US Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) , Bad weather forced the plane carrying Vice President Joe Biden to delay landings twice on Tuesday. Air Force Two was approaching Charlotte Douglas International Airport when the pilot abruptly pulled up and circled for about 35 minutes because of thunderstorms.

WASHINGTON (AP) , A multibillion-dollar information-sharing program created in the aftermath of 9/11 has improperly collected information about innocent Americans and produced little valuable intelligence on terrorism, a Senate report concludes. It portrays an effort that ballooned far beyond anyone's ability to control.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) , Oracle CEO Larry Ellison envisions his recently acquired Hawaiian island becoming a "little laboratory" for experimenting with more environmentally sound ways to live. Ellison's ambitions include converting sea water into fresh water on the 141-square-mile island of Lanai.

SAN DIEGO (AP) , The U.S. government began flying Mexican deportees home on Tuesday in a two-month experiment aimed at relieving Mexican border cities overwhelmed by large numbers of people ordered to leave the United States, some who fall prey to criminal gangs.

DALLAS (AP) , American Airlines said that improperly installed clamps caused seats to pop loose on two planes during flights and an inspection turned up four others with the same problem. The airline said Tuesday that it inspected and fixed the seats on 36 of its Boeing 757 jets and planned to check 11 other planes.

NEW YORK (AP) , Police investigating two gangs called the Very Crispy Gangsters and the Rockstarz didn't need to spend all their time pounding the pavement for leads. Instead, they fired up their computers and followed the trash talk on Facebook.

Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld offered a sharp and at times biting critique of the Obama administration's defense and national security record, saying the president's policies in the Middle East, Europe and East Asia have cost the country prestige and influence and put America on a path to decline.

DETROIT (AP) , Like many others that came before it, the latest search for former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa has come up empty. Tests on soil samples gathered last week from a backyard in suburban Detroit showed no traces that Hoffa , or anyone else , was buried there, Roseville police announced Tuesday.

HANFORD, Calif. (AP) , Two cars and the locomotive of an Amtrak train carrying about 169 passengers derailed Monday after colliding with a big rig truck in California's Central Valley, authorities said. At least 20 passengers suffered minor to moderate injuries, authorities said.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) , A court-imposed Tuesday deadline is looming for a judge to decide whether Pennsylvania's tough new law requiring voters to show photo identification can remain intact, a ruling that could swing election momentum to Republican candidates now trailing in polls on the state's top-of-the-ticket races.

DENVER, Colo. (AP) , If Republican Mitt Romney stumbles during Wednesday's presidential debate, it won't be for a lack of preparation. The Republican presidential nominee has spent at least eight days over the past month getting ready for the three debates against President Barack Obama.

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) , President Barack Obama has one mission heading into his first debate with Republican Mitt Romney: Don't screw things up. Five weeks from Election Day, Obama has political momentum and an edge in polls of the battleground states that will determine the election.

NEW YORK (AP) , The New York attorney general's office has hit JPMorgan Chase and Co. with a civil lawsuit, alleging that investment bank Bear Stearns , prior to its collapse and subsequent sale to JPMorgan in 2008 , perpetrated massive fraud in deals involving billions in residential mortgage-backed securities.

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) , Early returns and exit polls in a heated parliamentary election show that Georgian voters have turned against President Mikhail Saakashvili and the party that has been in power for almost nine years.

LOS ANGELES (AP) , The independent-film hit "Beasts of the Southern Wild" will be ineligible for the Screen Actors Guild Awards because it was not made under provisions of the union's contracts, guild officials said Monday.