Friday morning news: November 9, 2018

Mass shooting » Investigators are trying to determine what drove a Marine combat veteran to gun down 12 people at a bar in California.

Officials say 28-year-old Ian David Long walked into a country music bar in Thousand Oaks Wednesday night and began firing apparently indiscriminately. Police believe he took his own life as officers closed in.

A veteran sheriff’s deputy is among the dead. Sergeant Ron Helus took fire as he tried to take down the gunman. He later died at a hospital, just a year before he was set to retire.

Sheriff Sergeant Bill Hutton told reporters…

HUTTON: He went into that bar protecting, serving others and making sure everybody else can go home, and unfortunately, he’s not going home. 

Paul Delacourt is the FBI Assistant Director in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Office. He said investigators are gathering both physical and digital evidence.

DELACOURT: We’re going pursue the leads that are developed from that evidence, wherever they take us to identify any possible motivation, paint a picture of the frame of mind of the subject. 

Long was a former machine gunner and Afghanistan war veteran. Police interviewed him at his home last spring after an episode of agitated behavior. Authorities were told he might have been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Several survivors of Wednesday’s shooting said they were also at the outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas last year when a gunman in a high-rise hotel killed 58 people.

Justice Ginsburg recovering after fall » Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is recovering today after a serious fall.

Ginsberg fell in her office on Wednesday, fracturing three ribs. She was admitted for treatment at George Washington University Hospital Thursday morning.

At 85 years of age, Ginsberg is the court’s oldest justice. She’s served on the court since 1993. She broke two ribs in a fall in 2012 and has fought off cancer twice, in addition to other health struggles. But she’s given no indication that she plans to step down and has hired clerks for a term extending to 2020.

Appeals court rules against Trump on DACA » The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked President Trump from immediately ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program—DACA for short. WORLD Radio’s Leigh Jones has more.

LEIGH JONES, REPORTER: DACA is the Obama-era program that shields many young immigrants from deportation.  

The 9th Circuit on Thursday voted unanimously to keep a preliminary injunction that blocks ending the program.

The three-judge panel said the administration’s decision to end DACA was arbitrary because it was based on a flawed legal theory. The administration likely will appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

In Thursday’s decision, 9th Circuit Judge Kim Wardlaw said the court was not trying to infringe on the president’s power to enforce immigration law. But, she added, the court wanted to enable the exercise of that authority—quote—”in a manner that is free from legal misconceptions and is democratically accountable to the public.”

Reporting for WORLD Radio, I’m Leigh Jones.

Democrats sound alarms over attorney general’s departure » Democrats are sounding alarms over the departure this week of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he’s worried the president’s goal in shaking up the Justice Department is to pull the plug on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.

SCHUMER: Protecting Mueller and his investigation is paramount. 

But President Trump told reporters at the White House that he certainly could halt the Russia probe, but he won’t.

TRUMP: I could fire everybody right now, but I don’t want to stop it, because politically I don’t like stopping it. 

President Trump tapped Sessions’ chief of staff Matthew G. Whitaker as the  acting attorney general until he names a new nominee for the post. Whitaker has been publicly critical of Robert Mueller’s investigation, and he’ll now be charged with overseeing the Russia probe.  

Florida Democrats remain hopeful » Three days after the last votes were cast in Tuesday’s midterms, Democrats in Florida continue to hold out hope in a pair of major races. WORLD Radio’s Sarah Schweinsberg reports.

SARAH SCHWEINSBERG, REPORTER: While Governor Rick Scott appears to have unseated Democrat Bill Nelson in the U.S. Senate, Nelson is not conceding. He’s hoping for a recount. And now, the Democratic candidate for governor in the state is walking back his concession.

Andrew Gillum’s campaign said Thursday when he conceded to Republican Ron DeSantis Tuesday night, his campaign “operated with the best information available about the number of outstanding ballots.” But now it appears there were more uncounted ballots than originally reported. His campaign is also hoping for a recount. With more than 99 percent tallied, DeSantis holds a lead of about 40,000 votes. That’s about one half of one percent.

Georgia’s Democratic candidate for governor, Stacey Abrams, also remains hopeful. Her campaign believes outstanding votes could cut the margin just enough to trigger a runoff election.

Reporting for WORLD Radio, I’m Sarah Schweinsberg.

Duck boat captain indicted » A grand jury has indicted the captain of a Missouri tourist boat that sank in July, killing 17 people.  

Kenneth Scott McKee faces 17 counts of neglect of duty by a ship’s officer resulting in death. McKee was captaining an amphibious vessel called a duck boat on Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri, when a sudden storm hit causing the boat to sink.

U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison said McKee could be found guilty of a Class C felony.

GARRISON: And a conviction under this statute carries with it a range of punishment of imprisonment for not more than 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000. 

The indictment includes failing to assess severe weather and failing to instruct passengers to put on flotation devices in severe weather.

Since 1999, duck boat accidents have killed 42 people.

(AP Photo/Richard Vogel) Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies stand outside the house of shooting suspect David Ian Long in Newbury Park, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018. 

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.