United States

Happening Today: Travel Ban, Jared Kushner, Church Shooting, Health Care, J.Lo

What to Know

  • Trump has signed a proclamation imposing strict new restrictions on travelers from a handful of countries
  • Republican opposition to the GOP health care bill swelled to near-fatal numbers as Sen. Susan Collins all but closed the door it
  • Jennifer Lopez pledged to donate $1 million from her Las Vegas show to help residents in Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria

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Trump Replaces 90-day Ban With New Travel Restrictions for 8 Countries

President Trump has signed a proclamation imposing strict new restrictions on travelers from a handful of countries, including five that were covered by his expiring travel ban. Administration officials say the new measures are required to keep the nation safe. The indefinite restrictions apply to citizens of Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and North Korea. As part of the presidential proclamation signed, the U.S. will also bar the entry of certain Venezuelan government officials and their immediate families. The changes will take effect October 18. The announcement came the same day that Trump's temporary ban on visitors from six Muslim-majority countries was set to expire, 90 days after it went into effect. That ban had barred citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen who lacked a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States" from entering the U.S. Only one of those countries, Sudan, will no longer be subject to travel restrictions.

Jared Kushner Used Private Email Account in White House, Lawyer Says

President Trump's son-in-law and top adviser, Jared Kushner, used his personal email account while communicating with White House colleagues, Kushner's lawyer said. In a statement, the lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said Kushner used the account in fewer than 100 emails during Trump's first eight months in office, NBC News reported. "These usually forwarded news articles or political commentary and most often occurred when someone initiated the exchange by sending an email to his personal, rather than his White House, address," Lowell said. "All non-personal emails were forwarded to his official address and all have been preserved in any event." The use of private email for official business loomed large in Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential bid. Clinton used a private server while she was secretary of state, though investigators determined she should not be prosecuted.

Gunman Opens Fire in Church; 1 Dead, 7 Wounded

A masked gunman opened fire at a Nashville church, walking silently down the aisle as he shot unsuspecting congregants. At least one person was killed and seven others wounded, authorities said. An usher confronted the shooter, who apparently shot himself in the struggle before he was arrested, police said. The FBI said it has opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting at the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ. No motive was immediately determined. Church members told investigators that the suspect had attended services a year or two ago, said Don Aaron, a spokesman for the Metro Nashville Police Department. Nashville police did not immediately comment on several bizarre posts on the suspect's Facebook page in the hours before the shooting. The gunman pulled into the church's parking lot as services were ending. He shot and killed a woman who was walking to her vehicle, then entered the rear of the church with two pistols and kept firing, hitting six people, police said.

Republicans Make Desperate Bid to Save Health Care Bill

Republican opposition to the GOP health care bill swelled to near-fatal numbers as Sen. Susan Collins all but closed the door on supporting the last-ditch effort to scrap the Obama health care law and Sen. Ted Cruz said "right now" he doesn't back it. In a late bid to win votes and stave off defeat, Republicans were adding $14.5 billion to the measure for states, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. White House legislative liaison Marc Short and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of the measure's sponsors, said Republicans would press ahead with a vote this week. But the comments by Collins and Cruz left the Republican drive to uproot President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act dangling by an increasingly fraying thread. A vote must occur this week for Republicans to prevail with their narrow Senate majority. Next Sunday, protections expire against a Democratic filibuster, bill-killing delays that Republicans lack the votes to overcome. President Trump seemed to distance himself from the showdown, saying his "primary focus" was his party's drive to cut taxes.

J.Lo Pledges $1M to Puerto Rico for Relief; Cuomo Announces Recovery Effort

Jennifer Lopez pledged to donate $1 million from her Las Vegas show to help residents in Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria. Lopez made the announcement at a press conference with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who announced the state would organize a recovery effort, including information on www.ny.gov that would detail donation collection points and lists of items that needed to be donated. "We have to help Puerto Rico with the same urgency that we're helping Texas and Florida and the other parts of this country that need help," Cuomo said. Lopez, who is of Puerto Rican descent and was born in the Bronx, said she hasn't been able to reach all of her family on the island. She said that she and MLB star Alex Rodriguez, who is of Dominican descent and was also born in New York, were using their connections in entertainment, sports and business to gather support for relief efforts. Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred and New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner have both committed to giving a "significant" contribution, Lopez said.

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