Monday morning news: April 8, 2019

Homeland Security secretary resigns » Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned Sunday.

She made the announcement on her Twitter account, saying it’s been “the honor of a lifetime.”

President Trump thanked her for her work in a tweet … and said Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan is taking over as acting head of the department.

McAleenan is a longtime border official who is well-respected on Capitol Hill.

Kirstjen Nielsen was confirmed to the post in December 20-17, succeeding John Kelly who left to become the president’s chief of staff. Nielsen did not give a reason for her departure.  

Democrats continue calls for Mueller report while Republicans prep criminal referrals » Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are still calling on Attorney General William Barr to hand over special counsel Robert Mueller’s full Russia report right now.

Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler clarified his demands Sunday. He said even if some of the information cannot be published, that’s no excuse.

NADLER: We are advocating that all of that information should be given to the committee. We are not advocating that all the grand jury information should go to the public. 

Barr has said he’ll make the report available with redactions by the middle of this month.

Meantime, Republican leaders are investigating the people who set the Russia probe in motion. They believe some of those people committed crimes in the process. Ranking Member on the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes said he’ll send eight criminal referrals to the Justice Department this week.

NUNES: Five of them are what I would call straight-up referrals, so referrals that name someone and name the specific crimes. Those crimes are lying to Congress, misleading Congress, leaking classified information.

Three other referrals relate to lying to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, manipulating intelligence, and media leaks.

U.S. pulls forces out of Libya as fighting nears capital » The U.S. has temporarily pulled some of its forces out of Libya.

That as a Libyan commander’s forces advanced toward the capital of Tripoli and clashed with rival militias.

The U.S. has positioned a small number of troops in Libya in recent years, helping local forces combat ISIS and al-Qaeda, while guarding diplomatic facilities.

But the head of U.S. Africa Command General Thomas Waldhauser said—quoting here… “The security realities on the ground in Libya are growing increasingly complex and unpredictable.”

The Pentagon has not said how many troops are leaving or how many will remain.

The Baylor Lady Bears win college basketball championship » The Lady Bears are college basketball national champions.

Baylor lost a star player, then the rest of its 17-point lead to Notre Dame Sunday but held on for a 1-point win.

AUDIO: Denied by Turner and that’s it! The Baylor Lady Bears, seven years later are back at the top of college basketball!

Audio courtesy of ESPN.

Baylor’s star forward Lauren Cox injured her knee in a frightening scene late in the third quarter but her teammates kept their composure. And with the 82-to-81 victory, the Lady Bears won their third NCAA national championship.

The men’s championship game is tonight. Texas Tech battles Virginia at 9:20 Eastern time.

Shazam! tops weekend box office » At the weekend box office, another superhero flick soared to the top.

AUDIO: Shazam! Are you for real? Say it! Okay! Shazam.

The big screen comedic adaptation of the classic DC comic hauled in $53 million dollars in its debut. Shazam! easily topped Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. The R-rated thriller opened with $25 million for the weekend.

The faith-based movie Unplanned continued its national run.

AUDIO: I saw it, and it was like it was twisting and fighting for its life.

It was seen in more than 1,500 theaters this week, pulling in another $3 million in ticket sales. It’s now grossed more than $12 million. That’s not blockbuster territory, but the returns have now doubled its production budget.

You can find WORLD’s reviews of current films—along with ratings and content information—at WNG.org/movies.

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen listens to President Donald Trump at a roundtable on immigration and border security at the U.S. Border Patrol Calexico Station in Calexico, Calif., Friday April 5, 2019. 

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