US News Roundup: Polar vortex blasts Midwest with lethal cold air; 'El Chapo' defense rests after calling one witness

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. senator asks J&J for documents on talc, baby powder safety

U.S. Democratic Senator Patty Murray sent a letter to Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday seeking information related to allegations in a Reuters Special Report that the healthcare company knew about the presence of asbestos in its talc-based baby powder. The letter addressed to J&J Chief Executive Alex Gorsky asks for documents and information related to testing of its talc products for the presence of carcinogens and "how it presented that information to regulators and consumers."

Senate committee delays vote on Trump's attorney general pick

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday postponed a vote on President Donald Trump's attorney general nominee, William Barr, as Democrats expressed concern that he might not make public a final report on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. The vote will now take place on Feb. 7, according to the committee.

FBI finds no single motive for Las Vegas mass shooting that killed 58

The FBI has found no clear motive for the slaying of 58 people by a sniper firing down at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas in 2017, the agency said on Tuesday after a year-long investigation of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. According to an FBI report, the 64-year-old gunman, Stephen Paddock, was no different from many other mass shooters driven by a complex mix of issues, ranging from mental health to stress, who wished to die by suicide.

U.S. gun sales down 6.1 percent in 2018, extending 'Trump slump'

U.S. firearms sales fell 6.1 percent in 2018, according to industry data reported on Tuesday, marking the second straight year of declines and extending the "Trump slump" following the November 2016 election of pro-gun rights President Donald Trump. The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimated 2018 sales at 13.1 million firearms, down from 14 million the previous year and down 16.5 percent from record 2016 sales of 15.7 million.

Suspect in Pittsburgh synagogue massacre faces more charges

Federal authorities on Tuesday added 19 hate-crime and firearms charges to their case against a Pennsylvania man accused of massacring 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue last October in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. The suspect, Robert Bowers, 46, could face the death penalty if convicted on any of 22 capital-eligible offenses contained in the full 63-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh.

'El Chapo' defense rests after calling one witness

Attorneys for accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman rested his defense after calling a single witness who testified for less than half an hour on Tuesday morning, putting the case on track to go to the jury as early as Friday. Closing arguments are scheduled to begin on Wednesday and expected to last about two days. After that, U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan, who is presiding over the trial in Brooklyn federal court, will instruct the jury so it can begin deliberating Guzman's fate.

Assault on 'Empire' actor Smollett investigated as hate crime

Chicago police said on Tuesday they were investigating an assault on "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett as a possible hate crime after two men yelled racial and homophobic slurs and wrapped a rope around his neck. The 36-year-old African-American actor, who is gay, was reported to be in good condition after taking himself to a hospital after the incident early on Tuesday, police said.

'We know how to survive,' but U.S. shutdown cuts deep for Native Americans

The Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma used a GoFundMe page and its own money to feed its many members who were furloughed or worked without pay during the U.S. government shutdown. On their reservation in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, the Cheyenne River Sioux used third-party funds and dipped into tribal funds to provide food assistance.

Polar vortex blasts U.S. Midwest with lethal cold air

A blast of Arctic air from the polar vortex brought record-setting cold to a wide swath of the United States on Tuesday, stretching from the Dakotas through Maine, with snow expected as far south as Alabama and Georgia. The Midwest was the hardest-hit region, as temperatures plummeted below zero Fahrenheit (minus 17.8 degrees Celsius). By late afternoon, the mercury was hovering at 4F in Chicago (minus 16C), 10F (minus 12C) in Detroit and minus 15f (minus 26C) in Minneapolis.

After decline, U.S. military's Mexico border mission to grow again

The Pentagon is planning to send thousands more troops back to the U.S. border with Mexico, acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Tuesday, as Democrats in Congress questioned the merits of a mission that had declined in size. The U.S. military says the new deployment will be largely on top of the roughly 2,350 active duty troops already involved in the border mission. Officials told Reuters the additional deployment could add 2,000 or more troops to the current total but declined to offer a final figure.