Reuters US Domestic News Summary
Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.
About 350 U.S. evacuees from China en route to California: Pentagon
About 350 Americans evacuated from China's virus-hit Wuhan province are expected to arrive at two U.S. military bases in California on Wednesday, the Pentagon said in a statement. The U.S. travelers on two U.S. Department of State-chartered flights will land at Travis Air Force Base, before one of the planes continues to Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. Passengers will be quarantined for 14 days as part of U.S. officials' plan to protect against the coronavirus, the U.S. Department of Defense said.
New York charges NRA over illegal insurance sales, deceiving members
New York's financial regulator on Wednesday filed civil charges accusing the National Rifle Association of offering insurance to its members without a license and concealing how it routinely kept some of their premiums for itself. The state Department of Financial Services plans to seek civil fines and other remedies from the gun rights group at an April 6 hearing.
Biden says he's 'not going anywhere' after poor Iowa showing
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden vowed on Wednesday to go on fighting for the Democratic presidential nomination despite what he called the "gut punch" he took in Iowa, where partial results show the political veteran lagging in fourth place. "I am not going to sugarcoat it: We took a gut punch in Iowa. The whole process was a gut punch,” Biden said in Somersworth, New Hampshire, where he was campaigning. “This isn’t the first time in my life that I’ve been knocked down.”
Buttigieg holds lead over Sanders in latest Iowa caucus results
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg held his lead over U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders in the Iowa caucuses in updated results released by the Iowa Democratic Party on Wednesday. Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, led with 26.9% of state delegate equivalents, compared to Sanders with 25.2% and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren with 18.2%, according to official results with 75% of precincts reporting.
Uber gets permit to restart testing its self-driving cars in California
Uber Technologies Inc has been allowed to restart testing its self-driving vehicles with a backup driver in California, almost two years after its autonomous car killed a pedestrian in Arizona. The California Department of Motor Vehicles issued a permit on Wednesday to the company's self-driving unit, Uber Advanced Technologies.
Bernard Madoff is dying, seeks early release from prison: lawyer
Bernard Madoff is dying of kidney failure and has fewer than 18 months to live, and is seeking to end his 150-year prison sentence for masterminding what prosecutors have called the largest Ponzi scheme ever. In a court filing on Wednesday, Madoff's lawyer said the 81-year-old is confined to a wheelchair, often requires oxygen, and suffers from cardiovascular disease, hypertension, insomnia and other chronic and serious medical conditions.
Chesapeake Energy, others sued for $1 million in fatal Texas oil-well blast
Chesapeake Energy Corp and three oilfield service firms were sued by the daughter of a worker who suffered fatal injuries when a Texas oil well exploded in flames last month. The wrongful death suit seeks at least $1 million from Chesapeake Energy, Forbes Energy Services, Eagle Pressure Control and Halliburton Co. It was filed this week in Harris County District Court by Madison Hendrix, whose father, Brad Hendrix, died in a hospital days after the blast.
Biden wins support of large electrical workers union
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden clinched the support of the 775,000-member International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) on Wednesday, deepening his union backing in a competitive race for his party's presidential nomination. The endorsement comes at a critical moment for Biden, whose possible fourth-place finish in Monday's Iowa caucuses could reshuffle a race where he has been leading in national opinion polls.
Trump seeks to delay rape accuser's defamation lawsuit pending 'Apprentice' appeal
U.S. President Donald Trump asked a New York state trial judge to put on hold a defamation lawsuit by Elle magazine advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who has accused him of rape, saying a successful appeal in a separate defamation case could shield him from both lawsuits. The president has been asking the New York State Court of Appeals to block Summer Zervos, a 2005 contestant on his reality television show "The Apprentice," from suing him for defamation while he is president, for calling her a liar after she accused him of kissing and groping her.
U.S. Speaker Pelosi says she ripped up Trump speech because it 'shredded the truth'
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi had not planned to tear up President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech but decided to do so after she could not find a page "that didn't have a lie on it," she told fellow Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday. Pelosi ripped a copy of Trump's speech on Tuesday night seconds after the Republican president finished delivering it. She got a standing ovation from Democratic lawmakers at their caucus meeting on Wednesday, Democratic aides said.
