![A stranded orca was freed from a rocky coastline in Alaska after being stuck for hours](https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/210731223124-alaska-stranded-orca-killer-whale-freed-super-tease.jpg)
A stranded orca was freed from a rocky coastline in Alaska after being stuck for hours
CNN
An orca that became stranded on a rocky beach in Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, Thursday morning was freed with the help of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and sailors who happened to be nearby.
The stranded killer whale was first discovered on the rocks by a nearby vessel, the Steadfast, according to NOAA, who "authorized them to use a seawater pump to keep the whale wet and any birds away," NOAA spokesperson Julie Fair told CNN. The boat crew kept an eye on the whale until a NOAA officer and Alaska Wildlife Troopers arrived.![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250216092711.jpg)
Amid Democrats’ shock and bickering over how much to respond to President Donald Trump is a deeper question rippling through leaders across the Capitol and across the country: How much should they rely on the same institutional and procedural maneuvers they used during the first Trump term, and how much are they willing to wield their own wrecking balls?
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In less than a month in office the Trump administration has simultaneously dismantled foreign aid programs that support fragile democracies abroad and put on leave federal workers who protect US elections at home in a move that current and former officials say abandons decades of American commitments to democracy.
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Sen. Mitch McConnell was a generational force for the Republican Party — using procedural tactics and political will to stymie much of former President Barack Obama’s agenda, hand President Donald Trump key first-term political victories and deliver a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court majority. Now he’s the odd man out.
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The Trump administration is forcing out senior leadership at the National Archives and Records Administration in a major shakeup, according to a source familiar. President Donald Trump has been highly critical of the archives since the agency asked the Department of Justice to investigate Trump’s mishandling of classified documents after he left office.
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The morning after the mass resignation of prosecutors sparked a crisis inside the Trump Justice Department, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove led a meeting with the Justice Department’s public integrity section. His message: they had to choose one career lawyer to file a dismissal of the corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, according to three people briefed on the meeting.