A bus carrying 14 senior citizens back from a church retreat was involved in a fatal head-on collision with a white pickup truck
Last Updated Mar 29, 2017 9:55 PM EDT
The total number of deceased includes the driver of the bus and 12 passengers. The identities have not been released.
Three victims were rushed to a local hospital, according to Conrad Hein of Texas’ Department of Public Safety, including the driver of the pickup truck who is listed in stable condition.
A view over the deadly crash site shows a collision between a white pickup truck and a church bus on Wed., March 29, 2017.
First Baptist Church of New Braunfels said on its website that one of its buses was involved in the crash. The bus was carrying senior citizens back from a retreat, CBS affiliate KENS-TV reports.
The church’s statement reads, in part:
“We understand there have been some fatalities, but we do not yet know who. All activities for tonight are canceled. The Sanctuary will be open [Wednesday] evening for prayer and support. Please be in prayer for all involved.”
Senior Pastor of FBC New Braunfels, Brad McLean, responds to news about today’s fatal crash involving his members. #kens5eyewitness
CBS News has confirmed with the Texas Department of Public Safety that there were 14 occupants aboard the church bus and a lone occupant in the truck.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement on Twitter following the deadly incident:
Statement on today’s tragic accident. https://t.co/cCnnfj1gYX pic.twitter.com/zes4B6IBfR
KENS-TV reports the event the bus was returning from is an annual spring retreat and it was for people age 55 and older.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also expressed his condolences Wednesday:
My prayers are with the families impacted by this tragic accident – especially for those who have lost loved ones. https://t.co/OZKQejz6l6
The sheriff’s office said traffic was being re-routed.
Uvalde County is about 75 miles west of San Antonio.
The National Transportation Safety Board has sent investigators to the scene, NTSB spokesman Terry Williams said.
Photos and video of the crash’s aftermath showed heavy damage to the front drivers’ sides of both vehicles where it appeared the two had collided. The back of the bus was up on a guardrail, with glass and debris scattered onto the grass below.
Hein said the small bus was a 2004 Turtle Top, though he did not know the specific model. Turtle Top’s website features shuttle buses with capacities ranging from 17 to 51 passengers, which they bill as “a great alternative to the standard 15-passenger van.” Safety concerns have long surrounded the 15-passenger vans, also frequently used by churches and other groups, with advocates saying they can be difficult to control in an emergency.
Another aerial photo shows a deadly collision between a church bus and a pickup truck in Texas on Wed., March 29, 2017.

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State Department employee Candace Marie Claiborne is charged with obstructing an official proceeding and making false statements
The veteran State Department employee, who appeared before a judge Wednesday, is also accused of failing to report gifts she received from Chinese contacts.
Claiborne allegedly failed to report repeated contacts with two intelligence agents of the People’s Republic of China, and the agents provided tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and benefits to Claiborne and her family over five years, prosecutors said.
According to an affidavit, the gifts and benefits included cash wired to Claiborne’s bank account, an Apple iPhone and laptop computer, Chinese New Year’s gifts, meals, international travel and vacations, tuition at a Chinese fashion school, a fully furnished apartment and a monthly stipend. Some of these gifts and benefits were provided directly to Claiborne, the affidavit alleges, while others were provided through a co-conspirator.
A day after he was sworn in, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson addressed State Department officials and said that despite any political difference…
She was arrested Tuesday. Family members who were in court Wednesday declined to comment on her behalf.
“As a State Department employee with a Top Secret clearance, she received training and briefing about the need for caution and transparency,” U. S. Attorney Channing Phillips said in a statement. “This case demonstrates that U. S. government employees will be held accountable for failing to honor the trust placed in them when they take on such sensitive assignments.”
The Justice Department alleges that she wrote in her journal that she could “generate 20k in 1 year” through her work with one of the intelligence agents.
Claiborne pleaded not guilty and faces a preliminary hearing April 18.
The maximum penalty for a person convicted of obstructing an official proceeding is 20 years in prison. The maximum penalty for making false statements to the FBI is five years in prison.

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George Eaton, who was in parliament at the time of the attack, on what he saw.
From the window of the parliamentary Press Gallery, I have just seen police shoot a man who charged at officers while carrying what appeared to be a knife. A large crowd was seen fleeing from the man before he entered the parliamentary estate.
After several officers evaded him he was swiftly shot by armed police.
Ministers have been evacuated and journalists ordered to remain at their desks.
More follows. Read Julia Rampen’s news story here.
Armed police at the cordon outside Parliament on Wednesday afternoon. Photo: Getty
March 31 – April 6
Wanted: An opposition

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The committee is « weeks away » from finishing its evaluation of thousands of documents, the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman said Wednesday
Last Updated Mar 29, 2017 7:56 PM EDT
The Senate Intelligence Committee has seven full-time professional staff members working to evaluate intelligence and documents related to the committee’s investigation on Russian election interference , Chairman Richard Burr (R-N. C.) said Wednesday.
“This investigation’s scope will go wherever the intelligence leads it,” he said at a press conference at the Capitol Wednesday afternoon. “So it is absolutely crucial that every day we spend trying to separate fact from fiction and to find some intelligence thread that sends us to the factual side of all the names and all the places that you in this room have written about.”
Burr, appearing with vice chairman Mark Warner (D-Virginia) , said the committee has received an “unprecedented amount of documents” relating to the investigation, noting that the staffers dedicated to reviewing them — who are full-time staffers who previously had the necessary security clearance — are sifting through “thousands” of documents.
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) joins CBSN to discuss the controversy over House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes’ handling of the investig…
The committee is “weeks away” from finishing its review of the related documents, Burr said, and it has requested interviews with 20 people, including White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law.
Congressional investigations into Russia — particularly the question of whether any Trump campaign associates were in touch with Russian officials — has been at the center of the political conversation in Washington this week, as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., comes under fire over a secretive visit to White House grounds, where he examined alleged surveillance information he relayed to the president, but not to the Intelligence Committee. Since then, he and ranking member Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., have been at odds.
Neither Burr nor Warner took questions about Nunes or the House investigation. Instead, standing side by side, the two spoke about their shared commitment to a fair and independent investigation, and noted that it may not happen as quickly as some people would like.
A CBS News poll shows that a majority of Americans believe the Trump team improperly coordinated with Russia during the campaign. CBSN political…
“We need to get this right,” Warner said. “… Getting it right is more important than getting it done quickly.”
Warner noted that Russia may have attempted to influence the 2016 election indirectly by having Russia-linked bots direct “fake news” stories at key swing states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
He said that “for the most part” the intelligence community is being cooperative in providing the necessary information, and said the committee’s investigation has made great strides since the intelligence community released its report on Russian activity in early January.
“What we know today is a lot more than they knew in December when they went through this process,” Warner said.

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