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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) took to the floor Wednesday afternoon to speak against a reauthorization of the Patriot Act. Paul claims it gives government too much access to citizens private cellphone records. (C-SPAN)

Sen. Rand Paul spent most of Wednesday talking.

Paul took to the Senate floor at 1:18 p.m. Wednesday, interrupting a debate on a trade bill, to speak against a reauthorization of the Patriot Act. With the exception of breaks to allow colleagues to speak, he talked, and stood, for nearly 11 hours before yielding the floor just before midnight.

The Kentucky Republicans marathon seizure of the Senate came after a week of repeatedly threatening to filibuster a reauthorization of the Patriot Act a fight he conceded Monday he cannot win, because he does not have the votes.

Are you really willing to give up your liberty for security? Paul asked.

Paul spoke for about 2 1/2 hours before he got help from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), with whom Paul has crafted his planned opposition. The two went back and forth asking each other questions very, very long questions about surveillance and the collection of bulk records.

I think we accomplished something, Paul said after he was done.

Paul has been here before, rocketing to prominence in 2013 after speaking for 13 hours on the Senate floor and vowing in his new book to wear tennis shoes the next time he filibustered. Last time, he had help from a large group of Senate colleagues. This time, he had a much smaller group by his side.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) took to the floor, as did Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.). Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) joined Paul later in the evening. And four additional Democrats gave Paul a hand later Wednesday night: Sens. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Christopher A. Coons (Del.) and Jon Tester (Mont.)

Late Wednesday night Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), two of his competitors for the GOP presidential nomination, showed up in the chamber. Cruz presided over the body and, when done, spoke on the floor. Cruz urged colleagues to support the USA Freedom Act and said Paul should be allowed to introduce amendments to Patriot Act legislation. Rubio presided and appeared to be engrossed in a magazine. He and Cruz spoke at length during Pauls 2013 filibuster, with Rubio quoting rappers Wiz Khalifa and Jay Z on the Senate floor.

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Rand Paul speaks 11 hours against Patriot Act renewal ...

The roughly 300 emails, about 850 pages, are part of the 30,000 that she turned over to State from her private email server, which she used almost exclusively to conduct both private and public business during her time at State. They reveal a range of correspondence from Clinton, everything from policy briefs to scheduling requests to friendly exchanges with staff.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest says the new emails "do not change in any way anyone's understanding" of what happened in Benghazi, and the State Department reiterated the same in a tweet.

"The emails we release today do not change the essential facts or our understanding of the events before, during, or after the attacks," the department tweeted.

Clinton herself commented on the release at a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Friday, telling reporters she was happy they were out but was waiting for more.

"It's beginning. I just would like to see it expedited, so we could get more of them out more quickly," she said.

Below, a collection of some of the most newsworthy tidbits from the emails:

In one email, sent four days before Christmas in 2012, Clinton sent a note to her entire State Department staff, acknowledging a "challenging week." She had fainted about a week prior and suffered a concussion, which prevented her from testifying before House and Senate committees on the attacks.

"We need to learn from the tragedy in Benghazi and make every possible improvement -- and we will," she wrote in the five-paragraph note.

One day earlier, Clinton wrote in an email to two top aides headed to the Hill on her behalf: "I'll be nursing my cracked head and cheering you on as you 'remain calm and carry on!'"

One of those aides, Tom Nides, hints that he's not entirely excited about the grilling.

Excerpt from:
Hillary Clinton emails released from State Department ...

Today the State Department has released 296 emails from former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons private e-mail account related to the Sept. 2012 terrorist attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The documents made public today were provided to the House Select Committee on Benghazi several months ago in response to its request for more information about the incident that remains the most troubling moment in Clintons tenure at the State Department -- and a major vulnerability as she campaigns for the presidency.

"The emails we release today do not change the essential facts or our understanding of the events before, during, or after the attacks, which have been known since the independent Accountability Review Board report on the Benghazi attacks was released almost two and a half years ago," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement on Friday.

The documents cover the period from January 2011 through December 2012.

Among some of the findings from today's e-mail release:

The FBI redacted a portion of an email sent to Hillary Clinton on Nov. 18, 2012. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, Clinton, and State Department officials have all acknowledged that the FBI chose to "classify" some of the names of Benghazi suspects in that e-mail.

In an e-mail to Clinton from her Deputy Chief of Staff, Jake Sullivan, he forwards the transcript of then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rices appearance on a Sunday news show and writes there was, "Nothing to this one." Of course, that was one of the appearances where she famously gave inaccurate information about what had occurred during the Benghazi attack -- information the White House argued was the best of their knowledge at the time.

In late 2012 and early 2013, a serious concussion sidelined Clinton from her work at the State Department. Ill and dehydrated while suffering from a stomach virus in December 2012, Clinton fainted and fell at her home. After a follow-up exam revealed a blood clot in her head, requiring blood thinners and a hospital stay, Clinton returned work Jan. 7, 2013, but she missed an appearance at a Congressional hearing in late December. Here's a note Clinton sent to two top State Department officials who filled in for her at the hearing.

At least one e-mails shows that the State Dept. reached out to the Internet search and video giants in the wake of the Benghazi attack.

When Clinton e-mails to check on the status of Ambassador Chris Stevens, she mistakenly refers to him as Chris Smith in the subject line. Whether she was referring to Chris Steven or Sean Smith, who both died in the attack, she got the name wrong.

Continued here:
Hillary Clinton E-Mails: State Department Releases ...

The George Zimmerman shooter, who fired on the former neighborhood watchman last week, reportedly had a "fixation" with his intended victim, according to a police report released Tuesday.

Apperson, who has been charged for shooting at Zimmerman as he sat in his pickup truck in Lake Mary, Florida, reportedly yelled You remember me, you fat mother f***er? at Zimmerman before ambushing him, the New York Daily News reported. You owe me your life. The only reason I didnt press charges on you is because I wanted to kill you myself," Apperson continued, apparently referencing a road rage incident between the two men last year.

Apperson then proceeded to fire his gun at Zimmermans truck. The bullet just missed Zimmerman's head as it went through the windshield, the Daily News noted. Police reportedly recovered two weapons at the scene.

According to the police report, Apperson was recently in a mental institution to be treated for signs of paranoia, bipolar disorder, and anxiety. He is currently facing aggravated assault charges.

A $35,000 bond has been set for Apperson. A judge also ordered him to stay away from Zimmerman, and to turn over any firearms he owns to the Seminole County Sheriffs office.

"I don't care whether you've been shopping at Publix for two hours and have a full cart of groceries or whatever. You see Mr. Zimmerman walking through that door, you're the one that has to leave," the judge reportedly told Apperson.

Zimmerman was acquitted in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

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Man Who Shot at George Zimmerman Had Beef With Him Before

The developments, coming in a rare overnight session, leave in doubt the ability of Congress to keep alive the Patriot Act program that many feel is critical to national security but has also alarmed privacy advocates for its sweeping nature.

First, the Senate blocked two separate measures. The first, a House-passed bill that would shift responsibility for holding data from the government to telecommunications companies, while also imposing stricter limitations on how authorities could access the information, failed in a 57-42 vote. The second measure was a two-month extension beyond the current law's June 1 expiration date, which was voted down 54-45.

RELATED: Everything you need to know about the Patriot Act debate

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who's also seeking his party's nomination for President, led the charge against the program, repeatedly objecting to requests from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to extend it by just a few days.

"We have entered into a momentous debate," said Paul, who said he objected because his request for a guarantee of two amendments on a future bill dealing with the NSA program was denied. "This is a debate about whether a warrant with a single name of a single company can be used to collect all of the phone records of all of the people in our country with a single warrant. Our forefathers would be aghast."

Later, standing on the floor in the hushed chamber, McConnell made repeated attempts to keep the law alive. The first was to extend the NSA's authority to June 8, which was objected to by Paul. McConnell's next attempt was to extend to June 5, which was objected to by Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, an ally of Paul on the issue. An attempt by McConnell at a June 3 deadline was denied by Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico. Finally, McConnell requested the program be extended until June 2, just one day after the law is set to expire, and Paul objected again.

Senators, who throughout the week generally thought a short-term extension would eventually be approved, appeared stunned by the swift exchanges between McConnell and the three opponents of the program. Gasps were audible.

An exasperated McConnell then took off his microphone and huddled with his leadership colleagues, searching for what to do next. After a few minutes, he returned to the podium and announced the Senate would adjourn and return to work a week from Sunday and try to find a way to keep the law in existence.

"We'll be back on Sunday, May 31, one more opportunity to act responsibly to not allow this program to expire," he said around 1:30 a.m. "This is a high-threat period. We know what's going on overseas. We know what's been tried here at home. My colleagues, do we really want this law to expire?"

By the time McConnell spoke, the visitors' gallery was largely empty. But a small group of people, wearing brightly-colored "Stand with Rand" T-shirts, remained.

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Senate blocks measures to extend NSA - CNNPolitics.com