Suddenly unsure on immigration, Trump trying to clear it up
Suddenly unsure on immigration, Trump trying to clear it up
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — It’s been the driving issue of Donald Trump’s campaign. Build a wall along the southern border. Make Mexico pay for it. And expel everyone living in the U.S. illegally with the help of a “deportation force.”
Ten weeks before the election, however, buffeted by conflicting advice from aides and advisers, Trump has seemed to be in full indecision mode.
At a Fox News town hall tall taping last week, in the face of pressing questions, he proceeded to poll the audience at length on the fate of an estimated 11 million people.
Trump is now planning a major speech on Wednesday, during which he’s expected to finally clarify his stance. Supporters are hoping for a strong, decisive showing. But for critics, many already disposed to vote against him, his wavering on what has been his signature issue, seems like a warning that he’s unable to handle a central element of any president’s job — making decisions.
It also underscores how little his Republican campaign has invested in the nitty gritty of outlining what he would do as president, especially when compared with the more detailed plans of his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
Clinton proposes plan to address mental health treatment
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Hillary Clinton rolled out a comprehensive plan to address millions of Americans coping with mental illness, pointing to the need to fully integrate mental health services into the nation’s health care system.
Clinton’s campaign released a multi-pronged approach to mental health care on Monday, aimed at ensuring that Americans would no longer separate mental health from physical health in terms of access, care and quality of treatment.
“We’ve got to break through and break down the stigma and shame. We’ve got to make clear that mental health is not a personal failing. Right now it’s our country which is failing people with mental health issues,” she said.
The Democratic presidential nominee’s agenda would focus on early diagnosis and intervention and create a national initiative for suicide prevention. If elected, Clinton would hold a White House conference on mental health within her first year in office.
Clinton’s proposal would also aim to enforce mental health parity laws and provide training to law enforcement officers to deal with people grappling with mental health problems while prioritizing treatment over jail for low-level offenders.
In other news from the Clinton camp, Huma Abedin, an aide to the candidate and vice chairperson for the campaign, is done playing the good wife to Anthony Weiner. Abedin announced Monday she is leaving the serially sexting ex-congressman after he was accused of sending raunchy photos and messages to yet another woman.
“After long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, I have made the decision to separate from my husband,” she said in a statement issued by the campaign. “Anthony and I remain devoted to doing what is best for our son, who is the light of our life.”
In Brazil Senate, Rousseff proclaims innocence, blasts VP
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff proclaimed her innocence on Monday, branding her vice president a “usurper” and warning senators that history would judge them harshly if they ousted a democratically elected leader on false charges.
Rousseff’s much anticipated speech to the lawmakers who will decide this week whether to permanently remove her from office was characterized by the same defiance she has shown throughout an impeachment process that has divided Latin America’s most populous nation.
“I know I will be judged, but my conscience is clear. I did not commit a crime,” Rousseff told the senators who listened intently, in contrast to the chamber’s usual raucousness.
In the middle of her second term, the left-leaning leader has been accused of breaking fiscal rules to hide problems in the federal budget. She has denied any wrongdoing, accusing her opponents of a “coup d’état.”
Rousseff reminded those in attendance that she was re-elected in 2014 by more than 54 million votes, asserting that at every moment since she has followed the constitution and sought to do what was best for the country.
Quake survivors erupt in anger at funeral plan; gov’t relents
ROME (AP) — Italian quake survivors rebelled in anger Monday because of the government’s plan to have a state funeral for their loved ones in an airport hangar in a distant town, where scores of bodies are being kept in refrigerated trucks, and let them watch it on screens from near their emergency tent camp.
One relative of 7-year-old twins who perished in central Italy’s Aug. 24 quake was so upset by the announcement he could barely speak, holding up seven fingers when explaining how old the children were. The mayor of Amatrice, the hardest-hit of the three medieval towns flattened by the quake, was also upset.
“Give us back our dead!” yelled one man in the crowd of several dozen survivors.
Sensing a public relations disaster, Italian Premier Matteo Renzi’s government quickly reversed course, and he said the latest state funeral will take place Tuesday in the devastated Apennines hill town.
So far, 231 of the quake’s 292 victims have been found in Amatrice, with the death toll rising by two Monday afternoon when two bodies were extracted from rubble.
FAA forecast: 600,000 commercial drones within the year
WASHINGTON (AP) — There will be 600,000 commercial drone aircraft operating in the U.S. within the year as the result of new safety rules that opened the skies to them on Monday, according to a Federal Aviation Administration estimate.
The rules governing the operation of small commercial drones were designed to protect safety without stifling innovation, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta told a news conference.
Commercial operators initially complained that the new rules would be too rigid. The agency responded by creating a system to grant exemptions to some of the rules for companies that show they can operate safely, Huerta said.
On the first day the rules were in effect the FAA had already granted 76 exemptions, most of them to companies that want to fly drones at night, Huerta said.
“With these rules, we have created an environment in which emerging technology can be rapidly introduced while protecting the safety of the world’s busiest, most complex airspace,” he said.