10 things you need to know today: November 14, 2018

1. Melania Trump calls for firing top national security aide

First lady Melania Trump's office on Tuesday called for the firing of Mira Ricardel, the top deputy to National Security Adviser John Bolton, saying she "no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House." The Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump had decided to force out Ricardel at the first lady's request. The dispute came after Mrs. Trump's staff reportedly clashed with Ricardel during her trip to Africa last month over plane seating and access to National Security Council resources. President Trump fired former Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week and reportedly plans to push out Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. He also has discussed potential replacements for White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.

The Wall Street Journal The Hill

2. CNN sues White House for suspending Jim Acosta's credentials

CNN on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against members of the Trump administration, arguing that the White House violated reporter Jim Acosta's First and Fifth Amendment rights by suspending his press credentials. Acosta's White House access was suspended after he would not give over the microphone to a White House intern while attempting to ask Trump a follow-up question at a press conference. The White House accused Acosta of "placing his hands on a young woman." Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, one of the officials named in the lawsuit, later said suspending Acosta's credentials was necessary because he tried to monopolize the news conferences. CNN says the White House singled him out because it doesn't like his reporting.

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CNN The Washington Post

3. Maryland challenges Trump's appointment of Whitaker

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh (D) on Tuesday asked a federal judge to block Matthew Whitaker from serving as acting U.S. attorney general, arguing that the appointment was unconstitutional. Frosh said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has been confirmed by the Senate, should serve in the post instead of Whitaker, who has not. Trump appointed Whitaker, a critic of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, after forcing out former Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week. Whitaker was Sessions' chief of staff. "The attorney general's succession statute and the Constitution protect the country against exactly what President Trump has attempted to do here — pluck an unqualified and unconfirmed partisan to be the nation's chief law enforcement officer in order to protect himself rather than the rule of law," Frosh said.

The Washington Post

4. Judges order more time, ballots in Georgia vote count

A federal judge has barred Georgia election officials from certifying the state's tight gubernatorial election before Friday, and ordered them to review all provisional ballots cast in the midterm elections first. Before the ruling late Monday, officials had planned to certify the result on Wednesday. Another judge ruled Tuesday that officials must count absentee ballots rejected over problems with dates of birth. Republican Brian Kemp, who as Georgia's secretary of state had the duty of overseeing the election, leads Democrat Stacey Abrams by nearly 59,000 votes. If he keeps the lead he will have just enough to win outright, but if the race narrows enough to pull his total below 50 percent he will be forced into a runoff election against Abrams.

USA Today

5. U.K. reaches draft Brexit deal but opposition looms

British Prime Minister Theresa May's government reached a draft Brexit deal with the European Union on Tuesday after more than a year of tense negotiations. The British government did not immediately release details on the deal's hundreds of pages of text, including how it would get past the sticking point of keeping people and trade flowing freely over the border between EU member Ireland and the U.K.'s Northern Ireland. May now could face a challenge tougher than negotiating the deal — getting it approved by her own Cabinet, and Parliament. Brexit supporters in May's party have accused her of surrendering too much control to the EU. The Cabinet is scheduled to meet Wednesday to consider the draft deal.

Reuters

6. FBI reports hate-crime spike

The FBI reported on Tuesday that hate crimes rose 17 percent last year, the third consecutive year of increases. Anti-Semitic attacks went up 37 percent. There were 7,175 hate crimes reported in 2017, up from 6,121 in 2016. The bureau notes that there were more police departments reporting hate crime data last year, which could be partially responsible for the uptick. Three of every five hate crimes targeted a person's race or ethnicity, reports The Washington Post, while one out of five targeted a person's religion. Another 16 percent were motivated by sexual orientation. About 2,000 of the reported crimes targeted black Americans, and another 938 affected Jewish Americans. Anti-Islamic hate crimes declined 11 percent.

The Washington Post FBI

7. Trump slams Macron, blames Secret Service for missing ceremony

President Trump on Tuesday unleashed a Twitter attack on French President Emmanuel Macron, who denounced nationalism in a veiled criticism of Trump's "America First" policies during weekend ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. Trump said Macron was trying to change the subject from his "very low" approval rating and nearly 10 percent unemployment. "By the way," Trump wrote, "there is no country more Nationalist than France, very proud people-and rightfully so!" Trump also responded to criticism for canceling one of two visits to cemeteries to honor U.S. war dead due to rainy weather that grounded his helicopter. Trump said he "suggested driving" but "Secret Service said NO." The White House said a last-minute motorcade would have disrupted roadways.

The New York Times The Associated Press

8. Amazon officially announces new HQ split

Amazon announced its decision to divide its new headquarters between New York City and Northern Virginia on Tuesday. The headquarters will be split between Long Island City in New York City's borough of Queens and the Crystal City area of Arlington, Virginia, which Amazon is seemingly rebranding as "National Landing." There will be about 25,000 employees at each site. Amazon will also open an Operations Center of Excellence in Nashville with 5,000 employees. Seeking a second headquarters equal to the one in Seattle, Amazon first started looking for a site in September 2017. Reports emerged last week revealing Amazon was planning to split its new headquarters, dubbed HQ2, between two cities.

NBC News

9. Israeli defense minister resigns, citing Hamas truce

Israel's hawkish defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, announced Wednesday that he was resigning over a cease-fire that Hamas announced Tuesday night. The news came a day after the worst outbreak of violence with the Islamist militant group, which runs the Gaza Strip, since a 50-day war in 2014. Israel did not immediately confirm that it had accepted the cease-fire, but the violence appeared to be on hold. Residents in southern Israel communities targeted with 400 rockets fired from Gaza protested the truce, calling it capitulation to Hamas. Lieberman said the deal "amounts to surrendering to terror," and said he has disagreed for weeks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over how to handle tensions in Gaza. Political analysts say Netanyahu might call early elections to boost his support.

The Washington Post

10. Death toll from California's deadliest fire ever rises to 48

Search crews found the remains of six more victims of Northern California's Camp Fire on Tuesday, bringing the death toll from the blaze, already the deadliest in state history, to 48. The bodies were found in homes in or near Paradise, a town destroyed by the fire, which erupted on Thursday and rapidly became the most destructive ever recorded in California. Butte County Sheriff-Coroner Kory L. Honea said he had requested 100 National Guard troops to work with crews searching for more victims of the fire, which has burned 130,000 acres and is still just 35 percent contained. Another blaze in Southern California, the Woolsey Fire, has killed two people near Malibu and burned more than 97,100 acres.

NBC News