation of U.S. and international law. "We will n...

  • John Edwards insists he didn't break the law

    NEDRA PICKLER, TOM BREEN - Associated Press

    WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. AP Photo/Gerry Broome Former presidential candidate John Edwards makes a statement to the media following a federal court appearance in Winston-Salem, N.C., Friday. — John Edwards acknowledged he has "done wrong" and hurt others but strongly denied breaking the law after federal prosecutors charged him Friday with using $925,000 in under-the-table campaign contributions to hide his pregnant mistress during his 2008 run for president. The former U.S. senator and two-time Democratic presidential hopeful w...

  • Feds: Somali-born teen plotted car-bombing in Oregon

    NEDRA PICKLER WILLIAM McCALL Associated Press

    Feds: Somali-born teen plotted car-bombing in Ore. PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Federal agents in a sting operation arrested a Somali-born teenager just as he tried blowing up a van he believed was loaded with explosives at a crowded Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, authorities said. The bomb was an elaborate fake supplied by the agents and the public was never in danger, authorities said. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, was arrested at 5:40 p.m. Friday just after he dialed a cell phone that he thought would set off the b...