user: Input: Taylor Swift Donates $1 Million to Louisiana Flood Relief
Taylor Swift is donating $1 million to help Louisiana recover after some of the worst flooding in the state’s history killed at least 11 people and damaged more than 40,000 homes.

The 26-year-old Wildest Dreams singer confirmed the donation to the Associated Press, calling the crisis “heartbreaking” on Tuesday. “We began The 1989 World Tour in Louisiana, and the wonderful fans there made us feel completely at home. The fact that so many people in Louisiana have been forced out of their own homes this week is heartbreaking,” Swift said in a statement to the news agency.

“I encourage those who can to help out and send your love and prayers their way during this devastating time,” she added.

Louisiana has been hit by as much as 2 feet of rain in 48 hours, with more than 30,000 people rescued since Friday, according to the AP. More than 60,000 people have registered for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and 20 parishes have been declared a major disaster area by the federal government, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said.
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It's about: 11 people have been killed in some of the worst flooding in the state’s history


Input: Treasury Plans to Tap Fannie Mae Chief to Run Bailout
Allison, who has led Fannie Mae since the government seized the firm in September, for weeks has been a candidate to run the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the $700 billion federal initiative to stabilize banks, keep struggling borrowers in their homes and spur lending. Other candidates for the post have dropped from contention.

"He will be asked by Obama," said a financial industry executive who discussed the nomination with Treasury officials and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Treasury and Fannie Mae spokesmen declined to comment on Allison's potential appointment, which was not finalized last night.

If named to the Treasury, Allison would replace current TARP head Neel Kashkari. Kashkari has stayed on from the Bush administration, becoming an influential figure under Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner.

Allison, 65, has been close to Geithner for years. Allison served on an advisory committee to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, of which Geithner was president. Allison formerly was vice chairman of Merrill Lynch and chief executive of TIAA-CREF.

The new head of TARP would take over at a key moment. The largest 19 banks are undergoing "stress tests" by the government to see how much more in private or public capital they might need. Meanwhile, one program to spur lending backed by tens of billions in TARP funds is getting underway, and officials are putting the final touches on another, to remove troubled assets from banks' balance sheets.

Allison would have a more influential role at the Treasury than at Fannie Mae. As head of the District-based mortgage finance company, he answers to a board, which answers to a federal regulator, which in turn takes its cues largely from the Treasury. Allison also may be in line for a pay hike if he wins the government job. He has forsworn a salary at Fannie Mae.

At Fannie Mae, Allison was quick to say that the company would be putting the goal of housing recovery ahead of maintaining profitability as a shareholder-owned corporation.

But his departure could complicate matters at the company, which is struggling to retain top talent. Many employees have started to search for jobs after lawmakers criticized bonuses paid at the firm.

Allison's departure would leave both government-run mortgage companies without permanent chief executives.

David Moffett, who was also appointed by the government, left McLean-based Freddie Mac last month amid squabbling with the company's regulator. The temporary chief executive is John A. Koskinen, who was previously Freddie Mac's chairman.

Staff writer David Cho and staff writer Tomoeh Murakami Tse, in New York, contributed to this report.
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It's about: The Treasury Department is moving closer to naming Fannie Mae chief executive Herbert M. Allison Jr. to run its financial recovery program, according to people familiar with the matter.


Input: NYPD release CCTV of New York police killer gunman Ismaaiyl Brinsley
Meanwhile, funerals are being planned for the two police officers. Rafael Ramos will be laid to rest on Saturday, and officials are working to obtain travel documents for some of officer Officer Wenjian Liu's family in China, so that a funeral can be arranged.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has pleaded for a pause in protests and rancour amid a widening rift with those in a grieving force who accuse him of creating a climate of mistrust that contributed to the killings of two officers.

De Blasio called on Monday for a halt of political statements until after the funerals of the slain officers, an appeal to both sides in a roiling dispute centred on the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers.

"We are in a very difficult moment. Our focus has to be on these families," de Blasio said Monday at police headquarters, referring to the families of the two slain police officers. "I think it's a time for everyone to put aside political debates, put aside protests, put aside all of the things that we will talk about in all due time."

De Blasio's relations with the city's police unions have tumbled to an extraordinary new low in the aftermath of Saturday's shooting – an ambush the gunman claimed was retaliation for the police-involved deaths of Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
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It's about:

assistant: New York police have released a surveillance video of Ismaaiyl Brinsley, the   man who killed two NYPD officers before taking his own life, as they try to   determine his movements before the shooting