National

Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis faces the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday for his confirmation hearing to become President-elect Trump's secretary of defense. The popular former four-star commander is expected to face questions about ISIS, Iraq, Afghanistan and other tough issues, but appears likely to be confirmed.

Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo is scheduled to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday for his confirmation hearing to become President-elect Trump's director of the CIA. Pompeo is expected to face questioning about the role Russia played in meddling in the U.S. presidential election, the war against ISIS and other challenges. He is expected to be confirmed.

An NPR/Ipsos poll shows that almost half of Americans, including Democrats, don't know the Affordable Care Act reduced the number of people without insurance.

Survivors of campus sexual assault and their allies are imploring President-elect Trump's nominee for education secretary to continue cracking down on schools who don't take the issue seriously.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday is releasing a new report about abuses in the debt collection industry. This comes as the CFPB is crafting new rules to crack down on those practices.

After years of drought, California is getting drenched with rains. Some scientists and farmers are testing a way to capture that water by filling the state's depleted groundwater aquifers.

Killer whales are one of only three species known to have menopause. Researchers are looking at the conflict and cooperation between older and younger female whales to understand why.