Kamala Harris on Tuesday sought to remind Americans what life was like under Donald Trump.

At least two people have died, thousands of U.S. flights have been canceled and more than 1 million have lost power as destructively strong storms move through the eastern U.S. Residents were warned to stay indoors Monday and prepare for the worst.

A thick, hazardous haze of wildfire smoke is looming over daily life for millions of people across the U.S. and Canada for a third day, and it’s expected to persist as long as the weekend.

As smoke spreads from wildfires in Canada, health agencies are recommending steps to stay safe from bad air quality.

Eleven years after her own life was massively altered by gun violence, former congresswoman Gabby Giffords stood in front of the Washington monument and once again lobbied for stricter gun laws after yet another string of mass shootings in America.

The federal government has provided more than $2 billion to help cover funeral costs for more than 300,000 families of people who died from COVID-19.

March and April can be exciting times in the nation’s capital, as the National Mall turns pink, white and red. D.C.’s famous cherry blossoms are expected to reach peak bloom between March 22 and March 25 this year.

Todd Gitlin, a prominent anti-war and campus activist of the 1960s who drew upon his experiences and influenced many others as an author, sociologist and educator, has died at age 79.

Intelligence reports compiled by the U.S. Capitol Police in the days before last year’s insurrection envisioned only an improbable or remote risk of violence.

President Joe Biden wants to imbue Independence Day with new meaning this year by encouraging nationwide celebrations to mark the country’s effective return to normalcy after 16 months of coronavirus pandemic disruption and more than 600,000 lives lost.

Washington, D.

China has hit back at the U.S.-Japan show of alliance during talks between President Joe Biden and Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, calling it an ironic attempt of stoking division.

The House passed two bills Thursday to require background checks on all firearms sales and transfers and to allow an expanded 10-day review for gun purchases. While enhanced background checks are generally popular with the American public, even with some conservatives, Congress has so far not been able to find compromise on the issue. “These solutions will save lives.”President Joe Biden has called for Congress to strengthen gun laws, including requiring the background checks on all gun sales and banning assault weapons. AdThe second bill, which passed 219-210, would extend the review period for background checks from three to 10 days. While the House bills have Republican cosponsors and won a handful of GOP votes, most Republicans voted against them.

President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden look out at lights during a COVID-19 memorial, with lights placed around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in Washington. “To heal we must remember," the incoming president told the nation at a sunset ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial. “Between sundown and dusk, let us shine the lights into the darkness ... and remember all who we lost,” Biden said. Biden at his Delaware farewell, held at the National Guard/Reserve Center named after his late son Beau Biden, paid tribute to his home state. ___This story has been corrected to show that flags on the National Mall represent people who couldn't come, not COVID deaths.

Flags are placed on the National Mall, looking towards the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial, ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Washington. As Biden and Harris took breaks from their inaugural preparations to honor the civil rights hero Monday, outgoing President Donald Trump remained out of public view at the White House for the sixth straight day. Biden transition officials, including incoming Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall and the deputy attorney general nominee, Lisa Monaco, held a videoconference with acting heads and career staff from national security agencies to discuss the security situation surrounding Inauguration Day. Even before the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, inauguration festivities were expected to be muted due to the virus. Mayor Muriel Bowser urged residents to stay away from the city on Inauguration Day.

A man walks past the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument as sunrise approaches on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)WASHINGTON – The National Park Service is shutting down public access to the Washington Monument until Jan. 24, citing threats surrounding Joe Biden’s inauguration. The agency said Monday that it was implementing the temporary closure “in response to credible threats to visitors and park resources.”Park officials say that groups involved in last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol are continuing to “threaten to disrupt” Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. As a result, officials are shutting down tours at the Washington Monument beginning Monday, running through Jan. 24. They say they may also institute some temporary closures to roads, parking areas and restrooms on the National Mall and could extend the closures “if the conditions persist.”

With the Washington Monument in the background, people attend a rally in support of President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. The announcement comes after thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol last week as legislators were meeting to vote to certify Biden’s electoral win. The State Department is investigating what appears to be a “prank” after its website suggested President Donald Trump’s term would end Monday evening. It comes days after thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to stop the congressional certification of Biden’s victory. The National Park Service is shutting down public access to the Washington Monument until Jan. 24, citing threats surrounding Joe Biden’s inauguration.

On Wednesday, hallowed spaces of American democracy, one after another, yielded to the occupation of Congress. Trump told his morning crowd at the Ellipse that he would go with them to the Capitol, but he didn’t. Yet Trump, in a video posted 90 minutes after lawmakers were evacuated, told the insurrectionists “We love you. He said security officers urged lawmakers to put gas masks on and herded them into a corner of the massive room. Shortly after being told to put on gas masks, most members were quickly escorted out of the chamber.

A U.S. official confirmed Saturday that the Pentagon has a plan for separating the National Security Agency and Cyber Command. In his letter to Miller, Smith said the Pentagon has not met conditions set by the 2017 defense bill for severing the NSA from Cyber Command. The notion of splitting NSA from Cyber Command goes back to the Obama administration, which proposed to elevate the status of Cyber Command by making it a unified military command, taking it from under the purview of U.S. Strategic Command. That move was approved by President Donald Trump in 2017, and it was foreseen that at some point Cyber Command would split away from the NSA, although such a move had strong opponents in Congress. It's not clear who the Trump administration might install as head of the NSA if it were split from Cyber Command before President-elect Joe Biden takes office Jan. 20.

American flags fly around the Washington Monument Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, in Washington. The Trump administration has closed the Washington Monument because of a recent visit by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who tested positive this week for the coronavirus. National park employees also have expressed concern at he and other Interior officials continuing to visit national parks and other federal sites during the pandemic, Brengel said. Goodwin said the Washington Monument, normally one of the capital's most visited sites, would reopen Monday, with tickets going on sale Sunday. In the photos, uniformed National Park Service employees often are the people standing nearest him, often without masks.

The nation's cybersecurity agency warned of a “grave” risk to government and private networks. The hack compromised federal agencies and “critical infrastructure” in a sophisticated attack that was hard to detect and will be difficult to undo, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in an unusual warning message. CISA officials did not respond to questions and so it was unclear what the agency meant by a “grave threat” or by “critical infrastructure” possibly targeted in the attack that the agency says appeared to have begun last March. The agency previously said the perpetrators had used network management software from Texas-based SolarWinds t o infiltrate computer networks. Members of Congress said they feared that taxpayers’ personal information could have been exposed because the IRS is part of Treasury, which used SolarWinds software.

Hackers got into computers at the U.S. Treasury Department and possibly other federal agencies, touching off a government response involving the National Security Council. Intelligence agents generally seek the latest on weapons technologies and missile defense systems — anything vital to national security. President Donald Trump's national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, cut short an overseas trip to hold meetings on the hack and was to convene a top-level interagency meeting later this week, the White House said in a statement. The SolarWinds campaign highlights the lack of mandatory minimum security rules for commercial software used on federal computer networks. “In all of the different departments and agencies, cybersecurity is never going to be their primary mission,” Langevin said.

WASHINGTON A task force commissioned by the Washington, D.C., government has recommended renaming, relocating or adding context to dozens of monuments, schools, parks and buildings because of their namesakes' participation in slavery or racial oppression. Among the targets are the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial. Some of the proposals in the report released Tuesday are definite non-starters, as many of the most prominent monuments and statues stand on federal land, outside D.C. government control. Still, the recommendations have already prompted fierce reactions amid an ongoing national debate over Americas racial history. She and the D.C. Council fought for years to have a statue of former Confederate general Albert Pike removed; they were unsuccessful because the statue sits on federal land.

With the Washington Monument in the background, a crowd on the South Lawn of the White House watches the Republican National Convention as it plays on a screen on the fourth day of the convention, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

With the Washington Monument in the background, cherry trees are in full bloom at the Tidal Basin April 1, 2019 in Washington, DC. The National Park Service said this year's cherry blossoms have reached peak bloom today. (Photo by AlexWASHINGTON - The refurbished Washington Monument is once again open for tourists. First lady Melania Trump, accompanied by local fourth graders, cut the ribbon Thursday morning as the monument opened to the public for first time in three years. It reopened in 2014, but National Park Service officials were forced to close it again two years later after a series of elevator breakdowns.

Copyright 2019 CNN(CNN) - First lady Melania Trump, alongside a group of local fourth graders, helped cut the ribbon to reopen the Washington Monument, which had been under construction in the wake of a 2011 earthquake. When it first opened to the public in 1888, it used to take more than 10 minutes to reach the top of the 500-foot Washington Monument, by steam-propelled elevator. The monument was badly damaged in a 2011 earthquake and in the years after, the structure was plagued with challenges. The first lady was invited to help ceremonially reopen the monument by cutting a ribbon with Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, a White House official told CNN. Trump also made a ceremonial "first ride" to the top where she met with local students as the first public visitors to the newly reopened monument.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(CNN) - The Washington Monument, one of D.C.'s most iconic landmarks, reopens to visitors on September 19 after several years of construction and repairs. After $15 million in repair work, the Washington Monument reopened, only to close again in 2016 after an elevator cable snapped. According to the National Park Service (NPS), which maintains the site, the new renovations were about more than simply fixing up the elevator. Same-day, free-entry tickets will be available at the Washington Monument Lodge on 15th Street from 8:30 a.m. on opening day through October 18 first-come, first-served. Same-day tickets will also be available at the Washington Monument Lodge.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesThe Washington Monument will reopen to visitors following years of closure for renovations, the National Park Service announced Friday. Doors will open to the public on at 9 a.m. on September 19The 555-foot marble obelisk, the centerpiece of the National Mall in Washington, DC, was closed for 37 months for repairs to the elevator control system, the National Park Service said in a news release. After a nearly three-year repair job that cost $15 million, the monument reopened to the public in May 2014. The new facility "will offer full ballistic and blast protection and includes queuing space for 18-20 visitors at a time, screening equipment, an accessible restroom for National Park Service and US Park Police staff and a security office," according to the release from the National Park Service. Same-day tickets for all monument tours through October 18 will be available on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 8:30 a.m., the National Park Service said.

With the Washington Monument in the background, cherry trees are in full bloom at the Tidal Basin April 1, 2019 in Washington, DC. The National Park Service said this year's cherry blossoms have reached peak bloom today. (Photo by AlexWASHINGTON - The U.S. House is preparing to hold its first full committee hearing since 1993 for a bill proposing to recognize Washington, D.C., as the nation's 51st state. Eleanor Holmes Norton announced Monday that the hearing has since been rescheduled for Sept. 19. The bill has more than 200 co-sponsors in the House and calls for districtwide elections of two senators and one House representative.

This month, it'll be 50 years since Apollo 11 took the first humans (both Americans) to the moon. The District of Columbia will celebrate the nation's pride by projecting a 363-foot Saturn V rocket onto the face of the Washington Monument. The virtual rocket will appear on July 16, the anniversary of Apollo 11's 1969 launch. For two hours each night, the iconic rocket will grace the sides of the national treasure. From July 18 through 20, people can attend the Apollo 50 Festival for exhibits, activities and speakers from NASA.