Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Trump impeachment inquiry awaits key witnesses, but some will be no-shows

U.S. lawmakers leading an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump have scheduled another crucial round of testimony this week, but several key White House witnesses plan to defy them and some other administration officials could follow suit. Refusals by Trump loyalists to appear before Democratic-led committees could set the stage for a battle between the White House and lawmakers over their power to conduct the investigations. Some Democrats say Trump, who has ordered administration officials not to cooperate, should face an obstruction of justice charge among the impeachment counts they plan to consider against him.

Apple pledges $2.5 billion to fight California housing crisis

Apple Inc on Monday said it would commit $2.5 billion to easing a housing shortage that has driven up prices across California, with most of the money dedicated to funds that will be run either with or by the state government. One billion dollars will go to a jointly run fund with state officials aimed at jumpstarting delayed or stalled affordable housing projects. Another $1 billion will go to a state-run fund to provide first-time home buyer financial assistance to teachers, nurses and first responders such as police and firefighters, among others.

Trump campaign's strategy to attack Democrat Warren: Define her as dishonest

President Donald Trump's campaign team has been developing a plan to portray White House hopeful Elizabeth Warren as dishonest and untrustworthy - based in part on her past claim of Native American ancestry - in a sign of recognition that she may become the Democratic nominee to face him in 2020. For months, Trump's campaign had focused its fire on Joe Biden, the early front-runner in the battle for the Democratic U.S. presidential nomination.

California winds slacken, helping firefighters control blazes

Winds that have fanned California's wildfires have calmed, helping firefighters contain blazes that have destroyed homes and forced mass power outages since late last month. "We've really seen the end of it," said Patrick Burke, a meteorologist with the National Weather Serices's (NWS) Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

On vulnerable NYC island, climate - and Trump - make for difficult conversation

New York's Broad Channel neighborhood is an island in more ways than one: Politically, it is a rare pocket of staunch support for President Donald Trump in a liberal city. But it is also a literal island that barely rises over the waters of Jamaica Bay. In one of the corners of New York that city officials consider most vulnerable to climate change, some residents voiced little concern about the Trump administration's plan to begin formally withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, which could happen as soon as Monday.

How one county scrambled to keep America measles-free

In Rockland County, New York, a wooded suburb 30 miles north of Manhattan, a teenage boy lay in a room in an empty wing of a health clinic, in a fetal position, coughing. It was October 2018. The boy had measles, which spreads through the air. His illness was the dawn of the worst outbreak in the United States for more than a quarter century, and the start of a multi-million-dollar effort by an understaffed health department to contain it.

Former top U.S. diplomat urges unity, sidesteps impeachment debate in speech

Former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Saturday that Republicans and Democrats need to work together for the good of the United States, while avoiding a direct reference to the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. Tillerson, whom Trump fired in a tweet in March 2018 amid friction between the two over North Korea, Iran and Russia policies, has largely refrained from discussing politics publicly since leaving Washington.

Warren's Medicare for All plan attacked, parodied by Republicans, Democrats and 'SNL' show

U.S. presidential contender Elizabeth Warren's $20.5 trillion plan to provide healthcare for all Americans was attacked on the weekend by Republicans and fellow Democrats and parodied on "Saturday Night Live," the long-running network television comedy show. The "Medicare for All" proposal, which Warren's 2020 presidential campaign released on Friday, calls for cuts in defense spending and passing immigration reform to increase tax revenue from newly legal immigrants, two steps that would face an uphill battle (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-warren-medicare/warren-details-medicare-for-all-payment-plan-with-no-new-taxes-for-middle-class-idUSKBN1XB466) in Congress.

Living on the edge in the homeless encampments of Los Angeles

After years on the street, Kimberly Decoursey spends her nights at a Los Angeles temporary housing site called the Hollywood Studio Club. But by day, she can still be found at a highway off-ramp with her homeless fiance and a less rule-bound street community. Decoursey, 37, who grew up in foster homes, considers the friends who have shared her struggles on the streets of Los Angeles to be her family. She wants them to enjoy what she has now: a bed, regular meals and a shower.

New York marathon jumpstarts 50th anniversary party

As thousands of runners cross the finish line inside leafy Central Park on Sunday, the race will just be starting for the organizers of the New York City Marathon, as they begin a year-long celebration of a half century of running in 2020. A early "50 for the 50th" drawing for amateur runners opens on race day and will see the first 50 participants selected for the New York City Marathon's golden anniversary next year, long before the general application opens in January.