10 things you need to know today: September 22, 2015

1. Scott Walker ends presidential campaign

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on Monday. Walker was considered a rising GOP star before the campaign began, but his bid unraveled as he struggled to raise funds and failed to shine in debates. Walker said his role now is helping push the crowded field beyond "personal attacks," so that "a positive, conservative alternative to the current frontrunner" — Donald Trump, whom Walker did not mention by name — can rise to the top.

The Washington Post

2. Pope Francis heads from Cuba to the U.S.

Pope Francis wraps up his trip to Cuba on Tuesday with a Mass in the communist Caribbean nation's most revered shrine. He praised the sacrifices made by the Catholic Church in Cuba, where the government has been reluctant to allow new churches to be built. Francis also urged Cubans to be open to change as he prepared to travel Tuesday to the U.S., Cuba's Cold War rival. In Washington, Francis will meet President Obama and become the first pope to deliver an address to Congress. He also will visit New York and Philadelphia.

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The Associated Press

3. Muslim group urges Ben Carson to drop out of presidential race

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Monday called for Ben Carson to end his bid for the GOP presidential nomination for saying no Muslim should ever be president. CAIR's executive director, Nihad Awad, said Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, should drop out "because he is unfit to lead and because his views are inconsistent with the United States Constitution." Carson said on NBC's Meet the Press that Islam was incompatible with the Constitution. Carson's campaign said he did not say Muslims should be barred from running, but that there was a "huge gap" between Islam and American values.

The Wall Street Journal NBC News

4. VW devotes $7.3 billion to addressing emissions scandal

Volkswagen is setting aside $7.3 billion in the third quarter to fix software in diesel engines installed in 11 million vehicles worldwide. The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday the software allowed VW to cheat on emissions tests. The company could face up to $18 billion in U.S. fines, and several other countries, including Germany, France, South Korea, and Italy, said Tuesday they would look into the matter. "We totally screwed up," said Michael Horn, head of the VW brand in the U.S.

Bloomberg

5. Hillary Clinton surges farther ahead of Bernie Sanders

Hillary Clinton has extended her lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Clinton leads Sanders 42 percent to 24 percent, according to the latest CNN/ORC nationwide poll of Democratic primary voters, released Monday. Clinton led Sanders 37 percent to 27 percent in early September. Vice President Joe Biden, who has not declared himself a candidate, had 22 percent support in the latest poll. Clinton has an even bigger lead over Sanders if Biden is not considered.

CNN

6. ACLU challenges validity of Kentucky clerk's altered marriage licenses

American Civil Liberties Union lawyers on Monday asked a court to make Rowan County, Kentucky, Clerk Kim Davis reissue altered marriage licenses her office has granted to same-sex couples. Davis spent five days in jail for denying gay couples licenses, citing "God's authority." Her deputies began issuing licenses while she was in jail. When she returned to work, Davis began using new licenses that said they were issued not under her authority, but "pursuant to federal court order." The ACLU said the new licenses were humiliating, and their validity was "questionable at best."

The Associated Press

7. Ex-peanut executive gets 28 years for salmonella outbreak

Stewart Parnell, former owner of the Peanut Corporation of American, was sentenced to 28 years in prison on Monday over a salmonella outbreak that killed nine people. His brother, Michael Parnell, also was convicted on conspiracy charges for knowingly shipping tainted peanuts. Michael Parnell, who was a food broker for the company, was sentenced to 20 years over the contamination at the company's Blakely, Georgia, plant.

Reuters

8. Burkina Faso coup leader apologizes as rival soldiers close in

Soldiers from around Burkina Faso entered the capital as military leaders said they would disarm the elite unit that toppled the interim government last week. Coup leader Gen. Gilbert Diendere apologized Monday and promised to return power to civilians as soon as possible to avoid the risk of "chaos, civil war, and massive violation of human rights." The junta leaders released the interim prime minister, Lt. Col. Yacouba Isaac Zida, a key demand as West African mediators push for elections by the end of November.

The Washington Post The New York Times

9. Tsipras begins new term as Greece's prime minister

Alexis Tsipras was sworn in as Greek prime minister on Monday for the second time this year. Tsipras and his anti-austerity Syriza party won snap elections he called when he resigned last month after facing criticism from hardliners in his own party for negotiating a new European bailout that included more austerity measures. Tsipras said his "first big battle" would be demanding debt relief from Greece's creditors, and boosting the debt-ravaged country's economy.

Reuters

10. Emmys draw worst ratings on record

The 2015 Emmys drew an audience of just 11.9 million viewers, according to early Nielsen estimates, making them the least-watched edition of the television awards show on record. The 2014 show had four million more viewers. This year's Emmys were aired on Fox; last year's were on NBC. This year's broadcast had to compete with a Sunday night NFL game, while last year's aired on a Monday in August, before football season began.

Variety