Today In News: June 17, 2017

Today In News:

• ISIL is preventing civilians from fleeing and plans to use them as human shields ahead of final battle for Old City, Iraq.

• President Donald Trump had personal liabilities of at least $315.6 million to German, U.S. and other lenders as of mid-2017, according to a federal financial disclosure form released late on Friday by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.

• Search and rescue efforts went on after dark for seven U.S. sailors missing after the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a Philippine-flagged container ship more than three times its size off eastern Japan.

• The court declared a mistrial at 10:17 a.m. on June 17th for comedian Bill Cosby following a note from jurors saying that they were hopelessly deadlocked on three counts of aggravated sexual assault.

• The acquittal of a Minnesota officer in the death of a licensed gun owner who volunteered that he had a gun seconds before being fatally shot during a traffic stop adds to the worries of African-American gun owners about how they are treated by police and society.

• The calls for unity in the wake of the shooting at a GOP baseball practice have already given way to finger pointing, with both sides blaming the other's rhetoric for exacerbating public anger at Washington.  Republicans have cast blame on the left, with one senior member going to the House floor to castigate the "liberal media.” 

• Senate Democrats are considering a strategy to slow down the chamber's business next week in an effort to protest Republicans' healthcare push. This includes using aggressive parliamentary maneuvers that would bar committees from meeting for more than two hours and other roadblocks that would ultimately hamper the Senate's efforts to schedule votes. 

• "None of us have protection other than the leaders," Collins told Fox and Friends.  "I am working with the NRA on some legislation that might be able to make common sense and to assist members of Congress and their staff in being able to protect themselves.” Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) told Fox News on Saturday that he's working with the National Rifle Association (NRA) on legislation to protect Congress.

• President Trump’s White House is expected to push House Republicans to change the Senate’s Russia sanctions bill to make it more friendly to Russia. The legislation would impose new sanctions on Russian individuals tied to “malicious cyber activity” or Russia’s intelligence and defense sectors.