10 things you need to know today: December 9, 2018

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1. Trump says Chief of Staff John Kelly will leave by year's end
2. Comey congressional testimony released
3. Trump says new Russia probe filings show 'NO COLLUSION'
4. Kushner reportedly advised Saudi prince on response to Khashoggi murder
5. Appeals court blocks Trump asylum ban
6. Trump links Paris climate deal to protests in France
7. Uncertainty surrounds scheduled Brexit vote
8. Democratic Sen. Cory Booker promises a presidential run decision soon
9. Google employee found dead in New York offices
10. Major winter storm brings unusual snow to Southeast

last updated 9 December 2018

1. Trump says Chief of Staff John Kelly will leave by year's end

Chief of Staff John Kelly will leave the White House at the end of the year, President Trump announced Saturday. "John Kelly will be leaving — I don't know if I can say 'retiring,'" Trump told reporters. "But he's a great guy." A retired four-star general, Kelly was expected to bring order to a chaotic White House but quickly found himself stymied by a freewheeling president who reportedly resented his constraints. Kelly's departure has been anticipated for months. Nick Ayers, Vice President Mike Pence's 36-year-old chief of staff, is the frontrunner to replace him, a White House official has confirmed.

The House Judiciary and Oversight Committees on Saturday evening released a transcript of former FBI Director James Comey's lengthy testimony from the day before. The document is minimally redacted and sees Comey expressing confidence that investigation of Russian meddling and possible collusion in the 2016 election would continue even if President Trump were to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller. "You'd almost have to fire everyone in the FBI and the Justice Department to derail the relevant investigations," Comey said. He also reported that the FBI's initial investigation into possible Russian interference focused on four Americans, none of them Trump himself.

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"AFTER TWO YEARS AND MILLIONS OF PAGES OF DOCUMENTS (and a cost of over $30,000,000)," President Trump tweeted Saturday morning, "NO COLLUSION!" In a second post several hours later, he quoted Fox News commentator Geraldo Rivera saying there is "no smoking gun" and "nothing impeachable" in Friday's court filings from Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The filings concern Trump's former campaign chair, Paul Manafort, and his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen. Mueller says Manafort told federal investigators "multiple discernable lies," violating his plea deal, and Cohen engaged in "serious" crime, including "deliberate and premeditated" deception of Congress.

President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner continued to privately advise Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, The New York Times reported Saturday. The story says Kushner "has offered the crown prince advice about how to weather the storm" caused by the killing, for which the CIA has reportedly concluded with "medium-to-high confidence" MBS is responsible. While National Security Council staff are supposed to sit in on all communications with foreign leaders, Kushner and MBS reportedly have informal, one-on-one chat and text conversations.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled late Friday that the Trump administration cannot enforce President Trump's November executive order restricting asylum applications to migrants who enter the U.S. legally. The 2-1 decision held the order violates current U.S. law and illegitimately seeks to circumvent Congress. "Just as we may not, as we are often reminded, 'legislate from the bench,' neither may the executive legislate from the Oval Office," wrote Judge Jay Bybee for the majority. A previous district court ruling likewise held Trump lacks authority to "rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden."

President Trump on Twitter Saturday repeatedly linked the weekend's "yellow vest" protests in France to the Paris climate accord from which he withdrew the United States in 2017. "People do not want to pay large sums of money, much to third world countries (that are questionably run), in order to maybe protect the environment," he wrote, making an unsubstantiated claim that the demonstrators were chanting, "We Want Trump!" Parisian authorities reported about 8,000 police officers were deployed with tear gas and stun grenades Saturday to meet around 10,000 protesters, nearly 1,000 of whom were arrested.

The United Kingdom's House of Commons is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to proceed with Prime Minister Theresa May's plan for Brexit, the U.K.'s exit from the European Union. But whether the vote will proceed as planned remains uncertain, as opposition inside and out May's Conservative Party makes its prospects look dim. Protest resignations from May's own government are expected Sunday and Monday, but May's office says the vote will go forward. The deal under consideration was settled with EU leaders late last month, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned critics it is the best realistic option.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) visited New Hampshire, home of the nation's first presidential primary, for several campaign-style events on Saturday, including a speech and a diner meet-and-greet. Booker pledged a decision on whether he will launch a presidential run soon. "During the holidays I'm going to sit down and take a lot of stock about what I want to do next," he said in a radio interview, "whether I want to run for president or stay in the Senate and help this continued movement in our country to reinvigorate our democracy."

A Google software engineer was found dead in the company's New York City headquarters late Friday, police reported Saturday. Scott Krulcik, 22, was found unconscious at his desk by custodial staff, and emergency medical workers were unable to revive him. An investigation into the cause of his death is ongoing, but authorities say there are at present no signs of foul play nor history of medical or substance abuse problems. Krulcik had worked at Google since 2016, when he was hired while still a student at Carnegie Mellon University.

A major winter storm began Saturday in southeastern states, especially North and South Carolina, and is expected to bring unusually heavy snow through Monday. "Snowfall amounts in some locations will likely exceed a foot and result in several days of difficult or impossible travel, extended power outages, and downed trees," the National Weather Service warned. Already more than 200,000 customers in the region have lost power, the bulk of them in North Carolina, and hundreds of flights were grounded Sunday. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper urged residents to stay safe indoors.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.