US senator says no ill will, intent behind 'hanging' remark

A white Republican U.S. senator from Mississippi said during a debate with her African-American Democratic opponent Tuesday night that she apologizes to people who were offended when she complimented a supporter by saying she would attend a "public hanging" if the supporter invited her.Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's remark was caught on video that was released last week. It has brought widespread criticism both inside and outside Mississippi, a state with a history of racially motivated lynchings."For