Updated Feb 15, 2018

17 dead in Florida school shooting

Khorri Atkinson, Lauren Meier

Students brought out from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after a shooting. Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Seventeen people were killed on Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The suspect, a 19-year-old former student, is in custody.

  • It joins the list of America's deadliest mass shootings, with three of the eight deadliest in modern history coming in the last five months. There have already been several school shootings this year.
  • What we know: The Broward County Sherrif's Department has identified the shooter as Nikolas Cruz, who had been expelled from school for disciplinary reasons. Police say he was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and multiple magazines. President Trump tweeted his condolences. The White House canceled the daily press briefing and has made no further comment.

Go deeper: The deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history.

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Axios

Trump's clemency spree

Rod Blagojevich in 2010. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

President Trump announced Tuesday that he commuted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's 14-year prison sentence for extortion, bribery and corruption — as well as issuing full pardons for former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., former NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik and financier Michael Milken.

The big picture: The president's clemency spree largely benefitted white-collar criminals convicted of crimes like corruption, gambling fraud and racketeering, undercutting his message of "draining the swamp."

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Miriam Kramer

Trump's improbable moonshot

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

NASA is unlikely to meet its deadline of sending astronauts to the surface of the Moon by 2024, even with a large influx of funding.

Why it matters: The Artemis mission to send people back to the Moon is the Trump administration's flagship space policy, and its aggressive, politically-motivated timeline is its hallmark.

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Zachary Basu

Justice Department says U.S. attorneys are reviewing Ukraine information

Rudy Giuliani. Photo: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd sent a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) Tuesday informing him that the U.S. attorneys for the Eastern District of New York and the Western District of Pennsylvania are reviewing "unsolicited" information from the public related to matters involving Ukraine.

Why it matters: Nadler had requested an explanation for the "intake process" that Attorney General Bill Barr stated had been set up in order to receive information that Rudy Giuliani had obtained about the Bidens in Ukraine.

Go deeperArrow3 hours ago - Politics & Policy