OFFICER FIRED AFTER NURSE’S ARREST CAUGHT ON VIDEO
A Utah police officer was fired Tuesday after being seen on video roughly handcuffing a nurse because she refused to allow a blood draw in an incident that became a flashpoint in the national conversation about use of force.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown made the decision to fire Detective Jeff Payne after an internal investigation found he violated department policies when he arrested nurse Alex Wubbels and dragged her screaming from the hospital, department spokesman Sgt. Brandon Shearer said.
Brown said in a disciplinary letter that he was “deeply troubled” by Payne’s conduct, which he described as “inappropriate, unreasonable, unwarranted, discourteous, disrespectful” and said brought “significant disrepute” on the department.
Trump lashes “Liddle’ Bob Corker” as senators call for calm.
WASHINGTON»
President Donald Trump lashed out at Sen. Bob Corker as “Liddle’ Bob Corker” on Tuesday, escalating a feud with the Tennessee Republican who dubbed the White House an “adult day care center” and charged that Trump could be setting the nation on the path toward World War III.
Fellow GOP senators, treading carefully, avoided siding with Trump or with Corker. But leading lawmakers called on both men to end a quarrel that could imperil the Republican agenda on Capitol Hill. Trump will need Corker if he is to get big tax changes through the Senate, where the narrow GOP majority was unable to repeal Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. And Corker also figures to be a key player if Trump moves as expected to unwind the Iran nuclear deal.
Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner issued a plea for calm: “I’m not going to get in the middle of this fight, but I don’t think it’s helpful to have finger-pointing and namecalling on either side. We need to have people focusing on one thing and one thing only, and that’s what we’re going to do to create more opportunity for the American people.”
Trump’s jibe deepens feud with Tillerson.
President Donald Trump challenged Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to “compare IQ tests,” delivering a sharp-edged ribbing that threw a bright spotlight on his seemingly shaky relationship with his top diplomat.
The White House insisted the president was only joking.
Trump issued the challenge in an interview with Forbes magazine, when asked about reports that Tillerson called him a “moron” after a classified briefing this summer. The president responded that if the claim was true, the two should duke it out in a battle of brainpower. “And I can tell you who is going to win,” Trump said.
Navy fires two officers over USS McCain collision.
WASHINGTON» The Navy on Tuesday fired the USS John S. McCain’s top two officers, calling the warship’s deadly August collision with an oil tanker “preventable.”
Cmdr. Alfredo Sanchez, the McCain’s commander, and Cmdr. Jessie Sanchez, its executive officer, were relieved of their duties and reassigned, Navy officials announced. Both were fired because of a lack of confidence, officials said.
The McCain, a guided missile destroyer, collided with the merchant vessel Alnic MC on Aug. 21 near Singapore. Ten American Sailors died, and five were injured.
The incident is among a series of mishaps that have exposed the Navy’s struggle to address widespread leadership shortcomings and its erosion of training standards.
Suspect in Texas Tech police shooting is captured, confesses.
TEXAS» A Texas Tech University student confessed to killing a campus police officer who had been booking him on a drug possession charge, telling detectives he had done “something illogical” and that “he was the one that shot their friend,” an investigator said.
In an affidavit released Tuesday, police Detective Thomas Bonds said Hollis Daniels III confessed to killing Officer Floyd East Jr. after his recapture Monday night.
South Korean lawmaker says North Korea hacked war plans.
SEOUL, SOUTH
A South Korean lawmaker says North Korean hackers may have stolen highly classified military documents that include U.S.-South Korean wartime “decapitation strike” plans against the North Korean leadership, according to South Korean media reports. The United States, meanwhile, staged another show of force meant to deter any North Korean aggression by flying two B-1B supersonic bombers Tuesday night from an air base in the U.S. territory of Guam to the South for drills with South Korean jets.