NATION BRIEFING In threat to Pelosi, 16 Dems say they’ll back new leadership
Trump’s efforts to limit asylum challenged in federal courts
President Donald Trump’s efforts to dramatically cut asylum applications were challenged in two federal court hearings Monday, and the rulings by each judge will ultimately determine how many members of the migrant caravan will be able to enter the U.S.
Hundreds of travelers in the Central American caravan have arrived in the Mexican border city of Tijuana, prompting U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials on Monday to temporarily close all vehicle lanes and half the pedestrian lanes at the San Ysidro Port of Entry to install additional concrete barriers and wire to prevent a rush of people trying to enter illegally.
But the two judges – who did not issue immediate rulings – will decide whether caravan members will be able to legally request asylum, a right written into U.S. law and international conventions followed by the U.S.
Army improves medical readiness of generals
WASHINGTON – One in five Army generals could not deploy in 2016 for medical reasons, according to data obtained by USA TODAY, a troubling trend in the military’s readiness to fight that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has vowed to fix.
Overdue medical and dental exams were the primary reasons for what the Army refers to as medical readiness in 2016. The medical readiness rate for generals has improved to nearly 85 percent, according to Brig. Gen. Omar Jones, the Army’s top spokesman. Almost all generals, 97.4 percent, can now deploy after taking care of minor issues such as having updated blood tests and dental exams.
The data were contained in a June 2017 report on the Army’s general officer corps that was obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
Man who strangled wife, killed his 2 girls sentenced to life
GREELEY, Colo. – A man who strangled his pregnant wife and suffocated their two young daughters wanted to escape his marriage and growing family, prosecutors said Monday as a judge imposed a sentence of life without parole as part of a plea deal that kept the killer from facing the death penalty.
As Christopher Watts listened with his head down, Shanann Watts’ parents detailed their ongoing struggle to understand how he could murder the three people who considered him a hero – Shanann, 34, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3.
Watts, 33, was sentenced to consecutive life sentences for the murders. He also received a 48-year sentence for unlawful termination of a pregnancy and 12 years each for tampering with a human body.
WASHINGTON – Sixteen maverick Democrats have released a letter saying they’ll vote for “new leadership” when the House picks leaders in January. That poses a threat to Nancy Pelosi’s effort to become speaker.
The California Democrat is favored by most Democrats to lead them, as she has since 2003, when the new Congress convenes in January. Pelosi seems sure to win her party’s nomination to be speaker when Democrats vote on that after Thanksgiving.
A small group opposes her. Their letter says Democrats won on “a message of change,” and they say they plan to deliver that.
3 killed when air ambulance crashes in North Dakota
BISMARCK, N.D. – An air ambulance on its way to pick up a patient crashed not long after taking off from Bismarck, North Dakota, killing all three people on board. A military official involved in the response said the plane might have broken up in midair.
The twin-engine Bismarck Air Medical airplane took off about 10:30 p.m. Sunday and crashed shortly after in a field about 20 miles northwest of Bismarck. Air traffic control officials lost contact with the plane about 11 p.m., county spokeswoman Maxine Herr said.
CHI St. Alexius Health and Bismarck Air Medical said in a statement that the pilot, a paramedic and a registered nurse had been heading to Williston to collect a patient when they were killed.