President Donald Trump's national security advisers spent months trying to convince him to sign off on a plan to supply new U.S. weapons to Ukraine to aid in the country's fight against Russian-backed separatists, multiple senior administration officials told NBC News.

Yet when the president finally authorized the major policy shift, he told his aides not to publicly tout his decision, officials said. Doing so, Trump argued, might agitate Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the officials.

"He doesn't want us to bring it up," one White House official said. "It is not something he wants to talk about."

Officials said the increasingly puzzling divide between Trump's policy decisions and public posture on Russia stems from his continued hope for warmer relations with Putin and stubborn refusal to be seen as appeasing the media or critics who question his silence or kind words for the Russian leader. Critics have suggested Trump's soft approach to Putin has nefarious roots that are somehow entwined with Russia's interference in the 2016 election and the federal investigation into whether the president's campaign colluded in that effort, something the president has repeatedly denied.

Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy at the funeral for Stephon Clark Thursday, demanding justice in the shooting death of the 22-year-old by Sacramento police. Stevante Clark, Stephon’s brother, led the crowd in chants of his brother’s name.

A Connecticut high school employee is accused of threatening to go on a killing spree and "execute every white man he gets his hands on," police said.

Bridgeport police said 63-year-old Carl Lemon, an in-school suspension counselor at Harding High School, was arrested Wednesday on charges of second-degree threat and breach of peace.

According to a police report, a teacher reported that Lemon said he "couldn't wait for the Panthers to give the OK and a revolution begins" because he would "execute every white man he gets his hands on."

Police said Lemon also stepped on an American flag and told students: "This is what I think about it."

During an investigation, the assistant principal found an unsigned note in her mailbox that read, "Mr. Lemon talks about shooting whites a lot."

It's unclear whether Lemon has an attorney.

In a tragic turn to a months-long missing persons case, law enforcement officials confirmed Thursday that a body found in the woods off Interstate 95 earlier this week is that of a missing Marine recruit.

Joseph "Joey" Brancato, 21, of Winthrop, Massachusetts, went missing in the Boston area last fall.

The Norfolk District Attorney's Office confirmed Thursday afternoon that it was Brancato's body that was found Wednesday afternoon off I-95 in Canton. The body was initially spotted in the woods by a person who had stopped to assist a motorist in distress.

Brancato's family had told NBC10 Boston earlier in the day that police had already informed them of the news.

"I love my nephew and I wasn't going to stop until we finally found him," his aunt, Andrea Brancato, said Thursday. "I'm glad we did."

The district attorney's office said an autopsy performed Thursday did not immediately establish the cause or manner of Brancato's death.

Brancato was last seen by an acquaintance in Boston's Roslindale neighborhood on Nov. 18, 2017.

His family said he had gone to live with 39-year-old Marine recruiter Frank Lipka in hopes of getting ready for the armed services, but shortly after moving into Lipka's home on Mendelsohn Street in Roslindale, he disappeared.

"I guess the recruiter said, 'I can help you out. You can live in my basement,'" Brancato's aunt, Dawn Buccieri, said earlier this year.

Police have said that Lipka is a person of interest in Brancato's disappearance. He was in court earlier this week on an unrelated assault charge and was ordered held on $10,000 bail. He is currently in the custody of the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office.

"I have to say that I'm happy we found Joey. I feel like all of our hard work and perserverance and persistence has paid off," Andrea Brancato said. "But then again, I'm sad that a beautiful young man, we can't watch him walk down the aisle with his beautiful wife and have children and have a career... Why take that away from someone so young? He was only 21 years old. He didn't get to experience his life yet."

Brancato's death remains under investigation by Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the district attorney's office and Boston police.

"I think the story will unfold," Andrea Brancato said, "but I don't know if we will ever get the exact truth that happened to Joey."

A state trooper who died in the line of duty after a collision on Thursday in Tolland is being remembered in Connecticut. 

"No matter what uniform you wear, when an officer goes down in the line of duty, it hurts all of us. It hurts like losing a family member," Hartford Police Chief David Rosado said.

Trooper First Class Kevin Miller served with the Connecticut State Police for 19 years and was assigned to Troop C in Tolland. He had previously served for Troop K in Colchester and Troop E in Montville.

The office of the chief medical examiner determined that Miller died of blunt-impact injury of the head, torso and extremities with fractures and visceral injuries. 

Gov. Dannel Malloy said U.S. and state flags will be lowered at half-staff immediately to honor Miller. 

"We are deeply saddened and heartbroken by the tragic loss of Trooper First Class Miller – a man who dedicated his life to serving the people of Connecticut," Malloy said in a statement. "State troopers and members of law enforcement put their lives on the line each and every day in order to selflessly protect the people of our state, and they deserve our utmost respect for the service they provide."

During the afternoon rush hour, an extraordinary procession carried Miller's body from Tolland to the chief medical examiner’s office in Farmington. The Hartford Fire Department put up a flag over the I-84 overpass in Hartford in honor of Miller, while other state police troopers saluted him. 

"There’s no better way for us to come out and honor them for that service," Hartford Fire Assistant Chief Dan Reilly said.

Miller, of Coventry, was the 22nd state trooper or auxiliary trooper killed in the line of duty since 1922.

Another trooper, Danielle Miller, was killed in an off-duty accident in Wolcott in February. A state police spokeswoman says the two troopers were not related.

"We are grateful for his dedicated service to the Connecticut State Police and the residents of Connecticut, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this difficult time," Connecticut State Police released in a statement.

Last month, Miller celebrated his 49th birthday. In August 1998, Miller reported to the Connecticut State Police academy and the following year he graduated as part of the 108th police class. Miller was expected to retire at the end of the summer.

A police vehicle was stationed outside Miller's home in Coventry on Grant Hill Road as loved ones and neighbors, like John Fields, mourned his tragic death.

"The last time I had seen him was yesterday I was driving down to Tolland Way and I beeped my horn and waved and that’s the last time I seen him," Fields said. "He’s a real kind, gentle guy, soft-spoken. Great guy. Couldn’t have asked for a better neighbor."

One classmate described Miller, a father, as a genuine, down-to-earth kind of person who was family oriented. 

“On behalf of my colleagues in the state legislature, I’d like to extend our deepest condolences to the family of State Trooper Kevin Miller. We want to express our sympathy and let you know that our thoughts are with you,” Sen. Larson said.

A car caught fire in Bloomfield and the fire extended to a house. 

It happened just before 5:25 a.m. Friday on Ells worth Drive. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was called in for a possible fuel leak.

It's not clear if anyone was home when the fire started.

No additional information was immediately available.

A former Russian double agent received a message on his birthday saying he was on a Kremlin hit list along with Sergei Skripal, another ex-spy who was later poisoned using a nerve agent, NBC News reported.

Boris Karpichkov was warned, "be careful, look around, something is probably going to happen," he said in an interview.

He said he was told several other ex-KGB agents were on the hit list as well as Christopher Steele, the author of the dossier alleging collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, and Bill Browder, the man responsible for a set of U.S. sanctions against Russians.

Putin has denied Russian involvement in the Skripal case, calling Britain's allegations that Russia was behind the nerve agent poisoning "nonsense." The incident has led to a major diplomatic spat between Russia and the West.

An employee of Apex Pharmacy in Hamden is accused of stealing nearly $23,000 over six months.

Jamal Heath, 19, of West Haven, turned himself in to police Tuesday.

Police said they responded to Apex Pharmacy at 2380 Dixwell Ave. on Jan. 29 to investigate reports of fraud and larceny and obtained a warrant for Heath. 

He is accused of stealing more than $22,742.95 between July 2017 and January 2018 by removing 293 items from the shelf, then scanning the items as a return onto his personal debit card, police said.

Heath was charged with first-degree larceny and was released on a written promise to appear in court in Meriden on April 11.

The Hartford Yard Goats released team emojis on Thursday.

Earlier this month, they started selling new merchandise for the 2018 season. Now, you can show your support for your favorite team on Twitter too.

Some of the emojis include Yard Goat jerseys, their mascots Chompers and Chew Chew and a doughnut in honor of the team's home stadium, Dunkin' Donuts Park.

You can now get these emojis through the app store by following this link.

A toddler was thrown from a vehicle during a crash in Hamden Wednesday night and police said the driver who hit the vehicle was under the influence and ran a red light. 

Shayne Miller, 31, of New Haven, was going west on Goodrich Street at a high rate of speed at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday when he went through a red light at Shelton Avenue and hit a vehicle that was going north of Shelton Avenue, police said. 

Several people, including a toddler, were in the car Miller is accused of hitting, police said, and the toddler was thrown from the vehicle. 

The passengers in that vehicle were transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital with serious injuries. 

Miller was charged with driving while intoxicated and other motor-vehicle-related charges and is scheduled to appear in court in Meriden on April 11. 

Officer Stephen DeGrand of the Hamden Police Department Traffic Division is conducting the investigation.

A recycled SpaceX rocket was sent back into space Friday in a spectacular launch from the California coast.

The Falcon 9 rocket blasted off just after 7:13 a.m. PT Friday from the Vandenberg Air Force Base and soared over the Pacific Ocean. Cheers erupted at company headquarters as employees watched the launch live.

The launch was initially scheduled for Thursday, but a technical problem with one of the 10 communications satellites forced a delay.

The Hawthorne-based company's rocket is the same one used in an October mission. The first-stage booster returned to Earth after delivering its cargo to space, but SpaceX did not plan to recover it again this time.

However, the company will attempt to recover the rocket's fairing, or nose cone. SpaceX will use a high-speed boat named "Mr. Steven" that has a net to catch the equipment. CEO Elon Musk described the net as "basically a giant catcher’s mitt welded on."

Musk noted that the fairing returns to Earth "about eight times the speed of sound."

The payload is the fifth set of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites, which will replace a commercial satellite network in low-Earth orbit. SpaceX calls it one of the largest "tech upgrades" in history.

SpaceX confirmed a little more than an hour after launch that all 10 satellites successfully deployed into orbit.

The $3 billion project is scheduled for completion this year, with a total of 75 new satellites in orbit. Iridium, based in McLean, Virginia, provides mobile voice and data communications.

Another used Falcon 9 rocket is expected to launch a Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station next week. That launch is scheduled for Tuesday from Florida's Cape Canaveral.

Gisele Bündchen says she's leaving Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's decision when to retire entirely up to him, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“It’s not my decision to make,” Bündchen said. “It’s his decision, and he knows it. It wouldn’t be fair any other way."

Bündchen says she sees how passionate and joyful Brady is about playing football.

“He’s so focused right now,” she says. “He has a laser focus on just winning and being the best, and I said, ‘You know what? This is what you’re doing right now in your life, and you need to feel complete in it, because if I’m the one who comes and says something and then you make a decision based on something that I said—’”

Brady, 40, is preparing for his 19th season with the Patriots.

A Long Island judge has been accused of breaking into a home to steal women's underpants.

Robert Cicale, a Republican district court judge from Suffolk County, was cuffed Thursday morning after a 23-year-old woman living on Donna Place in East Islip allegedly found him in her home, according to Suffolk County Acting Police Commissioner Stuart Cameron. 

Cicale allegedly darted out of the home when he was spotted. The woman, meanwhile, called her mother who then called 911.

Officers found Cicale a few blocks away, according to Cameron.

"He was found to be in possession with soiled female undergarments that we believe were either proceeds of this burglary or a prior burglary," he said. 

He was charged with second-degree burglary.

He was scheduled to be arraigned in Central Islip on Friday. Cicale said nothing to reporters as he was led from a police precinct in the morning. Attorney information for him wasn't immediately available. 

Just as the Islamic State looks to be on the brink of defeat, senior U.S. officials fear their efforts will be wasted amid a lack of guidance from the White House, NBC News reported.

America's alliance with northern Syria's Kurds is cracking as they question if they can rely on President Donald Trump, who recently replaced his secretary of state and national security adviser.

"We're on the two-yard line. We could literally fall into the end zone. We're that close to total victory, to whipping out the ISIS caliphate in Syria," one U.S. special forces commander told NBC News. "We're that close and now it's coming apart."

More than six senior officials who spoke to NBC News shared that commander's views, revealing frustration bordering on anger. The officials were granted anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss U.S. policy in Syria.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Trump said in a speech Thursday that the U.S. would be "coming out of Syria, like, very soon."

A woman who voted in the 2016 election while on supervised release from federal prison was sentenced this week to five years behind bars for voting illegally, NBC News reported.

Crystal Mason had testified she didn't know that her 2011 fraud conviction made her ineligible to vote. Texas law makes knowingly voting illegally a second-degree felony with a maximum punishment of up to 20 years behind bars.

Her defense attorney, J. Warren St. John, told NBC News Friday that she voted in good faith. He called the penalty for voting illegally outrageous: "The punishment does not fit this crime."

Mason is out on bond as she appeals, but could face arrest from federal authorities for violating the terms of her release.

A man who is accused of hitting a pedestrian in Stamford in January has been arrested in connection with the fatal crash.

Police said 29-year-old George Christiansen, of Stamford, turned himself in to authorities in the presence of an attorney and was charged with second-degree manslaughter in connection with a crash at 7:09 a.m. on Jan. 2. 

Police said Christiansen was driving a 2016 Dodge Ram and hit 59-year-old Lynette Wagner, of Fairfield, who was in the crosswalk and crossing Elm Street.

Wagner died from result injuries sustained in the crash, police said.

Christiansen was released on $25,000 surety bond and is due in court on April 11.

Police found human remains in Bloomfield on Thursday after receiving reports that a body had been buried in a field, police said.

Investigators focused their search on a 287-acre wetland site at 182 Woodland Avenue Thursday and Connecticut State Police cadaver dogs were brought in to assist Bloomfield officers in finding the exact location of the remains.

The state police major crimes crime scene unit responded and the Connecticut Medical Examiner's Office will examine the remains to identify the person.

The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to call Bloomfield police at 860-242-5501.

A Glastonbury man accused of using social media to plan out home burglaries has been arrested in Guilford.

Guilford police said they have arrested 33-year-old Daniel Taylor, of Glastonbury, in connection with a burglary at a home on Long Hill Road. They launched an investigation after the residents returned home from a family vacation and realized that someone broke into their home, stole their car and did a lot of damage to their house.

The estimated loss from the theft and damage is more than $300,000, according to police.

Investigators identified Taylor as a suspect with help from Glastonbury police, as well as the state forensics lab and the Westfield Police Department in Massachusetts.

Taylor and his girlfriend are suspected of using social media to identify people who were going on vacation or going away for an extended period of time, according to police. Then they would do Internet searches to find the addresses to the homes and conduct surveillance to check to see if they were empty.

Taylor, who police said is suspected in several burglaries om Connecticut and Massachusetts, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with first-degree larceny, third-degree burglary, first-degree criminal mischief and second-degree criminal trover.

Police urge residents to avoid posting about vacations or extended periods of time away on social media or to at least wait until you have returned to post about your getaways.

They recommend asking neighbors or other people you trust to check on your home while you are away.

Guilford police offer house checks for people who will be away for an extended period of time. Residents can sign up at the police station and complete a “House Check” form, then police will do periodic security checks while the residents are away.

Residents at the Spring Lake Village retirement community in Southington say the number of geese flocking to their area is a recurring nuisance. Now, residents are voting on a proposal from the Spring Lake Valley Association to euthanize the geese. 

“The geese have been here as long as I’ve been living here, about six years,” Joan Fisher said. 

Fisher said she would like her retirement community to consider other options than killing the geese. 

“I’m not comfortable being on TV,” she said, “but somebody has to advocate for these animals, they can’t advocate for themselves.” 

The geese typically like to congregate by the lake. 

“Actually, you can’t even walk out there anymore because of the geese droppings,” Robert Bluis said, “the whole place is completely covered; it’s like a useless area now.” 

During spring when the problem gets out of control, residents say the geese will wander closer to their homes. 

“That was awful ‘cause they were here going in the garage, they were up on our back step, in the front door area, on the sidewalk, you couldn’t even walk,” Vivian Woodruff said. 

Some residents said they reluctantly voted in favor of the plan to euthanize the geese. 

“As far as avenues, how they could do it different, I really don’t know,” Woodruff said. 

“I don’t know about killing them. I’m questionable about that part,” Bluis said, “but I’d definitely like to see them go away.” 

Ultimately, the euthanization proposal would need approve from the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, but Fisher said she hopes it does not come to that. 

“There’s a lot of things we can do besides euthanize the geese,” she said. 

Spring Lake Village residents have until April 6 to cast their vote for or against the proposal. 

NBC Connecticut’s calls to the association president and vice president were not returned as of Friday afternoon. 

A professor and author who once presented himself as a possible Trump administration ambassador to the European Union was detained and questioned by the FBI at Boston Logan airport and served a subpoena from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is probing possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Ted Malloch said in an emailed statement to NBC News that he was flying from his home in the U.K. via Boston to Cleveland, Ohio to celebrate Easter when he was stopped Wednesday, an incident first reported by the Guardian.

NBC News has independently confirmed that Malloch was detained and questioned at the airport, but not the details of the encounter. However, the Special Counsel's Office would not comment on Malloch's statement or whether or not Malloch was questioned.

He said two FBI agents questioned him about his career, his affection for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Trump campaign, former campaign adviser Roger Stone and Wikileaks. They also produced a document allowing them to seize and search his cellphone.